After much stress, drinking of wine, tasting of cheese and practicing some presentation skills that I haven’t used in quite a while, the Wine Tasting event went off rather well. At least by judging the feedback and beaming (possibly tipsy…?) faces at the end of the event, it was well received. There were 8 wines on show for people to taste, starting with 3 variable styles of white and then onto 5 equally variable reds. The event was started by explaining a little about tasting wine (using some excellent structured advice from Jancis Robinson in her BBC book ‘Wine Course’ published in 1995) and how to search for flavours; what the various terms of body, length, acidity and balance mean with regard to tasting a wine. As the presentation progressed (somewhat…!), additional notes on old world and new world wine differences were discussed, fruit acids and how grapes take on flavours from their fermentation and treatment during this period and beyond. The first white wine was from Oddbins, their Green Fish Verdejo 2011 (Spain). This is a simple, light and fairly dry wine with slightly peachy flavour and a lot of acidity. The wine is from the Rueda region of Spain (the area just to the North West of Madrid) and the grapes are harvested at night when it is cooler; this prevents the oxidation and therefore browning of the juices on maceration, keeping the wine lightly coloured. Possibly, this was the least praiseworthy wine on offer in the event, at least judging by its reception. The second white was the Ridgy Didge Chardonnay 2012 from Australia, a white peach coloured white with an abundance of stone fruit flavours of peach, apricot and melon accompanied with a hint of ripe apples. The wine was slightly oaked, giving a slightly spicey, vanilla undercurrent and a buttery mouthfeel. Another relatively simple wine, but different enough from the other two whites to give the attendees a tangible variation. The final white on show at the event was the Les Cascadelles Pouilly Fumé 2011 (France, of course). The selection of this wine was to show the dryness accompanying the Sauvignon Blanc grape and the fresh green acidity with gooseberry and slightly citrus-sharpness, terrific minerality and the aroma of gunflint. At this point, a little time was taken to explain how Terrior [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terroir] comes into play and how French appellations are used. Moving onto the red wines, the first foray was the Freeman’s Bay Pinot Noir 2011 (New Zealand). A very pale red wine, light in colour and body, although deceptively full of flavour. A very smooth yet meaty and slightly oaky character with flavours of cherry, plum and strawberries all present alongside a slight vegetal taste and aroma, less pronounced than in some French offerings. Was generally well received by the group. The second red wine was the fairly reknowned Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 (Spain), which some members of the group seemed to be familiar with. This is a full-bodied red wine using the Tempranillo grape with flavours of berries, plums and a hint of some tobacco and leather. The wine can be quite tannic, having a slight pepperiness and pleasant mouthfeel also. Positive feedback from the group all round with this one! Following the Tempranillo was a delicious Rioja with a little age behind it in order to show the group how a grape can change flavours with age and treatment and by accompanying it with other grapes. As with the Toro Loco, this is a full-bodied wine with plenty of vibrancy and flavour; the colour was noted to have been significantly different (slightly less reddish-purple around the edges, tending to be a little sepia coloured). This wine is also stored in oak for a while, giving an undercurrent of spice. A superb value wine; which was positively received from all the attendees. A very interesting wine was had to follow the Rioja in the form of the Mont Rocher Pays D’Herault Carignan 2012 (Rousillon-Languedoc, France). Taken from old gnarled vines in the Mediterranean region of France, this is a juicy and quite fruity red with plenty of body and a slightly confected aroma twinned with flavours and aromas of sumptuous violets. An excellent wine which was well received by the attendees. A very interesting wine was had to follow the Rioja in the form of the Mont Rocher Pays D’Herault Carignan 2012 (Rousillon-Languedoc, France). Taken from old gnarled vines in the Mediterranean region of France, this is a juicy and quite fruity red with plenty of body and a slightly confected aroma twinned with flavours and aromas of sumptuous violets. An excellent wine which was well received by the attendees. The final wine was something with tonnes of body and robust flavours in the Santa Rita Medalla Real Carmenere 2009 (Colchagua Valley, Chile). A little way of explanation about the Carmenere grape was given, along with the tasting, with the wine giving flavours of chocolate, coffee and plums along with deep savoury notes. Fruit was present in the form of some dark berries, but there was a comment from someone that one of the strong aromas reminded them of fly-spray, indeed, a very unusual aroma that accompanies the use of fly-paper was present. Slightly disappointing that the wine was not strongly received considering the interesting and complex flavours on offer. To round the event off, there was a little contest between the attendees to see who could correctly identify the placings of each of the wines from the tasting in terms of their cost (at time of purchase). The wines were as follows:
The highest mark was 4/8 and two people went into a tiebreak, being asked to name the three grapes used in making Champagne. Alas they both correctly identified Chardonnay, but fell down on naming any more (for those curious/uninformed – also Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier), luckily they were in a couple so shared a lovely bottle of red lovingly selected for a prize. A special mention needs to go to the excellent Liverpool Cheese Company, based in Woolton Village, for supplying cheeses to the event, a lovely selection from the shop was soon demolished in less than 15 minutes (you’d think these people had never been fed?!). The buche log goats cheese and Y-Fenni with mustard seed were excellent, along with a very interesting cheese washed named ‘Baltic’ with Liverpool’s own Wapping Beer from the Baltic Fleet pub (brewed in the basement) by the cheesemakers. Their website can be found here: [http://www.liverpoolcheesecompany.co.uk/] and they are located at 29A Woolton Road, should you wish to visit their lovely shop (where you can also pick up deli-items including many beers from the local breweries of Merseyside). Another successful event, I shall keep you all informed as more crop up (there are ideas floating around at the moment, but until they turn concrete, I’ll hold fire). Should anyone have any ideas for an event, please just give me a shout and we can perhaps work together to put something on! Until next time, adios! Pedro. -------------- P.S. to follow Liverpool Cheese Company on Twitter go here: http://twitter.com/liverpoolcheese
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