December Wine of the Month

There were a number of contenders for my favourite wine of the month and most were red wines this month. To become my wine of the month it normally has to be available in the UK and be below the fine wine type price tags – thus the superb Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 2004 Riesling from Majestic didn’t get a look in at over £25 a bottle and nor did any of the very nice Bordeaux and Burgundies which we had bought in France. Nor did the M&S Priorat get the chance as they don’t have any 2006, any more (but you might consider the 2007 Bellmunt which is only £60 for a case of 6).

Runner-up was a very nice but too alcoholic wine from Marks and Spencers. It was a Gerard Bertrand 2008 Domaine des Garennes Minervois La Liviniere. A lovely bend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan, but at 14.5% too powerful for me! So a much more reasonable 12.5% wine from the Northern Rhone – Les Hauts de Pavieres 2007 Crozes Hermitages got the vote instead. We got this in Waitrose in October and you may still find some on the shelves. If possible go for the 2007 rather than the 2008 and the former was such a good year in the Rhone. The wine is 100% Syrah (known as Shiraz elsewhere) and has that great Syrah pepperyness, is not too full bodied and has some blackberry fruit. It is a good food wine which would suit quite a variety of dishes. It is from the Cave de Tain, yet another good French cooperative wine – The wine is just under £10. For me so much better value than some of the big brand Shiraz from around the world

It was really good to find a good Southern French wine at under 13% alcohol.  With global warming etc it is a wine that bucks the trend towards increasingly alcoholic wines.

Buying and drinking fine wines

A colleague at work this month got bought a very expensive £85 bottle of Burgundy white wine (a Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru) this month for his birthday and didn’t enjoy it – he doesn’t enjoy classic oaked chardonnay although he loves Chablis which is another Burgundy white. Such a waste! It just shows that you need to develop some knowledge of wine before buying fine wines either for yourself or as a present and also know the taste of the person you are buying for. Joining a wine group like Tongham Tasters and coming along to other wine events such as our Tongham Village Hall wine tasting dinners will help you gradually develop that knowledge of both your taste and of wines.

Having bought a fine wine, one also needs to treat it with care and consideration when storing, serving and drinking it. On Christmas day I served a 2004 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Alsace Riesling white wine. This is a lovely wine but initially I served it too cold and it tasted very ordinary indeed. However, after an hour it gradually warmed up and tasted wonderful. So be very careful with wine temperatures and read your wine book for the ideal temperatures and invest in a wine bottle thermometer in order to serve correctly.

Good wine glasses also make a difference and I really love my Riedel glasses, even though they represent quite an investment and are only for when Jane and myself share a really good bottle of wine. Whatever, you do need glasses which are quite thin and a reasonable shape to enjoy good wine.

Also take care of your wines when storing as they should avoid extremes of heat and cold and also rapid temperature cycling. Thus a car garage or loft or by a radiator are not good places to keep wine even for a short time.

Finally, be careful when pouring the wine as a young wine might need aerating to get the best out of it and with an older wine might need decanting to avoid a mouthful of sediment.

To learn some of the rudiments do go to a really good website such as The Wine Doctor

Beer and Bruschetta

Everyone knows about my love of wine but my secret pleasure is watching Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me! It amazes me that some of these contestants exist and are willing to appear ridiculous on TV. The Edinburgh Come Dine with Me was rather a classic with a self styled cougar, a rock chic, an unfortunate young man constantly being harassed by the “cougar” , a Polish lady and an Italian food snob Toni. It was amusing to watch Toni criticise Michel for her rather un-Italian Tiramisu and then come up with a rather strange version of the Italian classic Bruschetta, himself . However, it did inspire me to cook a slightly more authentic Bruscetta this lunchtime (shame that I had no Italian bread) and as ever at lunchtime I went for a beer pairing rather than wine.

For this quick but delicious lunch I diced three medium tomatoes per person and added some salt and fresh herbs. I then toasted some bread and rubbed the bread with a garlic clove. The tomatoes were added to the bread and some olive oil (or in my case rapeseed oil) and good quality balsamic vinegar (but not too much) sprinkled on top.

