2024 past events

Meeting  467 Friday 15th March

Wines of the Loire

Presenter: David Wright(David Alexander Wines)

We invited another presenter new to us, David Wright, to give a presentation of wines from the Loire Valley. David had clearly done considerable research and preparation , and his presentation was outstanding – informative, interesting and very enjoyable. He used the projector to good effect, to put over information clearly and to enhance our interest with attractive photos. He covered the full length of the river, from Muscadet to Puy de Dôme. The wines showed very well, and this was reflected in higher-than-average scores. The aperitif Touraine Brut was clean and fresh, and the Chenin Blanc gave rich character and an interesting differential from Champagne. The Muscadet showed how good this wine can be, and maybe it will come back into fashion as an accessible dry white, this slot in France having been taken recently by Picpoul. We then had three wines from 100% Sauvignon Blanc, and all three were excellent, while differing in character. The Sancerre was very fresh, with lovely fruit but strong acid, a bit harsh for some when on its own, but widely appealing with the food. Mark gave us a ratatouille-like sumptuous vegetable dish, with boiled potatoes and chicken breast pieces dressed with basil oil. The Menetou-Salon was softer and drank very well on its own; opinion was divided between those favouring this or the Sancerre. After our main course we tasted a Pinot Noir from near the source of the river. This was a very drinkable and well-made wine, but compared with all the other wines of the evening it did not have the same depth and complexity of character. The Chinon was a great example of how good Cabernet Franc can be. We then moved to wines that showed the versatility of the Chenin Blanc grape, with a demi-sec with 25 g/l of sugar and the Côteaux du Layon with over 100g/l. The demi-sec was lovely, with some sweetness but also fresh fruit. The Côteaux du Layon was glorious, again with really rich fruit but with sweetness that did not cloy. This was the outstanding wine of the evening. It accompanied perfectly the peach and almond tart glazed with apricot. Altogether this was one of the best events of our Branch for some time

Meeting  466 Friday 16th February

Battle of the Pyrenees:  Roussillon and Catalunya

Presenter: Pippa Hayward, of the Association of Wine Educators

Pippa knows the regions of Roussillon and Catalunya well, either side of the Pyrenees. She is clearly very
enthusiastic about the younger winemakers, many of whom she knows, who are concentrating on the old
traditional vines that remain, after a great number have been dug up and replaced by internationally known
varieties. Their accent is on autochthonous wines grown in the most appropriate and specific terroirs. She
gave a very informative and interesting presentation, illustrated with slides showing the countryside, vines,
buildings and winemakers. The wines showed very well, and were mostly liked. The scores were consistently
high. A few of us were critical of the Chateau Ollieux Romanis Atal Sia Corbières 2021. Its overall score of 8
showed that most loved it, but I and some others thought it lacked a coherent structure. It had big fruit and
good acid, but it ended with very distinct tannin, which seemed not to be properly integrated. Overall this was
a great tasting, with outstanding wines presented very well. The Fitou was quite the best example that many
of us had tasted, and was a perfect accompaniment to the duck leg confit cassoulet main course. Sadly Mark
had confused menus, and gave us the dessert intended for next month’s tasting, a blue cheese pannacotta with
pear. This was perhaps not ideal with the beautiful Rivesaltes Ambré that ended the tasting, but it was very
good.

Meeting 465   Sunday 21st January 1pm

We had thought of visiting a restaurant in January, for a Sunday lunch, but then Mark suggested that he could cater for us at Neville Hall, and we relished the idea.  Restaurant lunches have not usually been our most popular events, but this lunch attracted a booking of 38 people, though sadly three were on the day indisposed.

The occasion turned out to be very successful , with many attendees saying that it is an event that we must repeat.  Your committee has agreed that it will be a regular January event.  There were several reasons for its success.  The venue is familiar and accessible, Mark’s food was as ever outstanding, the wines were mostly from the Branch Cellar and so had been chosen because we had found them exceptional at previous tastings, and the relaxed atmosphere was conducive to delightful conviviality. For the aperitif we used wines purchased in 2018, left over from the EAZ Festival.  They were English sparkling wines, Furleigh Estate Blanc de Noirs 2016, Hattingley Valley Classic Reserve and Ridgeview Blanc de Blancs Brut 2013.  The favourite was the Hattingley. Mark’s starter  was mackerel paté, pickled beetroot and toast.  With this we had two white wines, Deakin Estate Viognier 2015, Murray Darling Victoria, bought in 2016 from Berkmann Wine Cellar, and Mount Holdsworth Pinot Gris 2016, Wairarapa, bought in 2018, also from Berkmann.  Both wines were much enjoyed; many commented that they had more depth of character than any of similar grape varieties tasted previously. 

Our main course was cider-braised pheasant with chestnuts, apple & cream, mash, cabbage & bacon.

To accompany this we had two wines from Henry Laithwaite, bought in 2013, Chateau Verniotte 2010 and Chateau la Clarière 2009.  The pheasant was quite delicious, and the wines showed very well, with rich and complex fruit and good balance. 

We then had a dessert of vanilla poached pear with chocolate sauce.  We did not have a suitable wine in the cellar, so we purchased, from Waitrose, Domaine de Leyrissat Monbazillac 2021, 100% Semillon.  This was a light pudding, with very nice wine.

We had not planned to provide coffee or tea, and so the event ended with chat, including much praise for the lunch just enjoyed.  It would have been good to round off the lunch with coffee or tea, and we will plan for this at future similar events.