Wine Tastings
As sober as a judge …
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Members will be aware of the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) and the International Wine Challenge (IWC) – two major wine competitions that take place in the UK and that The Society regularly does well in as a merchant.
Before the great days in May when the results are announced and September when the results are celebrated, there is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure wines are blind tasted, retasted and judged on their merits. Several of The Society’s team are judges at these prestigious competitions. I am lucky enough to be counted among the judges for the IWC and this year have judged for six days out of the eleven that it takes.
This annual competition is co-chaired by 6 members of the Who’s Who of the wine world: Tim Atkin MW, Oz Clarke, Sam Harrop MW, Peter McCombie MW, Charles Metcalfe and Derek Smedley MW. This year the venue was the Nursery Pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Our time there was so wet that only 2 hours of cricket were possible, including Andrew Strauss dismissed for a second-ball duck batting for Middlesex against Durham. So other than the persistent precipitation hammering on the Pavilion roof, there were no distractions from the job in hand.
Just a few of the 100 judges in the Nursery Pavilion on the first day of judging
With over 12,000 wines tasted by 23 panels of 5 judges, the logistics pose significant problems. All of these were admirably overcome by Chris Ashton and his excellent, hard-working team from the IWC, delivering flight after flight of wine. In total I personally blind-tasted 585 wines from 21 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United States and Uruguay. My tasting panel leaders included ex-Tesco buyer Helen McGinn, ex-Sainsbury’s winemaker Clem Yates MW, Oregonian wine writer Lisa Shara Hall, Aussie wine critic and winemaker Nick Stock and wine author/blogger Jamie Goode.
Fellow judge Tamara Stanfill (left) & panel chair Helen McGinn evaluating Portuguese reds
The first 5 days are spent tasting and deciding simply if the wine should go forward to the medal tasting, be commended or rejected. The next four days see the medal-worthy wines re-tasted and bronze, silver or gold medals awarded, with the final two days set aside for re-tasting the gold medal winners and deciding which should be awarded the prestigious trophies.
Each day ended with a refreshing beer or two in the Mound Stand bar. The last thing you want after tasting 100 wines is … wine!
It’s a meticulous, challenging and tiring process, but worthwhile for the tasting experience, the educational side of things (I can now perceive and identify more degrees of reduction, oxidation, cork taint, brettanomyces and geosmin than I ever thought possible) and the networking with the great and the good of the industry (winemakers, estate owners, communicators, competitors).
And before you ask, I promise that I spat everything out (well, maybe a little vintage Champagne and Bual Madeira remained in my system at the end of one or two of the judging days); here was one sober judge!
Lunch at the Wine Society
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of your Wine Society? Or maybe you would be interested in seeing the second largest wine warehouse in Europe? Perhaps you’re keen to visit the temperature-controlled cellars where your wines are safely stored? Are you curious to find out a little more about The Wine Society’s 138-year-old history?
If the answer to any or all of these questions is ‘yes’ then a visit to our Stevenage HQ for a three-course lunch, accompanying wines and a behind-the-scenes tour of The Wine Society, could be for you!
Society lunches start with an aperitif in The Cellar Showroom
Ever popular, the Lunches at The Wine Society have been an important and well-attended part of the Tasting Team’s diary for many years now. In that time new buildings have been constructed, or had their usage changed, a streamlined bottle picking and transportation system has been introduced and the premises, as a whole, have been refurbished and updated.
Members come from far and wide to the lunches, which begin at noon with a warm welcome and a sparkling aperitif in The Society’s Showroom. While flutes are in hand, a brief talk on the key points and highlights of The Society’s long history is told by a member of the Tastings team. Fortunately, The Society’s history has been both interesting and, at times, amusing, so smiles rather than dropped faces tend to appear upon hearing some of the revelations and highlights from times past!
Members enjoying a tour of the warehouse
With coats and jackets on (always recommended when touring the temperature-controlled cellars), the behind-the-scenes tour of the warehouses, bottle picking and despatch areas gets underway. Members are often taken-aback when viewing the sheer size of our cellarage and storage facilities. Warehouse 1 alone, for instance, the largest of its kind in Europe, can accommodate up to 335,000 cases of wine including hundreds of cases belonging to members who have bought and chosen to cellar their wines at The Society.
Lunches feature five wines, including something a little bit special from the cellars
Following the tour, the lunch itself gets underway in The Society’s ‘Members’ Room’ where a seated, three-course buffet is served, accompanied by five specially selected wines, one of which is a fine and rare example from the company’s wine archive! Seated on tables of eight, the lunches provide a great opportunity for our visitors to enjoy the company of others who appreciate their wine, or to enjoy the experience alongside their friends and/or family.