The beer was another excellent bottle conditioned beer from the Hammerpot brewery which like the other I reviewed recently had a lovely historic motor racing themed label – this one was a 1952 Cooper-Bristol just like local hero Mike Hawthorn used to drive. The beer was Madgwick Gold, a lovely hoppy golden ale, quite light but the citrus undertones matched well with the tomatoes. In Tongham we are blessed with our own excellent brewery but it is always nice to try others as well such as this beautiful example from Sussex. We bought it in Secrett’s farmshop but it is available elsewhere – do try some.

Never watched Come Dine With Me, look it up on www.channel4.com/programmes/come-dine-with-me.  A guilty pleasure but fun!

SECOND TIME AROUND

Ever had a wine that you thought was great and second time around it tasted poor? Or maybe vice versa, you bought two bottles of the same wine and on the first tasting it was rather ordinary and then months later the second bottle seemed great? This week I have had two examples of the latter.


The first was a 2008 Argentinian Shiraz from Waitrose that I bought 3 bottles of when it was on special offer back in October. It seemed quite interesting on the label as this Finca Flichman Gestos Shiraz was made 50% of shiraz from 1,100 metres altitude and 50% shiraz from 700 metres. However, the first tasting in late October was a great disappointment – maybe the label had made my expectations too high even for a £7 Mendoza shiraz! So the other night when Jane made an excellent balti chicken curry and I added a balti vegetable curry as the side dish, I thought we wouldn’t be wasting a good bottle of wine on the curry by opening the Gestos. What a surprise, this time the Argentinian Shiraz was excellent in every way – both tasted before the curry and with the curry. A definite 15 or 16 point out of 20 wine. So one, that at last, I can recommend and a wine that stands up to a curry really well – the curry possibly even enhanced it. Perhaps, I’ll try the third bottle out on the Tongham Tasters.

The second example was a 2006 Bellmunt Priorat from Marks and Spencers. Last December I had not long been back from a business trip to the states and on that trip had been delayed in Philadelphia Airport and resorted to the excellent Vino Volo wine bar and tried one of their tasting flights including an excellent example of a Spanish Priorat red. Well when shopping in Guildford last Christmas I had been in M&S and seen that they sold a reasonably priced Priorat – and once again bought a few bottles on impulse. Back home that weekend Jane again cooked a nice dinner so I thought the Priorat would be a good accompaniment – my expectations were high after the Vino Volo example. Unfortunately, I was disappointed and didn’t think the M&S Bellmunt Priorat was good at all. So this weekend when we were having some rather unpromising turkey and stuffing leftovers, cooked with fondant potatoes by yours truly and served with a cranberry and red wine jus, I decided to try the Bellmunt again. Well yet again with low expectations, the wine proved to be a real surprise and quite excited me. I am now really looking forward to the Priorat we have chosen for the next Tongham Village Hall wine tasting dinner.

So what is going on here! As I said in one of my recent posts, wine tasting is an adventure and you never know what is going to come out of the bottle. Wine changes over time, tasting depends on the room temperature and humidity, what you have tasted before, what you are tasting it with and even on your mood. Sometimes wines like people need a second chance!

Report on December Get-Together

For our December 2010 event the wines were chosen by Sheila and she took much care presenting them in the perfect flight order. Her wine choices were influenced by the time she has spent in the USA where she had first tasted Gewürztraminer and gained a love for Zinfandel. The wines were all from Sainsburys and most had been purchased when at a discount which allowed us another very reasonably priced evening of under £7 including food. Sheila’s wines consisted of a number of Sainsbury’s excellent Taste the Difference range plus some big brand names; proving once again that we are not wine snobs at Tongham Tasters. John tried to be seasonal with the food and served some turkey and chestnut soup, some Marks and Spencer’s party food and the usual raw carrot and cucumber palate cleansers. Jane also made some lovely home made oatmeal bread. The Pork Belly Squares from M&S were very good – recommended. This month we welcomed John S for the first time, who joined our usual hardcore winos for an excellent evening.


As usual we tasted everything blind so we would not be influenced by knowing what the wine was. This induced the usual fun guess the grape variety game and this time we did quite well. Scores below are quoted for each wine in the order – John E, Ian, Steve, John S, Clive, Sheila & then Jane.

