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When a pith-helmeted Robbie Richards hacked his way through the impenetrable jungles to the north of Newington Green in 1981 in search of the fabled land of Stokiana his friends thought he'd got a touch of the sun. Whether it was heatstroke or a stroke of genius that drove him on we may never know but he made it to that happy land and set up shop at The Fox in Church Street. Of the other pioneers on that wild frontier only Michael Mori at the Gallo Nero a restaurant back then survives. The late, lamented 'Sammy' Shamsudeen tottered over to the Red Lion for the last time several years ago and Gerhard I like the sound of Gerhard, he apparently had a basement bar in what is now the Barracuda, replete with a stuffed bear and tinkling water-fountains well, who knows? In any case, approaching its twenty-first birthday The Fox, now Reformed, has achieved 'local institution' status and provides everything necessary to sustain life for its devoted habitués. Among many other things, Frills The Fox Reformed Imbibing and Low Life Society features fortnightly wine-tastings. I went to one focussing on Australian Shiraz, which was probably a mistake as it's a subject I only marginally prefer to straight algebra. Nonetheless, it was intelligently tutored, there were proper tasting glasses and so on and a good enough selection of wines to point up the range of styles and quality that can emerge from a single varietal in different hands. One stand-out, however, was the only blended wine, Element Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon, which The Fox stocks by the glass at £3.95/175ml. From Western Australia, it's a wine with a lovely, deeply-saturated colour, fabulous glycerol-laden body and an intense nose of super-fresh blackcurrants. The explosive (and long) black-fruit flavours of the Cabernet are given a greenly herby, dill or fennel, edge by the Syrah. This blend is not used, to my knowledge, in 'Old World' France maybe because in the days when they were working these things out, the Rhone seemed a very long way from Bordeaux and people stuck with local varietals. No such problems in the 'New World' of the Pays d'Oc, however, whence comes La Fourcade Cabernet-Syrah (£2.70). Somewhat closed and much less extracted than the Aussie, but with a good, smooth body and herby flavours this is certainly nothing to offend, but Element was a show-stopping act to follow. Bergerac Sec Belingard (£3.15) is a product of another match made in heaven, Sauvignon
Blanc and Semillon. The Sauvignon is always in your face first in this case in a
high-strung, very slightly smoky, gooseberryish sort of a way then the Semillon comes
from behind to fatten it up and give it some roundness in the back of
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the mouth. Maybe it's something to do with age, but a lot of straight
Sauvignons seem quite harsh compared with this classic and, mercifully un-vogueish blend.
I'm not sure what goes into the leggy, blonde Cotes de Gascogne La Fourcade, but the
refreshing, crisply grapefruity flavours suggest some much under-rated Ugni Blanc and I
could drink a lot of it, especially at £2.70. Fat and oaky, Gallo Sycamore Canyon
(£3.75) is text-book, mid-range California Chardonnay with solid body, zesty fruit and a
slightly tarry finish. The Frills house claret, M de Montesquieu 2000 (£3.50), is a nice
example of what is known, in one of my favourite bits of wine-speak, as a 'light luncheon
claret'. It is soft and candyish, light in colour and body, with redcurrant flavours and
just a touch of oak. The makers have eschewed any troublesome tannins this is after all
a mere baby to be drunk at 18 months of age.