The January meeting of the Upton Wine Appreciation Club was well attended when Simon Powell led a very informative evening on the wines of the Piedmont region of North West Italy. Simon has visited family in the area so has first-hand experience of this region which led to a fascinating talk about the wines and the area generally. Of the eight wines tasted the most popular ones seemed to be an Alasia Cortese white (£5 from Waitrose) and a Barbera D’Asti 2009 red (£5.95 from The Wine Society). Amongst the other wines sampled was a dry red, Ghemme 2004 loppa (£10.95 from The Wine Society) and a sparkling Moscato d’Asti 2012 (£6.50 from The Wine Society). We learned about the popular wines of the region which include Barolo and Barbaresco from the native Nebbiolo grape variety. As well as introducing the wines Simon gave us a brief history of the region and described his walks in the countryside, which varies from mountains to gentle hillsides to rice paddies.

The Club is very grateful to Simon for yet another entertaining evening.

For more information on the Club please see the page on the Village website where there is a link to a downloadable application form.

Ellie Bunston

Upton Wine Appreciation Club – December 2012 – Sparkling and Dessert Wines

Our annual favourites Fiona and Will were persuaded to do another talk on sparkling and dessert wines.

Fiona began with a theme of comparing Supermarket sparkling wines and described the process of tank and traditional method wine production with the aid of hand-outs for making sparkling wines and

First up was the Underraga Brut (12%) from Chile (£5.99 reduced from £9.99). A Club favourite and a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This wine went down well again with the members.

Sainsbury’s “Taste the Difference” Cava 2009 (11.5%) £10.49 was next up. Made by the “Methode Traditional” (the same process as Champagne). Made from Chardonnay, Macabeu, Parellada and Xarel-Lo grapes. You could really “Taste the Difference”! Citrusy and biscuity and I got cloves on the nose. I don’t think this one will be a Club favourite by some of the comments in the room.

Tesco’s Finest Premier Cru NV (12.5%) £14.99 reduced from £19.99. A blend of the classic and well known Champagne grapes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Fresh, dry and with a good mousse this wine went down well with the members.

Sainsbury’s Blanc De Noirs NV (12%) £18.00. Made from only the black “Champagne grapes” – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. A nice bright wine with a little yeast detected by my taste buds.

Bollinger Special Cuvee (12%) £32.00 Majestic Wines. Fiona explained the different Cru’s of Champagne and the hierarchy of the vineyards that grow the grapes for the production of Champagne. Fiona also explained that Bollinger along with other Champagne producers strive to produce the same wine year on year despite different yearly weather conditions and keep wine back year on year to blend for new vintages. Overall a nice wine.

With Fiona’s voice managing to get though the sparkling wines Will got up to show the sweet and stickies beginning with Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese, 2007, JJ Prüm (7%) £27.00 (The Wine Society). A good wine with a low ABV due to the fermentation being halted early to keep the sweetness of the wine. Went well with the mince pies made by Chris!

The sparkling Moscato D’Asti by Elio Perrone, 2011 (5%) £6.50 (The Wine Society) made by the “Asti Method” in the Piedmont region of Italy. Sweet chilled and fizzy an interesting wine.

Next was The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, 2009 (14%) £ 18.00 The Wine Society. Made by the father and son team Pierre and Denis Dubourdieu in Barsac from 75% semillon, 20% sauvignon, 5% muscadelle this was the favourite of the evening. Will explained the intricate and time consuming process of selecting the rotting grapes bunches and even individual berries which goes in to making this wine and helps to explain why these style of wine cost as much as they do.

Finally Will finished the evening with Henriques & Henriques Malvasia, 10 years old Madeira (20%) £17.00 (The Wine Society). You could feel your teeth melt with this one! Nice sweet and sticky with a slightly dry touch which will go well with Christmas cake, mince pie and cheeses.

A big thank you to Fiona and Will for their research on the wines and preparation of the food to go with the wines and thanks to Emily for her help with the smoked salmon Blinis and Chris for her mince pies!

Hope to see you next month for an evening with Simon in the Piedmont Region of Italy!

Kevin Jacklin

Wine of the Languedoc and Roussillon with a Vertical Tasting of Domaine O’Vineyards O’Syrah ’06, ’07, ’08 and ’09

Virgile Joly Sauvignon 2011 – £6.99 (Naked Wines)

Subtle soft fruit flavours, all fresh apple and baked gooseberry with a slightly herbal edge.