1. St Hallett Barossa 2008 Gamekeeper’s Reserve Australia - £8.49 but £6.37 after discount.

Four of our tasting team had this as their top wine of the evening and two of the remaining three had it as their runner-up. It was the last wine of the evening and shone like a star for some of us after the two big brands that preceded it. This is definitely a wine worth picking up when the supermarkets are having their 25% off deals. John reckoned it was the best red we had tasted in the last 3 months and enjoyed its petrol nose (trust an Alfa Romeo driver to want a wine to smell of petrol!). This by the way is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Touriga – some of us guessed the first two parts of the blend but didn’t get the hints of the Portuguese grape variety. Scores on the doors were 16, 16.5,17,18,15,18,17 with not everyone giving their gold, silver and bonze medals using th same criteria.

2. Conegliano Prosecco Superiore Brut 2009 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Italy - £9.99 but £6.99 after discount.
Sheila thought we ought to have a sparkling wine as it was approaching Christmas – and we all thought she had chosen well. Two of the team had it as their wine of the evening and a further four in their top three. It had lovely gentle small bubbles and was very dry but floral. Impressions ranged from Ian’s lemon and sherbet to Clive’s clotted cream, and Jane’s elderflower. A very nice bottle of under £10 bubbly. Scores out of 20 were 14.5, 11.5,15+,16, 13.5, 19, 14.

3. Alsace Gewürztraminer 2008 Cave de Turckheim Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference France - £6.99
This was Jane’s favourite wine of the evening and another four of us had it in their top three. It proved to be a fantastic food wine and went excellently both with the turkey and chestnut Soup and the belly pork. Ian identified this as a gewürztraminer straight away and described it as tasting of light marmalade. The two Johns thought the aroma was either of tropical fruits or of their wife’s perfume. For Clive it grew on him after a while and he nearly finished off the bottle! A good budget choice to have with your turkey at Christmas, this comes from a good Alsace cooperative. Scores were 12, 15.5, 15-, 15, 12.5, 19, 18.

4. Turning Leaf Zinfandel California 2009 USA- £7.24 but £5.43 after discount.
Four of the group had this as their bronze medal winner. For John it was too sweet but others enjoyed its spicy Christmas pudding or cherry bubblegum taste. Zinfandel is not a grape we drink a lot of in the UK so it was an interesting choice for the group to try whilst Sheila’s USA recollections prompted a whole host of alligator and crocodile stories and then we went on to hippopotami! Scores were 11.5, 14.5, 13.5, 13+, 16, 14, 20, 11.

5. Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz 2007 Australia - £8.99 but £6.74 after discount.
This well known brand didn’t do very well despite being one of the evening’s more expensive wines. Although, obviously Shiraz it was rather too bland for most of us men. Interestingly it proved to be a wine that appealed more to the women. Scores were 10, 11, 13-, 15, 11, 18, 18.

6. Cotes de Provence Rosé 2009 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference France - £6.00 but £4.50 after discount.
This was a very dry rosé but it lacked the wow factor to get into anyone’s top three. Clive thought this was another wine that smelt of bubblegum. It was the cheapest wine of the evening and if you like a dry innocuous rose it could be for you. Scores were 10, 10, 12, 14, 14, 17, 11.5.



Gradually the evening became a blur!

 Interestingly enough, we have had a rosé, a white and now a red become our wine of the evening. We have also proved that our favourite wines are not necessarily the most expensive. Nobody has yet produced six wines that were high-scoring – this is a difficult challenge to buy 6 good wines for £50 and make sure that they don’t clash and then serve them in the right order – but all of our 3 challengers in 2010 have given us an enjoyable evening. So far our female participants have been keen to show their bargain hunting expertise whilst Ian spent right up to the limit – will this be another trend as we go into 2011?

Our next monthly tasting is being hosted by Steve and Hazel on January 13th. The February tasting, where Clive will be buying the wines, has had its date moved to February 17th. Steve has agreed to choose the wines for our March 10th event. We look forward to all of these evenings and as usual you will be made most welcome if you want to join us – just email us at Tonghamtaster@gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone for bringing their own glasses. If you are thinking of coming but are put off by the idea of buying 6 wines glasses, note that ASDA are currently doing 6 reasonable wine glasses for £3 and Wilkinsons do glasses at about 22 pence each. Apparently Steve reckons the very best deal around is 20 pence but I’ve forgotten where that was.

John’s recipe for Turkey and Chestnut Soup

I was up at 6.30am this morning making soup for tonight’s Tongham Tasters event. The idea was to create something seasonal and as I had some turkey stock left over in the freezer from Thanksgiving and fancied a chestnut soup, came up with the following recipe. Although, I have tried foraging for chestnuts in the past, it was not very successful, so I used a packet version from the supermarket.


