On Wednesday 21st October the Upton Wine Club held their second monthly wine club evening of the year (post the Summer break), with a theme based on the Rugby World Cup. The themes are planned well in advance and due to the lack of home nation representation by the time of the evening was more focused on a taste comparison of old world wines (typically from Europe) V’s new world wines (often countries colonized by Western Europe). The aim was to taste the same grape, but using the old world style of production V’s the more modern new world techniques.
First we sampled a Pouilly-fume “les Griottes” 2013 (by Jean-Pierre Bally) V’s Mud House Woolshed Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Marlborough. The general consensus was the few extra pounds spent on the French wine really showed. Both are available from Majestic.
We finished the whites with a Definition Chablis (Majestics own classic from France) V’s Yering Station Elms Chardonnay (Australian), both from Majestic. Recently the sun drenched wines from Australia have taken a bit of a beating, and whilst this went some way to bringing a bit of respectability back the Chablis was more popular amongst our members.
Next we tried F.Stephen Miller – Angel’s Reserve, Zinfandel 2013 (California) V’s Dominic Hentall Primitivo 2014. Both from Naked Wines. Both good wines, but the fruit from the Californian came through and was most popular.
To finish we tried a Bordeaux called Marquis de Belleville 2012 V’s Parcel Series Cabernet Merlot Reserve 2012 from Western Cape, South Africa. Again both from Majestic. Both these wines were a classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend. The Parcel Series is made in a vin yard on the coast, which gave it very similar flavours to the Bordeaux. Both were excellent wines and at under £8 per bottle good value.
We had around 30 members come along for the evening, which lasted until 10pm. If you would like to come and sample some wines and have a social with other residents of Upton then you can either come as a guest of an existing member or send a mail to Ian, ian.Langley@yahoo.co.uk (committee member). Evenings are priced between £5 and £10 and it’s a great way to try typically 8 different wines you may not normally buy!
Ian