Most monthly meetings, we have some members from our committee
talking about wine, often with a story that in weaved in-between each
wine that cleverly links the theme and the evening together. Several times
each year however, we invite external speakers to come and tell us about
their wine. This month saw the return of Tim and Jill North, from Joie de
Vin, an on-line wine business they set up over 10 years ago. They specialise
in going over to France and finding small producers, who often only supply
their local areas due to the small volume of wine they make and convincing
them to sell a few crates so they can bring them back to the UK for us to
try.
There are many hundreds of grape varieties that are used to produce wine.
We could all probably name a dozen or so of the main varieties however,
just because you know a certain grape, don’t assume that it only has one
flavour! Tim took us through some wines to show just that!
By way of an example, our first two wines were from the Chenin Blanc
grape. One wine was made by fermenting the grapes in a steel tank (very
common method for producing lighter, crisp wines) and the second had
spent some of the fermentation process in oak barrels. The difference
was very noticeable – the same grape, from the same region and made by
the same producer but with the influence of oak on the second wine, came
a stronger flavour, with notes of caramel and vanilla that you would expect
form wine that had spent some time in a barrel. You might hear people
referring to these style of wines as being more complex….because they
have had extra processes in production but also because there is more to
the wine…it seems to last longer “on the nose” and there is typically more
flavours you pick up when tasting.
Another example was a Sauvignon Blanc from the Sancerre region in the
north of France. Sancerre has become famous for producing a specific
style of crisp, highly acidic white wine from this grape that reflects the
cooler climates and flint soil where the grapes grow. Just like other
regions you may know such as Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape, the wine
commands a high value because of it’s regional popularity. Tim had found
one producer that wanted to challenge that particular style. Allowing the
grapes to spend more time during fermentation in contact with the natural
yeast, stems, pips etc (this is known as spending more time on the lees),
the wine took on a totally different complexity and when combined with
some Oak, again produced a much softer wine that many would not have
assumed was from Sancerre.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, with some excellent wines. So if,
for example you are a person that has said before “I’m an ABC wine
drinker….”Anything But Chardonnay” – I urge you to look again and see if
you can find something a little different (try a Chardonnay from Chablis
for example!) you might just surprise yourself!
Next month we have wines being presented by some of our club members.
It will be a great evening full of why some wines have just become firm
favorites – which rarely has anything to do with how they have been
made! If you would like to come along then all our details can be found
on our website: www.uptonwineclub.co.uk
Ian
UWAC Chairman