Explore a world of quality wine

TWO FREE BOTTLES OF QUALITY WINE; We have two great wine offers for you to enjoy. You can collect tokens for two free bottles of wine. You can also choose to purchase the Bordeaux Direct case selections exclusive to our readers at a special price of pounds 39.99 (plus p&p)

There's a whole world of wine out there - and it's yours to explore at a fraction of the usual price. Like the independent traveller who likes to eschew package holidays and wander off the beaten path, the wine explorer has adventures in store. Our offer will free you from the mass market world of supermarket plonk or super-pricey "quality" wine merchants.

At only pounds 39.99 for a 12-bottle case, you can save at least pounds 30 each on any one or all of the five sample cases on offer. They come from France, Italy, Spain and Australia. Each of these contains three bottles of four specially selected wines to give you a true flavour of independent winemakers from each country. And then there is the World Selection, which includes examples from each country.

All will be delivered to your door (you don't get much more direct than that) for a charge of pounds 4.95. You will also receive full tasting notes and a free copy of Bordeaux Direct's Wine Guide. All explorers benefit from local guides who really know the lay of the land - and this is where Bordeaux Direct, recently acclaimed by Grapevine as "By The Case" Wine Merchant of the Year for 1997, comes in.

Its founder, Tony Laithwaite, brought his first consignment direct from a Bordeaux producer in 1969. He believed then - and still does - that the way to buy real wine is to go straight to source, the winemaker in the vineyard.

From those tiny beginnings, he has built the company into an enterprise that has travelled the globe in search of quality at an affordable price. Now, 28 years later, he has applied that principle to the point where the firm should really be called "Bordeaux-and anywhere-else-in-the-world- that-produces -good-wine Direct." That expertise is now at your disposal.

You can have full confidence. Bordeaux Direct guarantees: "Taste the wines and if you are not completely satisfied we will refund you in full - no questions asked."

Stocks are strictly limited so order as soon as you can.

The offer, exclusive to readers of The Independent and Independent on Sunday, is:

l FROM FRANCE: Les Landiers Sauvignon Blanc 1996, Jardin de la France VdP; Domaine des Vercheres Chardonnay 1995, Bourgogne AOC; Les Abeilles 1994, Cotes du Rhone AOC; Chateau Grand Videau 1994, Bordeaux Superieur AOC. Normal price: pounds 78.24. Offer price: pounds 39.99.

l FROM ITALY: Lucania Chardonnay & Pinot Grigio 1995, Basilicata VdT; Villa Angela Chardonnay 1995, Marche VdT; Farnese Signifero 1995, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC; La Situlia 1995, Trentino Merlot DOC. Normal price: pounds 76.94. Offer price: pounds 39.99.

l FROM SPAIN: Familia Martinez Bujanda Blanco Oak-Aged 1994, Rioja DOC; Castillo Labastida 1995, Rioja DOC; Masia Bach Merlot 1994, Penedez DO; La Cantera 1991, Carinena DO. Normal price pounds 77.52. Offer price: pounds 39.99.

l FROM AUSTRALIA: McKinney Ridge 1996, South Eastern Australia; Woongara Sauvignon Blanc 1996, Redcliffe Coonawarra; Tatachilla Keystone Grenache Shiraz 1995, McLaren Vale; Raven's Creek 1996, South Eastern Australia. Normal Price: pounds 73.98. Offer price: pounds 39.99.

l WORLD SELECTION: Domaine des Vercheres Chardonnay 1995, Bourgogne AOC; Familia Martinez Bujanda Blanco Oak-Aged 1994, Rioja DOC; McKinney Ridge 1996, South Eastern Australia; Les Landiers Sauvignon Blanc 1996, Jardin de la France VdP; Farnese Signifero 1995, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC; Chateau Grand Videau 1994, Bordeaux Superieur AOC; La Cantera 1991, Carinena DO; Raven's Creek 1996, South Eastern Australia. Normal price: pounds 70.88. Offer price: pounds 39.99

TODAY: FOCUS ON ITALY

Even in the days before the Roman empire, the ancient Greeks had a word for Italy: Oenotria, the land of wine. But while Italy may lay claim to being the birthplace of wine, she did not start to get her act fully together until as recently as the 1960s. Before that it was Chianti in wicker flasks and "factory-made" Valpolly, Soave and

Frascati...

Then they twigged how well the French did things and suddenly every rich industrialist had to have his own wine estate. Huge acreages were planted with EC hand-outs.

The result is that Italy is an Aladdin's cave - little jewels of wines of all hues and styles from Sicily to the Alps. The only problem is the map is useless for finding your way through the immense variety - and variable standards - of modern Italian wine. Italy's annual production is the largest in the world (even in a low-yielding year, such as 1995, 5,200 million litres were produced).

Here are notes on the second pair of the four wines in the 12-bottle case. The first two were featured at the weekend in the Independent on Sunday.

Lucania Chardonnay & Pinot Grigio 1995, Basilicata VdT. This is a full, peachy wine that will accompany both fish (sea bass, for example) and white meat dishes.