Went down well with the majority of the members. The wine maker has a book named after him “Virgile’s Vineyard” written by Patrick Moon who inherits a vineyard and describes a year in the Languedoc with Virgile.

Bourboulenc, Domaine de Simonet, Vin de Pays de l’Aude, 2011 – £7.50 (The Wine Society)

The bourboulenc grape is an ancient Languedoc variety which probably originated in Greece. It is usually blended but this was a chance to taste it on its own. Fresh, vibrant with a twist of saltiness.

A bit of a mixed reaction but generally liked.

Côtes du Roussillon Blanc, Les Glaciaires, Domaine Gardiés, 2010 – £10.75 (The Wine Society)

A full and fruity white from the Roussillon made from Grenache, both Blanc and Gris, Macabeu and Roussanne.

A wine with a lot going on. The Macabeu and Roussanne giving it a different dimension!

Hegarty Chamans Blanc Minervois 2008 – £10.99 (£14.99)

A blend of Rousanne and Marsanne from the South of France It’s made under organic and bio-dynamic principles of the 27 day Moon cycle and includes no filtering and no artificial products.

A real “marmite” wine. Members either loved it or hated it! Frankie described some of the bio-dynamic principles which seem to border on the occult but seems to work!

PS – It was a “Flower” day when we tasted it.

Domaine O’Vineyards – O’Syrah ’06, ’07, ’08 and ’09

Although wine club is in its 7^th year this was the first time we’d actually done a vertical tasting largely due to the fact that it’s quite difficult to get more than 2 or 3 vintages of the same wine. However, most winemakers keep a stock of each vintage back for themselves to taste/drink each year and Liz and Joe O’Connell were kind enough to supply us with the vintages we couldn’t get hold of through Naked Wines so we were able to taste their O’Syrah from 2009 back to 2006.

The intention had been for Joe to take us through the tasting but unfortunately due to last minute unforeseen travel problems Liz and Joe couldn’t make it.

As we hadn’t run a vertical tasting before we weren’t quite sure what to expect and how much difference people would find between each year, but once we started tasting the wines it became clear that each year certainly had its own characteristics within the overall O’Syrah style.

We started with 2009 and worked our way back to 2006 and here are our / Joe’s notes for each vintage:

O’Syrah 2009

The Languedoc had only a few millimetres of rain from June to August, and temperatures and total hours of sunshine were higher than usual. In many places the harvest started two or three weeks earlier than usual.

• 2009 O’Syrah: Fresher, more fruit than we generally get from the Syrah. Easy to drink now and probably better in a couple of years. – Joe O’Connell

Most agreed that the wine is on the young side but well received. Needs a couple more years

O’Syrah 2008

A year characterised by a highly variable climate and summer drought, giving a small but healthy but quality harvest.

• 2008 O’Syrah: I find this vintage much more spicy and earthy than the 09. Much more typical of the “terroir”. Our Syrah is surrounded by fields of herbs of the “garrigues” – Joe O’Connell

Still a little young but beginning to mellow.

O’Syrah 2007

A mild winter and then a cool spring with rain. Summer was late with two freak storms in early June which provided one third of the annual rain in two hours! Summer arrived, but it was not the scorching heat wave of previous years or that everyone was expecting. Strong north winds moderated the temperature and nights were cool.

• 2007 O’Syrah: although similar to the 06, the 07 was more approachable from the beginning. and for me, is a little bit fresher. I have actually served it a bit chilled during the summer. The aging was done in 500 litre oak barrel, but it was the 2nd wine which probably explains the lighter fresher feel. This wine was served at the wedding of Michelin chef Jerôme Ryon (chef at Hotel de la Cité, Carcassonne). – Joe O’Connell

Voted the best wine of the evening!

O’Syrah 2006

Winter and spring 2006 bought rain to replenish the water table, flowering was on time and summer came with dry conditions and prospects of another hot summer. July was very hot and no rain. August evolved into a surprisingly below-average temperature month but without any noticeable precipitation. The ripening process became uneven during August, causing some concern, as grape varieties were ripening at different speeds and the harvest prospects looked worrying as to timing and quality but all turned out well.

• 2006 O’Syrah: extremely full bodied (earthy). A wine that at this stage continues to get better with age. Probably due to the aging in new 500 litre oak barrels that had been used for 8 week vinification of the 2006 Proprietor’s Reserve. Definitely a wine for food. – Joe O’Connell

The consensus was this wine was beginning to fade and should be drunk up!

