Grape minds think..

Hosted this month with a superb early summer BBQ , May’s gathering resulted in a bitter sweet journey through the wonders of German white wine. No -one bought a red, Karen informed us the Germans do in fact make red wine but they keep it to themselves (apparently they don t bother to  export much of it as they produce so little)

The first wine was Wolf Villa (2008)  from Broadstairs Bottle neck. This Pinot Gris (AKA Pinot Grigio in Italy) was a truly ‘Peachy’ example of excellent German wine – the delicate soft fruit flavour was well balanced and quite dry…a delightful and refreshing  little number…surprisingly even Mark poured a second glass!

The second example was again a Pinot Grigio, this time supplied by Mark and Linda. More like a Pinot ‘Gringo’, the  Kenderemannns 2009 was over sweet and mistaken by some as a desert wine (Yuk) Again Karen with her positive head on suggested it may taste better as an accompaniment for the delicious Pavlova ( The hostesses first brave attempt at this dessert) But no, even with such a tasty pud  most of it ended up in the ‘slops’ glass.

The third wine a Chardonnay grape was provided  by The hosts, the classic ‘ Black Tower’ bottle could not be disguised by any fancy wrapping, neither could the taste…it  still had that familiar ‘Black Tower’ tang – award winning or not , no one really enjoyed it.

“Grape minds think a like”  exclaimed Jacqui  as she presented the final offereing – a second bottle of Wolf Villa ...how lucky we were to double up on the best wine of the evening – well done Jacqui and Karen  - you both get top Marks this time!

With disappointment written all over his face, Nick carried on sipping his diet coke…when he finally realised that the evenings winning wine Wolf Villa is not the latest power tool…just a very tasty white wine enjoyed by all.

Well I guess its time to put a cork in it …until the next time.

What a nice change to read another view on the wine club proceedings, we couldn't make it so Mark stepped in as author.

S x

Bonjour...

Wow, what a NOISY wine club that was on Saturday, there is something about those hosted by Mark & Linda, the noise levels reach extremes, even before we start on the tasting.  Linda was told off by one of her sons in the morning for the noise, thats tables turned !

The brief was anything from France & do a little research about your wine, as you know we have trouble meeting the brief.. all five couples did manage the French part, one white & four reds.  The star of the show was Terry who knew a great deal about Chablis, we did at this point manage to stay quiet and listen, brownie points all round & a big gold star for Terry. 

With the rest of the wines, we were very clever & managed to read the back of the bottles, even those in French, well, we translated about 10 words between us!

We started with the Chablis, those that like Sancerre particularly liked this wine as it had a similar taste, though not as flinty. It was agreed not the best Chablis ever but good, the big question, was it worth nearly £15 ?
We moved onto Marks favourite, red Bordeaux, three different ones were tried all with interesting depth of flavour, deep ruby colours and intense aromas, my favourite was Chateau David £6.99 on special from sainsbury.  All improved with the 'superb' Beef Bourguignon, excellent match for these wines.  Again most felt (not all) that these complex wines leave the New World ones standing in their shadows.

We ended with a Shiraz, odd one this one, completely different from the others, even the bottle didn't look very french, tasted sweeter than the others and just not the same depth to it.  Needless to say the bottle was empty at the end...now who finished that up ???

Mark found some wine clips on YouTube, this one is so funny, Mark said it could be any of the girls from the wine club..what does he mean..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ZLvWTTHtE

This French Tasting also prompted a possible trip to France as a group later in the year, can France cope with us ?

Planning ahead, we are to host the October wine club, so I have set down a challenge to each couple.. I gave each couple a pumpkin seed to grow, there will be two prizes in October one for the biggest & one for the heaviest pumpkin, there is to be no cheating ie going out & buying one, it was decided that photographic proof would be required from each couple throughout the growing season.  Well its a bit of fun..

Time to stick a cork in it.

Bye S.

Singles

This month six of us made the journey out into the sticks to our hosts Jacqui & Nick where a warm welcome awaited. The brief this month was any wine of choice but it had to be a single grape not a blend..simple enough you would think... Three couples managed it! So no matter how Mark tried to manipulate the voting his wine still couldn't wine..not that it did anyway...


We started with an excellent Sauvignon Blanc from Malborough New Zealand called Kono so very pale almost looked like water, strong water though at 13%, we think it was bought from John Lewis, the couple who selected this wine from their 'special cupboard' are not sure. This was the favourite wine of the evening with five votes. Think it might be a nightmare to track down, did a quick search on google & came up with nothing !




We followed this up with ours a white Grenache again very drinkable, pale gold in colour creamy white peach aroma with a citrusy edge. taste was smooth and lemony with a hint of melon. 12% Angove White Grenache from Laithwaites. Goes well with Light meals and Thai green curry, the heat brings out the fruitiness, so would be good to try that sometime. These first two wines would be excellent for summertime.


