June 2016 - Wines from Aldi and Lidl

This month was wines from Aldi and Lidl, presented by Jean and Freda. Jean knows a huge amount about wine and is endlessly informative, while Freda knows little but is endlessly entertaining, as befits a retired schoolteacher.

So, are the wines any good?

Broadwood Folly Sparkling – Denbies, England. Lidl £14.99

• Pretty decent fizz, a champagne subsitute, but not the cheapest.

Gewurtraminer 2014. JP Muller. Lidl £7.99

• A steal – Very good for a very good price

Chenin Blanc. Chateau de Fesler, Loire. Aldi £9.99

• Not sure – not really a bargain

Marsanne. Jean Claude Mas, Sud De France Aldi Exquisite collection. £5.99

• Definitely worth the money.

Pinot Noir 2015 Wairarapa, New Zealand. Ali £6.99

• A very good pinot noir for just 7 quid – a bargain

The Cape Red Stellenbosche 2015. Shiraz/Grenache/Cab Sauv/Mourvedre Aldi £5.99

• OK, bit run of the mill perhaps

Minervois La Laviniere. Shiraz/Grenache/Carignan Aldi £9.88

• Not really a bargain.

Montbazillac. Domaine de la Maletie 2013. Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Muscadelle. Lidl £7.99

• Another bargain. My daughter even went out at the weekend and bought some.

We had an excellent turnout of about 38, and a really fun evening.

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..

March 2016 - Spanish Wine. Luiz Sanz Estrada

A somewhat dissapointing evening, although with an excellent turnout. Luiz Sanz Estrada of devinos www.devinos.co.uk presented a selection of wines from his range.

Unfortunately we only got 6 ½ wines rather than the usual 8 – the 7^th and last wine ran out!

The wines are all on the pricey side, although as they are all quite unusual, it's hard to get a feel for where they should sit, price-wise.I certainlly didn't feel any were real VFM.

Sherry: Fino Gran Barquero NV £8.99/half

Cava Marta Reserva 2012 – Xarello, Macabeo, Paralleda (Penedes) £10.99

Alma de Unx 2012 – Garnacha Blanca (Navarra) £12.49

Tragaldebas Rufete 2013 – Rufete (Sierras de Salamanca) £14.99

Regoa 2011 – Mencia, Albarello, Others (Ribeira Sacre) £12.99

Calmelo Rodero Crianza 2013 – Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon (Ribera del Douro) £17.99

Cuva Vella 1980 – Moscatel of Alexandria £24.99

February 2016 Richard Bost – Croatian Wines

Kabola Re Brut 13% NV. £22.00 (Sparkling)

Pilato Malvazija Istarka 2014 13% £12.60

Ilocki Podrumi Grasevina Select 2014 12% £9.95

Ilocki Podrumi Grasevina Premium 2014 13% £12.90

Pilato Teran 2012 13.5% £14.70

Vinarija Dingac Plavac 2012 13.5% £9.85

Vinarija Dingac Dingac 2009 15.5% £18.60

Kabola Muskat Momjanski 2013 12% £12.95/50cl

Some interesting wines here – The first is a top of the range sparkling, with a price to match, but it can hold its own with other top sparklers. The Malvazija was a bit thin and not well liked. The 2 Grasevina's were both reckoned to be pretty good, which isn't bad for what used to be known as Laski Riesling!

The reds were also good, I liked the Teran and the Dingac Plavac, but really did not take to the Dingac Dingac, but that may just be me, as many did like it – at 15.5% it is very powerful.

The last wine was a perfectly pleasant light desset wine which can hold its head up amongst its peers..

For me the best of the eveing were the 2 cheapest, the Grasevina Select and the Dingac Plavac and with 15% off on the night, are even better value

New Year Party 2016

A good evening was had with some good value wines bought before Xmas at 33% off.

They were:

Sparkling Wines
Bouvet Ladubay, Saumur NV from the Loire Valley, France Chenin Blanc grape
Bouvet Saumur Rose, Brut NV from Loire Valley, France Cabernet France grape

White Wines Casal de Ventozela, 2014, Vinho Verde from North West Portugal Arinto grape
Errazuiz Suavignon Blanc, 2014 from Aconcagua Valley, Chile Sauvignon Blanc grape

Red Wines Porta 6, 2012 from north of Lisbon, Portugal Blend of Tinta Roriz, Castelao & Touriga Nacional grapes
Santa Rita Medalla Real Carmenere 2012, Colchagua Valley, Chile Carmenere grape

Plus a sticky or two (details to follow)

All from Majestic

December 2015: Quentin Sadler

Quentin Sadler presented an excellent evening of “Whats new from Chile” Sadly we only had a limited turnout, but perhaps to be expected in the week before Christmas. They missed a treat. Quentin is an excellent speaker and brought along some good Visuals as well as the wine.

The Wines:

2013 Undurraga Sibaris Leyda Sauvignon Blanc Viña Underraga, D.O. Valle de Leyda - £8.99

2013 Corte Ignacio Chardonnay Concha y Toro, D.O. Litueche, Rapel Coastal - £8.95

2012 Errazuriz The Blend White Viña Errazuriz, D.O. Valle de Aconcagua - £18.99

2013 Reserva de Pueblo País Miguel Torres Chile, D.O. Secano Interior Curicó - £7.50

2011 Errazuriz Wild Ferment Pinot Noir Viña Errazuriz, D.O. Valle de Casablanca - £15.00

2013 Gallardía del Itata Cinsault De Martino, Secano Interior Coelemu, D.O. Itata - £12.50

2011 Tabalí Reserva Especial Syrah Viña Tabalí, D.O. Limarí Valley £10.99

2008 Eclat Old Vine Blend Valdivieso, D.O. Valle de Maule - £14.00

The 3 best were widely reckoned to be

The Pueblo Pais – at £7.50 from the Wine Society (a real steal.)

The Tabali Reserve at £10.99 from Majestic, and

The Eclat Old Wine Blend at £14.00 from Winedirect.

All 3 are inky black full bodied items, so pay your money and take your choice!!