Meeting 25th September 2012

We met at Dave and Molly's for a very pleasant afternoon of wine tasting accompanied by a good selection of cheese, biscuits, and fruit.

The first wine tried was an 2009 Italian BARBERA ASTI, a robust red, with a good clean,fairly strong, aftertaste. It was generally enjoyed, but as often happens, we find that the ladies tastes,differ from the men's, at times. The average score given to this wine was 7.5 and the wine was purchsed from Asda at £5.

The second wine was a 2011 GARNACHA CARINENA from Spain. This wine had quite a complex character to it, with a medium to heavy body. It had a very clean smell,with along lasting finish. None of us guessed the grape, but it was an interesting wine that was well liked. This wine was also purchased from Asda at £5.

Tha average score given to this wine was 7.

The wine tasting group would like to place on record, our profound appreciation to Mike Cahill, the founder of this group, for all his hard work in getting things up and running. This group has become extremely popular, and we are pleased to now have a second group, up and running. Mike has decided to step back now, but we all, in the group say a big THANKYOU to him for all he has done. He knows, I am sure, that he will be welcomed back at any time, if he wished.

The next meeting of the group is at Jack & Joan's on Tuesday 16th Oct.  

Meeting No 42, November 22nd 2011

One interesting observation over the meetings we have had is the variation in opinions about how the wines taste. On some meetings we have an almost unanimous agreement on the score while in others there is a considerable difference between the best and worst score given. It was the latter situation that came to the fore on this occasion when Dave and Mollie had chosen two very different wines for our tasting. The first wine was one from Tesco’s “Finest Selection”. A 2008 Chianti Reserva. An overall score of 6.6 is somewhat lower than usual and perhaps also of interest is that Decanter wine magazine only awarded this particular wine two stars.

Interesting information about the wine itself is that it is made at a winery owned by the Piccini family and the history of the vineyards date back to 1882. The current owners Mario and Martina are the 4th generation to be involved. Piccini is also one of the few wineries in Italy that has a female winemaker. In one of the most traditionally male-dominated industries, Antonella Conti has had considerable success in producing world-class wines. Tasting notes from Tesco - An intense ruby red wine with aromas of plum and cherry. 
Well-structured and smooth with a long finish - seem to be generally agreed with.

The second wine was a very unusually named wine called Chocco Chino Shiraz from South Africa. Again not particularly high scoring at 6.9 but there were also some very varied opinions. The wine is made by KWV one of the largest wine producers in in South Africa and again a producer with a long history – dating back to 1918. The wines are grown in the Swartland area of the western Cape. For anyone who wants to know more about these wines there is a profile of the winemaker – Thys Loubser - on one of KWV web sites
Again the tasting notes from Tesco were generally agreed with - Black cherry with dominant coffee and mocha flavours. 

The wine is soft and fruity with a lingering finish.

Both wines are available form Tesco at £6.99 and £6.79 respectively.

Our Christmas meeting will be held at June and Ray’s on December 17th at 18:30

Meeting No 41 October 2011

Pat and Brian took us from Europe back to the New World and Chile was the destination from which our wines came from this month. Chile has a reputation for both quality and good value and both the wines this month upheld that general view.

The first wine was an Isla Negra 2011 Merlot. Isla Negra is part of the larger Cono Sur group and the company started life in 1995. Isla Negra itself is a small town some 80 miles south of Santiago and the wine comes from vineyards located in one of the main wine growing areas of Chile - the Central Valley. The wine was very well liked by the group gaining an overall high score of 7.9 - which was also consistent across the group the winemakes description - A vivid dark ruby red Merlot, with aromas rich in fruit, like cherries, black berries with additional notes of cacao. Elegant and velvety its palate was round and full bodied, with a deliciously long lasting aftertaste. – was also an accurate representation.

The second wine was a Casillero del Diablo 2009 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon. Casillero del Diablo is part of the Conchay y Toro group, Latin america’s major wine exporter., with a presence in both Chile and Argentina. Again this was generlllay admired by the group but although costing twice the price the overall score was just below that of the cheaper wine at 7.6 The appearance was an intense red ruby with a lovely aroma of cherry, blackcurrant, dark plum and toasted oak. The taste was medium bodied with silky tannins and long, ripe fruit and berry aftertaste and a good balance of fruit and polished tannins.

