All things going as plan, we are planning on getting married in July, our third date so fingers crossed!
To make choosing some of the wedding wine fun under the circumstances we’re having some friends and family round in May and will be asking them to blind test some white wine with the winner being the one we serve. The wine is being purchased from the Society.
I’m just putting together the order now but interested in any suggestions people have. Budget is under £10, obviously we are hoping for a warm sunny day in July and the food we are serving is Beef as the main and a light starter although the wine will also be available before and after dinner. Fish and Chips will be the evening snack. The red we’ve chosen is Xinomavro Jeunes Vignes, Thymiopoulos 2018, the sparkling for the reception will be a Cremant and we’ve chosen a local Sussex sparkler for the toasts.
Given the time of year and food, we’re guessing that white wine might be the choice for people throughout the day so it has to stand up to drinking without food.
Interested to see what people suggest, if it goes in the order I’ll provide whatever feedback we get from the blind tasting post May.
Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine sur Lie, Château L’Oiselinière de la Ramée, Chéreau-Carré 2018 - great with the fish and chips but drinks equally well without food.
Ribolla Gialla, Friuli, Puiatti 2019 - again, great with or without food.
Familie Mantler Grüner Veltliner, Niederösterreich 2020 - citrus and peach. Great all rounder.
I’d recommend The Society’s Muscadet 2019 - delicious with or without food, drinkable and great value at £8.50. We had a previous vintage at our wedding in the summer of 2014 and it went down very well with everyone.
Me - I’d also go for the Muscadet. BUT it’s not my wedding - and some folk find Muscadet a bit harsh. Inbar’s suggestion of TWS Vin d’Alsace is a good one, easy for drinking without food.
Or maybe a Chardonnay with a touch of oak?
This Greek white is surprisingly good and well 5* reviewed by TWS members, not at all what one might expect from Greek holidays (remember them?)
Some great suggestions so far, I’d throw in this as an addition. I haven’t had the 2020 but the 2019 was great and really amazing value for money. Not so ‘interesting’ that it will scare away any timid drinkers, but also far from dull/generic.
I’ve too new to TWS to come up with a specific recommendation from the range but having just sipped my way through a budget Alsatian Pinot Blanc from another supplier over the weekend I did reflect what good value it was, and that it would be perfect for entertaining in circumstances where the wine wasn’t going to be the main focus. Versatile when it comes to matching food and equally enjoyable on its own. Refreshing without getting tiring; you can easily switch between a reflective sip and one that is “just a good slurp of white wine”. From the TWS reviews this sounds similar as the stand out word seems to be ‘enjoyable’ but others will have speak to specifics: The Wine Society | Free UK Delivery
I’ll second this. Our choice for our wedding in 2016. Very well received by all and versatile over dinner as well as straight from the ice-bucket under a hot sun!
Good suggestions so far, trying to keep the blind tasting to a manageable number will be challenging! Have added quite a few suggested to my basket so far.
If I was to decide between these two, would people err on the side of the Ribolla?
Additionally in my basket so far which haven’t been mentioned are:
Anyone had the Sauvignon, that could be a good one for the chop. Be nice to have a English to taste and we got engaged in South Africa so would like an SA wine in the mix too.
11 wines currently in the basket, what do people think is manageable for a tasting? 6-8 bottles?
Given the frequency of wines selling out recently you might be advised to check on the availability before choosing something that is not available or in very short supply. Deliveries seem to be a bit out of whack lately (???). This might continue for a while.
Yes, good advice. Will check on stock on all the wines before placing the final order. Hopefully a lot of the whites are relatively new so should, touch wood, last for a few more months.
I’d echo the votes for Muscadet. Amongst a load of other wines we served magnums of 2012 Chereau-Carre Cuvee des Ceps Centenaires at ours and they went down well. As I recall they were 20 quid each from TWS! The other thing I did was to tap up a Virgin Wines new customer deal which allowed us to bring in Niepoort’s Drink Me Branco at around the same. Obviously only works if you are a new customer but if you aren’t, how about asking around family/friends…?
Ah what a shame your budget is £10 as it would be a great opportunity to “fool” people into placing a wine somewhere exotic when it was actually English.
I guess the Stopham Pinot Gris 2018 for 14.95, which is fantastic by the way, is way over-budget but what about Tesco Finest English White for £11 ? It’s pretty decent and certainly an easy-drinking, but dry, crowd pleaser. Made by Hush Heath and is a blend of all viniferas - Bacchus, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay. Plus a civilised 11.5% abv
We do want an English wine in the mix, hence the Society English White. It is just easier buying from the Society - buy the stock, put it in reserves and have it delivered direct to venue. Saves faffing about clearing the shelves from Tesco etc.
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