Naturally, all good things must come to an end and, with coffee served, a short talk is given on the wines that have been tasted. Everybody has at least one or two wines which they particularly enjoyed with their lunch, so just for fun, a ‘hands-in-the-air’ vote is taken to find out which of the wines proved to be the favourites of the day.
When the event has finished, at approximately 3pm, members make their way back through The Showroom to browse, buy or head off for their carriages or trains ….
If you are interested in joining us for lunch in the near future, the next ones with places available are on 5th July, 26th July and 20th September. You can book your tickets here.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Stephanie Searle
Tastings & Events team
NB If given sufficient notice, the chef is able to cater for special diets so nobody need be excluded from attending these events. There is also a service lift enabling wheelchair users to enjoy the lunch and part of the tour itself.
Champagne in Whitehall
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No saucy farce this but the annual Champagne tasting put on by the CIVC in the splendid Banqueting House, a remnant of the lost Palace of Whitehall.
The event is an opportunity to taste very widely and gives a snapshot of who is doing what in Champagne.
Nearly 70 Houses were present and each showed three wines: non vintage, vintage plus one other.
This is not a blind tasting so there is the potential to be thoroughly biased. Having said that, with so many wines to taste and given the constraints of time, many wines fall by the wayside. One also assumes that all the wines on show come from running stock. But disgorgement dates are bound to vary and these can radically influence how a wine tastes. Very recently disgorged wines often taste out of kilter. The storing of Champagne leaves no room for error and anything badly stored can easily taste oxidized.
And to conclude? Well not really much different from last year: a few outstanding wines with everything that one might wish for in a bottle of Champagne. The majority are decent enough and in the right context, perfectly acceptable, and then there are the howlers, to be avoided. As last year I’ve given comments for each House and I’ve included last year’s verdict as well.
Champagne is an extraordinary product with over 300m bottles produced every year and all under just the one appellation. It comes in umpteen styles. Some are best for parties; others need a more gastronomic approach. I’ve given an indication where appropriate. My notes are a quick appraisal of how the wines tasted on the day, they are not intended as full-blown tasting notes but I show them here for your interest.
Here goes…
Marcel Orford-Williams
Champagne buyer
Australia: Tasting The Diversity
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Shining a light on the diversity of Australian wine
Our annual Australia growers tasting came round all too fast this year. It only felt like five minutes ago when we were in Cheltenham last year; but then they do say that time flies when you’re having fun going to lots of Wine Society tastings.
On this occasion, buyer Pierre Mansour decided to highlight the diversity of Australian wines, and the effects that the climate, soil – that whole bundle of environmental factors that the French neatly define as terroir – of Australia’s many wine regions can have on the wines.
To a great extent it is the proliferation of mass-market wines which dominates the entry-level sector of the UK wine-trade that has (perhaps) given Australia an image of an industrial wine-producing nation. However the quality of wine from small-scale, family-run growers is outstanding as was evidenced by the wines on show at the tasting.
The tasting also served to highlight the shift in wine style made by many producers. Gone were the over-extracted, dense reds and highly alcoholic, heavily-oaked whites. In their place were fresher, more delicate, lovely whites such as the Tahbilk Viognier, 2011 and the Plantagenet Riesling, 2010; both at a much more reasonable 12.5% abv.
d'Arenberg's show-stopping The Beautiful View Grenache won many admirers
Amongst the reds there were the elegant, but still muscular Fraser Gallop Cabernet-Merlot, 2009 from the Margaret River, and Sandro Mosele’s Burgundy-styled Kooyong Massale Pinot Noir, 2010 from Victoria. For those who prefer their reds a bit more beefy, there was plenty on offer with Mount Langhi’s stirring selection: Billi Billi Shiraz, 2008 and The Society’s Exhibition Victoria Shiraz, 2006 both packed in plenty of rich, plummy fruit and peppery spice.
Peter Lehmann’s Stonewell Shiraz, 2006 (£30 a bottle), d’Arenberg’s The Beautiful View Grenache, 2009 (£38) and Leeuwin’s Prelude Chardonnay, 2009 (£23) all represented the top end of Australia’s wine production, and what treats they were.