The next meeting is at Dave and Mollies on the 22nd November 14:00

Meeting No 39 August 16th 2011

Jack’s selection of two New Zealand reds made for an interesting tasting. Merlot and Pinot Noir have not made our tasting samples very often so how do they compare? The first wine was a 2010 Oyster Bay Merlot. Oyster Bay were one of the first companies to recognise the wine growing potential of the Marlborough area at the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island - taking their name in fact from a local bay. However the Merlot comes from the companies’ other vineyard at Hawks’ Bay on the Eastern coast of the North Island. New Zealand wines do have a very good reputation and this wine certainly seemed to uphold that –gaining an average score form the group of 7.8. This was also a consistent score across the group and the tasting notes from the winemaker – “Vibrant plum and blackcurrant, with dark berry fruit, spice and alluring fine grained tannins.” were also upheld.

The second wine was an 2008 Ocean Edge Pinot Noir and despite some good reviews from various distributors, this wine only gained an average score of 5.9 – quite a low score for the group – there was some variation in the marks but no one score the wine higher than 7 and a couple of 4’s ensured it was low scoring. So no surprise that the tasting notes for this wine were not supported. The wine was made by Sam Weaver on behalf of New Zealand Wineco – and although a well-respected New Zealand winemaker this fact did not impress the group on this occasion. The wines are available at £9.79 and £10.29 from Tesco

Next Meeting is at John and Shelia’s on September 13th, 2:00pm

Meeting No 40 September 13th 2011

Back to Europe for this month’s tasting with wine from Spain and Italy. Both wines purchased from Lidl where according to some web sites you can drink like a Prince and pay like a Pauper so how did they compare? The first wine we tried was a 2005 Montecielo rioja at £5.99. The wine gained a very respectable score of 7.0 just below our averge of 7.2. In the glass it had the appearance of healthy medium red and was generally very clean and pleasant on the nose. It had a good length of flavour with a medium body, was considered well balanced and generally a taste of red fruits.

The second wine was a 2007 Barbera d’Asti but despite being more expensive at £6.99, it only achieved one of our lower scores at 6.2. The wine is produced in the hilly areas of the provinces of Asti and Alessandria in Piedmont Northern Italy and Barbera itself is the third most planted grape variety in Italy. Again the wine had a very good appearance in the glass- healthy and deep red almost purple or maroon. However on the nose there was a note of earthy bitter fruit that was not appreciated. The taste was again reminiscent of bitter sloes or some sharp damson. Not a great length of flavour and hence the overall score.

Next Meeting is at Dave and Mollies on October 18th , 2:00pm

Meeting No 38 July 19th 2011

A slightly different approach for this meeting as Mike and Pam had chosen one white and one red wine for the tasting. We started first with the white wine which was a 2009 Grüner Veltliner from the Wachau valley in Austria.

Grüner Veltliner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. It has a reputation of being a particularly food-friendly wine. It is made into wines of many different styles - much is intended for drinking young in the Heuriger (bars serving new wine) of Vienna, a little is made into sparkling wine, but some is capable of long aging. The steep, Rhine-like vineyards of the Danube west of Vienna produce very pure, minerally Grüner Veltliners intended for laying down. It is sometimes said that Grüner Veltliner dates back to Roman times and that its name is derived from Veltlin (Valtellina) in northern Italy. However, the current name appeared in a document for the first time in 1855 - before that time it was known as Weißgipfler or Grüner Muskateller. Only by the 1930s was Grüner Veltliner established as the standard name of the grape. Until the Second World War it was regarded as just another Austrian grape, it took Lenz Moser's Hochkultur system of vine training to really get the best out of it, and it expanded quickly in plantation from the 1950s to later become Austria's most planted variety.

The Wachau is an Austrian valley with a landscape of high visibility formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems. The gorge is around 40 kilometres (25 mi) in length between two high plateaus ((2,300- 3000ft) and as a result has a micro climate whioh otherwise would be found much further south. A well-known place and tourist attraction is Dürnstein, where King Richard the Lion-Heart of England was held captive by Duke Leopold V. The architectural elegance of its ancient monasteries, castles and ruins combined with the urban architecture of its towns and villages and the cultivation of vines as an important agricultural produce are the dominant features of the valley. In December 2000 it was also recognised as World Heritage site.

