Wine Appreciation
In the past few years we have tasted wine from all over the world as each month a different member hosts the group and chooses which wines we should taste - sometimes by country or region, and sometimes by grape variety. We have all enjoyed trying wines which we would not normally have chosen so we like to feel our tastes have widened through belonging to this Interest Group. Whenever we can find a teetotal driver we love to take the Lerryn Minibus out for a spin to a local vineyard or wine merchant.
Contact Michael Furminger for more details.
Group contact: Michael Furminger
Telephone: 07715546026
2024 schedule
We will continue with a regular fixture of 3pm on the last Monday of the month. The location will be either in a members home or the Cafe of the Community centre. We plan to go to other locations for visits to tastings and vineyards, to be advised.
2024 |
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| 29 Jan | Jenny MacDonald | |
| 26 Feb | Alison and John Hurst | |
| 25 Mar | Victoria Nelson | Community Centre |
| 29 Apr | Michael Furminger | |
| 27 May | Helen Mills | |
| 24 Jun | Nicola Tipton | Community Centre |
| 29 Jul | Pat Stearn | Community Centre |
| 26 Aug | Keith Southgate | Community Centre |
| 30 Sept | Jill Fletcher | Community Centre |
| 28 Oct | Christine Walton | |
| 25 Nov | Sue and Carl Watts |
October Meeting
October we met at Christine's house and enjoyed a range of wines from Sainsbury. The choices were made based on the unusual bottles .
The choice ranged from an AI selected white blend through to a solid red in a dumpy bottle. The prices did seem high but to me the best was the Spanish Albarino white in the blue bottle at £16.
September meeting
September we met in the Community Centre with Jill as the host. The choice this month all came from Penhaligans. All the choices proved to be popular and good value.
A grand day out to Wadebridge wines
A September special trip to Wadebridge wines. A group took the Lerryn bus to have a wine tasting event in Wadebridge. Wadebridge wins offered a open event to taste wines from their collection and enjoy music, food and fun in their premises. The wines on offer were popular over the last 50 years.
My favourite was a Cabernet Sauvignon / Tannat blend from Uruguay. A delightful red. Since there were 18 other wines on offer everybody settled on a favourite be pink, white red or fizz.
Our thanks go to Wadebridge wines who hosted a great event and to the LAMA bus for getting use ther and home again.
August 2024 Meeting
A Fine August Bank Holiday afternoon outside the Community Centre for our wine tasting. It was an all-white wine occasion with a selection chosen from Laithwaites Wine club – a special offer selection from Australia, France and Georgia. All at an offer price of £8 – hard to beat.
The Sauvignon Blanc was perfect for a barbie, light and refreshing. I preferred the French Chenin Blanc for its aromatic taste. The surprise was the Mtsvane from Georgia – really quite complex and interesting wine. As a group the favourite was the Sauvignon Blanc, I preferred the Chenin Blanc.
June Meeting
We didn't have a May meeting as numbers were too low, however the June meeting made up for it with a good turn out. The event Nicola was the host and selected some fine wine from Penhaligan's and from Sainsbury. The New Zealand pink and white went down very well and we finished off with the Beaujolais which again want a great find.
April 2024 Meeting
Michael Hosted at home. A good turn out of 11 people all seemed to enjoy the event
Château Moulin-Borie, Listrac-Médoc, Bordeaux, France 2016
St-Julien second-growth Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, has real pedigree. It's getting a little dry, so not one for long ageing, but delivers elegant polished leather, smoky oak and spiced black raspberry fruit notes.
Ravenswood Zinfandel 2020/21, Lodi
Surviving prohibition by a legal loophole, Lodi boasts some of America's most ancient Zinfandel vines. Old vines craft the juiciest grapes. So it's no surprise that this pumps with black-fruit flavour of Blackberry, Black cherry, chocolate and spice
Primitivo di Manduria wine 2022
A rich and opulent wine with vibrant flavours of ripe cherries and plums combined with subtle overtones of cocoa and vanilla. This wine has a velvety texture, softened by the warmth of the Primitivo grapes; brambly fruits on the palate and a persistent sweetness on the finish.
Wrong Turn, Fernão Pires, Western Cape, South Africa 2022
Portuguese grape that found its way to South Africa 36 years ago. A seemingly wrong turn, as the label suggests, but these now heritage vines have produced a weighty, textured mouthful of floral, honeyed yellow fruit, balanced by lemony acidity. Supple and juicy and with a creamy finish.
Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand Wine 2023
The grapes for this Squealing Pig Sauvignon Blanc were sourced from Marlborough, New Zealand. The wine was cool fermented and left on lees to develop an aromatic texture. Bursting with flavour, this wine is perfectly crisp and refreshing with tropical fruit flavours or pineapple, passion fruit and citrus.
The favourite white was the Wrong Turn and in the reds the favourite was the Primitivo. Both were the least expensive , which just goes to show.... Available at Aldi
March 2024 Meeting
Victoria hosted the March Meeting in the Community Centre.
Four wines (one white and three reds) were sampled by 10 members of the group.
All four wines, some of which were discounted, cost about £10 each.
This wine was the most popular red wine mong the group.
February 2024 Meeting
The theme at Alison and John's home was Romania. All the wines came from Wadebridge wine and were around the £10 mark. It was an enjoyable afternoon. The wine was mostly not too bad but I wouldn't rush out to buy them! But that me.
January 2024 Meeting
We met at Jenny's home to enjoy an selection with a Spanish feel. The pink wine seemed to be the most favoured however most were enjoyed by the group.
and a chat
