April 2012 - the AGM. Wines by the Committee

And so, the AGM. As usual, we did a committee tasting, with a selection of wines from around the world.

We had, the Whites:

Vouvray Demi-Sec 2009 Domaine Bourillon-Dorléans £7.99

Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc 2009/2010 Marlborough £6.99

Gavi di Gavi 2009 La Toledana £9.99

McGuigan Chardonnay 2007/2009 South Eastern Australia £7.99

And the Reds

Gestos Malbec 2009 Finca Flichman, Mendoza £6.49

Agentinian Fairtrade Malbec, Cooperative £???

Côtes du Rhône 2006 E Guigal £8.99

Rioja Gran Reserva 2002/2003 Casa del Comendador, Lagunilla £7.98

The Chardonnay was interesting, as we had (by accident) both a 2007 and a 2009 bottle – both picked off the same shelf at Majestic. The 2007 was more “old style”, oaky, full-bodied, buttery, while the 2009 was lighter and fresher. How much of this reflects changing wine making styles, and how much was due to the age difference is anyone’s guess.

The Rioja, at 10 years old, was definitely showing its age, with a real brown tinge to the colour. I thought it was past it's best.

All in all a good selection of wines – which is just as well, as they were our emergency wines, held just in case a speaker did not show up. It was time to drink them....

Also, we had a vote on the meeting fee – its been £7 for a few years now, and as we have burned through the £5000 we managed to accumulate 5 years ago, its now time to balance the books. So we have increased it to £8 per meeting. Its quite surprising how wine has shot up in price. It only seems like yesterday when you could get a good bottle for a fiver – now its more like £8 or so.

March - Casilliero Del Diablo/Concha Y Toro

Presented by Chris Horridge of Altus wines, we slurped down a range of the Chilean Casillero del Diablo wines.
Although these wines are well known and widely available, there were a couple of new ones I'd not seen before. In order we had
Brut Reserva Sparkling 2009 - £10.oo
Sauvignon blanc 2010 - £7.49
Chardonnay Casablanca 2009 - £7.49
Viognier 2010 - £7.49
Pinot Noir 2009 - £7.49
Carmenere 2009 - £7.49
Reserva Privada Cabernet Syrah 2007 - £10.00
Late Harvest Dessert 2008 £6.00 (1/2 bottle)

All good stuff. The pinot was pretty good - although as a non fan of pinot I passed on it, and I thought the chardonnay was only so-so.
Tempted by the offer of some jolly good discounts on the night, several of us bought some - I had some of the Sauvignon and Viognier, and the Cabernet/Syrah and the Carmenere.

All in all, a good evening - and a great turnout of 37 members.

Argentinian Wines

Given the hoo-hah currently going on with Argentina about the Falklands - blockading British ships and all that, should I make a commercial point and stop buying Argentinian Wine? Thoughts anyone?

February Meeting

Well, unfortunately I wasn't there (half term, kids), but those who were reported back that it was very entertaining. It was presented by the "Antipodean Sommelier" www.tazwines.co.uk. Esther even said that there was a Rose which she sort of liked - praise indeed!

The wines were

Black Cottage Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Marlborough
Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Marlborough
Black Cottage Pinot Gris 2010 Marlborough
Two Rivers Riesling 2011 Marlborough
Black Cottage Pinot Rose 2011 Marlborough
Cypress Terraces Syrah 2009 Hawkes Bay
Black Cottage Pinot Noir 2010 Marlborough
Mount Rosa Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 Central Otago

Several members put orders in...

Sorry I can't say more...

New Members Wanted

We always welcome new members or guests - at any meeting. If you are interested, come along to our next meeting which is the 16th February and try us out. We are a very low key society - it's all about enjoying the wine.... So do come along.

New Years Party

We had a very pleasant party, only spoiled (for me) by passport control at heathrow, the "pods" at Terminal 5 car park and an accident on the heathrow spur. Which all left me 15 minutes late, stressed and out of sorts. Anyway, the wines went down well; we had chosen the Italian wines from Morenos (the December tasting) with a Prosecco to start, a Fiano then 2 reds - the Primitivo and the Nero d'Avola. The highlight of the evening seemed to be the dessert wines once again. I'd bought 3 different stickies - a Mavrodaphne, a PX sherry and a Marsala. I thought it would be plenty - how wrong could I be!! They vanished like dew on a summer morning.....
The ladies of the committee put on a good spread, which got scoffed, so all in all, a good evening.

Those who weren't there - you missed a good do, and all for free!

December Meeting

Mike Ritchie of
Moreno's came along for our December meeting. Mike's been along before, last time it snowed, about 3” of snow during the meeting.
Fortunately it was much more clement this time. The wine was all from the South of Italy, apart from the first – a Prosecco. Prosecco is now the best selling fizz in the UK – very much on the trend...
Italy is also now the No 1 wine importer to the UK, led by Pinot Grigio and Prosecco.
So, 8 wines – As follows
Mionetto Prosecco Legatura Frizzante
Calanica Bianco 2010
Surani Fiano 2010
Kados Grillo 2009
Corvo Rosso 2009
Surani Primativo 2009
Passo delle Mule Nero d'Avolo 2008
Veccioflorio Marsala Dolce
All from Moreno Wines in London W9
Prices from 8.99 to 11.99.
The Prosecco went down well, and at £8.99 we have stocked up on some for the party. The
best of the whites (In my humble opinion) was the first one, the Calanica Bianco, as it had the best blend of flavour, nose and body for my palate. That’s also £8.99. Of the reds, my favourite was the Primitivo, which showed all the best characteristics of a primitivo, and non of the faults – many are very tough and hard going – this one wasn't.
And at the end, the Marsala! The society goes bonkers over the stickies, and this was no
exception. Marsala is one of those lighter stickies, which are becoming a lot more popular as port loses its popularity.

Several bottles have been ordered for the new year party...