The Domäne Wachau itself is a cooperative with close to 440 hectares of vineyards. These vineyards are found on steep terraces reinforced by old dry stone walls above the Danube and are part of the World Cultural Heritage site.

The wine was well liked by the group and gained an overall score of 8.2. Rated a really good wine with which to celebrate the arrival of summer. Pure fruit flavours, no oak, and lovely aromas of white flowers, white pepper

The second wine was also well liked by the group and gained and overall score of 8.1. This was a 2009 Primitivo di Manduria from Paolo Leo in Puglia , southern Italy. The Primitivo grape is a speciality of Puglia, where the warm Mediterranean sun coaxes the fruit to full, rich ripeness, giving the wine a smooth and intense flavour. This particular wine was a good example, with poise and refinement despite its full-bodied style.The colour is an intense ruby red with the wine has a bouquet of ripe dark berry fruits, with blackcurrants, blackberries and black cherries bursting through on the palate. The forty year old vines used are small, free standing bushes, giving a very low yield of just 1.5kg of hand picked fruit per vine. The wine spends 6 months in French oak barriques

The vineyards of the Primitivo DOC Manduria lie between the towns of Manduria and Avetrana, deep in the Salento territory of Puglia, down in the heel of Italy. Paoloa Leo established the Vinagri vineyard in 1989 with the intention to preserve all the old wine-making traditions and reproduce the tastes and flavours of the past.

Both wines are available from Waitrose at £6.36 and £9.99 respectively

Our next meeting is at Jack’s on August 16th 2:00 pm

Meeting No 37, June 21st, 2011

As always, we had two very interesting wines to taste and on this occasion both received high scoring from the group. Both were from the new world and not for the first time, it was the cheaper of the two wines that received the higher score.

The first wine was an Errazuriz Riserva 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Errazuriz vineyards are located some 100 Kms north of Santiago and have a history dating back to the 1870’s. The Errazuriz family themselves have not only been involved in wine growing but have played significant roles in the history of Chile, including 4 presidents, two archbishops as well diplomats, industrialists and writers.
This particular wine was unusual in that it obtained a unanimous score of 8 from everyone and there was little variation in opinions. To that extent, the wine maker’s notes - “Deep red in colour with good concentration, this wine maintains a nice balance between its fresh fruit and notes from oak aging. Tart and sweet cherries as well as blackcurrant subtly intermingle with toasted notes lead to a well-balanced palate. Medium-bodied, with firm tannins, and good grip; juicy on the palate with bright acidity” also seem to be borne out by our experience – an excellent wine and very good value at £6.74.

The second wine was from South Australia, a McLaren Vale, Wirra Wirra, 2009 Church Block blend. (£12.00). The Wirra Wirra vineyard also dates back to the late 19th century but fell into disrepair during in the 1920’s and was brought back to life in late 1960’s. The Church Block blend started life in 1972 as a blend of Grenache and Shiraz and evolved over time into a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon 51%, Shiraz 29% and Merlot 20%, although the original blend is still available from time to time. With a 40 year history behind it has become an Australian favourite but was not quite so popular with our group who gave it an overall score of 7.6. There was a much greater variation in opinions and scores also varied from 6.5 to 8.5. Tasting notes were as follows - This McLaren Vale red has been a pillar of Wirra Wirra’s success over the years. It’s a blend of Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot and offers a full, fleshy palate of red berries, blackcurrant and herbs. It’s rick and full bodied, but has the soft approachability you want from your drink-now reds. Right on form with its layers of berry fruit, chocolate, a dash of spice, lovely balance and juicy tannins.” The wine is one that can be laid down for up to a further 8 years - perhaps we need to be keep one and see whether our tasting meets the reputation it has gained from the “experts?? Both wines are available from Waitrose.
Next Meeting is at Mike and Pam’s, July 19th 14:00

Just a thought by the original winemaker of Churchblock - Greg Trott

'Never give misery an even break, nor bad wine a second sip.
You must be serious about quality, dedicated to your task in life,
especially winemaking, but this should all be fun.'