Speaking of treats, a wine not to be missed was the Bleasdale Sparkling Shiraz, a rich, chocolatey, off-dry shiraz, which was…. fizzy. So wrong, and yet, so right! Apparently it works a treat with chocolate cake, but unfortunately there was none available on the night – I’ll keep you posted.
All in all there was an eclectic mix of reds and whites, sparkling and fortified which highlighted brilliantly just what Australia has to offer wine lovers everywhere at any budget.
Many of these wines feature in our current Australian Excellence offer (which runs until 20th May 2012).
Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator
Meerlust & The Amazing Mr Hannes Myburgh
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Hannes Myburgh
Despite having studied oenology, Hannes was keen to point out that he was not a wine-maker (that accolade goes to Chris Williams, who has been the Cellar master at Meerlust since 2004 when he took over from Georgio della Cia; prior to that, Chris had been Assistant Winemaker since 1995). Hannes sees himself more as the custodian of a seventeenth-century national monument or, as he puts it, the farm. Hannes is the eighth generation of the Myburgh family to run the estate – a stunning example of Cape Dutch architecture – and as he put it so succinctly, sometimes he has to pinch himself as he just can’t believe he lives in such a beautiful place.
The Myburghs have been making wine on the estate since 1756 – the year Mozart was born.
Members enjoying the wines
Next we tried the Meerlust Estate Red, 2009, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot. This wine is made up of younger estate-grown fruit not yet of sufficient quality for inclusion in the flagship blend, Rubicon. This is a big, rich juicy wine ideal for curling up with next to a block of good-quality cheddar – or is that just me? Next came the Meerlust Estate Cabernet, 2009, and then the Meerlust Estate Kentridge Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004, Limited Edition which came in magnum. Both were beautifully made, with the 2004 showing a little more age and complexity as a result of its age and perhaps the larger bottle.
What surprised us all, though in hindsight perhaps it shouldn’t have done, was how Bordeaux-like these wines were. Obviously they had more ripe cassis fruit than one might expect from France, but there were the underlying cigar box and cedar notes so typical of good Bordeaux as well.
From this point on we were fully immersed in the world of Meerlust’s Rubicon wines, and what a pleasant place to be it was. The phrase ‘crossing the Rubicon’ originated from when Caesar’s army crossed the Rubicon River in 49BC, considered at the time to be an act of insurrection. Apparently Hannes’ father and his friend came up with the name when discussing the idea of producing a new Bordeaux blend – something which had never been done in South Africa until that point, and which was mightily frowned upon by the other winemakers in the area.
The flight of Rubicons, including the maiden 1984 vintage
So, what did I learn about Meerlust on that Monday evening? Well, firstly, not to think of South Africa as a modern wine-making country. Secondly that Meerlust’s wines, and the Rubicon’s in particular will last as long as you have the will power to keep them.
And thirdly, along with many of the other ladies, and perhaps some of the men there that evening, I am now nursing a little crush on the amazing Mr Hannes Myburgh!
Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator
Wine Champions 2012: Plenty More Fish in the Sea
Posted by: | Comments‘I have visions of squid!’
Thus the studious silence of the tasting room was broken by buyer Marcel Orford-Williams. I myself do not eat seafood, but have often noticed that others exhibit a pathological yearning for it when exposed to truly great dry white wine. It has become something of a personal litmus test to see how well a white has gone down with others.
Sebastian Payne MW and Marcel Orford-Williams
As we processed through (what turned out to be) wines made using cortese, macabeo, bacchus, garganega, falanghina, muscadet, grüner veltliner, furmint, vermentino, clairette – to name but 10 at random – and many more, one thing became apparent beyond doubt: whether you have a taste for seafood or not, the sheer diversity of white wines outside the traditional comfort zones of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay et al has never been more rewarding.
The lineups were divided loosely by price, and it was a particularly pleasing moment when it dawned on us how many outstanding candidates had been found before we had even got anywhere near the ‘over £10’ section.
As was the revelation of the overall winners once the votes had been tallied: this is the twelfth annual Wine Champions, and in terms of countries, regions, grape varieties and styles, this is almost certainly the most diverse selection of white wines it has offered yet.
As for their – and the other winners’ – identities, members will have to wait another few weeks. It will be worth it.
The votes are cast - the winners will be revealed in June
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
To Decant or Not to Decant? That is the Question…
Posted by: | Comments…and Members attending the Decanting Workshop held at The Wine Society’s Stevenage HQ earlier this month were keen to find out the answer!
