The Wine Club does Cocktails

Having Club meetings every two months means that we all have to wait, with due patience, for the evening tasting to come along.  For many the wait for The Cocktail Night has been a long one, a heat wave and late July seemed to take forever to arrive,  but arrive it did and with it our appointment with Blue Sky, Shark Bite and other new tastes at our Wine Club meeting.

It's a strange thing that those that drink wine, in general at least, are not that aware or know much of the world of the cocktail. If fact even the experts seem to have some confusion as to how cocktails have come about even the name has a number of  plausible histories.

How do I know this, well we were all given a great evening's entertainment, skills training and most of all, enjoyment, by our two hosts, who, I am tempted to say, are clearly  steeped in the world of the cocktail, David Lloyd and Julie Stuart-Thompson.

They were well supported by the mixologist, producing quality cocktails on an almost industrial scale, Matt Coburn.

The night was warm, the expectations high and the dress code a good notch or two higher than is normal for the wine club with a number of DJs and posh frocks in attendance.

David, Julie, Matt, many thanks for all your great efforts, a great night.

The night was started with a gentle but good cocktail and one with an almost royal seal of approval by non other than Nigella.

Cocktail No 1:  Nigella Lawson's recommendation for parties, The Pointesttia.
One bottle of Prosecco, chilled
Half a carton (500 ml) of cranberry juice
125 ml of Cointreau

No ice, but all added from the fridge suitably chilled. Serve in flutes.

This was a really lovely drink, very refreshing with a good taste and colour.

Cocktail number two was the intriguingly named, The Shark Bite.

And here's the thing...it seems that when you have cocktails with friends its not just cocktails that need to be considered, thought should be given to the glasses, the things in the drinks, swizzles sticks and the sometime obligatory, umbrella, but no more than that, little amusements like the shark made from a water melon and then stuffed with fruit.

Here we have a proud David with a creation such as that made, I understand by Collette.

So cocktail number two, The Shark Bite, you may think this was a drink that bites you but you would be wrong, in fact its a drink that warms you, and that would be the Dark Rum, protects you from colds, and that would be the Orange Juice. It also makes you feel good, and yes that would be down to the be the Grenadine.   If that is not enough it will also makes you smile and that has to be the look of the cocktail. This is is one of the many layered cocktails, it seems that cocktails can be just that, layers of fruit juice, spirits, wine or soft drinks to please and delight, like this.

The recipe: 

Shark Bite:  

Mix quickly over ice, do not dally as the ice may melt and dilute the rum, this was one message of the evening, the mixologists enemy, melting ice and alcohol dilution.  Mix, shake and pour.

Take one measure of dark rum and dilute with 3 measures of orange juice, no bits. To this add Grenadine slowly to give the above finish. Add a squeeze of lime and add a slice of orange.  

For the interval all members had brought 'finger food' this was terrific, we could amble in the evening sun and enjoy nibbles and cocktails.  Dear members, many thanks for your contributions.

 The cocktail chosen to have with food was the fruit cocktail The Going The Distance Cocktail.  What a fine drink as well, very good for the drivers, for the non-drinkers and for us all to eat with and to enjoy before more spirit based cocktails were put together.

Cocktail 3: Going the Distance  (Non-alcoholic)

Mixture ratios:  Grenadine      1               Lemonade (chilled)   5                     Add lime 0.5      

Decorate with lime slice.                                Serve in highball glass.

Also the interval allowed the raffle to be drawn with stunning prizes once again, Polish Vodka and a book of cocktail making from the US. 

Adding more excitement to the evening was the quiz, all questions based on the cocktail and the folklore surrounding the genre. Having put us into groups of four some of us were very confident, this did not last however and I have report that the usual suspects came out on top once again.  A good quiz though and more thanks go to David for setting and asking the testing questions.

The second half saw two more cocktails,  the first was, at least for this and a number of members  the most attractive in both looks and taste, I cannot imagine it being bought that often in a Rugby Club or Army Mess, after all you do need to be among friends if you order a deep blue drink complete with swizzle stick. Yes we are talking about the Sky Blue, just gorgeous. Simple to make, ridiculously easy to drink but one that would need to be drunk with care.  Why is that you ask? Well its is made of just two ingredients, both quiet high on the Richter scale when in comes to alcohol content. 

How to make this drink, well first the glass has to be prepared, a slice of lemon is taken around the rim and the glass then dunked in sugar so that one has a sweet and sharp rim to the glass. The Sky Blue will quite happily dissolve this rim and in so doing add another layer of flavour to the drink.   Below are the instructions and do note the need to make quickly, certainly no ice in the drink and speed will mean no dilution of the gin and Blue Curacao mix.    Sublime!

Cocktail 4:  Blue Sky

Mixture ratios:    Sapphire gin  1            Blue Curacao    1                 Lemon 0.3 (optional)

Use cocktail glass.  Rub lemon around the rim and dip into caster sugar to create lip around the glass.

Use cocktail shaker, quickly with ice to mix gin and Curacao.  
  

Add lemon slice for decoration

And so the last cocktail of the evening, the suitably named Golden Dreams.  This was presented by Julie who did a great job in describing the cocktail but also gave insight in the way of the cocktail, how much to make, how to dress up, when to use an umbrella, this last point was very important.

For many this was the star of the evening, a deceptive little number with a calm personalty hiding a dark side, clearly one could make a large batch of this and quite happily drink it all being blissfully unaware of the alcohol you were taking on board, all would be well 'till you stood up or attempted to.

A super drink.

Cocktail 5: Golden Dreams

Mixture ratios:   

Vodka    1                                 Cointreau   1                         Orange juice    3           Cream –  0.3 or to taste

Blend together in cocktail shaker over ice.

Coming up next:

The hall is booked for our next meeting on September on our normal last Friday of the month the 27th. 

Eight brave members have stepped up to offer their  own selection of  wine,  they will be telling us about the wines and why they feel it's something special, there will be three reds, three whites, a rosé and a 'sticky'.

Should you want a word my number is 01993 880 227 or  brucehammersley@gmail.com

Fairtrade Wines

     May 31st 2013

Fairtrade Wines, a collection of wines known to exist but perhaps not often sought out by wine buyers. I hope a fair assessment of how most thought of the Fairtrade brand prior to the meeting.   It was with interest that the meeting last Friday was to be based on Fairtrade wines.

As it turned out the evening held a number of surprises for us, and good surprises at that.   The first of which was the Mystery wine. More of this anon.

Firstly, a very big thank you to Martin Marias for both suggesting the theme and also for arranging and presenting the wines for the evening.

As we all arrived the two mysteries were waiting for us, what wine and what cheese, the white on offer was from where, many suggestions but it took the expert nose of Huw Dalton to identify the country of origin (UK) and in fact the wine was a local wine from the  Brightwell Vineyard. A very pleasant  fresh white wine.  The 2011 Oxford Gold. Take me to Brightwell (Link)

The cheese was to be just the first of a very impressive selection of Artisan cheeses from around the world, this was a Scottish cheese, a soft cheese wrapped in a mix of oats and pepper - gorgeous!

The selection of the cheeses was organised by Chris Onslow, many thanks Chris, presented by Doreen, again a thanks. 

So the wines, but first something about Fairtrade.  I guess we all are aware of the concept, a good price is given directly to the producer.  You may be aware of the coffee, chocolate and other foods that are within the Fairtrade umbrella but wine? There is a wide range of wines available and the profits from the wines go directly to the producers avoiding the 'middle' men. In addition the Fairtrade organisation has made various grants to the wine producers totalling £1.7m to date.   Most of the wines enjoyed are available at the local Co-op store, itself an early supporter of the wines and now a major seller of them.

What of the wines though?

#1  The only Rosé of the evening, a pleasant and typical Rosé, easy drinking, and good with friends on a summers evening.  

The Pinotage Rose 2012.

The cheese, a stunning Ewes milk cheese- Ubel Fiurtu. (Corsica)

#2 The first white was the Chenin Blanc from Stellenbocsh.  For most the better of the whites, a very good wine, creamy finish and with plenty of vanilla flavour  suggested by Martin as a possible barbecue wine.  

The cheese, a Pyrenean cows milk cheese, Le Masseldel

#3 Now a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc 2011. A typical 'Savy Blanc' all the normal gooseberry notes enjoyed by fans.

The cheese, a Rachel, an English Goats milk cheese

 #4 The wine Trivia was something of a first for the Club. Our very own wine maker was able to delight us with a wine made from grapes grown within the parish  and made within the village, yes one of the very rare wines from the Château de Terre Libre,  yes Ch. de Freeland  I know that it has been said before but this was a cheeky little number. Sadly this unique wine is not available commercially  but who knows one day?  Our thanks and gratitude go to Adrian Baughan for his, well lets be honest, courage, in allowing us to taste the wine produced by him, many thanks Adrian. 

#5 Now the reds, the wines of South America are noted for many things including the lack of the infection Phylloxerae, this wiped out most European wine stocks in the late 19th century,  South America avoided this and so a number of old European vines are 'alive and well' in South America. The first red is such a grape, the Carmenére. We also tasted this grape from Italy last Wine Club, Italy is another country that largely avoided the disease issues. But what of this, well a good wine but perhaps not the leading red of the night.

The cheese, the Puzzzone di Moena had rind washed in brine to produce a sweet and fruity rind.

