A Night of Mystery

Our May event was a night of mystery. But before we get onto that, we were delighted to welcome some Ukrainian guests to the Wine Club this month and our host, Mark Stuart-Thompson, offered a special Ukrainian welcome.

It was commented upon by several members that numbers were a little down compared to usual. This may have been because May’s event was held a week earlier than normal. I hope some members didn’t turn up on the usual night, only to find the village hall in darkness. For those of us who did attend the theme was The Commonwealth Games, with a twist.

The Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this year and the wines for the night were from Commonwealth countries, of which there are 54. Interestingly, although, the Commonwealth is associated with its link to the British Empire, any country can apply to be a member regardless of its connection with Britain's colonial past. Of course, we did not taste wine from all 54 countries (now there’s a challenge); we had a representative selection of wines from 6 countries.

The twist was that we were offered the wines blind and had to guest their countries of origin. Each table had a selection of a dozen, or so, small cards with an image of a national flag on each. After tasting the wine, we had to hold aloft the flag of the country from which we believed the wine came. Mark was testing our wine tasting expertise; gained from years of attending the wine club.

The first wine, the welcome sparkling wine, was a disaster, at least as far as guessing the country was concerned. It was a fruity, sparkling white which most people assumed was from England. It was in fact from South Africa, a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir blend.

The second did not fare much better. Most thought it was from New Zealand, when this one was, in fact, an English Pinot Blanc. Maybe there was a clue in the cheese - a mature English cheddar.

The next one was a Xynisteri from Cyprus. Since none of us had heard of the grape, it was just as well that guessing the grape was not part of the challenge. There were some interesting thought processes in respect to arriving at its country of origin. One person concluded that the wine would be one that they would like to drink while on holiday beside the Mediterranean. Given we had some clues about countries in the selection of flags on the table, this narrowed the choices to either Malta or Cyprus. Malta was selected. Of course, it turned out to be Cyprus, but the deduction process was sound. On this occasion the cheese was of no use, it being a French garlic and herb Goats' Cheese. 

And so, we moved onto the reds. Most of the members are red wine fans. So, things should have improved. And indeed, they did.

 

A Pinot Noir, from the renounced Pinot Noir region of Central Otago was the first red. The very earthy nose should have given the grape away. And some people did deduce correctly that New Zealand was the country of origin - well done them! A reserve Swiss Gruyere accompanied this wine.

The full-bodied Shiraz was much more in our line of knowledge and many got Australia as the country of Origin. A nutty Jarlsberg came with this wine. 

Many also got the next red (a Merlot) as coming from South Africa; accompanied by a vintage Gouda.

The last wine was a treat and virtually everyone guessed the country of origin correctly. It was a delicious dessert wine, or more correctly, ice wine from Canada. A Mature British Stilton accompanied the wine.

All-in-all another delightful evening at the Freeland Wine Club, in which there was probably more discussion about the wines than usual!

And finally, before I close, it is time to say a sad good-bye to Louise Kelly, our stalwart Treasurer and Membership Committee Member. Louise has given her invaluable time and expertise to the club for many years, including before it had a formal committee. So, thank you, Louise, from all of us for your dedication and support for the club and your friendly smile. You will be missed. As they say, “Don’t be a Stranger”. We hope you will pop in and join us for a drink (I mean a taste) of wine whenever you are in the area.