Wine Club: six cracking Christmas clarets from Private Cellar

Bordeaux is much on our mind at Spectator Towers. Not only are we still sobering up from our riotous annual Clays, Claret and Cognac Cruise down the Thames but we’re also preparing our first determined assault on Bordeaux itself, with 20 readers joining me there for five wine-soaked days this month.

And, to top it all, this week, courtesy of Laura Taylor and our mates at Private Cellar, we’re offering six cracking clarets – all fantastic value and perfect for Christmas. Don’t laugh, the dread day is on its way.

Max Sichel, the hugely engaging Dauphin of the Sichel family – the Bordeaux royalty behind Chx Palmer and Angludet – was our guest of honour on the CC&CC, run in cahoots with PC, and, despite almost being blown out of his silk socks Françaises by the recoil of the ancient blunderbuss with which he was vainly trying to shoot a bobbing balloon, he gave a fine exposition on Bordeaux and his family’s wines including this, Private Cellar’s very own 2018 House Claret (1), otherwise known as Ch.