As the Freeland Wine Club welcomes a new year of wine experiences it also welcomes its new committee and our first event of the year was an excellent opportunity for the committee to introduce themselves to the members and tell us about some of their favourite wines.
The new Freeland Wine Club Committee are;
Before the committee introduced their wines, members were welcomed with a delicious
Pignoletto Brut; a sparkling white from Italy, which some claim is a superior drink to
Prosecco, but it is probably a matter of taste. Nevertheless, if you would like an alternative to Prosecco, you couldn’t do worse than a Pignoletto.
Mark Stuart-Thompson kicked the evening off by introducing a Greek
Assyyrtko. He had bought the wine two years ago as he had, at the time, planned to host an evening of wines on an Olympic theme, as he had hoped to visit Japan that year. Of course, the Japanese Games were postponed and although they did eventually go ahead, the very restricted conditions under which they proceeded meant that Mark never did make it to them. Therefore, he took the opportunity at the January event to present this Greek white from the
Thymiopoulos vineyard in the
Naoussa region of northern Greece. The accompanying cheese was a Greek goats’ cheese,
Manouri from Waitrose.
Terry Glossop introduced an English white from the
Three Choirs vineyard in Gloucestershire. Terry is on a campaign to convert wine drinkers to drinking British (English and Welsh) wines. There are now over 500
vineyards in the UK and the main grape grown is
Pinot Noir; an improvement on
Bacchus, which used to be the most popular grape grown in the UK. Going by the wine we tasted on the night the conversion process should not be too difficult; it was generally agreed that the wine presented on the night, called Stone Brook, was excellent. The accompanying cheese was an English
Wenseydale from Lidl.
Louise Kelly introduced the first red of the night. Louise has an affinity for antipodean wines, not least because her nephew, Lee Winston, is a wine maker in New Zealand. However, on the night, Louise presented an Italian blend (Merlot, Corvina) from the Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine vineyard in the Venetio region of north-east Italy. The accompanying cheese was a French Comte from Asda.
Bill Pinkerton has a very catholic taste in wine and has travelled widely visiting vineyards an experience which has left him with many memorable anecdotes. He introduced a Bordeaux blend (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec) from the Chateau Monconseil Gazin vineyard. The accompanying cheese was an English Davidstow mature cheddar, available from most supermarkets.
The only New World wine of the night was presented by Sue Campbell. Sue had an early introduction to wines as her father was a keen wine drinker. But it was when she married that she really got into wines, as her husband is a real wine enthusiast, to the point of knowing the exact weight limit of wines that their car could safely be loaded with when they ventured into France. The wine sue presented was from the Australian
Black Stump vineyard. It was a
shiraz with a twist, in that it was blended with
Durif. The accompanying cheese was a Dutch Vintage
Gouda from Lidl.
The chairman, Bob Bradley, explained that he and his wife have many divergent hobbies and interests, but visiting wine cellars around Europe was an interest that they definitely shared. He finished the evening off with a Spanish varietal red (Garnacha) from the Bodegas Borsao vineyard in the Campo de Borgja region in Aragon, in northern Spain. The accompanying cheese was a French goats' cheese from Lidl.
It has to be said that we had another excellent evening, with not only some very fine wines on offer, but with the added delight of hearing different stories of the committee member’s personal adventures with wine and the passion and pleasure they get from experiencing a good wine.
A list of the wines presented on the night can be seen by following this LINK.