#6 Bonarda Shiraz. This comes from the confusingly named Rioja vineyard in Argentina. Special because of a lack of pepperiness often associated with Shiraz.

The cheese - A cows milk blue cheese, Dunsyre Blue from Scotland

#7 The final wine, a very tasty Malbec from the same Rioja vineyard as before, a wine worth stocking up on for many. No big tannins here, but a fine tasting red.  The cheese, a best of show for this member at least, a hand made Roquefort , Old Shepherd, sounds so much better in French, Vieux Berger

Dates for the diary:

The next meeting will be on the FRIDAY JULY 26th , Cocktails.  More detail to follow. 

Also the Oxford Wine Company are to have a wine fair in Witney, for more info follow this link

March 22nd and Italy comes to Freeland

The English love to discuss the weather, and this day in March was no exception with the forecasters confirming that this March is the coldest for over 50 years, all the more surprising given that 12 months ago we enjoyed a relative heatwave. How does this effect the members of the Wine Club?  A reasonable assumption would be that turnout would be way down with members choosing to stay home and keep warm.  Well that couldn't be more wrong, a full house welcomes the hosts to the evening, Mat and Hazel Coburn,

Mat and Hazel gave the membership a very good, interesting and thorough tour of wines and cheeses from that part of Italy we all know of but probably don't know.

The regions of Veneto and Friuli in the North Eastern part of Italy.

So, an behalf of all the Wine Club members a very big thank you to Mat and Hazel for all their considerable efforts of organising the evening - not least of all, quite literally carrying the many bottles of wine and mixed cheeses from Italy in their luggage that we are able to enjoy on the 22nd.

Italy is famous for many  types of wine and many, many grape varieties, I doubt if there are any experts so knowledgeable that all of the 1,000 plus varieties would be known by one person.  The country, unlike the rest of Europe, was not devastated by the fungal infection that decimated the major areas of wine growing in Europe in the later days of the 19 century.

So what of the wines?


As ever to drink Proseccco is always a boost to how one feels, and the first wine, a lively, fresh and crisp Prosecco was a joy to start our tasting with.   The vineyard (Ruggeri) produce about a million bottles a year with 40% of the production exported.  A Google search will bring up Tesco as a suplier of this wine if bought via their delivery service.  Incidentally I see that Tesco is the biggest supplier of wine within the UK supplying 1 in every 4 bottles of wine sold here.



This was accompanied by a rare treat, a cheese made form both Gorganzola and Mozzarella. Just gorgeous and a perfect match

Another white followed, this time the Manzoni Bianco, and this variety itself a cross of Pinot Blanc and Riesling, as they say..."Who'd have thought it?"  A fine, easy to drink white with low levels of acidity.   Produced by the Cecchetto Vineyard, the same vineyard that supplied three wines at our tasting.

Our third wine of the night was unusual, first it was described as a red but looked like a Rosé but then tasted like a white.  This was the Tai Rosso Riserva.  The wine from the Berici vineyard has been developed from one of the very oldest of Italian grape varieties. the Tia Rosso.

How was the wine? Well best drunk in the sun, in the evening with friends, the wine would be a delight under such circumstances, the Village Hall was really warm last night, we were with friends, so almost there.  So yes an enjoyable  'soft wine' that was very easy and good to drink. Possibly best with 'nibbles' or a light meal.

Then on to 'proper' reds, a fine collection, the last one being the one that caused the most comment, but more of that anon.

Wine number four was a Friuli wine, now if you come from Venito or Friuli this becomes very important, I can speak with some personal experience when I can report of the fierce local pride that those from the various regions of Italy describe the area in which the live and work.  Also the fierce pride that is given over to the local wines, cheeses hams etc.  So this wine was from Friulo, a fine red, but made from a  grape variety that you, Dear Reader, you may or possible not have heard of, it is the Refosco dal peduncolo rosso.  Very little tanin or astringency here, a super wine to have with a pasta dish.

Wine five, here another grape variety surprise, the grape that is famously produced so well in South America, the Carmenér grape.  From Italy it tasted very good.  No lingering astringency but a rounded and good depth of flavour. This was the most popular wine of the evening.

Our final wine is described by its producer as one like a fine horse but a horse that needs to be tamed.  For some that taming was not quite complete, for others the wine was superb. It was a more pricey wine but one that would sit well with a wild boar ragu. Again this wine from the  Cecchetto vineyard.

The Mystery wine was for all but two people remained a mystery, a wine that was said to come from Hungary, UK or Chile but if fact was from France and was the very same wine that was tasted by us at the tasting last Autumn when we were joined by the manager of the Montravel vineyard in France. It was the vineyard's Sec.

The NEXT meeting will be on the evening of MAY 31st, the wines will be chosen from those available sold under the Fairtrade label.

To contact me direct use the comments below or email me on brucehammersley@gmail.com