Mark Stuart-Thomlinson was our unexpected host, having to step in at short notice. He has hosted a number of wine nights and always treats us to an evening with a twist and, as expected, this evening was no exception.
He introduced the members to 7 wines; 3 white and 4 red, but they had to be tasted blind.
Club members were given a number of little slips of paper. On each were the details and a photo of a grape. These served as clue and members had to select the slip of paper that contained the grape of the wine that they were tasting at that moment.
It has to be said that it was impressive how many of the wines were correctly identified; it showed that there really is an remarkable wine knowledge amongst the members of the club.
The final white was an unexpected Sauvignon Gris, paired with an equally unexpected chilli cheddar.
Sauvignon Gris is an obscure grape that originates from the Bordeaux wine region where it was originally known as Fie Gris. It is thought to be a mutation of Sauvignon Blanc. The grape came close to extinction during the phylloxera epidemic and these days it makes up only 2% of the vines grown in Bordeaux. It is also grown in Chile, Australia and New Zealand.
The grape is generally used for blending and, in France, AOC law dictates that wineries are not allowed to bottle it as a single varietal and those few wineries that do have to label the wine as a generic white Bordeaux. Based on the wine we tasted, Sauvignon Gris is best left for blending!
The first red was a good old fashioned Cabernet Sauvignon.
This was followed by a good old fashioned Spanish Tempranillo.
And finally, to the delight of many of the red wine drinking club members, we were presented with an excellent Malbec. It's difficult to go wrong with an Argentinian Malbec.
Our thanks to Mark for yet another fascinating exploration into the world of wine.
