May 2016 - Swiss Wines

May 2016. Swiss Wine from Ben of Alpine Wines

Ben is clearly an enthusiast, and his talk was full of fascinating detail about Swiss wine, with always just another interesting fact....

The wines, as you might expect from Switzerland, are expensive. Very expensive. This might explain why they export so little (1.5% of their production) or it might be because they drink them all because they are very good. Very, very good.

Chasselas Suisse 2012. Cave de la Cote, Vaud - £12.22

Doral 2013 Cave Cidis, La Cote, Vaud - £16.20

Petite Arvine de Fully. Maitre de Chaise reserve special 2013. Provins, Sion Valais - £30.40

Oeil de Perdrix (Pinot Noir) 5/9 2009 Cave de Geneve, Geneva £18.16

Pinot Noir Suisse 2011, Cave de la Cote, Vaud £12.22

Gamay de Chablais Vaudois 2009. Badoux vins, Aigle, Vaud £18.04

Gamaret-Garanoir 2012. Uvavins, la Cote, Vaud £16.79

Merlot Ismaro 2010 Delea, Ticino £16.80

My favourite would be the first, the Chasselas, a not unreasonable price for an excellent well balanced and rounded wine.

They are all quite unusual, like nothing you've had before – in a good way, so I would recommend you steel yourself and splash out. You won't be dissapointed. (Whether you can afford them in the long term is another rmatter). Give them a try.

All available from www.alpinewines.co.uk

April 2016 - French Wines under £10

The challenge - to find decent french wine for less than a tenner a bottle. Well, with a little cheating, we managed it. All from local supermarkets & wine stores.

Sparkling
Cremant de Jura – £7.50, Aldi

White
Muscadet. Chateau de Tourmaline, Sur Lie – £6.49 Majestic
Picpoul de Pinet – Mark. £6.00 Tesco's Finest
Gewurztraminer (Languedoc!) – £9.89, Laithwaites

Red
St Chinian Red - Terrasses de Maylene – £8.49 Majestic
Vin de Pays de L’Herault – Carignan, Paul Mas – £8.99 Majestic
Les Gravieres Crozes-Hermitage 2014 – £9.98 Waitrose*
* Was 25% off, and then 5% more for 6 bottles - normally over £13...

Dessert
Muscat de St.Jean de Minervois – £6 per 1/2 bottle, Sainsburys

Cremant de Jura - one of many Cremants you can get, and a snip at £7.50 if you want some fizz, but without breaking the bank
Muscadet - that old traditional standby, we dont see much of these days, but at £6.50, definitely a bargain, and well worth trying.
Picpoul de Pinet, something of a new kid on the block, and a bit trendy - nothing too fancy, but definitely a good glugger.
A Gewurz from the languedoc - I'm a big fan of Alsace gewurz, but this didn't match up - a noble effort nevertheless.
St Chinian Red - A good sound wine
Paul Mas Carignan - a single varietal Carignan? Very worth drinking.
Les Gravieres Crozes-Hermitage - A touch dissappointing, at £13 would be overpriced.
Muscat de St.Jean de Minervois - A Vin Doux Naturelle. OK it was over £10 the full bottle, but thats the thing with dessert wines, they aren't cheap.






All in all we had 38 people show up, and a very good night was had..