Wine Club 16 September

Our partners Yapp Bros have just scooped the coveted Wine List of the Year gong at the recent Inter-national Wine Challenge, along with Languedoc Merchant of the Year and Loire Merchant of the Year. In their commendation, the judges said: ‘The Yapp Bros list is concise, beautifully illustrated with great writing and offers much more than a simple list of wines.’ I think it’s fair to say that Jason Yapp is feeling rather chipper.

So much so, in fact, that not only did Jason put up a particularly fine selection for me to whittle down on your behalf, he also lopped a quid off every bottle and promised to put a copy of Yapp Brothers’ award-winning, David Chandler-illustrated wine list in every case, along with a bound gift pack of ten of David’s -collage-based postcards.

We start with the 2016 Ardèche Viognier ‘Grès du Trias’, (1). Viognier is a tricky grape, both to cultivate and to vinify, and outside its spiritual heartland of Condrieu, it’s rare to find affordable examples that have the typical peach ’n’ apricot character its admirers so love. This is a charmer, though, produced by the excellent Vignerons Ardèchois -cooperative and, considering you can pay northwards of £45 for Condrieu these days, I reckon it’s a bit of a find. £10.35 down from £11.35.

The 2016 Ch. Roubaud Blanc ‘Cuvée Passion’, (2) comes from Costières de Nîmes and the vineyards planted along the Rhône delta. They’ve made wine here since Roman times and in a nod to that heritage the -bottle is embossed with the Nîmes emblem of a crocodile and a palm tree, denoting the African exotica that returning legionaries had seen. Produced from old vine Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, which both thrive in the alluvial soil and bask in 300 days of sunshine, the wine is wonderfully fresh, ripe, herbal and creamy.