September 2023. Italian WInes by Jessica Summer, Mouse&Grape

September 2023. Italian Wines presented by Jessica Summer of Mouse and Grape. 

Www.mouseandgrape.com Jessica is a local girl, from Pinner no less. Like many her career got badly messed up by Covid so took the brave step of setting up on her own, specialising in Wine & Cheese matching. Tonight, we skipped the cheese and got a presentation of well priced Italian wines. She’s also a Wine Educator, WSET qualified. 

 Whites: 

When in Rome, Organic Grillo 2021. Sicily. 12.5% Box Wine £26/3bottles. 

Waitrose Box Wine! Absolutely fine. Some sweetness on the palate, similar grapey nose to a Moscato, but actually dry. The idea of box wines is that you don’t have to finish the bottle, and it keeps. I’m not sure this one would last long. Very drinkable. 

Soave, Gianni Tessarii, Garganega 2021. Veneto. 12.5%. £13.50. Mouse & Grape

 Soave suffers from overproduction – I can remember when it was everywhere. That leads to lower quality. I’m afraid this wasn’t one for me. 

Waitrose Blueprint Gavi, Cortese 2022. Piedmont. 12.5%. £9.49. Waitrose. 

Gavi – the Cortese grape is known for being very high yield, so it needs good management to make good wine. This is a good one. Best served very cold. 

Rose: 

Bardolino Chiaretto Rose, Corvina, Molinara, Rondinella. 2021, Veneto. 12%. £9.50. M&S.  

A decent alternative to French Rose. 

Reds: 

Barbera D’Asti. Luca Bosio, Barbera 2021. Piedmont. 13.5%. £11.95. Mouse&Grape.  

Comes out rather like a Pinot Noir. Aged in barrel, with a touch of tannin. 

Santodeno Sangiovese Appassimento, Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. 2022 Emilia Romagna. 14%. £11. Sainsburys. 

The wine of the night. Powerful, well balanced. Smooth.. 

Terre di Faiano , Organic Primitivo, 2021. Salento. 14%. £9.99. Waitrose.  

This was specially selected to be under a tenner, and a decent wine BUT it is one of those wines that flatters to deceive. First mouthful is good, but it quickly becomes all a bit too much – Jammy & overpowering. Might be a good food wine. 

Canti Asti, Fratelli Martini Secondo Luigi. Moscato. Asti. 8%. £9. Sainsburys. 

This is a light, sweet wine from the Muscat grape. Refreshing chilled.

August 2023. Romanian Wine, Andrew Walker, Solaris WInes.

 

Romanian Wines, by Andrew Walker, Solaris Wines. 17 August 2023

This months presentation was on Romanian Wines. Romania is a fairly large producer of wine – about the same as Portugal. It has been making wine since pre-Roman times. However, as it was and still is a relatively poor country together with the malign influence of communism, it has struggled in the last century due to lack of organisation and investment. That is slowly changing, and is now starting to make decent wines which can be succesfully exported. Nonetheless, the majority of its wine production stays in Romania. An interesting point if you are a rare grape hunter (like me!) there are quite a few Romanian native varieties, not at all well known in the west. There are 4 here.

Andrew has been in the Wine trade for many years and relatively recently decided to set up on his own as Solaris Wines www.solariswines.co.uk/

Romanian wines we see in this country tend to be more the bulk/budget pinot noirs at the large supermarkets. These wines are the other end of the scale, premium wines.

White

Prince Stirbey Brut Rose (sparkling, Grape - Novac) 2013. 12% £20

Prince Stirbey Cramposie Selectionata 2021 13% £14

Oliver Bauer Rhine Riesling 2018 11.5% £16

Sweet White

Prince Stirbey Tamaioasa Dulce 2021 10.5% £16

Red

Oliver Bauer Pinot Noir 2019 14.5% £20

Prince Stirbey Novac Sec 2019 14% £18

Prince Stirbey Negru Dragasani Rezerva 2018 15% £18

Prince Stirbey Merlot Rezerva 2012 14.5% £28

Top wine of the night – The Negru Draganasi rezerva.

July 2023. Greek Wines - Robin Goldsmith

 

Greek Wines, presented by Robin Goldsmith

For the first time I can remember, the Society met on a Friday evening due to the Uxbridge By Election needing the room on the Thursday. Unfortunately this gave a very low turnout – 25-26 people, it being the holiday season as well.

Greece has been making wine for a looooong time – several thousand years or so, but we’be not seen many in the UK until pretty recently, even the famous Retsina loved by some, and disliked by more.

That is starting to change, with Greek wine appearing on many supermarket shelves – and it is becoming “the next big thing”. Possibly – we shall see. That being said, most of the wines here came from specialist retailers, or are not available in the UK yet (Wines 6 & 7), with prices to match. The exception being the rose from M&S at 8 quid – a bargain!

