The Line-Up
2nd March 2012
This, the 3rd of 4 sessions, centred on Famous Wines From European regions and was organised once again by Chris & Carmel. Delicious breads, cheeses, chorizo and olives complimented the wines. Proceedings commenced with a very pleasant white Port, followed by a Spanish Macabeo (Cariñena) and a Rioja. Two Italian offerings in the form of Falanghina and Sicilia Bianco were sampled next, and the whites were rounded off with a French Macon Villages.
More cheese, please.
Staying with France, the first red was a Côtes du Rhône Villages followed by the superior A.O.C. Vacqueyras also from the Rhône. An Italian pairing of Valpolicella Ripasso and Montepulciano D’Abruzzo completed the tour of Europe. Chris supplied his customary knowledgeable background commentary and also produced a quiz, won by Brid & Mike.
Swirl it 'n swill it ladies!
I'm telling you Mavis, real men don't use straws or glasses!
Details of the final session for the year, probably in late May, will be announced in due course. ===================================================================================== The second of four sessions of the 2011-12 year, the Christmas Tasting, took place on Friday 2nd December 2011, and was organised by Brid Gavigan, Mary Cunningham and Rosemary Cowan. Ann Eccleston provided a delicious palate cleanser, and table centre-piece to compliment Mary’s decorations.
"And I'm telling you, I'm the real Santa"
Our antipodean white adventure started off by comparing the 2009 Australian McGuigan’s Black Label Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, followed by a 2010 Villa Maria East Coast Gewürztraminer from New Zealand.
Ann contemplates, Louis gesticulates!
Attentive ears for Brid!
Reds were a 2009 Pinot Noir French Burgundy (at this point Brid invited Mike Rudkin to acquaint everyone with the latest technological progress made by Californian Napa Valley wine producers in creating a hybrid version of the Pinot Noir grape and which would act as an anti-diuretic, thus producing a sound night’s sleep for the older generation – it will be marketed as the Pinot More). Next were an Italian 2009 Sangiovese Da Vinci Chianti and a 2008 Australian Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz.
Walnut & Pumpkin Seed bread, Veda bread and Paté'd crackers.
Cheeses, other breads and mince pies were enjoyed in addition to these offerings shown here.
We're all palate-cleansing!
Finally Dow’s 2005 Late Bottled Vintage Port went down very well, and Mary produced a surprise bottle of Canadian Icewine (the grapes are picked at the coldest moment of a winter’s night, and each frozen grape creates just one drop of Icewine).
Canadian Icewine
Contact: Brid Gavigan & Chris Roberts ————————————————————————————————————————————————— The first of four sessions of the 2011-12 year took place on Friday 7th October 2011, and was our first ever blind tasting event.
Food preparation almost complete.
Various breads, crackers, cheeses, olives, pastrami and serrano ham were provided. Seven wines in all were sampled and a light-hearted competition was won by Rosemary Cowan. In addition to the well-known Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay-Semillon and Shiraz grape varieties Mike Rudkin introduced examples of the lesser-known Albariño, Barbera and Marzemino varieties. The distinction between British Wine and English Wine was covered with Mike stressing that British Wine is made from grape juice concentrate from Ygiagam (your guess is as good as mine!) and could come from anywhere, whereas English Wine is made from English grapes.
These are the wines that greeted the participants!
The wines duly “defrocked” were these:- 
Concentration and studious discussion!
Discussion continues and answers are compared!
Winner in action - Rosemary identifies violets!
