Oz Clarke on wine and the Wharf

He said: “Chilean reds are getting better every year. They have been the smart buyer’s reds for the last two or three years, while Chilean whites are really good.

"The sauvignon blancs are really snappy. Try one or two of them because they have a lovely, ripe, peachy fruit but they are not overdone and heavily oaky, claggy thick. There’s a brightness to them.

“Also try New Zealand reds from Gimblett Gravels near Napier. They are remarkable with a soft texture and a really cool, almost chilly kind of red flavour. Delightful.  For utterly reliable red wine try Peter Lehmann from South Australia.

“Spain and Portugal are making some remarkable wines, old vines garnacha from Calatyud. They are juicy and spicy and only about £4.50 to £6 a bottle, so a good credit crunch wine.�

The 59-year-old guru of the grape had some words of advice for anyone looking for more value for money as the economic downturn continues.

He said: “Trade down to wines which are genuinely cheaper because they come from less popular areas or less popular grapes.

"Don’t just go for a well known brand on a buy one get one free offer because however famous they are the winemaker hasn’t put £7.99 worth of wine in the bottle, he’s put £3.99 worth of wine in there.

"Hopefully we’re no longer fooled by a Californian or Australian brand we’ve never seen before on these unbelievable offers.

“Eastern Europe is much undervalued. Hungary and Romania have some of the greatest vineyards in Europe. You can get some great value wines from there, many for less than a fiver, while wines from the Languedoc in France are good value.

“And if you are really worried about the credit crunch try Waitrose’s own label, the cuvee de chasseur and the cuvee de pecheur. They are very nice wines.

“But ask yourself how much of a credit crunch are you in. Don’t talk yourself into a life of misery and loneliness. If we all took a slightly more positive attitude we would fall less far and get back much faster.�

And with value for money very much the flavour of the month what does Clarke pinpoint as the wines to watch out for next year.

“There will be more good sauvignon blancs than ever,� he said.

“Even the hot countries have worked out how to make these cool climate wines. They will be very good.

“And Italian whites, which have been forgotten for a long time, are remarkably good. They have a satisfying, reassuring winey quality about them, without being able to quite put your finger on what they actually taste of.

“Portugal has its own grape varieties and makes some absolutely smashing wine for around £4.99. Don’t worry about unfamiliar names or grape varieties, just take some home and try them because they really are the best value for money wines in Europe.�

Clarke also had some words of wisdom for anyone looking to invest their capital in wine instead of precarious stocks and shares.

He said: "Long term it will be fine. I was talking to some big brokers and they said between 80 and 90 per cent of the wine they sold from the 2005 vintage was to people who had never bought wine before and a lot of them were on the Wharf.

"Some of them will have lost their jobs and others will be really worried about their jobs. They were expecting to stay in for four or five years and then recoup 100 or 200 per cent profit.

"But I'm afraid they will only be staying in for two and a half years and if they want to get liquidity they will be selling for what they bought for.

"They are the ones who pushed the price up in the first place and I'm afraid they are the ones who are going to have to bite the bullet.

"They will get their money back, but the wines won't be worth less than what they bought them for but they won't necessarily be worth more.

"If they have still got their jobs, either hold onto them or buy more, but don't buy more yet. Go back into the market to buy wine in six to nine months' time or maybe a year, depending on the downturn.

"They will find some bargains. The top wines have dropped 50 per cent in value in the last six to eight weeks. The lesser wines never had that value climb but they will drop back to what they are worth.

"That's what I'll be buying in six or nine month's time, the less famous ones but I've tasted them and I know how good they are.

"I don't care on my table what the label says as long as the flavour that comes shooting out of the bottle is good enough."

Clarke, who used to work in the area as a journalist on the Daily Telegraph, thinks Canary Wharf will bounce back from the current economic gloom.

He said: "We need a bit more of that wartime spirit of 'let's fight this thing', because then there would be a lot less job losses going on.

"The losses will hit the Wharf hard but the the Wharf will come back. The Wharf is a great, beautiful, majestic powerhouse and it will come back.

"I like the Wharf I think it's great. I remember it being built and I think it's magnificent. It has a power and majesty and brooding determination about it."

But forgetting economic problems and job losses the ebullient wine writer is looking forward to enjoying a glass or two with his Christmas lunch. But what does a man with a 1,500 bottle cellar drink with his turkey? Red or white?

"Both," he said. "My mum is colourblind, or at Christmas she is. She has a lack of vinous prejudice at Christmas. We have whatever's there, and quite a lot is."

For more information on Waitrose wines visit www.waitrose.com

For more from Oz visit www.ozclarke.com