Last updated 14:19, Friday, 21 March 2008

Top Tipples with Alan Irving

IT seems some members of Status Quo have a taste for fine wine, so is it not appropriate that Gerard Richardson, promoter of Whitehaven’s eagerly-awaited rock concert and wine merchant of the town, should oblige?

Mr Richardson has no qualms about it. “Quo are the best so they deserve the best,” declares the former Sellafield fireman and natural entrepreneur.

So Gerard choose one of his best and definitely oldest – an aged Spanish beauty from a well-known bodega – Faustino, you know the one with the striking picture of an equally aged Spanish gentleman which occasionally appears on the local supermarket shelves.

The difference here is that this Faustino is so rare (a 1970 vintage) that it retails at a cool £85 a bottle in Mr Richardson’s Lowther Street emporium.

In its heyday, no doubt a fine Rioja, but my first thought that at 38-years-old she was just a little past her best and I was anxious to put my suspicion to the test with a little bit of healthy competition.

Out came one of my own favourite Riojas – Vina Mara from Tesco’s finest range, much more youthful ( a mere 1998 vintage) but in my view very good indeed. And by comparison mine was only £9.99.

Both are the cut-above Gran Reservas, which means its special, aged for five years before bottling, two of which must be in wood.

So it was Mara vs Faustino and sadly, from my point of view, it was no contest.

Just to prove his point and confound me, Mr Richardson generously allowed myself and a few fortunate office colleagues to sample his venerable vintage and it was not past its prime – on the contrary, it was absolutely divine, one of the finest and most heavenly red wines it has been my pleasure to pass my lips.

Having lost (through growing old) that characteristic Rioja spice and some of its body, Faustino Gran Reserva 1970 has taken on a silky smoothness of an infinite dreamlike quality.

Really, this was an unfair contest, but nevertheless I will stick to my £9.99 Vina Mara while continuing to dream of the Faustino at £85 a bottle.

My only question is whether Status Quo will be tippling the stuff before or after the gig?

Mere mortals don’t despair – there are so many good Riojas that it’s worth shopping around and paying a little more for a Reserva or better still Gran Reserva at a fairly modest price.