July 2015 - Greek Wine from Maltby & Greek

Maltby and Greek are a specialist in all things Greek, trading out of Maltby Street market and Druid Street in Bermondsey.

Stephanos presented us with a range of wines, from fizz to a vino santo

Domaine Karanikas Brut Cuvee Speciale -, Xynomavro, Amyndeon NV. £23

Domaine Spiropoulos - Moschofilero, Mantinia 2014 £12.90

Alpha Estate - Malagouzia Amyndeon 2014 £12.80

Domaine Sigalas - Assyrtiko, Santorini 2014 £16

Domaine Sigalas – Mandilaria Mavrotragano, Santorini 2014 £15.70

Vourvoukelis – Limnio Xanthi 2013 £15.80

Alpha Estate Old Vines Reserve Xynomavro, Amyndeon 2010 £17.50

Domaine Sigalas Vinsanto Assyrtiko-Aidani, Santorini 2004 - £29/500ml

The wines are pretty good, but sadly are expensive for what they are – the Greeks only export a very small proportion of their wine. Probably the best, to my mind was the Old Vines reserve, which probably is worth the money.

June 2015 - Ian Webb, Aldeby WInes, Languedoc Roussillon

An excellent evening, presented by Ian Webb of Aldeby Wines. Those who weren't there missed some great wines and some really informative spiel from Ian. These wines all offer something a little different. Languedoc Roussillon grows a phenomenal amount of wine, a lot of which is of less common grape varieties – like Picpoul, Rousanne, Carignan, Mourvedre, Grenache – so if you belong to the ABC club, these are for you!

White Wines

Grange des Rocs, Picpoul de Pinet 2014

AOP Picpoul de Pinet

Daumas Gassac, Reserve de Gassac, Blanc 2014

VdeP de l'Herault

Chateau Mourgues de Gres, Terre d'Argence Blanc 2012

IGP VdeP du Gard.

Red Wines

Chateau Mourgues de Gres, let Galets Rouges 2012

AOP Costieres de Nimes

Close de l'Azerolle, Veilles Vignes 2013

AOP Minervois

Domaine d'Auphilhac, Montpeyroux 2012

AOP Montpeyroux

Chateau Ollieux-Romanis, Atal Sia 2011

AOP Corbieres-Boutenac

Fortified Wine

Mas Amiel, Vintage 2012

AOP Maury

For me, all the whites offered something out of the ordinary, a little different, while the reds were more individual. The first and last reds are both well balanced, the middle two more tannic and harsh – but Ian assured us that they both need a couple more year in bottle.

The gem of the evening was the last – a vin doux naturelle, pure grenache fermeted to 4-5% only, then stopped by fortifying to 18% with ethanol. Fan- tastic...

Ian doesn't sell direct, but all these wines are available mail order from a variety of suppliers. All worth trying.

May 2015 - Gilbert Winfield - History of Wine

An excellent and informative evening, working our way through the history of wine. Presented by Gilbert Winfield. The idea was to work our way back trhough the history of wine, looking at traditional grape varieties and/or historical wine methods

Starting, here in England with a sparkling wine – English fizz can now hold its head up in the world of wine with some superb offerings

Then moving to Santorini where the vines are trained as “basket vines” to minimise the effect of hot wind and sun. And then on through the eastern med, taking in Sicily, Turkey, Lebanon and finally to Georgia, which is generally reckoned to be the oldest wine culture in the world (Also Armenia as well) We finished off with a Lillet Blanc – made famous by the recent Bond film, a Vin Doux Naturelle from Bordeaux, which was quite a nice way to finish off

Chapel Down Sparkling Brut, Sussex, UK

Hatzidakis Assyrtico 2014, Santorini, Greece

Cos Pithos Rouge 2011, Etna, Sicily

Kalecik Karasi 2012, Vinkara, Turkey

Ch. Ksara Reserve du Couvent 2012, Beeka, Lebanon

Pheasant's Tears Mtsvane 2012, Khakheti, Georgia

Lillet Blanc, Vin Doux Naturelle

I'd be pushed to say any of the wines was “excellent”, but there is some good stuff in there, and it's always good to try these things. The Pheasant's Tears was “interesting” - its made in the ancient traditional way of “Kveri” - 400 litre amphorae, lined with beeswax, sunk into the ground. One of the bottles was a golden yellow, the other quite cloudy and tasted something like fermenting apple juice. According to Gilbert, it does often come out like that.

It was generally reckoned to be a very good evening.

April 2015 - the AGM & "Taste the Difference"

Phil and Tony had selected 8 wines of 4 vareties. Each pair had a more or less costly sample, and were presented blind - with lots of bacofoil round the bottles!!

And here they are

Sauvignon Blanc

Mountain View Sauvignon Blanc 2013. Luis Felipe Edwards. £5.99
Klein Constantia Klein Constantia Sauvignon Blanc 2013 Constantia £14.99

Chardonnay

Saintsbury Chardonnay 2012, Carneros (California) £22.50
McGuigan Chardonnay 2103, SE Australia £7.99

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cousina-Macul Antiguas Cabernet Sauvignon 2011. £9.99
Silver Ghost Cabernet Sauvignon 2013/14 £4.99

Shiraz

Parcel Series Shiraz 2012, Western Cape £8.99
Kangarilla Road Scarce Earth 2011, McClaren Vale £23.00

A good evening was had. The 2 real surprises were the Chardonnay & Shiraz selections;
On the Chardonnay, the McGuigan was widely preferred - the Saintbury was a very 1990's chardonnay - very heavily oaked, which is now very unfashionable.
The Shiraz - the Kangarilla Road Scarce Earth is truly superb. Every so often, you come across one of these pricey wines which is worth the money - this is one of them. I suggest you take a deep breath, and splash out. It is so good.....