The third wine was a different tasting wine from France,  The Marsanne grape - from Northern Rhone - Jacqui said it reminded her of sauternes - it was from M& S and was 10.49 ( or thereabouts - got 10% off as 3 bottles of wine) This was the least popular wine of the evening just not our cup of tea... Talking of tea, supposed to be wine tasting, he's drinking tea..(pic to follow)


The final wine was from The Cotes du Rhone, the home of Chateauneuf du Pape, although initially it sucked all the moisture from your month until you got used to it, so even though this wine didn't count as it was a blend of Grenache, Shiraz & others... We did manage to finish it off. This wine was voted the favourite by three of the 'experts'.


Grenache is used to make a white chateauneuf and it's said "that this is the best white wine we are not drinking" so might need to track some down.


Food was Greek based (anyone guess why) yummy and followed up by Jacqui and her famous fruit platter (pic below)


Our professional photographer is slow today in sending in his photos from the evening including the one of himself. Update.. problem with iphone...modern technology! ~ ahh piccys here now, see below..


Evening went well, we generally thought it was good to try some different wines and learn a little about each of them. Expecting power point presentations next time.


No hangover today,you can tell we have matured (slightly) as the evening didn't finish too late and we didn't completely drain every bottle..as we would have done a few years ago. those were the days.


As often is the way the boys ended crashed on the sofas... looking like the Blues Brothers as they tried on the 3D glasses to watch a movie, Nick latest gadget !


Amazing no spilt wine, drawing on tablecloths, no broken chairs or tables..


Time to stick a cork in it.

Bye S.

Down Under

Wine club yesterday evening, so I sit here today feeling only ever so slighty jaded, must have been the late night, can't have been the wine... I suppose it could have been the super bottle of Champers that Geoff and I had before everyone arrived..maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

Geoff and I hosted this month, we decided to do things a little differently. I had a new case of Australian wines from Laithwaites, so I picked five bottles from the case to taste, splitting the cost between the five couples. We sampled two whites and three reds. It was generally agreed that they were all very good.

Coming in at top place overall was the McPherson Alexandra Verdelho, the general opinion was, it was very drinkable on it's own, would be a great light wine for the summer, although not so light at 13.5% so you could get wasted before you knew it... Naturally none of us would, we are all far too sensible..nice citrus aroma with a clean citrus taste and smooth finish.

In second place and top of the reds was Palmprint, you'd buy this bottle just for the label, looks great. A really deep blackish ruby colour and smooth berry taste with a hint of liquorice a great Shiraz, it's a hearty wine at 14.5% and you really need to be eating a meal to enjoy this wine. Palmprint was only one point behind the winner.

The in between wines were:

Third place a Cab Shiraz called Westend, fourth place The Optimist and fifth with a lot less points was Shane Virgo 100% Chardonnay, now don't turn your nose up at Chardonnay thinking Footballers Wives and Essex Girls (no offence meant to either) this was a very modern tasting Chardonnay none of the heavy buttery oaky tastes that you would usually associate with this wine. It was up against the Verdelho which was so good it probably didn't have much of a chance.

During the evening the final Secret Santa presents were given out(!) better late than never as they say, one was a table game, called Reveal, a little pot of sticks with questions, you are 'supposed' to go round the table in order giving your answer and listening to others... So completely impossible for the wine club!!!

Here is a question for you, how many glasses are used at a wine tasting evening for ten people?

Answer ~ Too many....

We also need a trip to the bottle bank, not many water bottles to go, strange that.

Time to stick a cork in it.

Bye S x

Chilean Wine Tasting January 2011

We knew it would be a good one and we weren't disappointed.  There is something about Chilean wines, years ago we'd have turned our noses up if we'd been offered a glass but they really have come on leaps and bounds.  Most were deep ruby in colour, berry aromas, smooth and fruity to taste and a real pleasure to drink. They are also well priced for the quality.  They work with or without food.

Hosted this month by Terry & Karen. We tasted five Chilean wines, we ALL managed to make notes, you have no idea how rare this is.  Maybe it was the nice pens we had to use, I'm not sure Karen got them all back, if not might be worth frisking Mick !  Talking of pens Mr 'Special Pockets' Mark managed to get pen on the white cloth, along with the red wine spilt by others, talking of spillage there seemed to be rather a lot this time... hope Karen had the tub of vanish handy.  Karen also managed to get red wine in her eye !

All five wines were enjoyable, coming in at second place was a Cabernet Sauvignon Carmenre blend 2010, Carmenere is fast developing into Chile's signature wine.  This wine had notes of vanilla, violets, plums. A much heavier wine than the others with distinct tanins and a berry tasts. 13% so a real hangover wine, it cost £5 on offer normally £8.99 From Tesco.

Coming in at first place was our wine, a Waitrose  recommendation.  Errazuiz Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Anconcagua Valley. On offer at £5.69 normally £8.49 and worth every penny.

This gently oaked wine with its deep ruby colour and immediate blackcurrant aroma tinged with menthol notes.  There was a slight dusty/musty hint to this wine which most of us picked up on.  It was beautifully smooth to drink with a long finish.  Excellent to drink by itself but worked equally with food.  Its a steal at just over a fiver.