To be served slightly chilled, it is a pale straw colour, with complex aromas and flavours of mature peaches and ripe pears. The richness of the Chardonnay is balanced by the fresh flavours of the Pinot Grigio. It should be drunk by the end of the year.

La Situlia Merlot Trentino DOC 1995. This really is a winner - a coveted silver medal in last year's International Wine Challenge (the toughest wine competition in the world) and a gold medal at the London Vintage

Festival.

A wonderfully dark purple colour keeps its promise

of superb, characteristically soft Merlot. Tasters enthuse about jammy black fruit,

toffee, even chocolate. It is particularly recommended to accompany lamb cooked in red wine, but is excellent

with other grilled and

roasted meats.

2 FREE BOTTLES OF WINE

The Independent and Independent on Sunday have joined with Bordeaux Direct to invite our readers to enjoy two free bottles of wine, delivered direct to your door. We will send you a bottle each of Domaine de Liboreau Charentais VdP 1995 and Farnese Signifero 1995, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which normally retail from Bordeaux Direct at pounds 4.79 and pounds 4.99 respectively.

Simply collect 10 differently numbered tokens (including two from the Independent on Sunday) from the 16 tokens we will be printing from Saturday 25 January until Sunday 9 February. You then need to send the tokens with one of the application forms we will publish from Monday 3 February, together with a cheque for pounds 2.50 to cover delivery. It is as simple as that - there's no need to take vouchers to a supermarket and you do not even have to take advantage of our other generous offer of selected cases.

Today we are printing Token 4.

BORDEAUX DIRECT

Bordeaux Direct is part of Direct Wines, a privately owned company established in 1969, which has grown to become the world's largest home delivery wine

specialist.Last year it delivered no fewer than 12 million bottles in the UK.

Bordeaux Direct is renowned for putting new wine regions, such as Bulgaria and Chile, on the map. The influential guide, Grapevine, recently voted it "By The Case" Wine Merchant of the Year for 1997.

It is particularly famous for its ability to seek out high quality wines at affordable prices - and the two wines the Independent is offering free are prime examples.

THE WINES

Domaine de Liboreau 1995, Charentais VdP. Predominantly Sauvignon, this is a pale green-straw in colour, redolent of fresh tangy lemons and palate- tickling hint of gooseberries. Crisp, fresh, fruity - with a refreshing and lively finish.

It comes from the Charente area in the Atlantic south-west of France, just north of Bordeaux, which is also home to Cognac. The worldwide slump in demand for brandies in the early 1990s meant that grapes originally intended for distilling are instead being used to make excellent table wines .

This exceptional wine was developed almost by chance thanks to a disaster when maturing stocks of Cognac caught fire and completely destroyed the cellars at Domaine de Liboreau. This meant that just as the switch to making wine instead of brandy became necessary, the domaine was equipped with completely new, up-to-the-minute technology, capable of producing wine far surpassing expectations!

Farnese Signifero 1995 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Here is a versatile all-rounder - easy, gentle on the palate without any of those harsh scouring tannins that often make the mouth pucker when tasting the less sophisticated Montepulcianos or other Italian reds.

No wonder, then, that it was commended in the 1996 International Wine Challenge (one of the pickiest wine competitions in the world) and selected by the even pickier Wine Spectator as one of its best buys in March 1996. The Spectator's verdict was: "Smooth, spicy, almost plush in texture, with good cherry flavours and nice balance. An Italian red that is easy to enjoy now..."

Bordeaux Direct is especially closely involved both in how the grapes are grown and in how the wine is made. For 1995 the firm worked even more closely with producers to secure the best fruit from the best vineyard sites, in the province of Chieti , just behind Pescara on the Adriatic coast.

Filippo Baccalaro, the winemaker, paid extra-special attention to such good fruit and made for Bordeaux Direct a cuvee with deeper colour and more fruit than is usual.

Terms and Conditions

1.Applications for the two free bottles of wine offer must be submitted on an official application form and received by 10 March 1997, accompanied by 10 differently numbered tokens (with at least 2 from the Independent on Sunday) and a cheque for pounds 2.50 made payable to Newspaper Publishing Plc. Tokens will be printed from Saturday 25 January to Sunday 9 February 1997. Application forms, including the address for applications will be printed from Monday 3 February to Sunday 9 February.

2.The offer is open to UK residents, excluding the Channel Islands, aged 18 years or over.

3.Only one application per household permitted. Multiple applications from trade or consumer groups will not be accepted.

4.No photocopies of tokens or applications accepted.

5.No responsibility can be accepted for damaged, incomplete or illegible applications.

6.Offer subject to availability. We reserve the right to alter the wines offered, to wines of a similar quality.

7.All wines will be delivered within a maximum of 28 days.

8.Any claims for breakages in transit, incorrect or incomplete orders must be made in writing within 7 days of delivery to The Independent Wine Offer, Bordeaux Direct, PO Box 2252, Reading, Berkshire, RG4 5YF. Claims for non-delivery of goods despatched by courier will only be considered if made within 21 days of the readers order.

9.All enquiries must be made by mail only to the above address.

10.The promoter is Newspaper Publishing Plc, 1 Canada Square , Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL. (No applications to this address).