2025 past events

Meeting 482 Friday 17th October 2025

Beaujolais: Dan Farrell-Wright (Wickham Wine) 

Dan Farrell-Wright of Wickham Wine arrived worryingly late; perhaps he had not understood the starting time
of 1845 meant that he needed to arrive with the wines somewhat earlier. We were seriously considering what
to do if he didn’t come. But we need not have worried. He arrived just after 7 o’clock and proved to be the
most entertaining and informative presenter. Dan clearly knew very well the region of Beaujolais and many of
its wine makers. The wines he brought were all excellent quality and some were a revelation to those of us
who expected just light attractive red wines.
We started with an aperitif of Cremant de Bourgogne - not strictly Beaujolais but a good sparkling start. This
was a very good example, much enjoyed, if sadly rather expensive. We are beginning to get used to increases
in price driven by duty rises, but all of the wines in this tasting seemed to be more expensive than we are used
to paying for Beaujolais, though the wines were also considerably more intense and complex than expected.
A first for many of us was to taste two white wines from the region, using the Chardonnay grape. The second,
from Familie Descombes, was a little fresher and more attractive. It complemented Mark’s starter of pork
rillettes, toast & gherkins; the rillette was generous and dense, and needed a fresh wine accompaniment.
The first red was a Villages wine from Domaine de Mont Joly, and set a very high bar. It was soft but with great
balance of fruit, acid and tannin. This was followed by cru wines from Brouilly, Chiroubles and Régnié, all with
rich cherry-like fruit and quite complex. Then we had a Morgon from Clos du Vieux Bourg. This was
considerably deeper, with luscious fruit and very good balance and length. It accompanied our main course of
roast chicken, pommes purées, thyme & roasted garlic jus and petits pois à la française. This dish sounds simple, but
the quality was extraordinary, lifted by the most delicious peas and tasty sauce. Extravagantly buttery mash
went down well too.
There was a final flourish - the 2019 Villages wine, also from Domaine de Mont Joly. This would have been
impossible to identify as Gamay in a blind tasting; it could have been a very rich Pinot Noir. The flavour was
intense and complex, and very long. It was a revelation, and scored very highly.

Famille Gueguen Blanc de Noirs Cremant de Bourgogne NV 7½ £24
Domaine bel Avenir 'La Perle Blanche' Beaujolais Blanc 2022 7 £16.50
Famille Descombe 'Les Pierres Dorees' Beaujolais Blanc 2022 8 £17.55
Domaine de Mont Joly 'Marzy' Beaujolais Villages 2023 7½ £19.50
Domaine Benjamin Passot 'Cercillons' Chiroubles 2023 8 £18.50
Domaine des Fournelles 'La Perrière' Brouilly 2023 7 £17.50
Clos du Vieux Bourg 'Croix Penet' Regnie 2021 8 £17.50
Clos du Vieux Bourg 'Cinq Terre' Morgon 2020 8½ £18.50
Domaine de Mont Joly '85.45' Beaujolais Villages 2019 9 £33.50

Meeting 481 Friday 19 September 2025

Wines of Greece: David Wright (David Alexander Wines) 

