February
This was a member's choice evening when we had seven excellent and very different wines presented by five members of our group. They ranged from a dry sparkling wine from Haut Poitou to a very full bodied Australian shiraz.
March
The meeting started at 7:30 pm with Chris Wrigley joining us for the first time. As we always we welcome all new members. The March presentation was from Alan & Jean Haigh titled Italy Top to Toe. The wines were excellent starting with a Pinot Grigio from Trentino Alto Adige, followed by a Prosecco from Veneto and a Venturina from Piedmont. Next came the reds with a Montemajone Chianti Classico from Tuscany, then a Corte dei Papi which is made from the Cesanese grape which we had never heard about before. You cannot do Italian wines without a Primitivo so we had a Primitivo di Manduria and completed the reds with an Aglianico del Vulture from Basilicata. Alan & Jean finished the evening with a Marsal Superior Dolce from Sicily accompanied with home-made Biscotti.
April
George Barnes presented Wines from Southern Rhone. We tasted a Cremant de Die NV from the Wine Society followed by a Les Adhemar Blanc from Grignan. The remaining 5 wines, all reds and Grenache based, were wonderful; 3 came from the Wine Society and 2 from Waitrose. One of the outstanding wines was a Cairanne 2015 followed by a Clos St Michel Chateauneuf Du Pape 2020.
July
The Summer Garden Party was held at Tony & Anne Mansey’s house on 2 July. The weather was very kind, and we had a lovely afternoon with food contributions from many attendees. The wines were well received with a Loire Crémant, a Burgundy white, Spanish Alberino, and a Southern Rhone Grenache Rose. This was followed by 4 lovely reds, two lovely wines from Bordeaux a Fleurie and a Brouilly with a Saumur Champigny and finished with a Pinot Noir from the Languedoc.
September