Overall and interesting and informative evening and a promise from Liz and Joe to come over and speak on their wines soon!

Kevin Jacklin

The speaker at the October meeting of the Club was Derek Whitmell who entertained us with a tasting of the wines of the Southern Rhone. Derek last covered this region for the Club in March 2007 and identified a price increase of between 30% and 40% over the intervening period. As in 2007 all the 8 wines chosen came from The Wine Society at Stevenage, which has again won awards for National Wine Merchant of the Year and which has a growing number of members in the village. In 2007 Derek asked members to score each of the wines and this was repeated this time with some interesting results where we were able to make a like for like comparison. In particular the white Côtes-du-Rhône from Domaine La Réméjeanne scored much less well than previously whereas the red from Domaine Jaume was more popular.

The most successful wines of the evening were:

Whites, Lirac Blanc La Fermade 2011 from Domaine Maby @ £8.95 and Saint Péray, La Sauvagère 2011 from Paul Jaboulet Aîné @ £12.50. Reds, Côtes-du-Rhône du Friande 2011 from Domaine Jaume @ £6.50, Vinsobres Cuvée Référence 2008, Domaine Jaume @ £10.95, The Society’s Exhibition Gigondas, 2006 @ £12.50 and the most popular wine of the evening Rasteau, Domaine des Escaravailles, 2010 @ £7.95.

We are very grateful to Derek for all his hard work in respect of this most enjoyable evening.

Our next meeting will be on 21^st November when we will welcome a return visit from the team at O’Vineyards near Carcasonne in France. Liz and Joe O’Connell will be giving us a “vertical” tasting of one of their wines from the 2006 vintage through to the 2009 one, thereby letting us identify the differences created by the weather. There will also be 4 white wines from their neighbours. As a result of their generosity and some great negotiations by Kevin and Frankie Jacklin, this meeting will be at our usual rate of £5 per person.

Anyone interested in joining needs to complete an application form which can be found on the Upton Village web site or by contacting me on 850989.

Mike Collins

The Annual General Meeting was held at the start of the meeting on 19^th September, the first after the Club’s summer break.  The secretary, Kevin Jacklin, reported that the club had 66 members and that an average of 41 attended meetings during the past year when 75 different wines had been tasted.  Frankie Jacklin presented the audited accounts which showed that the club was on a sound financial footing. No increase in annual membership or meeting costs was proposed. Mike Collins, chairman, thanked the committee, the speakers and the members for all their support.   Ellie Bunston was elected to join the committee, replacing Chris Traynor who wished to stand down. The remainder of the committee continues unchanged.

Mike Collins introduced the wine tasting following the theme of “Let’s Try something Different”.

During the AGM we tried an Upton version of Kir Royale made from Undurraga Sparkling Pinot Noir (Chile) and Blackcurrant Schnapps (Germany) which helped to lubricate the formalities.

The subsequent wines were taken from parts of the world that had not been previously been explored in the Club’s tastings. Among them the following stood out:

A Goteoldal Single Vineyard  Pinot Grigio from the Hilltop Estate, Hungary (2011)  with a full ripe, and truly flavoured  pinot grigio, impressed the club and was at a reasonable price (£6.25).

The club has never before tasted a Valpolicella wine from Italy. This had gained a poor reputation through over exploitation in the years after 1968 when the DOC regulations were introduced.  Changes made in 2003 have reversed the trend. The wine tasted, Torre del Falasco, Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso, 2010, DOC, made a good impression on tasting, with the ripasso process adding complexity and concentration.  At £8.95, it was thought good value.  Since this wine was tasted blind, we were amazed that one cognoscenti present accurately identified the wine!

Massaya Classic 2009 from the Bekka Valley, Lebanon also impressed the club. This wine, 60% cinsault, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 20% syrah had been made with the help of experts from Burgundy and the Rhone in France and clearly showed their influence. At £9.95 it was well received.

The evening was brought to a close by a magnificent dessert wine, Seewinkle Eisiwein, 2008 made by Jana Klein in Austria from the Gruner Veltliner grape. The concentrated exquisite flavours stood out  and compensated for the very high cost of a wine (£20 for 50cl) which most of us would not normally ever taste.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 17^th October when Derek Whitmell will introduce wines from the Southern Rhone. Anybody interested in joining the club should contact Mike Collins (tel.  850989) or Kevin Jacklin (851404).