So what is ‘decanting’? To quote from Jancis Robinson’s Wine Companion, decanting is ‘an optional and controversial step in serving wine, involving pouring wine out of its bottle and into another container called a decanter’. Simple in its explanation, no doubt, but by no means an exact science when it comes to tasting and enjoying the results.
Ewan Murray decants...!
The workshop got underway with The Society’s Head of Tastings & Events, Ewan Murray, introducing the concept, history and evolution of decanting and decanters, and why and when people choose to decant their wines (usually for the removal of sediment and/or aeration). Then without further ado, the process of tasting commenced with members comparing and contrasting five pairs (and one trio) of identical wines – one that was served straight from bottle and the other/s which had been decanted at a given point prior to being served.
As expected, the workshop threw up some surprises for many. Most were intrigued to see The Society’s Exhibition Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu, Brocard, 2009 in the line-up of candidates for decanting. Comparing a sample served straight from the bottle with another that had been decanted an hour previously, there was a very positive response to the decanted wine which had opened up to reveal a flavoursome minerality supporting the delicate aromas of lemon and citrus. In comparison, the Chablis served at optimum temperature straight from the bottle was felt to be more closed and the minerality failed to shine through to the same extent. The member verdict was a resounding 95% to 5% in favour of the decanted wine.
Next up for comparison was Koyle Reserva Carmenère, 2010 from Chile. The sample served straight from the bottle provided a real ‘oomph’ in the mouth with an intense spicy nose, hints of black pepper and cloves, yet with a full fresh palate. The decanted (for two hours) Koyle was considered even better – 90% preferred it, with some members describing it as smelling like ‘a young Bordeaux’. Aeration had subtly softened the tannins, but the boldness of the flavour remained.
Château Langoa-Barton, 1998 was an interesting wine to compare. At 14 years old, this teenager burst forth from the bottle with wonderful focussed blackberry aromas and soft (but not overbearing) tannins supported by richness and length. Its counterpart, that had been decanted two hours previously, proved a disappointment for most. It was definitely flatter as the aromas had largely dispersed and the range of flavours picked up by the nose had diminished. Members were generally surprised by this result and raised the question about the decanting of Claret. Perhaps the best course of action for this wine would have been to do one of two things – either decant immediately (no more than half an hour) before serving to allow the removal of sediment and slight aeration, or not to decant at all but pour carefully from the bottle. Member verdict was 90% to 10% in favour of the carefully poured Claret straight from the bottle.
Heading for Australia, the next pair up for comparison was d’Arenberg’s Footbolt Shiraz, 2007. A chunky, generous shiraz with stacks of sweet, berry fruit, this wine was enjoyed when served straight from the bottle but was considered far superior when decanted for two hours. The flavours shone through with both elegance and finesse and members voted 80% to 20% in favour of the decanted wine.
After leaving Australia we headed for Italy and for three examples of Gianni Brunelli, Brunello di Montalcino, 2004 (sold out, though other vintages available). A definite food wine and, according to Ewan, a perfect wine match for wild boar! Pig aside, a pleasing, perfumed aroma was present in all three examples of this wine. Tasting a sample straight from the bottle, there were signs of fruit, but the general consensus was that it was quite ‘closed’ and definitely too tannic for most. The example which had been decanted three hours previously had opened up quite nicely and presented with more intensity of fruit, especially the flavour of dark, bitter cherries. It was, however, the sample that had been decanted for eighteen hours that really stole the show. Members found it far more ‘all encompassing’ with lasting savoury notes and decidedly superior to the other two samples. It won the member vote with 65% preferring it compared to 35% liking the wine that had been decanted for three hours. Nobody chose the sample which was tried after being poured straight from the bottle.
Last, but not least, The Society’s Exhibition Crusted Port, bottled 2006, was put to the test. The Port served straight from the bottle was tasted alongside a sample which had been decanted 2 hours previously. Interestingly, the difference between these two examples in both nose and taste, was minimal. Both examples showed well, exuding plump, ripe, juicy raisin flavours that were savoured for long after the initial swallow. Unfortunately though, with crusted Port comes the sediment – often thick sediment which nobody really wants to taste. The unanimous verdict then was to definitely decant the Port. A very sensible decision.
Stephanie Searle
Tastings & Events
Wine Champions 2012: Rhône Reds and the Best of Both Worlds
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The ‘Red Rhône Varieties’ section of the Wine Champions tastings encompassed some 87 wines, and therein a wide-ranging insight into how syrah, grenache and its numerous bedfellows express themselves throughout the Old and the New World; both in the vineyard and, given both camps’ partiality for blending, the winery.
