May 2025. Julia Jenkins, Wine from South America

 

The May meeting was presented by Julia Jenkins of Flagship wines. The St Albans shop has now gone, and Julia works with a loose coalition of wine buyers in the UK. Does plenty of work in Latin America and today she presented wines from the 3 main wine making countries – Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. A little factual nugget is that 40+ new grape varieties have been found in South America in the last decade or so. Something I will have to look into.

Most of these wines are not in the supermarkets, The Wine society or Majestic, and are mostly supplied to the on-trade. So you may have to search for them. The prices are a little indicative.

 The Wines were:

Bodegas Urqo, Valle de Uco, Argentina 2024 – Sauvignon Blanc 12.5%, £14

Similar to a NZ SBm but these grape are harvested early and late, giving a good blend of acidity and maturity

Viña Salort, Canelones, Uruguay 2024 – Albarino 13.5%, £14.50

Albarino grown in Uruguay presents a more rounded character than Spanish, which I liked.

Adobe, Rapel Valley, Chile 2024 – Gewurztraminer 13%, £11.50

A lighter style of Gewurz compared to Alsace versions, still retaining the classic Gerurz character.

Norte Chico, Central Valley, Chile 2024 – Chadonnay 12.5%, £9.49

Some oak character, although not actually oaked! Straightforward balanced Chardonnay.

Los Haroldos Reserve, Valle de Uco, Argentina 2021 – Malbec 14.0%, £18.99

Very dark & full bodied, 10 months in oak. Excellent.

Dagaz El Camino, Colchagua, Chile 202? -  70/30 Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere 14.5%, £16.75

Again, very dark & full bodied, 10 months in oak. Excellent.

Los Tres Curas, Central Valley, Chile 2022 – Carmenere 12.5%, £9.50

Very tobacco, cedar on the nose, dark but light bodied. Not tannic. Nice.

Bresesti Pequenas Coleccion, Canelones, Uruguay 2021 – Tannat 13%, £19.75

Very little on the nose. On Oak. Very dark (again!). lighter bodied.

Not a duff one amongst them, and as a cheapskate searcher for VFM I would go for the Los Tres Curas Carmenere as my choice.

April 2025. AGM and Wines by the committee.

 

As it was the AGM, as usual the society committee presented the wines. The theme was personal favourites selected from wines we’ve had in the recent years. And suffice to say they were all very good indeed. If you search back through this blog, you will find all of these wines.

 

·       Cremant D’Alsace – 12% - £8.99 - Lidl

A very well priced wine, and excellent value. Little other info on it.

·       Bodega Pablo Fallabrino Estival 2022 - 14% - £16.99 – Wines of Uruguay

Possibly my favourite. An Interesting blend – 60% Gewurztraminer, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Moscatel. Would go well as an aperitif wine.

·       Pazo de Villarei Albariño, Rías Baixas 2023 -12.5% - £12.95 – The Wine Society

One of the best albarinos I’ve tasted.

·       Greywacke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 – 13.5% - £17.50 – The Wine Society.

A refined S-B from New Zealand, with less of the “in your face” gooseberry feel and a lot more sophistication.

·       Esporão 'Monte Velho' Tinto, Alentejano 2023 – 13.5% - £9.95 – The Wine Society

·       Santodeno Sangiovese Appassimento 2022 – 14% - £9.50 – Sainsburys

·       Marqués De Reinosa Rioja Crianza 2021- 14% - £17 – Mouse & Grape, Pinner

All 3 of the reds were at the full bodied end of the scale, and all would be a good choice, if that’s your thing.

·       The Society's LBV Port 2019  - 20% - £16 – The Wine Society

This was selected in memory of John Denman, an original member of the society back in the early 80’s who died recently. He really liked port, and we all raised a glass to him.

Wines of Thrace. Carole Hazlehurst. March 2025

 

Carole Hazlehurst, Wines from Thrace PGI  (Bulgaria)

It was a pleasure to see Carole again so soon, in fact she asked to come. She was approached by Wines of Thrace to show their wines to a UK audience and gather feedback. We’re honoured she chose to come to us. 6 of the 8 wines are from Wines of Thrace, and 2 from The Wine Society – but also from the same region.

Unfortunately Carole had quite a bad cold so wasn’t at the top of her game, and I’d had food poisoning earlier in the week which killed my taste buds.

Whites

• 1.       Minkov Brothers - Cycle Traminer 2022 13%

This is the quite rare Savagnin blanc grape variety also known for the Vin Jaune de Jura. A very particular, sherry like flavour. Definitely not mainstream. Approach with care.

• 2.       Domaine Boyar Sauvignon Blanc, 2022, 12%

A very straightforward S-B. Fine.

• 3.       Burgozone- Cote du Danube Viognier 2022 13.5%

A classic Viognier. Will keep. Well liked.

• 4.       Aya Estate - Colorito, Blend, 2021 12.5%

A blend of Chardonnay with 3 Rhone white grapes. Why? Not a hit.

Reds

• 5.       Edoardo Miroglio Soli Pinot Noir 2021 13%

The Wine Society. Average/OK

• 6.       Villa Melnik, Melnik 2021 14.5%

The Wine Society. This is a goody. Powerful, local grape variety. Some residual sugar. Well liked.

• 7.       Bononia Istar Cabernet Sauvignon & Cabernet Franc 2022 13.5%

A decent enough blend.

• 8.       Katarzyna Estate - Cheval de Katarzyna, Mavrud 2021 14.5%

This is also a goody. Powerful, local grape variety. Some residual sugar. Well liked.

 

All the wines are available in the UK, if you look hard. North/South Wines, Field & Fawcett, Danube Wines.The Wine Society

 One thing that was a touch disappointing is that the wines didn’t feature the local varieties much, which we’d have preferred as a club, but do understand the desire to get the better known varieties in front of a British audience.