At the April meeting of the Wine Club Derek Whitmell presented a talk on the Wines of Australia and compared the present situation with that of three years ago. He had researched the current prices of some of the wines he selected for the 2008 meeting and had found that they were now between 13% and 35% dearer. It appears that most of the Australian wine, sold in the U.K., is produced by three very large companies, using a variety of labels and is shipped in bulk and bottled here for the supermarkets, which have 70% of the market. This wine is often referred to as “industrial wine”. Derek expressed his preference for wines made and bottled on site by small producers and had obtained these both from The Wine Society and also from Waitrose.

The first of the whites was a Semillon from Peter Lehmann in the Barossa Valley. This was only 10.5% alcohol and had a good clean taste. At £9.95 a bottle it was not cheap but would make an excellent aperitif especially if served in the garden on a sunny summer’s day. This was followed by a “blind tasting” of two chardonnays, the first was an oaked Australian wine and the second an unoaked one from the Macon-Vergisson area of France. It would have been easy to believe that these were from two totally different grape varieties such was the influence of the oak and it was enlightening to taste the one against the other. The final white was an excellent Pinot Grigio made by Brown Brothers and bought from Waitrose at £7.99.

The red wines started with another “blind tasting” between a Grenache/Syrah blend from Vacqueras in the Southern Rhone and a very similar one from Australia’s McLaren Vale. These were followed by a Shiraz/Cabernet from the Margaret River area of Western Australia – a powerful wine that needed to be drunk with food. Lastly we had a 2008 Icarus Shiraz from McLaren Vale purchased from The Wine Society at only £5.50 – an excellent wine which sold out within the first few weeks of being listed.

We are indebted to Derek for all his hard work and for providing us with such an enjoyable evening.

Mike Collins

This was another first for the wine club as we discovered the taste of Madeira. Esther Blandford was kind enough to present a very lively and informative evening on the delights of this delicious nectar. Mike also presented 4 wines from Portugal, which we had not tasted before.

As I am sure you are aware Madeira is a Portuguese island in the Atlantic, with a fine mild climate with ample rainfall, which makes it so green.

The vines that produce Madeira are grown on terraces with lots of rain at the top and a system of canals that lead down to the bottom. There are several grapes which are used to make Madeira – the most interesting is the Sercial which is known locally as the dog strangler, I wonder why? We tasted four Madeiras, all of which the group found most satisfying. The first, Henriques & Henriques Sercial Madeira 10 years old, very palatable and to try with nuts and olives (£17). We then moved on to the wines from Portugal, the first a Vinho Verde Quinta de Azevedo 2009 11%. I personally found this very acidic without much body or flavour but others liked it, drink it very young (that’s the wine not the participant). The second white was a Crasto Branco Douro 2009 13.5%. This was preferred by most of the group. We then tried two reds, before returning to the Madeiras. These last 3 Madeira were very pleasant and most of the group enjoyed them very much, the most popular was the Henriques Bual 15yr old £22 which was very good with sweet biscuits and chocolate. All the wines this evening where from the Wine Society. Many thanks again to Esther for all her hard work in making our evening so enjoyable.

Chris Traynor

Mike Collins produced some notes on Madeira which you can download.

The February meeting was hosted by Simon Powel who gave us a very entertaining and interesting talk on the white wines of the Maconnais region of Burgundy and the reds from the Beaujolais region. The white wines from the Macon region are often overlooked by the much more famous Burgundian cousins, such as Chablis. The origins of the white wines from this region are ecclesiastical, these institutions especially the Cistercian order began planting these vines in the 11^th and 12 centuries. All the wines of the evening were from the Wine Society.

The first white of the evening was a Macon Villages Domaine et Benjamin Talmard 2009 £9.50. This proved to be very popular with a rich long lasting almost bitter taste. The next favourite was the Bourgogne Les Raverettes Domaine Guillemot Michel 2008 at £13.50 this was liked, but a little expensive. The least favourite was the Wine Societies own blend White Burgundy at £7.50, the cheapest but not preferred on the night.

The reds once again proved very popular and if you are like me, getting on a bit, you may remember the ridiculous rush to drink Beaujolais Nouveau in November. The Beaujolais grape is the Gamay, to be more specific Gamay Noir, which covers 98% of the region.