The ‘wow’ factor was never far away as we navigated our way through these wines; nonetheless, a Wine Champion must back this up with the all-important ‘now’ factor (see my first post for a brief outline of the rules), and several simply needed a little more time before they would be able to merit the accolade.
Pierre Mansour, Janet Wynne Evans & Marcel Orford-Williams
Of course, when quality and readiness did align at the higher end of the scale, the outcome was predictably superb, and members should also look out for the Fine Wine Champions, which will be featured shortly after the initial offer in The Society’s Fine Wine List.
Given the nigh-ubiquitous lustre of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage et al today, it is remarkable to think that the red wines of the Rhône only reached this level of acclaim in the latter half of the twentieth century. Hitherto, ‘rustic and thick enough to stand a spoon in’ seemed the précised verdict of many. But quality has changed for the better (as to a lesser extent have our tastes) and, combined with an embarrassment of brilliant vintages (2010, 2009, 2007, 2005…), the wines’ favour continues deservedly to soar.
Joanna Locke MW, Society buyer for South Africa
South Africa is a good example, from which some shiraz, grenache and mourvèdre wines were themselves given a lukewarm reception for an abundance of spicy and bucolic flavours. Yet in many of the examples on show I found this quality had coalesced with fresh, appetising fruit profiles – and the results were wonderful.
Blind tastings remain the unparalleled way to dispel the preconceptions of fashion, and I do hope members don’t miss the chance to try these wines for themselves.
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
Wine Champions 2012: Chardonnay Jokers and Zen Rosés
Posted by: | CommentsOn paper, tasting hundreds of wines sounds like a lot of fun; and it is.
Nonetheless, some tastings are inevitably more difficult than others and the respective heats for the chardonnay and rosé categories were cases in point for different reasons.
The buyers assess the candidates
Were you to have listened in on the chardonnay heats, you would therefore have been forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled into an antiquated card game.
I often think of chardonnay as the vinous equivalent of a lightning rod: not a hugely interesting device in terms of its raw materials (with apologies to any enthusiasts who may be reading), but amazing in its ability to conduct the power the elements can throw at it. It is a relatively neutral grape but when planted in certain places throughout the world it expresses incomparably multifaceted flavours.
Add to this the fact that it responds well to both stainless steel and wood and in blind-tasting environs its diversity becomes profound to the point of perilous. It therefore took Joker-playing, re-tasting, olfactory scrutiny and debate before everyone was happy that the wines had all been given a chance.
Then there was the ‘pink morning’ scheduled for the all-important task of selecting the ready-best of our 2011 rosés. In the event, the morning erred considerably more to the grey side, being as it was the coldest of the year thus far.
Pouring some bottled sunshine on the coldest day of the year
For myself, this lent the tasting an element of Zen as I sought those wines that transported me most vividly to the lazy summer afternoons which I hope await me later in the calendar. Remarkably, I think it worked; in any case, the buyers’ final votes revealed some very strong performances indeed.
These particular occasions impressed upon me just how much perseverance and concentration (not to mention talent) is required to taste objectively through large and/or complicated lineups. I can certainly now vouch first hand that Society members are in good hands/noses/palates with the buying team, and promise that the 2012 Wine Champions will be all the more delicious thanks to these meticulous – not to mention egalitarian – efforts in the tasting room.
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
Wine Champions 2012: Going In With Our Eyes Closed
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been fortunate enough to participate in the ongoing Wine Champions blind tastings, with a view to keeping Grapevine readers updated about the preparation for one of The Wine Society’s most consistently popular offers.
Me, trying to sniff out a champion
The rules of Wine Champions are simple: the wines are tasted in categories under strict blind conditions (labels are all concealed as in the picture below, thereby allowing no room for potential bias) before votes are cast to crown the champions.
A ‘champion’ is a wine at the top of its game, giving of its delicious best. The offer is all about what’s in the bottle, and how it tastes in the here and now. It goes without saying that the buyers work incredibly hard to select all the wines in The Society’s range, but the evolutionary nature of wine throws up the most wonderful surprises.
In this regard, the 2012 line-up certainly did not disappoint.
The wines are all tasted blind, with their labels concealed
The three forthcoming dispatches from the tasting room seek to relate my personal impressions of this process (which, having worked at The Society for only a year, was new to me). Though I am duty-bound not to reveal the results, I hope they will whet readers’ appetite ahead of the winning wines being unveiled in June. The first will be posted tomorrow.
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
