2018 Reports

Our Visit to France

Our second visit to France presented wines from the Burgundy region. Interestingly Burgundy produces more white wine (60%), with Chardonnay being the most common. The white wines presented also had a higher alcohol content than the red which is unusual. Sourcing a Burgundian cheese to accompany the wine was a challenge but eventually Epoisses, a renowned quite stinky cheese was sourced and served with a quince jelly.   

April

A slight change from our usual format saw us welcome Sam from Majestic Wines in Stevenage, who gave a presentation on New Zealand Wine. Sam chose to avoid Sauvignon Blanc and give us the opportunity to taste Pelorus and Gruner Veltliner amongst a Syrah, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. It was a very lively evening and made the more interesting as Sam had visited most of the vineyards on the list – one of the perks of the job!

February

Our Indian wine presentation was certainly one of our most interesting tastings by Mike, who arranged for his colleagues to bring 2 bottles each from India (taking wine out of the country is limited to 2 bottles), where he collected them in Germany while at a conference. Our Members
certainly go the extra mile to make sure we ‘discover’ hard-to-get wines for our delectation. Thanks Mike!

January

Dry January is obviously not on our members’ agenda as we had a record number in attendance. A selection of sale wine not exceeding £7 a bottle had us tasting wines from The Triangle Stores in Letchworth along with some of our larger supermarkets and The Wine Society. A Californian Pinot Grigio produced by Barefoot Wine (from the Triangle Store for £5.99) proved to be one of the most popular of the evening.