July Meeting

WINE TASTING GROUP.

The group met at Jack & Joan’s for a very pleasant afternoon where we all enjoyed our host’s warm hospitality, with cheese and biscuits, followed after the wine tasting, with tea.

WINE NO 1.    2008  CHIANTI CLASSICO FROM CASTELINA ITALY. PURCHASED FROM MORRISONS AT £7.99.

This wine is a rich full bodied, spicy, red wine, produced in the heartland of the Chianti region in Tuscany, between Florence and Sienna. This wine has been aged in oak barrels to produce the rich flavours. We generally liked this wine with its tart taste, pleasant smell and good lasting  flavours. It produced an average score of 7, and we ,in the main said that we would happily drink it again.

WINE NO. 2.   2012  CAHORS MALBEC FROM LANDIRAS  FRANCE.  PURCHASED FROM MORRISONS AT £7.99.

This healthy looking deeply intense wine grown in the Bordeaux region has an easy drinking style with strong fruit flavours, and peppery undertones. It had a deep purple colouring, fairly strong nose,with a good long lasting aftertaste. This wine also attracted an average score of 7. None of us managed to identify the country of origin or the grape, but it was enjoyed.

                                                                                                                            JOHN BENFIELD.  

WINE TASTING GROUP TUESDAY 18TH JUNE.

The Wine Tasting Group was hosted by Jenny at Brian and Pat’s, and we were fortunate to enjoy the weather outside. An excellent selection of cheese and biscuits accompanied the wines.

WINE NO 1 was a 2011 French Malbec from the La Patrie vineyard in Cahors This wine grown in the Bordeaux region of France, has fruity flavours with slightly peppery undertones. It  produced a lot of varied comments as our members found it difficult to assess this complex wine.One member really enjoyed it, but the general feeling was that it was a slightly disappointing wine.

It received an average score of 5.5. This wine was purchased from Sainsburys on offer at £5.99.

WINE NO 2 was a 2005 Spanish Monastrell Gran Reserva  from the Jumilla vineyard, in southern Spain.This wine was preferred to the first one. It has a full bodied fruit aroma and intense flavours of plum and vanilla. We all found it difficult to guess its origin and wine type, only one of us naming the country it came from, but we enjoyed it. We were amazed at the price of this 8 year old wine. It was on special offer from Sainsburys at £5.99, and our group gave it an average score of 7.

The afternoon was rounded off with tea and biscuits, and a good time was had by all.

JOHN BENFIELD.

WINE TASTING GROUP. TUESDAY 28TH MAY 2013.

THE GROUP MET AT DAVE & MOLLY’S WHERE WE HAD AN EXCELLENT AFTERNOON WITH GREAT HOSPITALITY FROM OUR HOSTS.

WINE NO.1.

 THIS WINE WAS A 2011 PINOT NOIR FROM THE BRANCOTT ESTATE MARLBOROUGH NEW ZEALAND, PURCHASED AT ASDA AT AN OFFER PRICE OF £6.98. THE WINE IS FROM SOUTH ISLAND WHICH AT ONE TIME WAS THOUGHT TO BE TOO COLD TO GROW WINE GRAPES. THE WINE HAS SOFT VELVETY TANNINS WITH RIPE BERRY FRUIT FLAVOURS. WE ALL ENJOYED THIS TART, LIGHT BODIED WINE WHICH HAD A GOOD LASTING FLAVOUR. THIS RED WINE GRAPE IS GROWN EXTENSIVELY IN FRANCE AND IS BEST DRUNK YOUNG. WE GAVE IT AN AVERAGE SCORE OF 7.

WINE NO. 2.

THIS WINE WAS A 2011 MALBEC FROM THE LA PIEDRA LEON VINYARD IN THE VALLE CENTRAL AREA OF CHILE. PUCHASED FROM MORRISONS AT £7.49. THIS GRAPE ORIGINATED FROM THE FRENCH BORDEAUX REGION, AND PRODUCES A WINE WITH FRUITY FLAVOURS AND SLIGHTLY PEPPERY UNDERTONES. IT HAS VIBRANT AROMAS OF BLACK FRUIT, SUCH AS PLUMS. WE ALL FELT THAT THIS WAS A HEALTHY WINE WITH A DEEP INTENSITY, MEDIUM BODIED, WITH A LONG LASTING FLAVOUR. OUR GROUP ALSO ENJOYED THIS WINE AND GAVE IT AN AVERAGE SCORE OF 7.4.

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HOSTED BY JENNY AT PAT AND BRIAN’S, ON TUESDAY 18^TH JUNE 2013.   

WINE TASTING GROUP. TUESDAY 30TH APRIL’

WINE TASTING GROUP. TUESDAY 30^TH APRIL’

WE MET AT RAY AND JUNE’S HOUSE WHERE WE HAD A VERY PLEASANT AFTERNOON OF TASTING ALONG WITH AN EXCELLENT SELECTION OF CHEESE AND BISCUITS TO ACCOMPANY THE WINE.

THE FIRST WINE SERVED WAS A 2010 CALIFORNIAN SHIRAZ FROM WAITROSE COSTING £6.99. THIS WINE RECEIVED HIGH PRAISE, AND RECEIVED AN AVERAGE MARK OF 8.5, POSSIBLY THE HIGHEST OF ANY WINES THAT WE HAVE TRIED OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS. IT HAD A HEALTHY, BRIGHT APPEARANCE WITH PLEASANT SMELL. A LIGHT TASTE WAS SUPPLEMENTED WITH A LONG AFTERTASTE WITH THE FLAVOUR  LASTING. THE WINE IS PRODUCED BY ROBERT MONDAVI AT THE WOODBRIGE WINERY ACAMPO CALIFORNIA AND PRODUCES A VELVETY SHIRAZ LACED WITH DARK BERRY AND PLUM CHARACTER, WITH GOOD OAK AGING.  WE ALL THOUGHT THIS TO BE AN EXCELLENT WINE.

