There’s nothing wrong with being lured into the bottle shop near Christmas. Accept the fact that they’ve all seen you coming: at no other time of the year are so many desirable and otherwise scarce beverages dressed so brightly or offered so affordably. Rejoice in the diversity of the season’s offerings and relish the opportunity they present. So many exotic tastes, so many experiences simply awaiting their appointment with your corkscrew and foilcutter. And yet there are only twelve days of Christmas! If we assume that certain recipients of your gift giving this season are not for any reason teetotal, there’s every chance that with a single visit to a quality liquor outlet you can entirely take care of your Christmas shopping. For this is the season when the wine and spirits industries do their best stuff. They’ve been at this game for so long they probably know more about the secret, but street-legal desires of the mature adult than entire faculties of psychological boffins. And at Christmas they all come out to compete with each other in the Xtreme Drinks stakes, where points and sales are won by bottle sizes large and small, shapes artful and exotic, strengths moderate to challenging, and ages mature to crusty. The spirit companies entice you with their oldest and best, the Champagne Houses with their largest and most decorative. Not to be outdone, the wineries enter into the festive spirit with bottles so large they can serve even the most extended of families at a single pour, they offer back vintages and once-off opportunities with commemorative bottlings. So let’s take a closer look. The Right Spirit You might think it contrary to the traditional meanness of their nature, but nobody does Christmas drinking better than a Scot. It’s a season of hard decisions for the Scotch drinker, for not only is it likely that the number of individual malts lining the shelves will have increased beyond imagination, but so will the diversity of ages available. One of my favourite Highland Malts is Glenfarclas and my age of preference is usually the 15 year old. Look around the stores right now and you’ll possibly be bewildered by the sight of the 12 yo ($70), 15 yo ($84), 21 yo ($115), 25 yo ($135) and even the vanishingly scarce 30 yo ($385). Then there’s the six-shot temptation handed out by UD’s superbly presented Classic Malt Series, comprising the various and extraordinarily diverse malts of Glenkinchie 10 yo, Lagavulin 16 yo, Oban 14 yo, Cragganmore 12 yo, Talisker 10 yo and one of the smoothest Highlands of them all, the Dalwhinnie 15 yo. Each is priced at $67, but as a collection they offer a tour of Scotland from your favourite couch, not just once but twenty times. You can invest in the legendary Macallan in a number of ways, from the 12 yo ($60) to the 18 yo ($100) and ultimately, to The Macallan Anniversary, a wooden-boxed combination of malts whose minimum age is 25 years ($270). Cardhu’s aromatic 12 yo malt, the backbone of Johnnie Walker’s excellent Black Label is very affordable at around $50, the savoury Bunnahabhain 12 yo for $67, the classic Glenlivet 12 yo for $60, while those more interested in top-notch blended whisky might aspire to the Chivas Bros. Royal Salute 21 yo ($250). And while talking whiskey, you might consider Bushmill’s 10 yo Irish Malt ($65) or a look at Jack Daniels’ smoky Single Barrel Tennessee ($90). It’s a theory of mine that irrespective of its origins, brandy needs time before it’s worth taking seriously. Given that you shouldn’t donate what you’re not prepared to drink, the only cognacs I recommend are of XO maturity, in which category I strongly suggest the silky Remy Martin XO ($235), the robust Hennessey XO ($215), the ethereal Courvoisier XO ($240) and the lighter Delamain XO ($135). Janneau’s Tradition Grand Armagnac provides a thrill-seeking alternative at $80, while the superbly presented Hardy XO Brandy ($130) is a worthy local contender. It might look a little drab in this company, but the St Agnes 5-star ($36) is also a superb spirit. It’s Size That Matters There’s no mistaking the gasp of excitement that typically follows the opening of a large bottle of wine. The bigger the bottle, the bigger the event. The two-bottle magnum is the most common larger bottle and if you’ve bought them before you’ll know they tend to cost around two and a half times the price of a single bottle. There are several reasons for that, the first of which is that the glass bottles themselves are actually very expensive, much more so than single 750 ml bottles. Furthermore, they’re often tricky to bottle, especially for small wineries which might lack versatile bottling lines. They’re often difficult to cork and they need their own labels, irrespective of how small the production run might be. But there is an upside. Not