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

For March, we took a look at some exceptional wines but the principal
focus was on looking at what has changed throughout the years…and when
it comes to wine, the impact of what we are drinking, where we are
getting it from and how it has been made really has changed over the
years! We discussed a lot but a few examples of what we covered from the
evening are below.
Prosecco, as a really good example, was not a drink we may even have
heard of when the wine club started nearly 20 years ago. Back then, in the
UK approximately 200,000 bottles per year were being purchased.
Prosecco, was the name of the grape, not just the region and it could be
made anywhere in Italy. It took a few “suggestive” adverts staring Paris
Hilton and the ever-increasing popularity of the sparkling wine, for the
Italians to name the actual grape, Glera and make the Prosecco region a
DOCG classification (quality controlled region that defines how the wine is
made and restricts it from general production). Net result, over
120,000,000 bottles are sold in the UK today!
When it comes to specific wine styles, some of us will be old enough to
remember having a “Hock” or a Liebfraumilch with our Sunday lunches
back in the 70’s and 80’s. Hock was the brand we gave in the UK for
German sweet tasking wines, typically from the Rhine region, which
typically were Riesling. Back then, we described wines with their bottle or
region….a Claret, Burgundy, Blue Nun etc….often these were generic
blends but now we are much more specific, using wine varietals to define
what we like….. a Viognier, Malbec, Pinot Noir etc! Blue Nun was marketed
as something you can drink “right through the meal”, making it very
versatile and available to us all! We have all become a bit more educated
on the wine varieties over the years, even if we didn’t realise it! No more
“Hock” but Riesling has gone on to become a very popular grape we often
ask for in restaurants.
The fact we are producing as much wine as we do in Europe, is in no small
part down to the vines in the New World region of North America! How?
Well, it’s down to a small insect called Phylloxera. This small insect loves
grape vines and whilst it was first identified in the US back in the early 19th
century, it soon spread due to keen botanists in Victorian England bringing
samples of plants back as they visited North America. The vines from
these offshore regions became resistant to the bug but in Europe it wiped
out the vast majority of vines in a very short period of time. The bug lives
on and nearly all the wine you will get from Europe will have come from
vines grafted on to North American root stock to prevent the bug from
decimating the grapes and literally stopping production!
The Upton Wine Club loves tasting wine but will look for the stories
behind many of the wines we taste. There is no expectation of prior
knowledge of wine to come along to an evening, just the interest in trying
some different styles! For April, we are inviting back Tim North from
Joie de Vin, who has spent over 20 years travelling across France to bring
back some exceptional wines we typically wouldn’t find in our local
outlets. If you are interested in coming along, you will find out all the
details on our website www.uptonwineclub.co.uk I hope to see you
there!
Ian
UWAC Chairman