OUR SECOND WINE WAS ALSO A SHIRAZ, BUT FROM  AUSTRALIA. THIS WAS A 2009 FROM THE BUCKINGHAM ESTATE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, WHICH WAS PURCHASED FROM MORRISONS AT £8.99. THE VINYARD IS IN AN AREA OF AUSTRALIA WITH A SLIGHTLY COOLER CLIMATE, WHICH HELPS TO PRODUCE THIS GOOD WINE WHICH HAS DEEP PLUM COLOURING WITH COMPLEX AROMAS ENCOMPASSING BLACKBERRY, DARK CHOCOLATE, BLACK OLIVE AND CINNAMON. THIS WINE WAS AGAIN APPRECIATED BY ALL OF US AND WHILST NOT REACHING THE SAME APPROVAL AS THE FIRST WINE STILL RECEIVED A VERY RESPECTABLE AVERAGE SCORE OF 8. VERY DRINKABLE.

SHIRAZ  IS THE MOST POPULAR WINE GRAPE IN AUSTRALIA, AND IS GROWN EXTENSIVELY IN FRANCE AND CALIFORNIA, AND IS BEST DRUNK FAIRLY YOUNG.

THE  NEXT MEETING OF OUR GROUP WILL BE HELD AT DAVE AND MOLLY’S ON TUES 28^TH MAY.

JOHN BENFIELD

WINE TASTING TUESDAY 26^TH. MARCH.

The group met at John and Sheila’s for a very pleasant afternoon of tastings with cheese and biscuits.

The first wine tasted was probably one of the most complex that we have tried, in as much that it scored the highest, and lowest markings, we have had, of any wine we’ve tried since we formed this group. Such is the diversity of peoples tastes. This wine was a 2011Cabernet Sauvignon Pay d OC from Languedoc France, priced at £6.97 from Asda. This wine has a distinctive blackcurrent flavour, but such was the difference in people’s view of this wine, that there was no real agreement amongst us all, over any of its characteristics. It received a score of 9/10 down to 4/10 with an average of 6.5.

The second wine tasted was a 2012 Shiraz from the Western Cape in South Africa again purchased from Asda at a reduced price of £5. This wine has a fruity nose with a spicy finish, and was generally preferred to the first wine with much more uniformity of opinion. It had a pale appearance but was bright and clean smelling, with a medium strength taste. The smell was quite slight, yet distinctive, with some tannin but very little acidity. It was felt that the taste did not last. Shiraz is best drunk as a fairly young wine, and is produced widely in Australia and California as well as South Africa. This wine attracted an average score of 7/10.

The next meeting of the group will be at Ray and Junes on April 30^th.

John Benfield.  

WINE TASTING GROUP TUESDAY 29TH JANUARY 2013.

The Wine Tasting Group met at Brian & Pat’s for a very pleasant afternoon of tasting with a very good selection of cheese and biscuits, supplied by our hosts, to accompany the wine. The first wine we tried was a 2011 ISLA NEGRA MERLOT RESERVA from Morrisons priced at £5. This wine is produced in the Valle Central area of Chile. Isla Negra is a seaside village famous for artists and writers inspired by the ocean and the mystical landscape. I suspect that the wine must have some attraction as well! Members felt that this wine was very drinkable, but with a very unusual musty nose. Only one person did not like it, but even then it received an average score of 7.2. We felt that this was, a very clean, balanced, healthy looking wine, with a good flavour that lasted.

 The second wine was a 2012 HARDY’S BANKSIDE SHIRAZ again purchased from Morrisons at a very reasonable £3.99. This fruity wine has notes of bramble and a hint of spice in the finish. This wine comes from South East Australia and is a product of one of the countrys oldest vinyards, Hardy’s, who have been producing wine since 1853. They bought a large block of land alongside the Torrens river which is where the Bankside cellars were built. The cellars were destroyed by fire, but the name was used for this wine in memory of them. Our members quite liked this wine, which they felt was a healthy ruby coloured, pleasant fruity drink with a flavour that lasted.

 JOHN BENFIELD.

November meeting

Meeting at Dave and Molly's we enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon, being given a taste of the Pinot Noir grape , but from two very different parts of the wine growing world Our first tasting was of a 2011 FRENCH PINOT NOIR,PAYS D'OC PRODUCED BY LE MANOIR du BARON, purchased from Asda at £6.98. This wine has balanced red berry flavours with a vanilla richness. It has a clear fresh colour, with a pleasant smell, was quite tart , but the taste did not last. The general feeling was that whilst quite pleasant, this was not too popular. However it did receive a fairly good average score of 6.8. Our second wine was from the other side of the world. This was a 2011 AUSTRALIAN RESERVE PINOT NOIR PRODUCED BY JACOBS CREEK, costing £5 from Asda. This wine from the Adelaide Hills region of Australia has a cool climate ideal for developing delicate complex flavours,colours and natural acidity. This wine has flavours of black cherry and strawberry, giving it a lingering finish. We all preferred this Pinot despite the cheaper price.It had a bright clear red colour, with tartness and a light body. Whilst both wines were from the same grape, it is interesting to note the subtle difference showing in them, when produced in different continents.This wine received an average score of 7.0 Our thanks are given to Dave and Molly for their hospitality and the good selection of cheese and biscuits were very much appreciated. Our next meeting, which will have a distinctively festive feel to it, will be held at June and Ray's on 20th December, where I've no doubt, we will be raising a glass, to wish everyone at TOTTON U3A the compliments of the Season. JOHN BENFIELD.