We did our wine tasting in pairs this time, I was paired with Terry, as you know we have been tasting wine for years now, and 'should' know our grapes. Heres how we got on:

Wine No. 1 Cabernet sauvignon   ~ we thought it was a Cab (Though I did buy it!)
Wine No. 2 Cabernet sauvignon Carmenere  ~  we thought it wasn't a Cab, close..
Wine No. 3                       ~ we thought it could be a Cab, but forgot to note what it was !
Wine No. 4 Melot                        ~ we thought it was a shiraz, we lost the plot a bit here
Wine No. 5 Cabernet sauvignon Carmenere  ~ we thought it was a Cab, we'd had some water between

The pattern here is we only remember Cabernet Sauvignon unless it tastes like wellie boots then its a Merlot, I think maybe we need more practice...

Mick summed up the wine tasting with real understanding of Chilean wines " Apart from the grape, they are all the same" 

It was a great evening, Jackie & Nick you missed a good one.

Time to put a cork in it.

Bye S.

Pics... Mr 'Special Pockets' Mark and his tablecloth drawing & the wine experts (not) Mick Sue & Terry

The mystery of the vanishing Beaujolais

A couple of us were discussing the 'Beaujolais Run' a few weeks ago, might be fun to do the run etc etc, still caught up in the fairytail of it all, so to speak... then I saw this article in the Telegraph ~

Why is Beaujolais Nouveau virtually impossible to buy in Britain nowadays. Once, the supermarkets used to compete for the best choice, but it hasn't been on the shelves for years.

Answer:

If you've heard of Beaujolais the chances are you remember the annual and much-feted race for the first, squealingly young 'nouveau' wines of the vintage to arrive from across the Channel on the third Thursday of November. Perhaps you also remember the taste of the wine - all too often, piercingly acidic, with a smell reminiscent of the old pink penny bubblegum that came in an individual waxy wrapper, and a horribly thin taste. Visit Beaujolais now, mention nouveau and most producers will put their head in their hands and sigh. The idea of drinking freshly harvested wine was exciting for a while but the farrago all but destroyed the reputation of the area. Today Beaujolais is split in two: the southern, generic, part of the appellation has a shocking quantity of untended, overgrown vineyards that are turning to wasteland because the wines, facing competition from everywhere else in the world, can't find a market.

The crus in the north, however, are enjoying a much-deserved resurgence in popularity. This has been helped by the blazingly good 2009 vintage, the likes of which hadn't been since 1947. The crus - the likes of Fleurie, Morgon, Moulin a Vent, Brouilly and so on - are superb and I've been drinking them thirstily all year, but the vintage also made fantastically good value wines of lowly Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages, the last of which are still on the shelves so buy them while you can. As for Nouveau, I think they're trying to forget about it - but I did see some on a supermarket shelf the other week so it is still around

~ So I think that trip to France is off and looking at Karens comment on Pinot Noir we won't be buying that there either !

Christmas Special

The Christams wine club was an eagerly anticipated evening.. However, we didn't all make it, the snow stopped one couple, even their Chelsea Tractor couldn't get them there, the price you pay for living out in the sticks, another couple laid up in bed with a nasty virus..so they say ! The rest of us, wrapped up and made our way through the snow on foot to our hosts for an evening of drinks food and fun.

Unwrapping ourselves on arrival to revel our glad rags, the hall was littered with wellie boots (the chianti smelled just like the boots) hats and coats, looked a bit like a boot fare.

Wines were anything beginning with the letter'c how festive.. The bottles were creatively wrapped to a Christmas theme (pictures above). We must all be children of the Blue Peter sticky back plastic/cut up a washing bottle era.. Really excellent 'attempts' a Christmas tree, Santa, Choir Boy and the winner a stack of gifts which was simple but very effective, well done Mr Stone & his artistic wife who helped by putting her finger on top so the ribbon could be tied!! How would he have managed without her contribution.

A tasty buffet accompanied the wines, a Chablis to start, a bit disappointing, followed by Claret, deep cherry colour and a nice smooth finish this proved to be the winner, very good value so pop to M & S to pick up a bottle or two for Christmas. ~ Bordeaux/Claret 2008 £6.99.

This was followed by a rather nice Cabernet Sauvignon from Asda £7.99 B & G 2007 but on offer at £5.

Lastly a Chianti, harsh and not very drinkable.See wellie boot note above.

So onto the fun and games, well it is Christmas after all, we handed out the Secret Santa gifts, always exciting, seeing who would dip out and not get their gift (from those that weren't there)would have been VERY funny if Mark had dipped out for a second year.. Then another game had been organized involving raffle tickets and random gifts to be taken from each other, too long to explain in depth, a good wheeze though..

Then naturally there was the spilt glass of wine, red of course...I leant across the table for Mick to squeeze my gift (!).. As he did this his full glass of red wine coursed over him, lap to shoulder in a bold diagonal line, couldn't have got more on him if he a had tried, also the cream carpet wasn't spared!! I was laughting to the point of tears, you just had to be there!
All in all a good Christmas wine club only shame was we weren't all there.

We also dipped in the bag to pick the months we would host for 2011... Just need to think of some wines to try.

Time to stick a cork in it.

Bye S.