only are they great fun to drink, but they cellar better than wines stored in 750 ml bottles. So, if you’re really serious about keeping top wines for two or three decades, it’s advisable to have some magnums in your cellar. Although finding them reliably can be a hit-and-miss thing, here’s a selection of larger bottles presently on sale around Australia. James Irvine’s celebrated Grand Merlot is one of the more robust, long-living examples of this grape variety made in Australia and it’s amply suited to the business of being inserted into a magnum bottle. Look around and you might find the 1985 and 1989 vintages at about $200 per bottle. The top red wine of central Victorian winery Mitchelton is its Print Label Shiraz, whose 1995 vintage is now in magnum for around $126. I consider magnums of Leeuwin Estate’s inestimable 1994 Art Series Chardonnay at $150 to be something of a bargain, while Blue Pyrenees Estate’s generous 1997 Chardonnay is now in boxed magnum for a mere $60. An increasing number of imported wines are becoming available in magnum, such as Chapoutier’s earthy Crozes Hermitage Les Varonniers 1995 ($175) and de luxe Ermitage Le Pavillion 1995 ($565), while Isole e Olena’s wonderful Cepparello sangiovese 1994 is handily priced around $115. And at around $385 I might still consider a magnum of the finest of all Champagne, Louis Roederer’s Brut Crystal 1990. If you really want to start a party, then a double magnum, or Imperial, is your bottle of wine. Try starting with 3 litres of Moet et Chandon’s NV ($300), while Jim Irvine’s Grand Merlot 1987 can be found in this size for $400, and Jamieson’s Run Coonawarra 1995 is ready to drink for just $90. Bigger than a tap-pack, six beautiful litres of Petaluma’s sumptuous Coonawarra 1993 can be found in a Methuselah for $600; just the thing if the inlaws are expecting to be fed and watered! You’ll have to hurry, but there are still several Nebuchadnezzars (12 spectacular litres) of Laurent-Perrier’s Brut NV, found in the world’s largest bottles, for a trifling $1500 a throw. On the other hand, I’m led to believe that the fashion in Champagne is small, but supposedly classy. While nobody could ever persuade me to try it with the genuine article, the idea is that you drink Champagne from a piccolo, a 200 ml-sized split, into whose neck you insert a straw. Apply sufficient suction with your mouth and they tell me you don’t even need a flute. Hmmm! Piccolos of Moet et Chandon NV are sold in a six-pack for $100, while Billecart-Salmon’s NV split is priced around $20 per bottle. Get in before the Millennium Bug Take my advice this year: don’t just buy enough fizz to see you through this Christmas, but next year’s as well. Not to mention for the end of the millennium, even if it’s being celebrated an entire year too early. Word is from the trade that supplies of Champagne are already drying up and despite what they might be saying, there’s not a lot that the Champenoise can do to guarantee supply for the next twelve months. Let’s begin French, with some of the best non-vintage Champagnes around, most of which are surprisingly affordable, given the relativities of Australian and French currencies. Consider Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV($37), Deveaux NV ($45), Lanson Black Label NV ($50), Louis Roederer ($53), Veuve Clicquot NV ($55), Moet et Chandon NV ($55), Pol-Roger ($60) or Bollinger Special Cuvee NV ($55). Charles Heidsieck’s wonderful Mis En Cave NV Champagnes offer spectacular quality and value, given that the 1994 ($50), 1993 ($55) and 1992 ($60) editions are all still available if you take the trouble to find them. But if you prefer the added thrill, albeit the added expense of vintage Champagne, there is little substitute for Moet et Chandon’s 1992 Vintage ($75), Pol Roger’s stellar 1990 Vintage ($80), Veuve Clicquot’s 1990 Vintage ($75) or Bollinger’s sumptuous Grande Annee 1990 ($95). Domaine Chandon still provides the most convincing local competition to Champagne and its present collection stacks up very well in quality, presentation and price. Think seriously before ignoring its excellent 1995 Vintage Brut ($25), brightly-flavoured 1994 Rose ($28), creamy Late Disgorged Vintage 1992 ($36), assertive Bland de Blancs 1993 ($28) and punchy Blanc de Noirs 1993 ($28). Each, frankly, is under-priced. I’m also greatly interested by Yarrabank’s Traditional Method 1994 ($29), the racy Heemskerk Jansz ($28), the Croser 1996 ($32), Blue Pyrenees Estate’s concentrated and elegant Midnight Cuvee ($30), plus Mountadam’s simply delicious Pinot Noir Chardonnay 1992 rose ($43). Bellavista’s creamy, lively NV (Italian) makes a sparking point of difference at around $40, while Montana’s delicate, herbal Deutz Marlborough Cuvee NV (from New Zealand) is very affordable at $21.