Whites:

1.Akriotou Wines. The Mountaineer. Evvia Central Greece. 100% Savatiano 2020. 12.5% £15. Dorset Wine Company

2 Alpha Estate. Malagouzia, Single Vineyard 'Turtles' PGI Florina, Amyndeon, Macedonia, Northern Greece. 100% Malagousia. 2022. 13% £17.50. Maltby & Greek

3 Alpha Estate. Assyrtiko, Single Block 'Agia Kiriaki'. PGI Florina, Amyndeon, Macedonia, Northern Greece. 100% Assyrtiko. 2021. 13.5%, £28.50. Maltby & Greek

4 Gaia Winery. Retsina 'Ritinitis Nobilis' Nemea, Peloponnese Peninsula. 100% Roditis 2021. 12.5% £14 Strictlywine - Online

Rosē

5 Kintonis Winery. Moschofilero/Assyrtiko (50/50) Dry Rosé . Peloponnese,. 2022. 12.5%. £8 M&S

Red

6 Tzivani Winery. "1000 Nights" Agiorgitiko. Evvia, Central Greece. 100% Agiorgitiko. 2016. €12. Not in the UK

7 Samartzis Estate. Mouxtar. Thebes, Central Greece. 100% Mouchtaro. 2020. 13.5% €30 Not in the UK

8 Alpha Estate. 'Hedgehog' 100% Xinomavro, Single Vineyard. PDO Amyndeon, Macedonia, 2020. 14% £21.50. Maltby & Greek

Jne 2023. New Zealand Wine by Mimi Avery

 

June’s meeting was presented by Mimi Avery, of Avery’s of Bristol.

Avery’s is a premium wine merchant, and the prices reflect it. But it does seem you get what you pay for.

Sparkling

Hunters Miru Miru Marlborough New Zealand. 12%, £18

A traditional method Sparking wine. Can hold its own against a “proper” Champagne. 

 

White

Invivo Specially selected Sauvignon Blanc 2022. 12.5%, £16.99

This is specially selected for Avery’s.A very good example of NZ S-B.

Rapaura Springs Marlborough Chardonnay Reserve 2021. 13.5%, £18.99

Personally, not convinced – a bit flabby? Hint of Oak, and malolactic fermentation

Hunter's Gewurztraminer 2021. 13.5%, £22

A soft style of Gewurz. Not the full “in your face” experience of an Alsace Gewurz.

Red

Big Sky Te Muna Road Pinot Noir Martinborough 2019. 14%, £23

A very good Pinot Noir. As I have written before, if NZ can make P-N this good, why do the French still bother?

Alpha Domus Merlot Cabernet 2017. 12.5%, £17.99

A bit ordinary, to be honest. Pretty light.

Trinity Hill Syrah 2019. 13%, £26

Peppery, with some tannin. Very good.

Dessert

Seifried Estate Sweet Agnes Riesling (half bottle) 2019. 10.5%, £16.99

The classic petrol nose of mature riesling. I like it. Not sticky at all, light and sweet.

Mimi is an excellent, humorous and entertaining speaker. A good evening.

May 2023. Pippa Hayward, Rioja.

 

Roija is mostly known for its red wines – 90% of production is red/rose wine. So only 3 whites here. A mix of new/old style wines, with a very new grape variety, Tempranillo blanc, identified a few decades ago as a natural mutation of Tempranillo.

All wines readily available.

An excellent evening, presented by Pippa Hayward. Pippa is a Wine Educator and Consultant to the Good Wine Shop in SW London.

Whites:

Rioja Blanco 2021. Bodegas Campo Viejo, Rioja Alta. 12.5%. £8. Tesco/Sainsburys

Viura and Tempranillo Blanco

7.5/10

The Society's White Rioja 2020. San Vincente de la Sonciera, Rioja Alavesa. 12.5%. £9.25. The Wine Society

Viura and Malvasia.- Modern style

7/10

Blanco Crianza 2018 Bodegas Navajas, Rioja Alta . 12.5%. £9.25. The Wine Society

Viura and Chardonnay - barrel aged classic style.

6.5/10

 

Rose:

Muga Rosado 2021. Bodegas Muga, Rioja Alta.. 13.5%. £10.99. Waitrose

A modern style of Rose ,Grenache based

8/10

Reds

Casa La Rad Solarce Tinto 2020. Rioja Cosecha. 14%. £8.75. The Wine Society

Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuela. Young modern style from the Rioja oriental

8/10. A very straightforward example.

Bodegas La Eralta. Vina Bombin Crianza 2018. Rioja Oriental. 13.5%. £9.99. The Wine Society

Tempranillo.

7/10. Quite a light example of rioja.

Bodegas Cosme Palacio, Glorioso Reserva 2017. 14%. £12.95. The Wine Society

Tempranillo

9/10 Classic, smooth, mature. Peppery. The popular favourite on the night.

