Apologies this has taken until Tuesday to get the chance to put this down on paper. My weekend and yesterday has literally been jammed packed so this is the first opportunity I’ve had to put my thoughts down on the fantastic wines I had the pleasure to taste on Thursday the 22nd.
These are my notes and my personal opinion. Some may disagree with me but that makes it all the more fun.
Thanks once again @robert_mcintosh and @Ewan among others who afforded me the much coveted place at this tasting.
So, here goes, I tasted EVERYTHING, all 70 something of them and had purple teeth by the end of it.
https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/ProductDetail.aspx?pd=SG321
First up, This lovely Cremant. It had a lovely golden colour, with fresh orchard apples and citrus fruit on the nose and palate, very zingy with high acidity but well rounded with a leesy biscuit undertone. Interestingly it’s made entirely from pinot blanc and auxerrois. A great aperitif or celebration wine.
This is a lovely Champagne and would rival some of the big houses, you get a touch of oak on the nose as well as the palate with racing acidity and a dry zesty full flavoured mouthfeel. It has a long finish holding on the apple flavours right til the end.
The Magnum has a slightly different % blend make up and it was interesting to taste side by side with the 750ml NV. This has slightly more petillance but again had a level of complexity you would expect from a large house. It was full flavoured with more fruit than the 750ml and if someone served me this I would be extremely happy with it overall. A really good example of how champagne should be made.
Quite a change in direction from the fizz here. This wine smells of sunshine on a hot summers day. Extremely ripe fruit from the Languedoc with honeysuckle , ripe watermelon and honeydew melon exploding in your mouth. Very easy drinking with a dry bite to the finish. Good on its own or on a beach in the south of France
2017 Bacalhoa JP Azeitao Branco VR Setubal
My first impression of this off-dry white is that my Mum would love it. Partially because it is an off-dry but mainly because of the fruit. This is extremely fruity, very “grapey” and a blend of Moscatel graudo and Fernao Pires. Perfect easy drinking summer style. £6.50
Well blow me down, I was not expecting this Soave to taste like it did, partly because my expectation was not particularly high. I’ve tasted some very mediocre Soave in my time but this most certainly deserves a large round of applause. This is what soave should taste like, with a smooth lime zest citrusy flavour but I also picked up a light white floral hint too. This is great. Go and buy it !
This has a beautiful golden colour and has some lovely legs. It has quite the expression of flowers with stone fruits and white peach. It was somewhat unusual but I a good way and very ripe. Balanced with a medium finish , good value for money.
2017 Val de Loire Chardonnay Les Parcelles, Rethore Davy
A sure hit for the summer, this is a very ripe and juicy Chardonnay with banana, melon and pear . It reminded me of a ripe Touraine Sav Blanc but with less oomph. It has decent acidity and my only criticism is that it tasted slightly diluted. It doesn’t have any complexity to it but its great value for money and I’d buy it for the summer for sure.
£7.75
One of the highlights of the whites for sure. This wine looks like a fading sunset in a glass. It hits you hard on the nose with beautifully bruised red and green orchard apples and a hint of oak. Stunning wine with a zingy tang from the mouth watering acidity and toasty aftertones! Loved it.
A soft and delicate nose with fresh but ripe fruit. Extremely refreshing with a slight lycee hint, acacia honey and apple. Lovely and balanced, drinking beautifully. Lovely on its own or I think nice with Chicken salad or even risotto as the acidity is good enough to cut through a creamy dish.
(2016 Vintage)
Pale golden colour, fruity but understated. Had just a hint of Lime and orange zest with mainly honey and pear notes. This has real flavour to it but if I’m honest it didn’t light me alive the way some of the other wines did. This has more to do with my taste than anything wrong with the wine.
The oak instantly noticeable on the nose with this great example of a NZ Chardonnay. Very smooth on the palate with lemon and apple making this wine seem almost juicy. The fruit and acidity were very well balanced and it had that slight stoney minerality to the long finish. I could absolutely taste the alcohol in the back of mouth but this wine was a total winner!
I really liked this wine. It showed elegance with freshness of lemon heavy fruit and a chalky back palate kick. You can tell this is a cool climate wine as nothing is too ripe. Its extremely smooth with a long finish. This was gorgeous and one of my favourites .
2016 Concha y Toro Amelia Casablanca Chardonnay
WOW, this was great. Again an expression of a cool climate chardonnay. I found it less fruit forward and ore savoury which I liked about it. The nose had honey, slight oatmeal and a leesy aroma. It was dry with a savoury almost bayleaf tone on the long finish. A very interesting almost full bodied wine that was a pure pleasure to taste.
Creamy and crisp all at once, initial burst of tangerine, summer flowers,honey and beeswax, quite full flavoured and ripe fro a gruner
(2017 Vintage)
I was a little apprehensive about tasting this as some recent Rias Biaxas I’ve had didn’t rock my boat… HOWEVER… I was really pleasantly surprised by this! Thank god! The nose is as fresh as salt spraying on a seaside promenade with Lemon, peach, pear and bright acidity setting my mouth alive. Fabulous for the summer and worth the hefty price tag.
I’m feeling the pressure to upload @szaki1974… so I’ll post these and continue to finish the whites before writing up my reds