A note on scoring wine
Just a reminder to visitors to our pages that we score out of 7, so 5’s and 6’s are really rather good!!
April 2017
Another well attended evening for the Chile and Argentinian tasting. We had a whopping 11 wines to try this evening. The most we’ve had in one tasting apart from the supermarket challenge. And in 2 hours too! Thank you to Jeremy Sandham from Sandham’s wine merchants in Caistor for supplying the wines and accompanying our speaker Chris from Fells and Co. Both whom are very knowledgeable about the wines selected for us to sample. The welcome wine for the evening was a sparkling pinot noir – Torres Chile Cordillera Brut 2013. A dry but fresh and flavoursome bubbly served mainly as an aperitif. A great start to the evening and scoring 5 out of 7. The cost of this wine is £13.99.
A few facts from the evening…….
- Argentina have been producing wine longer than other new world producers
- 2% of the UK wine market is from Argentina which has become re-popularised in the last few years
- Argentinians are big consumers of their own wines compared to Chile
- Chilean wine sold in the UK is mostly house wine level
- In Argentina the grape Torrontes is the most widely planted with the 2nd most popular being Pinot Gris
- Every day of the year is dedicated to a grape variety
- 80% of wine bought in UK is consumed within 6 hours of purchase.
(every day is a school day……even when tipsy I still manage to learn a thing or two)!!
There were certainly some interesting wines tasted and once again there was a divide. Two wines brought to us this evening scored an impressive 6 out of 7. These were Torres Chile Manso de Valasco Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 costing £29.99 and Torres Chile Nectaria Vendimia Tardia Riesling 2010 at £10.69 for 37.5cl
To find out about any of the wines tasted throughout this evening or to purchase….. Contact Sandham’s wine merchants om 01472 852118 or visit www.sandhamswine.co.uk
If you would like to know which grape today is dedicated to ………………………… http://www.mattwalls.co.uk/the-grape-day-calendar
March 2017
An excellent evening with Leon Stolarski Fine Wines – our theme “Off the Beaten Track”.
A change to our published Events Calendar, Leon was a last-minute replacement for Neil Courtier, who had to withdraw for personal reasons. We wish Neil well and hope to see him in the near future.
Leon is a Nottingham-based wine importer and enthusiast who has first-hand knowledge of the vineyards and growers he buys from – this was reflected in his in-depth knowledge of the wines he presented. He specialises in wines from small growers in southern and central France and, other than a gorgeous Jurançon ’sweetie’, tonight’s wines were all from the Languedoc area. In line with the evening’s theme, Leon succeeded in showing us wines that weren’t just “the same old …”.
For example, we tried Grenache Gris (no, me neither) blended with Maccabeu (aka Viura in Rioja) and then oak-aged – absolutely lovely. We had a rosé that was so deep and dark that it might more accurately be described as a clairet, a delicious Grenache and Syrah blend. Traditional Rhône grapes predominated in the reds we tried, although Merlot and Petit Verdot made an appearance, as did Tempranillo! Brief history lesson: during the Spanish civil war, many Spaniards fled to southern France, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised to see Spanish grape varieties popping up … Suffice to say that all Leon’s reds were popular on the night, with high scores awarded. And his relaxed and informative presentation style meant that we learned stuff too!
A big thank you to Leon for an interesting and enjoyable evening, I’m sure that we will be inviting him again.
For those interested in seeing Leon’s wine list, this can be viewed on his website at www.lsfinewines.co.uk – a mine of information
February 2017
Gerry Baker, Manager at Majestic Wine in Lincoln kindly came along and presented their ‘Definition Range’ of wines. These were:
Blanc de Blanc Champagne as the welcome wine £19.99
Definition Gavi £8.99
Definition Sancerre £14.99
Definition Chardonnay £9.99
Definition Provence Rose £8.99
Definition Pinot Noir £12.99
Definition Rioja £10.99
Definition Cotes du Rhone £8.99
Prices based on 6+ bottles purchased.
It was certainly an evening of mixed reviews, some members and guests scoring the wines reasonably high and some not so. The average score of the wines was 4-5. It was great to have a local merchant presenting for us and certainly gave us a great flavour of what Majestic have to offer. If you are interested in trying any of these wines for yourself then Majestic can be found on Wragby Road in Lincoln.
January 2017
An excellent turnout for an enjoyable evening, presented by the enthusiastic Ben Robson of Bat & Bottle Wine Merchants. Funny name for a wine merchants? Well Ben used to sell bats as well as bottles – the bats were of the cricket variety, not the squeaky, flying type. He has been a specialist importer of Italian wines for over 20 years, so has first-hand knowledge of the evening’s topic, wines from the Verona region.
The region is perhaps best known for Prosecco (this is where the original came from), for Soave and Valpolicella. We tried examples of each, comparing different classifications and their levels of complexity. So with Valpolicella, for example, we started with the lighter, fruity Valpolicella Classico, working through the richer Ripasso style, up to seriously heavyweight Amarone wines. Backed by Ben’s knowledge and his anecdotes of the region and its vineyards, and the foibles of Italian regulations and the producers themselves, this proved to be an educational as well as entertaining evening.
The wines went down well on the night, with this being the highest scoring evening since … well since Ben’s Chianti evening last January! And we had the chance to buy the wines at discounted prices on the night. What more could you ask for?
Bat & Bottle Wine Merchants, Oakham 01572 759 735 http://batwine.uk
December 2016
What a great end to the year. A blind tasting was compiled by our committee members Steve and Ira. A real palate tester! We had four wines and not only did we have to identify the grape variety, we were challenged by having to identify the country of origin and region the wine came from too. We had lots of discussions over this and some conflicting views of the wine types whilst enjoying sampling it too! Nobody scored 12 out of 12!! The buffet was a lovely touch to the evening and members and guests were able to socialise throughout. Please see the gallery page for some of the photographs captured during the evening. 2017 is set to be another great tasting year for The Lincoln Wine Society. We hope to see you at one of our events soon!
November 2016
Another great evening tasting wines, picked for the festive period by James Long from Corney & Barrow. As always it was great to see James who was kind enough to come and be our speaker for the evening. What a turn out!!…..There were 44 attendees, the most in one tasting seen all year. James had his work cut out to captivate and interest all who attended as well as enthuse us with his wine selection for the evening. This he managed particularly well as usual.
James opened the evening with a lovely pink fizz – Rosato Spumante, Cecilia Beretta, Italy. Spumante meaning sparkling and it was certainly that! Made in the Prosecco region but unable to be named Prosecco due to its colour, it was certainly a great alternative to some Prosecco’s I’ve tasted. One definitely for the xmas party season and a great price too at £10.85. There was some interesting white’s and reds suitably paired for the endless festive food supplies of turkey, cheese, bubble and squeak and xmas puds! The last wine of the evening was a sweetie!! And what a great name – Sticky Mickey, a sauvignon blanc from Marlborough New Zealand. A half bottle priced at £12.76. Sweet wines are not my absolute favourites but I’m definitely putting this on my must have wine list for this year.
James as always was very entertaining with his little anecdotes and stories to tell. He was very accommodating to those new to wine tasting, explaining how it should be done to get the most out of tasting and not just drinking. He certainly kept us all interested and had the whole room in laughter at various points throughout the evening. Thank you again James. Many of us were able to place orders at the end of the evening and I am so looking forward to xmas so I can make the most out of my wine delivery!!
If you would like to learn more about the wines tasted throughout the evening, see the photographic section. Or you can visit www.corneyandbarrow.com
We hope to see you at our December social. See events for further details of date and costs. A buffet is also included in the next tasting.
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