Anyone for a cup of soup?


I peeled a carrot, an onion, a potato and 2 cloves of garlic and put them in the Thermomix with a stick of celery and chopped. I then added a 200g pack of Merchant Gourmet whole chestnuts, some left-over pancetta pieces and some olive oil. All of this was then sautéed in the Thermomix for about 4 minutes before adding 1 pint of turkey stock, 1 pint of water and some seasoning (salt, pepper and herbs de provence). It was then cooked in the Thermomix for 30 minutes before blitzing for 1 minute. Et voila – a taste of Christmas ready to be served tonight (and whilst all of this was going on I made myself and Jane a cup of tea, drank it and had a shower and wrote this blog!). Thank you Thermomix! For more about Thermomix go to Jane’s blog site    http://www.whyisthereair.com/    …. See you tonight!

I wonder which wine would go with this best - I'll let you know after tonight.

Helpful Staff at Supermarkets

One of the reasons that I normally prefer buying wine at wine shops rather than supermarkets is that the staff are normally more helpful and knowledgeable.  However, there are some exceptions.  Staff at Waitrose are a cut above the rest and with their wine selection it is quite a joy to shop there.  However, it does not surprise me that Marks and Spencers are often Wine Supermarket of the year and Margeret at Marks and Spencers, The Meadows Sandhurst makes it a real joy to shop there.  We were there today to take advantage of their 25% off offer and as usual Margeret was her usual helpful and cheerful self and had some great recommendations.  Thanks Margeret!  We'll be back.

Date for your diary

Last October's Champagne Tasting Dinner in Tongham Village Hall

Our next Tongham Village Hall Wine tasting dinner is going to be on Saturday February 12th, 2011.  The theme is going to be the wines of Spain and Tapas style food.  Wines will include everthing from Albarino (one of Spain's best whites from Galicia) to Priorat (the most happening red wine region in Spain) and we'll be throwing in some special Sherries as well.  I'm afraid you can't book yet but do mark the date in your diary.   Why not subscribe to this blog if you want to make sure you know when we are taking bookings - all of our recent wine tasting dinners have been sell-outs.

Languedoc-Roussillon

Where it is on a wine map of France

For those seeking good value French red wines, the Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the regions to look out for, although the really good wines can still set you back €20 or £20 in the UK; however, this price is still much less than a well known Bordeaux or Burgundy and there is real value to be had in the under €10/£10 category whether from good brands such as Gerard Bertrand (always reliable) or the small growers. When I first started drinking wine, the wines of this region were known for being cheap plonk and I used to avoid Minervois and Corbieres, whereas now I seek it out; the region has reduced production and increased quality. In our Tongham Village Hall wine tastings it was the first region we did, although we didn’t entirely do it justice as we mixed in with the Sud-Ouest. I was reminded of our holiday when drinking a really nice bottle of Faugeres (Domaine Thibault 2007 Cuvee Jaqueline Javy) last night, hence today’s blog. We were lucky enough to take a holiday in the region during April 2009. We were staying at Steve and Yvonne’s place near Beziers and their directions were “drive out of Beziers and turn right at the prostitute”. Unfortunately, she must have been attending to a client as we drove past, so we got lost! The holiday, luckily took an uphill climb after that and we sampled some lovely wines from the region and really enjoyed the food and countryside. The spectacular nature and greenness of the countryside were a surprise and if you’ve not been here is a taster...

Amongst my favourite appellations are Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape and Minervois la Liviniere. Whilst in the Languedoc the best wine maker we visited was Chateau Mire L'Etang in La Clape - their top of the range red at about €17 was really excellent.  Well worth a visit.   As mentioned in other posts the cooperative at Roquebrun (St Chinian) is normally great value.  Although we didn't get there, the wine of Les Trois Tomates (the three tomatoes) is a great recommendation from Steve. The Cote Sud restaurant in Beziers is very good and another must to try.  If you are a fan of oysters go to Bouzigues.

The Perfect Flight



A flight of ice wines?