March 2015 - Gonzales Byass by Ben Wise

Ben Wise of Gonzales Byass presented us with 8 wines. GB is best known for its sherries, but does much more than that and Ben gave an excellent presentation of 3 sherries, 1 dessert wine and 4 wines.

1. Tio Pepe Palomino Fino 15%
2. Vilarnau Cava (Barcelona) . Brut Reserva 11.5%
3. La Miranda de secastilla 2013 Garnacha Blanca 13.5%
4. Beronia Rioja Reserva 2010 – Tempranillo, Graciano y Mazuelo 14%
5. Finca Constancia , Otero (Toledo). 2012 – 14%
6. Del Duque 30yr old amontillado 21.5%
7. Matusalem 30 yr old Oloroso 20.5%
8. Tintilla de Rota de Finca Moncloa. 14.5% 2011.

Tio Pepe is perhaps the best known, named after Manuel Gonzales' Uncle Jose (“Tio Pepe”) who offered to assist Manuel, on the condition that he could have a corner of the Bodega for his own project – which was a Fino sherry, now known as Tio Pepe. It is still a great wine. It has to be drunk fresh – once opened treat it just like any other white wine.

Wines 2 – 5 are all good, and well worth seeking out. My favourite was the Finca Constancia red – inky purple – a blend of mainly Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, with small percentages of Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Graciano.

The two 30 year old solera sherries are very intense and well worth seeking out, if only for the experience. Personally I find the Del Duque too austere – intense, dry but overpowering, while the Matusalem I absolutely adore – all the intensity, but with a bit of sweetness from the 5% PX grapes added. Fantastic.

The last bottle is a rarity – only just over 2000 bottles were made last year – its a dessert wine, made by raisining the grapes, fermenting to 5% then stopping the fermentation by adding alcohol to 14.5%. Truly amazing. The grape variety, Tintilla de Rota is an old grape variety native to the Cadiz region.

A truly excellent evening.

February 2015 - Slovenian Wines by Stasa Mozetic

Presented by Stasa Mozetic Flauto of Blice Wines, we had some excellent Slovenian Wines as follows:

Whites

Winery - Hlebec Sipon,  2012, Ljutomer--‐Ormoz 14%

£15.59

Winery - Bregar Pinot Grigio,2010,Brda,13.5%

£18.98

Winery - Reja Rebula, 2009, Brda, 13.0%,

12months in Acacia wood barrels;

Bronze Decanter World Wide Award 2011, London
£23.99

Winery - Bregar Malvasia, 2010, Brda, 13.5%

Silver medal at Malvasia Festival Isola, Slovenia, March 2013
£18.98

Winery - Reja Rose, Pinot Grigio Rose, 2012, Brda, 13.5%

£20.99

Reds

Winery - Hlebec Zweiglet, 2012, Ljutomer--‐Ormoz, 12%;

£15.59

Winery - Lisjak Merlot, 2007, Vipava Valley, 12.1%,

12 months in wood barrels
£19.99

Winery - Persolja Pinot Noir Barrique 2008, Brda, 13.7%,

5 years in barrique,
£26.99

The Whites were excellent, the reds good - although I'm not convinced by the Zweigelt. Its  a German/Austrian red grape hybrid, which we don't see often here - probably with good reason.
Overall, good stuff - but they are expensive!!

December 2014 - Supercherry Italian WInes

Supercherry was set up by Rob & Jane Stephany a couple of years ago. Their original intention was to specialise in Cherry based comestibles from the Le Marche region of Italy, which is known for its cherries. Somehow they never got past the alcohol based stuff. Odd that... They have a stall at the monthly Duck Pond market in Ruislip, but also have an on line presence.
They brought along 2  regional wines, a dessert wine blended with sour cherries, 3 liqueurs, and an eau de vie.

The first two wines were straight forward enough, from a small producer, Cantina Broccanera
Asco - a 50/50 Syrah/Cab Sauv blend
Cantaro - a Verdiccio.
Both perfectly fine wines

The 3rd wine, Viciolata del Cardinale from Cantine del Cardinale, was a blend of Visciola sour cherries and Montepulciano/Conaro rosso grapes, in a mix approx 33% cherry and 66% grape

Liqueurs - All produced by Major Liquori
Meloncino - 17% alcohol - a very sweet melon liqueur
Nocciolino - 17% alcohol - hazelnut cream - think Baileys with nuts
Limoncello - 28% alcohol - lemon

Opinions were mixed on these four. We've had a cherry mix wine before, from Turkey, and its an acquired taste. Of the 3 liqueurs I wasn't keen on the Melon or Nut, but the Limoncello is a very good example of its type. Others did like them, so its very much a question of try it and see.

The Aqua Vitae is again cherry based, basically an Eau de Vie from the Visciolata del Cardniale - Acquavite del Caridinale. Again, like all these spirits they are very personal, with some liking it, some not.

All I can say is try for yourselves - these drinks are out there.




T