Febuary 2025. Jen Connan - Australian Wines

 

This Month we had Jen Connan again, and again a very good evening, with wines from all over Australia.

Australia is the 6^th largest producer of wine >1 billion bottles annually, and the 5^th largest exported. Almost all the bottles are now screw cap. Interestingly we get Australian wine cheaper here than the Aussies can buy it at home – a function of the buying might of the British importers, even with our high excise duty.

As usual, 8 wines, with a Sparkling Red, and a botrytis dessert wine too.

Whites:

The Society's Exhibition Clare Valley Riesling 2024 Clare Valley 12%. £11.50. Wine Society

A very different style of Riesling to the German versions we’re more used to. Flinty, austere even. Worth a try . For a bit of fun, get a bottle of this and a bottle of the Society Saar Riesling and compare them.

Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay 2023 Margaret River 12.5%. £13.99. Majestic

A fairly classic oaky chardonnay. Good.

 D’Arenberg The Hermit Crab 2022 McClaren Vale (Viognier/Marsanne) 14%. £16.65. Great Wine Company (GWC)

A very powerful white, high alcohol yet still well balanced

Reds

Rob Dolan Pinot Noir 2021 Yarra Valley 13.5%. £19.95. GWC.

               Not the best P-N I’ve ever tasted. Not for me.

Grant Burge Barossa Ink Shiraz 2023 Barossa Valley 14%. £8.95. Waitrose

               Very good, a classic Aussie shiraz and a bargain to boot

Hesketh Coonawara Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Coonawara 14%. £19.99. Cellar Door Wines (CDW)

A bit ordinary to be honest, & at £20?

Paulett Trillians Sparkling Red NV Clare Valley  (Shiraz/Cab Sauv) 13.5%. £18.95. CDW

Not a style you see often, but well liked. I certainly did. I recommend anyone to try a sparkling red.

Dessert

De Bortoli Family Reserve Botrytis Semillon2020 Riverina 9%. £9 per half bottle

Riverina is in the Murray-Darling region, and has a climate perfect for predictable noble rot wine. So they can make lots at a very affordable price. Very good it is too.

For me the star of the evening was the Grant Burge Shiraz, on offer at £8.99. I did dash to Waitrose the following day to buy more. A steal, as they say  

Jan 2025 - New Years Party

 As always, we have a New Years party. 

For the record, the wines were: 

Sparkling

The Society’s Champagne. Brut NV

White Wine

Exhibition Santorini Assyrtiko 2021  - The Wine Society

 

Picpoul de Pinet - Majestic

 

Red Wine

Parcel Series St Esteph – Majestic

Parker Staton Pinot Noir 2019 - The Wine Society

 

Dessert Wine

Grahams Natura Reserve Port - The Wine Society

Samos Anthemis 2018 - The Wine Society

 

December 2024. Jessica Summer, Mouse & grape. Wines for Xmas

 

Jessica has presented to us before, she’s a local girl from Pinner and has set up “Mouse and Grape” in Pinner as a wine bar and Cheese emporium. 

 

It was a very good evening with some excellent wines. They can all be tried at the Wine bar should you be in the area, and some cheese too…The prices are fairly accessible so I might even pop along myself from sunny Uxbridge.

The wines were:

1.       NZ Sauvignon – Round Stone, Marlborough. 2023. 12.5%. £13

A classic NZ Sauvignon – gooseberry, green apples, acidic, but very much on the right side of the balance. I liked it. A lot.

2.       Pecorino Oltremare Piandimare, Abruzzo, Italy, 2023. 12.5% £15

A food wine, nice balance, very little on the nose. Not for me, but many did like it.

3.       Chablis, Domaine Louis Moreau, Chardonnay,  Burgundy 2023. 12.5%, £28

A superb example of Chablis – tastes very mature for a 2023. Very rounded and well balanced. Apparently the most popular wine by the glass in M&G, even at that price.

4.       Beaujolais Villages, Domaine Chevrier 2023. Gamay

Very bubble gum & cherries. I found it to be lacking balance with an odd taste profile. Sorry, not for me.

5.       Rioja Crianza, Bodegas Marques de Reinosa, 2021. 14.5%, £14

I loved this one. Very rounded, smooth, black fruits, vanilla, spice. Their best selling wine at M&G

6.       Haut Medoc, Château Cissac Bordeaux 2017. 13%, £25.

Classic Claret. Very good. A blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Petit Verdot + Malbec

7.       Le 2 De Romer Du Hayot, Sauternes 2018. 13%. £20

A classic sauternes. Can’t really say more. 90% Semillon, 10% Sauvignon

8.       Brannland Apple Ice Cider, Sweden 2023. 9%, £20

Something from the left field here. A sweet “ice” cider – like an Ice-wine. Very interesting. Clearly from cooking apples. Sharp & sweet. Worth a punt of you are looking for something unusual.