Century Wine Club – September

Its getting more difficult now – with >75 varieties down I'm moving into the edges of my knowledge.

In the last month I've had:

White

An Italian Wines from Campania made from Fiano/Falnghina/Greco grapes

A Tesco Sicilian Fiano

A Greco Di Tufa – Triplica

A Pinot Blanc (easy one this) Alsace. Kuhlmann-Platz. Caves de Hunawihr

Red

An Aglianico - Lava, Terre del vulcano. Beneventano region

A Negroamaro - Feudo Dei Tari, 2013

A Primitivo - Natale Verga,, Puglia 2014.

So thats 7 new varieties this month, and I still have a bottle of Furmint in the fridge. Next week I'm off to Madeira, so hopefully a couple of new varieties there, and in October we have Austrian wines at the Society – 2 or 3 more there I hope.

Total right now – 27/9 – 79 varieties.

September 2016. VIlla Maria NZ WInes

This month we had wines from Villa Maria in New Zealand, Presented by Paul Raper the UK Marketing Manager. A very good speaker, and clearly enthusiastic about the wines – very worth listening to.

The wines were:

Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Marlborough £9.

Villa Maria Reserve Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2015 (AWATERE) £13

Vidal Reserve Chardonnay 2015 Marlborough £14

Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2013 Marlborough £16

Esk Valley Merlot/Cabernet/ Malbec 2014 Hawkes Bay £14.50

Vidal Reserve Syrah Gimlett Gravels 2013 Hawkes Bay £13.50

Villa Maria Reserve Merlot 2013 Hawkes Bay £19

Villa Maria Reserve Noble Riesling 2013 Marlborough 37.5c £17

All prices approximate – it all depends where you buy it

I'm going to get into awful trouble here: I really liked the Sauvignon Blancs – both excellent examples of NZ SB's – I actually liked the cheaper one best; but most of the rest didn't do an awful lot for me. I know I am in a minority as most society members did like them.

My problem with them is that (if this makes any sense) they are too well made. All very clean, fresh, elegant wines, but I suppose I tend to like “earthier” wines. I did like the Esk Valley Blend, and did order some.

So if you like clean, fresh, well made, elegant wines then these are for you – at a price.

Best of all, at the end, we got a very nice discount on the wines for a single order. I ordered 9 bottles!