We were very pleased to welcome back David Wright of David Alexander Wines, who gave us an informative
presentation of wines from the Loire in March 2024. This time David brought wines from Greece, and again
gave a most informative guide, both to the wines and to the cultural and historic context in which Greek wines
have been enjoyed for over two millennia.
David Alexander Wines now operates on-line only. Since the mid 1990s David has worked with several
merchants who eventually became ABS, where he was general manager until 2016. He then joined Delibo
Wine Agencies, from where he retired in 2023, but continues to work on a part time basis. He also works a day
a week with an old acquaintance, Nick Mantella, who runs a great hybrid shop in Farnham, called The Wine
Yard; it is from The Wine Yard that David sourced this evening’s wines.
Our aperitif was a Rosé by Gaia. Four of the wines were from Gaia, a well-known producer of wines, principally
from two regions, Nemea in Peloponnese and Santorini, and from two typical Greek grape varieties, Agiorgitiko
and Assyrtiko. Greece is one of the oldest wine-making countries, but the quality of wines made now is world
class because many wineries are quite new and are managed by people who have had modern training. For
example Gaia Wines was founded in 1994.
The first white wine was one of two from Assyrtiko, and was pleasant but not very special. Next came a
blended wine from Notios, Peloponnese, by Gaia. This was more aromatic, with a soft fruit flavour. Then we
tasted a wine from Malagousia, which was fresh and with rich, quite complex fruit; it was well liked. Our fourth
white was from another grape, Kydonitsa. Again with good fresh fruit, it went very well with our first food
course. Mark produced a very tasty filo pie of spinach and feta. There was yet another white wine, another
Assyrtiko from Gaia in Santorini. This was quite acidic, with rich, complex fruit, but perhaps not fully balanced;
we thought it would improve with a few more years in bottle; it was by far the most expensive wine of the
evening, at £39 full price.
Our first red wine was a blend of two grapes, Agiorgitiko and Mavroudi. At 2019, it was the most mature wine
of the evening, but it was too acidic. It would have tasted more attractive with food. Next we had the Alpha
Estate ‘Hedgehog’, from Xinomavro. This was beautiful, quite light in colour and comparable to a Pinot Noir in
style. It had lovely fruit, with good balance and length, and gained the highest score of the evening. Finally,
with our main course of slow-roasted lamb with lemon potatoes and roast vegetables, we enjoyed another
wine from Gaia, an Agiorgitiko from Peloponnese. This was full bodied, and a very appropriate accompaniment
to the delicious food.

 Mark  provided a starter of a spinach and feta filo pastry, followed by a main course of slow roasted lamb with lemon potatoes and roasted mediterranean vegetables. 

Gaia 4.6 Rosé Nemea Peloponnese 7 £15.30 0
Theopetra Estate Terre Grec, Thessaly Assyrtiko 7 £11.70 
Gaia Notios Peloponnese 2024 Assyrtico/Roditis/Moschofilero 7 £14.85 
Gerovassilou Epanomi 2024 Macedonia Malagousia 8 £21.60 
Tsimbidi Laconia Monemvasia 2024 Kydonitsa 7½ £17.10 
Gaia Thalassitis Santorini 2024 Assyrtico 7½ £35.10 
Voltes 2024 Agiorgitiko/Mavroudi 6 £13.05 
Alpha Estate Single Vineyard ‘Hedgehog’ Amyndeon 2022 Xinomavro 8½ £21.60 
Gaia Nemea Peloponnese 2023 Agiorgitiko 8 £17.10 

Meeting 480 Friday 15 August 2025

A Tour of Italy: Martin Chapman Watlington Fine Wines

We welcomed an old friend, Martin Chapman, from Watlington Fine Wines, who brought a wide selection of
Italian wines. 
We started with a very good example of Prosecco, Anno Domini Frizzante, advertised as Bio. It was nice and
fresh, with pleasant fruit, and not too sweet. An Abruzzo Pecorino started clean and fresh, and then developed
some complexity. Gavi di Gavi was classic Cortese, with nicely balanced acid and fruit, and good length. The
Sicilian Grillo was very crisp and dry, and was a very suitable accompaniment to our starter. Mark created an
unusual and interesting salad of griddled peaches with parma ham and burrata and a tasty dressing.
We started the red wines with an Aglianico from Campania. This was quite rich, and in spite of having some
bottle age (2021 vintage) had still quite distinct tannin. It was a good wine, but a number of our tasters did not
find it very attractive. Then we moved to Veneto, and tasted a lovely Valpolicella Ripasso. This was a good
example, much enjoyed. Next was the richest wine of the evening, a Brunello di Montalcino. This was a
wonderful, deep fruity mouthful, the Sangiovese fruit enriched by maturation in Slovenian oak. It was the
highest scoring wine of the evening, but sadly is very expensive. Almost as appealing was an Amarone. This
was a very good example, but even more expensive; it was not felt to be the best value available. With our
main course, a delicious dish of pork, fennel & chilli meatballs with pasta, we enjoyed a Sicilian wine, Tenimenti
Zabu Il Passo. It is 100% Nerello Mascalese, a grape new to most of us. It is aged in new French oak for up to
six months. It was well liked.

