Our final walk-around tastings of the year were in Lewes, Southampton and Chelmsford where we showed a range of our Exhibition wines.

Created for our 125th anniversary in 1999, the Exhibition Range is a group of wines blended and selected as flagship examples of the different regions and styles they represent: a ‘look-no-further-than’ wine list made by a roll-call of top growers with whom The Society works.

The venues

The first stop was the Town Hall at Lewes, a beautiful old building, with some very interesting artwork on the walls. The very cold weather encouraged everyone to turn up early and within no time at all the hall was full of members regaining the feeling in their extremities (warmed by the 21 wines on taste!). The latter two venues had a cricket theme, though they couldn’t have been more different. The Rose Bowl in Southampton is the state-of-the-art new home to the Hampshire Cricket Team. We held the tasting in the Robin Smith Suite, which has lovely views over the pitch, and as one member pointed out, it would have been nice if there was a match being played whilst we tasted. No promises being made there, I’m afraid. The last stop was Chelmsford and the venue the Essex County Cricket Club. We held the tasting in the pavilion, once again overlooking the pitch, although the weather had turned again and it was a very stormy evening, so sadly there was not much to be seen.

The wines
Perhaps most importantly, the wines showed well on all three nights. As always, there were huge differences between the winners at each tasting. We still don’t fully understand how it is a wine which is voted the favourite on one evening can be awarded the wooden spoon the next. Answers on a postcard, please!

In Lewes the favourite white was the Exhibition Hermitage Blanc, 2007: a real treat of a white from Jean-Louis Chave – rich, full-flavoured, creamy – the perfect accompaniment to the Christmas turkey. For reds, the vote went to the Mendoza Malbec, 2009: a big, rich and bramble-fruited wine from Catena, with hints of mocha on the finish – the perfect wine to warm you up.

In Southampton it was the Exhibition French Cabernet Sauvignon which came top, a lovely, un-prepossessing French red which provides great value for money and heaps of character. The Exhibition Martinborough Pinot Noir from Craggy Range came second, no surprise really as it was showing so well on the night: packed with the crushed summer fruits you might expect from good-quality New Zealand pinot, but with real structure and an almost French-style earthiness. It is worth noting that the noisiest vote, however, was for the Crusted Port!

Chelmsford’s overall winner was yet again the Exhibition French Cabernet, and the winning white was the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This is made for us by Jane Hunter OBE and encapsulates the zesty citrus and gooseberry fruit and feisty character one would expect from classic Marlborough sauvignon.

We hope all those who attended enjoyed themselves and the wines.

Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator