Wine Appreciation

Wine Appreciation In the past few years we have tasted wine from all over the world as each month a different member hosts the group and chooses which wines we should taste - sometimes by country or region, and sometimes by grape variety. We have all enjoyed trying wines which we would not normally have chosen so we like to feel our tastes have widened through belonging to this Interest Group. Whenever we can find a teetotal driver we love to take the Lerryn Minibus out for a spin to a local vineyard or wine merchant.

SADLY THIS GROUP IS NOW FULL BUT WE WOULD WELCOME A SECOND GROUP BEING SET UP TO SHARE TRIPS OUT AND ABOUT

Contact the Group Leader

Group contact: Lindsay Southgate

Telephone: 01208 873371

2020 schedule

30 Mar	Was Jenny. Now cancelled
27 Apr	Rob and Lin
25 May	Jean & Eric
29 Jun	Helen
27 Jul	Lindsay & Keith
31 Aug	tba
28 Sep	Alan
26 Oct	Christine

Update 15th March 2020

The meeting planned for 30th March has been cancelled

February 2020 meeting

Carl and Sue kindly hosted our second meeting of the year. Their chosen theme was four wines they did not know from France (also chosen to help them plan their upcoming holiday there!). We enjoyed three whites and a red.

Picpoul De Pinet Les Canots £8.49
Wine of Southern France.Picpoul Blanc is an indigenous grape that grows around the shores of the Etang de Thau, near the Mediterranean sea. This bay is renowned for its oysters and "art de Vivre". This refreshing dry white displays lovely citrusy aromas on the nose, combined to well-balanced acidity and zesty finish.

Chatel Buis Montagny £12.99
Complex and very intense with exotic fruits, white peach and hazelnut with beautiful balanced spicy notes. Lemon thyme and mandarin orange notes, underpinned by a steely minerality and hint of vanilla

Paul Mas Reserve Languedoc Blanc £9.39
Wine of France.Paul Mas Réserve Single Vineyard Collection wines come from Jean-Claude Mas' vineyards in the Languedoc region in South of France. This distinctive wine is brimming with white peach and lemon flavours, with floral aromas and a pure mineral finish. This wine will complement spicy dishes, curries and smoked meats.

Georges Duboeuf Fleurie £10
This Fleurie has been made from Gamay grapes and carefully selected for the finesse and elegance of its floral, fruity aromas.

All the wines received a big thumbs up from the majority of the group with everyone's favourite varying slightly - as should be the case!

January 2020 meeting

We started the new year with three firsts for our meetings:

-we've never tasted 9 bottles in one session before

-we've never tasted alcohol free wine before

-we've never used spittoons until now!

To the surprise of the group Nick had decided to follow the trend of dry January. As there is no duty to pay on alcohol free wine he was able to source eight bottles within our ususal total budget. We were given three options to define our reaction to each bottle - spit, suffer or savour. The results are collated below.

Red
Eisberg Alcohol Free Cabernet Sauvignon, Morrison’s £3.50 reduced to £2.50 (Orange, Suffer).
Sainsbury’s Alcohol Free, £2.75 (Red, Spit).

Rose
Sainsbury’s Alcohol Free, £2.75 (Green, Savour).
Sainsbury’s Low Alcohol Merlot Rose, £3.50 reduced to £2.10 (Orange, Suffer).

White
Sainsbury’s Alcohol Free, £2.75 (Red, Spit).
Sainsbury’s Low Alcohol Sauvignon Blanc, £3.50 (Orange, Suffer).
Hardy’s Alcohol Free Chardonnay, Tesco’s £5.00 (Orange, Suffer).
Artis Alcohol Removed Chardonnay, Sainsbury’s £5.50 (Orange, Suffer).

Red 13.5% Alcohol
Morrison’s Côtes Du Rhône Villages, Bonus Reward

We were rewarded at the end of eight bottles with a very pleasant bottle of red which contained alcohol! Certainly a different start to 2020 - thanks to Nick for making us all think differently!