A selection of wines presented, like at Tongham Tasters’ get-togethers, for the purpose of sampling and comparison, is often called a flight of wines or a tasting flight. No one knows for sure why it is called a flight of wines but apparently it first appeared in print in 1978. Most dictionaries refer to the fact that groups of things are often called flights, examples being birds, aircraft or stairs. Interestingly enough all of these examples ascend, and this is the purpose of a perfectly arranged flight of wines as well. One should start with the younger wines and progress to older wines, or start with the lighter wines and move onto the fuller bodied wines, or start with the lesser wines and ascend to the finer wines. In the simplest example you would start with the whites, perhaps have a rose and then taste the reds. All very progressive and with the good reason that your taste buds will prefer it this way.



One of the fun things about being a member of a wine circle is trying to construct your perfect flight of wines. At Tongham Tasters we allow you to choose 6 wines for a cost of £50. Want to take up the challenge?

7 Good Reasons To Drink Wine

Why do so many of us enjoy wine more than other drinks?

1. First is has alcohol in it and thus has all of the drug like effects needed to cope with life!  But then this is true of beer, cider and spirits as well.
2. Wine goes particularly well with food. Thus many foodies love wine and conversely you won’t find many people who are indifferent to food who love wine.

Fun with food and wine


3. Because a bottle is rather too much for one person to drink and doesn’t keep well once opened, it is a natural drink for sharing. It is a social drink.
4. Opening a bottle of wine is a taste adventure; you never know what it is going to be like until you taste it and perceptions change as the tasting experience continues.
5. To really appreciate wine takes effort, and to learn more about the subject takes even more effort, and most of us are happier when concentrating on something.
6. Some of us like to believe the doctors and scientists who promote the health giving qualities of wine.
7. Some of us like to believe that wine drinking is sophisticated and refined. It is a drink tor those with aspirations.  It seems also be a drink favoured by women.

Invitation to the December Tongham Tasters’ Get-together

Only just over a week to go before another Tongham Tasters’ Get-together. As usual we will be tasting six interesting wines brought along by one of our circle – this month they will be the choice of Sheila. So make sure you have Thursday December 9th at 8.00pm in your diary. We will be serving the usual palate cleansing foods plus a seasonal Chestnut soup to help warm you against the cold.

It really helps if you can drop us an email as soon as possible to let John know you are coming. Usual email address – tonghamtaster@gmail.com. If you prefer the phone, ring John on 07717 876743.

We always welcome new people coming along to our get-togethers. No knowledge of wine is required, just an enthusiasm to try different wines and join in the fun of our monthly gatherings. So whether you know us or just happened upon the website, and fancy coming along, contact us to reserve your place. Spaces are limited to 14 as we hold our get-togethers in our homes.

All of our meetings are held in Tongham near Farnham in Surrey, UK. We share the costs of the wine and food between all the attendees, and this is set at a maximum of £10 per person.

John’s November 2010 Wine of the Month



Great Riesling with Thai Hot & Sour Soup

 It was touch and go until the last few days which wine I would be recommending you this month; we had some nice wines introduced to us by Ian at our November tasting, then later in the month I got to taste some excellent classic French reds, but in the end they were pipped at the post by an old favourite of mine – Philippe Zincks Grand Cru Eichberg Alsace Riesling 2008 from Majestic. This is a very classy, very dry, nice bodied and very citrussy Riesling and, I have to say, very much to my taste. Some of you will have tasted the 2007 at our Alsace wine tasting dinner in Tongham Village hall and I seem to remember we served the 2006 at a tasting at Farnborough Hill School some years ago. It seems to be a classic each year. This wine can be obtained at Majestic Wine (there is a branch in Farnham with very helpful and knowledgeable staff) for £12.99 or £11.99 if you buy at least 2 bottles of it.



Remember to get wines for those seasonal winter ingredients

 As we are coming into December I think it would be an excellent pairing for some of this month’s seasonal ingredients such as Oysters, Mussels, Clams, Scallops,Sea Bass or Smoked Salmon. For more information on seasonal ingredients go to this excellent website  http://www.britishlarder.co.uk/recipe/winter-seasonal-british-ingredients-and-produce  Perhaps, this wine would even go with sprouts! 

Not a cheap wine this month but I’d rather have one bottle of this than 2 or 3 bottles of plonk. I once went to a talk, many moons ago, by Oz Clark and I remember him saying … if II could leave you with one message tonight it would be drink less but better quality wines. Great advice! And by the way this Riesling (the 2007 version) was one of Oz’s top ten wines in his book last year and the 2008 is at least as good. I scored this wine 16.5/20.