Anno Domini Black Label Prosecco Frizzante NV 7 £13.50
Tombacco Pecorino Dry 2023 IGT Abruzzo 7½ £13.99
Tacchino Gavi di Gavi 2023 DOCG Piemonte 8 £22.95
Vigneti Zabu Grillo 2024 DOC Sicily 7½ £15.95
Tombacco Aglianico Rosso 2021 IGT Campania 6½ £13.99
Corte Giara Valpolicella Ripasso 2022 DOC Veneto 8 £25.60
Buon Tempo Brunello di Montalcino 2016 DOCG Toscana 8½ £40.50
Alpha Zeta Amarone di Valpolicella 2021 DOC Veneto 8½ £49.95
Tenimenti Zabu Il Passo Nerello Mascalese 2022 IGT Terre Siciliane 8 £20.90

Meeting 479 Sunday 13 July 2025

Visit to All Angels Vineyard, Enborne Berkshire: tasting and lunch

Our Summer outing this year was a repeat of our 2023 visit to All Angels, the English Sparkling Wine vineyard at Enborne, just west of Newbury. 
It was a scorching day and we started with a tour of the vineyards at the Church Farm site. The tour was hosted by Mark Darley, the founder, and his attention to detail and enthusiasm for excellence shone through at every stage. This was exemplified by the battle with frost, a challenge every year and a real danger to the crop in several years. One solution is the burning of candles. This is common in many vineyards in England and France, but is prohibitively expensive and muckily hands-on. Another method is fanning of air, either on the ground or from the air using helicopters or drones, but this is again expensive and only effective if conditions are just right. A new method that Mark has used is the connexion of strips of infra-red lighting threaded
through the vines. Again this is expensive, but at least once purchased the strips can be used again for at least ten years. The electrical power required is very high, too much from the grid without the installation of a dedicated substation at a quite unaffordable cost. So Mark has used a generator powered by bio fuel. All these methods are expensive and time consuming, and come with various compromises. Mark is not just keen on maintaining the highest quality in all elements of the production of his wines, but is also a keen environmentalist, and his love of nature shone through in our tour. There is on his land a great diversity of flora, but also a perhaps surprising diversity of fauna, including rabbits, hares, foxes, badgers and otters.

Back at the farm we sat at an elegantly laid table and enjoyed tasting three of Mark’s wines. We started with the 2016 Classic Cuvée. This has good acid and is fresh and dry; but the fruit flavour is delightful and is very long-lasting. We then tasted the 2018 Sparkling Rosé; this is an unusual combination of grapes, Rondo and Pinot Gris. It is softer but the fruit flavour is dry with a pleasant but significantly bitter edge. Again it has great length. We then were shown a 2018 Cuvée, not yet released. This was a slightly lighter clone of the 2016.           

The buffet lunch included kofta kebabs and marinated chicken kebabs served with tomato and mediterranean vegetable salad, cous cous, herby potato salad and a yoghurt and mint sauce and focaccia bread. Chocolate brownies with strawberries and vanilla cream followed.   With lunch we indulged in three more bottles, a 2016 Classic Cuvée, a Rosé and a 2014 Classic Cuvée. The 2014 is a very special wine. It has the same house style that we experienced with the 2016, but its age, including many years on the lees during secondary fermentation, has resulted in tremendous depth of character.

Mark has not yet decided how to produce the 2018 wine. There are two possibilities, one being a Brut Zero. Watch this space.

This was a fine visit, very much enjoyed. Mark’s wines are made with such dedication, the most significant difference from almost all other English Sparkling Wines being the time he allows on the lees before disgorging. All wines are single vintage. After a few more years it will be very interesting to make another visit and see how his wines are developing.

Meeting 478 Friday 16th May 2025

Wines of Portugal: Kevin Hart (79North)

We welcomed a new presenter, Kevin Hart of 79North, a company based in Reading. He was accompanied by Jill Carver of Added Ingredients. They gave a good overview of the range of Portuguese wines, with maps and explanations of the locations of various vineyards and styles. Our aperitif was a fizzy rosé from the northern region Vinho Verde – a very pleasant start. We then moved to the most southerly region of this tasting, the Alentejo, with a white wine from the Vale da Calada. Their red  wine featured later in the tasting. Then just a little north, to the central agricultural area Ribatejo, along the Tagus river. We tasted four wines from Casal do Conde in this region, starting with an Alvarinho. The tasting ended with three reds from the same grower, and all these wines scored the highest in the tasting. After the Alvarinho we went back to Quinta Pousada de Fora; they produced the rosé fizz and this wine, their Arinto Reserva. The Arinto grape was new to many of us, and this white wine was very acceptable. Next we tasted a wine from the Lisbon area, Manz Dona Fatima Branco 2020; I’m afraid this proved somewhat disappointing, in spite of being the most expensive wine we tasted. Our first red was from Herdade da Calada, Vale da Calada, then followed by the three more reds from Casal do Conde.