Campo Viejo Gran Reserva 2015. Rioja Alta. 14%. £16. Sainsbury.

Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuela.

8/10. Very mature.

April 2023. AGM Waitrose Fine WInes

 

Waitrose Wines, April 2023. Presented by the Chairman

As it was the AGM, as per usual we had an in house tasting, presented by the Chairman. All wines from the Waitrose fine wine (>£16 or so per bottle).

Palacio De Fefianes Albarino 2021. Galicia Spain. 12.5%, £18.99

8/10. Clean, Crisp, Fresh. Quite “green”

Sancerre Les Marennes 2020. Loire France. 13%, £18.99

8/10 Clean, Crisp, Fresh. But not as “green” as the Albarino, probably due to the extra year of age.

Pegasus Bay Riesling 2019. Waipara New Zealand. 13.5%, £18.99

6/10 or 9/10. A marmite wine. This is a Riesling in the classic German style, with sufficient age in bottle to give that unique “petrol” nose. I love it. Many don’t.

Bird In Hand Chardonnay. Adelaide Hills Australia. 13%, £19.99

6/10 - A little disappointing. Oaky yet light. Not one thing or another. Not bad, but not quite there.

Nanny Goat Pinot Noir 2021. Central Otago New Zealand. 13.5%, £16.99

8.5/10 - An excellent well rounded P-N. Sometime I wonder why the French persist with P-N, when stuff like this is available.

Darling Cellars Obv Cinsault 2019. West Coast South Africa. 13%, £19.99

8/10 - Old Bush Vines. A pure varietal Cinsault, only 6300 bottles made of this one.

Rabl Titan Zweigelt 2018. Lower Austria. 14%, £17.99

9/10 - I’m a sucker for Zweigelt, very much a new thing on the shelves in the UK. 10 years ago I doubt you’d have seen any. A medium bodied red, yet well rounded. Something for everyone I reckon.

Recchia Amarone Della Valpolicella 2018. Verona Italy. 15%, £22.99

9/10 - Probably the favourite of the evening. Who doesn’t like Amarone?

It is worth noting that the Waitrose fine wine selection is of fine wines – many of them are produced in small volumes so will not always be available everywhere, or even online. So there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy them again.

March 2023. US Wines - Jen Connan

 

March 2023 – Jen Connan Hertfordshire Wine School

Wines from the USA – Well, that basically means wine from California. 80% of US wine by volume comes from California – the rest from mostly Washington, Oregon and NY State. The USA is the 4^th largest wine producer in the world after Italy/France/Spain. It is also the largest national wine market. Americans may not be individually large wine drinkers but there are 300million of them.

So, 4 whites, 4 reds. All the stuff you’d expect, 6 from California, 2 from Washington. Almost all available from well known suppliers. A very good selection.

DOMAINE CARNEROS VINTAGE BRUT 2016 – 12%, £28. Napa Valley, California (owned by Taittinger)

A Champagne style fizz. Classically bready/biscuity Methode Champagnoise style. From the Champagne Company. 9/10

CHATEAU STE MICHELLE DRY RIESLING 2020 – 12.5%, £10. Columbia valley, Washington state

A very nice well bodied Riesling, citrus, floral hints of petrol. High acidity. Waitrose - 8/10

SAND POINT SAUVIGNON BLANC 2020 – 12.5%, £9.95. Lodi, California

Not like a NZ SB at all. A very different style. Quite acidic. Least popular wine of the evening. The Wine Society. 6/10

BONTERRA ESTATE COLLECTION ORGANIC CHARDONNAY 2020 – 13.5%, £14. Mendocina Valley, Washington State

A classic old school oaky, buttery chardonnay. Malolactic fermentation. I loved it. 8.5/10 Waitrose

EDNA VALLEY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR 2019 – 14%, £13.99. Central coast, California

This is the wine from the film “Sideways”. A warm weather Pinot noir. Very full bodied. No tannins. Some oak. 9/10. Majestic

BOGLE VINEYARDS MERLOT 2019 – 14.5%, £12.95. Clarksburg, California

Very smooth and solid. Hides the high alcohol well. Hints of smokiness, toast, cedar. 9/10. Wine society

FREI BROTHERS CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2019 – 14.5%, £20. Sonoma county, California

Oaky, plum & black cherry. Smooth tannins. 9/10. Waitrose

RAVENSWOOD ZINFANDEL 2021 – 14.5%, £14. Lodi, California

Now owned by Gallo. Dry farmed with no irrigation, so low yields. A fair bit of residual sweetness. Pretty good but not the best red on the night. 8/10. Majestic

One point about the Reds is that they all have that slight hint of sweetness/residual sugar typical of American red wines. I guess that’s how the US market likes it. Occasionally it does tip over into an almost sweet red style.

A good evening. Jen is an excellent speaker.