The first wine to be tasted was the Brouilly Domaine Demaine 2009 £8.50, this was considered to be light with no body, the second wine Morgon Cote du Domaine Jean Marc Burgaund 2007, this was well liked some felt it had a bit of tannin on the tongue but others not so, this was dense and will age well – £10.50. The last wine of the evening was a Gamay Vin duPay’s de l’Ardeche 2009 Duboeouf, at £5.95 this was considered to be very good and excellent value. Thanks again to Simon for a really good evening.

A few people asked for the smoked mackerel pate recipe, so here it is as I have done this for so long I do not have exact amounts, sorry you will need to adjust for personal taste.

Smoked Mackerel fillets, skins removed.

Juice of a lemon, again to taste, start off small you can always add more but not take away.

Horse Radish, from a jar, adjust to taste I like mine spicy

Cream cheese, I prefer extra light.

Double cream again, only a little just to finish off and make it more luxurious. I tend to use a low fat version, but this is just personal taste and cholesterol levels.

Please remember Mackerel is very good for you and a completely sustainable fish.

All I do is add the ingredients to a food processor, and tamper with the amounts until it suits your taste, finish off with black pepper. Enjoy.

Chris Traynor

Welcome back to the Upton Wine club after the Christmas break, I hope you all had an excellent one. We had another first for mankind, no not a moon landing, just sherry tasting at the Upton wine club.

John went gamely where no man has gone before and entered the world of sherry. He began with a couple of fine dry sherries a Fino del Puerto Solera Reserve, and a Manzanilla Solera Reserve. These where very dry and I think not to everyone’s taste but if you are a fan of dry sherry these are both available from Waitrose at £8.99.

The next sherry was much more popular a little sweeter and more to the taste of Uptonites this was a Dry Olorosa Solera Reserve again from Waitrose at £8.99.

We then turned to the more tradition wine club fair, Mike introduce us to four wines from Spain. The first a white, a Gaba do Xil Godello Valdeorrras. Once again the Spanish have released this lesser know ancient grape variety the Godello, to the world this grape has in the past been hard to grow but the clever Spanish have managed to develop a hardier variety and hence more wine for us. With a light but complex taste, most people liked this wine, available from the wine society at £8.95.

The last red was interesting and strong, plenty of alcohol content, a Pasanau Ceps Nous Priorat 2008. Apparently the Priorat is fast becoming one of Spains most important red wines and can fetch up to £40-50 a bottle, due to the more restrained budget of the wine club it rolled in as little as £11.50 from the Wine Society.

Hope to see you all next month when Simon will be reviewing white wines from Macon and Beaujolais.

Chris Traynor

Our November meeting proved to be one of the best we have had. Kevin and Frankie Jacklin arranged for Ryan O’Connell, a Franco-American winemaker from the Languedoc, to come over to speak to us and introduce his family’s wines. Ryan’s presentation, whilst very informative and entertaining, was very laid back and totally in keeping with the relaxed “Village Social” format that nearly all of our members prefer. The vineyard he and his parents own, O’Vineyards near Carcassonne, is some 60 miles inland and they produce wines of both the Southern France and Bordeaux blends but with a New World taste. One of the wines tasted was 100% syrah and was very rich and spicy and certainly would have been on equal terms with many from the more prestigious Northern Rhone. Ryan also provided three wines made at the same time and in exactly the same way except one was matured in stainless steel without any oak, one was matured in new American oak and the other in new French oak; the differences between them were very interesting and quite marked. As Ryan and his parents only make red wines one white aperitif was added plus a dessert wine, both of which came from neighbouring vineyards and Ryan is very keen to act as an ambassador for the Languedoc wines in general.

For a small village wine club to receive such a visit is quite a triumph and we are indebted to Kevin and Frankie for visiting the vineyard and arranging it.

Our next meeting will be on 8^th December as we always bring the December meeting forward a week to steer clear of the Christmas build-up of commitments. Fiona and William Betts will be running this one. Fiona is going to start with a tasting of champagnes and other sparklers for Christmas and William will follow with a selection of dessert or pudding wines. The meeting will be heavily subsidized by the Club and at £5 will be fantastic value as was the November meeting. The meeting is open to Club Members and Guest Members and new members are always welcome. Anyone interested in joining should contact me at Manor Lawns, High Street or phone 850989.

Mike Collins