A slightly reduced number came this month for members’ selections as quite a few of our usual attendees were off trekking around the globe but that didn’t detract from an excellent evening, with a fabulous selection of wines to try for this Summer, with some real bargains!
The first wine of the evening was presented by Will and was the lovely Mirabeau Provence Rose from Waitrose. A versatile Summer wine that will pair with a variety of BBQ and Picnic foods. This wine is bone dry with light red fruits and a fresh acidity, try it with some BBQ mackerel or some classic lamb – Yum!
Wine No. 2 was presented by Chris Traynor who discovered this bargain wine in Aldi after seeing a review in The Times. The Godello from The Wine Foundry is a fresh lemony wine from Galicia which went very well with the mackerel pate prepared by Chris. You can find this wine in Aldi for £6.99 if it hasn’t all been snapped up by Chris. Very versatile “any time of day” wine!
Our 3rd white wine was a South African Chenin Blanc presented by Derek Whitmell from The Wine Society. A pale straw colour with a bright, clean appearance in the glass. This fresh crisp wine has apple and white stone fruit notes on the palate. A nice balance of acidity and fruit, with a streak of minerality throughout. This medium bodied dry wine has a lovely length on the finish and shows all the typical characteristics of a top-class South African Chenin Blanc. Try this for something a little different to the norm!
Wine No. 4 was another bargain wine, this time from Rob Traynor which was the Fire Tree Nero D’Avola. A nice easy drinking red wine that was accompanied by tales of Rob and co attempting to scale Mount Etna in shorts and flipflops, complete with slide show! Another great BBQ wine!
Our 5th wine of the evening was presented by Kieron. A Chianti from Sainsbury’s which was lovely but took a backstage to Kieron’s accompany story. Apparently when he was younger and studying Italian in Italy he mistakenly entered a marathon in Sienna, he thought he was going for a gently hike and was dressed in hiking boots and back pack. Not wanting to pull out but being slightly overdressed for running he was keen to reach the water stops on route but discovered when he arrived at them, and there were quite a few, they were in fact giving out Chianti and Panforte. He managed to finish the race but don’t try this at home!
Our 6th wine of the evening was another South African wine. This time it was the Catoria Pinotage, a smooth full-bodied fruit forward wine presented by David Mason. The wine is made by Carmen Stevens, South Africa’s first black winemaker and is available from Naked Wines. One of the favourites of the evening.
Derek presented the 7th wine which was a Grenache centred Lirac from the Wine Society and Ian finished off the evening with soft smooth Bordeaux, Chateau de Lussac from Majestic. Perfect wines for when you have had a long week at work. Open up the fridge get out some cheese, left over meats etc, take a seat outside, pour a glass and relax!
Lastly as we approach the end of this season, please don’t forget to book tickets to this year’s grand finale, the Picnic in the Park on 30th June. Please note all villagers are welcome! It promises to be a great afternoon and evening and a little different from previous years. We really look forward to you joining us. Please email Ian Langley ian.langley@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to come along. For more details please see the Upton wine website at www.uptonwineclub.com/
Frankie