Yapp Brothers is one of the country’s more distinguished wine merchants.
Yapp Brothers is one of the country’s more distinguished wine merchants. It has a short but choice list, almost all coming from the Loire or southern France. Robin Yapp, who is now retired, used to select all the wines by touring vineyards, some in appellations so small that few outside France, or even in France, had heard of them. Deals to buy the produce of a tiny property would be secured over a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese and a bottle. The results were as far away from mass-produced supermarket plonk as it is possible to imagine.
Now Robin’s son Jason and stepson Tom Ashworth are maintaining the family tradition, and with their help I have put together what I think is a terrific selection of gorgeous, rich and sophisticated French wines for summer drinking. I should say summer sipping, because these wines are for slow savouring in bee-loud glades and gardens, rather than get-it-down-yer glugging. None is particularly cheap but, with Jason’s discounts, all are excellent value.
The Vouvray 20051 from Daniel Jarry is, unlike many wines from this neck of the woods (the Touraine area of the Loire), bone dry and absolutely ideal with food. The South Africans make some excellent wines from the Chenin Blanc grape, but Vouvray is still the touchstone. Rabelais said that Vouvray tasted ‘like taffeta’, which sounds nice, if perhaps meaningless. A rich, fat wine with a fine flinty undertone, and only £7.50.
Menetou Salon is one of my favourite Loire regions. It is the smaller neighbour of the far better known, and pricier, Sancerre. I came to love it while staying in a placid country hotel near Bourges, and was happy to drink it every night.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in