Charlotte provided the supper - a selection of tapas of goats cheese, salt cod croquettes with garlic aioli, lupins and olives,  followed by a main of pork fillet marinated in white wine, garlic and piri piri pepper sauce, served with parmentier potatoes and pickled vegetables. To finish,  ginjinha liqueur in chocolate cups and pastel de nata.

Meeting 477 Friday 21st March 2025

 Wines of the Southern Rhône: Paul Fritz-Johnson (Welch and Co) 

We were pleased to welcome back Paul Fritz-Johnson, who is a partner at Welch & Co Wine Merchants and Pierre le Vin, an independent wine supplier to restaurants and bars. The two linked companies are based in the Oxfordshire town of Wallingford and are entering their 38th year of business. Their aim is to provide 'Good Wine at the Right Price'. Paul showed a range of wines from the Southern Rhône to highlight the principal villages/sites of the area.  

Mark provided a starter of tartiflette with green salad and a main course of smoked bacon and duck leg with lentils
and red wine.

Meeting 476 Friday 21 February 2025 
AGM followed by Richard and Eka Cox: Wines of Georgia

This was a fascinating and unusual event, because it introduced our members to wines that none had previously tasted, and to a region none had visited.  Richard and Eka Cox’s company, Taste of Georgia, is a small independent husband and wife operation; now in its eighth year, it was set up to improve awareness of Georgia, its culture and customs, and its wonderful wines, the product of 8000 years of unbroken wine-making heritage.

Eka is Georgian, and their presentation gave us an insight into some of the culture of the country.  It was interesting to see photographs illustrating the fact that many Georgians grow their own vines, even within towns, and make their own wines.  More recently professional winemakers have developed, using some autochthonous grapes, and we were introduced to wines from two white grape varieties, Mtsvane and Rkatsiteli, and the red variety Saperavi.  Many of these wines are made in the traditional manner, in which clay egg-shaped pots called qvevri are used to mature the wine.  The qvevri are buried underground or set into the floor of a cellar.  Photographs of the production of the qvevri showed that it is entirely by hand, painstakingly  building up the shape.

The white grape varieties are often made with fermenting before removing the skins, resulting in an amber wine.  This practice originated in Georgia, and has become popular in several other countries, where the wine is often called orange wine.  Most of these orange wines are made a deeper colour than Georgian amber wines, by leaving the wine longer in contact with the skins, and using some grape varieties with deeper colour in their skins.  The amber wines we tasted were dry and quite a light colour.

Mark gave us a starter of Khachapuri (cheese filled bread with egg), served with the Khikhvi amber wine, and a main of goulash served with the Mukuzani red wine.  This red wine was very much enjoyed, and we decided to invest in some for the Branch cellar, so that in a few year’s time we will be able to see how it has matured. 

Richard and Eka’s presentation was excellent, entertaining and very interesting, and the wines showed well, especially the red wines.

Meeting 475 Sunday 19th January

Neville Hall Lunch by Mark Robertson, wines from the Branch cellar

Last year’s January Sunday lunch was so successful that all who were there insisted that it become an annual event. This year it was better than ever. Mark produced an outstanding menu, greatly enjoyed by all.
We started with fig stuffed with goat’s cheese and wrapped in Parma ham, with walnuts, lamb’s lettuce and sprinkles of honey and balsamic vinegar. The main course was venison suet pudding, with parsnip purée, tenderstem broccoli and braised red cabbage. Dessert was lemon curd & passion fruit meringue roulade. After this a variety of cheeses were available, and tea or coffee.There were 32 diners, and all agreed that it had been a very special occasion, with perhaps Mark’s best food yet.

The food was matched with wines of the highest quality. Holding our lunch at Neville Hall enabled us to bring out wines from the Branch cellar, and those we drank are listed below. We did not have a sparkling wine in the cellar, so the aperitif was purchased  from The Wine Society.All the wines were well liked, but most agreed that the Wilson Gunn was an absolute star, with great depth of fruit, lovely balance and great length. I had decanted the 2005 wines the day before, and there had been a lot of tannic sediment. Ageing had certainly removed any hint of bitterness in the remaining tannins.