An Alpine Christmas Party in Tongham

Savoie Wine label

Following a recent knee operation and not having drunk any wine for three weeks, I was badly in need of some Christmas cheer at our December Tongham Taster's Christmas party.   Finding dates that suited everybody proved impossible and thus we ended up having just seven along to our vaguely Alpine themed Christmas festivities.   However, it proved a good number for another really enjoyable evening (we caught up with a few more of our regulars the following week when we had a Jura wine and food tasting evening).

Our Almond Tart complete with TT logo

Four of the wines were from the Savoie region of France as was the main dish - a raclette, where you melt slices of cheese from the region over potatoes and charcuterie.   We also served three other wines including a rather more expensive wine than normal which was my Christmas present to the group.   The evening finished up with a mulled wine competition and a Santiago Almond Tart with Membrillo (we used Jane's homemade Quince jam) which Jane and myself made from Rick Stein's new book on Spain.

As usual we list below the wines we had in descending order of preference along with our comments and scores out of twenty.  Scores are shown in the order John E, Jane, Ian, Kathryn, Clive, Sarah, and Sheila.

1. La Rioja Alta, Vina Ardanza, Reserva Especial, Spanish Red 2001, 13.5%, Noel Young Wines £24.
Before the evening began I was wondering if this stunning wine would be appreciated but its quality shone through and it was easily the top wine of the evening and possibly the best in all fifteen TT evenings we have had so far.  Having said that it was also the first wine we have had costing over £20. Scores were 20-, 20, 16.5, 16, 20, 18, and 13.  All seven of us voted this the top wine of the evening, making it the first clean sweep we have had so far.   Comments were Wow!, smooth and silky, chocolatey - I really like it, very approachable, love it!, cedary nose.  Nobody guessed that it was a Rioja.  We can definitely recommend this as a special occasion wine and I think it is actually good value bearing in mind the quality.

2. Lingot Martin,  Bugey Cerdon, Methode Ancestrale, French Rose Sparkling NV, 8%, purchased in France.
The next three wines were very, very close in term of rankings. However, this wine got three votes as the second best wine of the evening.  This demi-sec sparkling rose was not loved by all and it would be probably best served with dessert rather than the pistachio nights we served it with on the night.  The wine is made from Gamay and Poulsard grapes and is low in alcohol.   Probably difficult to find in the UK but look it out for it if in the region or a French supermarket.  Scores were 12, 14, 9.5, 13, 16, 13 and 10.5.  Comments were Quite sweet but nice, tastes like strawberry's and cream, too sweet.

3.  Savigny Les Beaune, Premier  Cru Les Labieres, Vincent Sauvestre, Burgundy Red 2006, 13%, purchased in France.
This red burgundy Pinot Noir  that had been aged in oak for fifteen months was very pleasant but struggled in comparison with the Rioja and probably was not a great match for the food.  Scores were 15, 10, 12, 13, 19, 11, and 9.  Probably a little light for some and some found it slightly metallic.

4.  Les Hauts de Pavieres, Crozes Hermitages, Cave de Tain, Northern Rhone Red 2007, 12.5%, Waitrose, £10.
This co-operative produced Syrah also did well in terms of the voting.  One third of it had been oaked for 15 months.   Scores were 15.5, 17, 9, 12, 18, 12 and 10.   Not one of the best Crozes Hermitage from this very good year but still worth a try.  Some commented that it showed a slight sweetness.

5.  Prestige des Rocailles, Apremont, Pierre Boniface, French White 2007, 11.5%, purchased in the Savoie region,
I probably made a mistake with the whites in not serving them cold enough as the next day I tasted them again after 24 hours in the fridge and they showed more character.   This was one of the local Savoie whites that are often served with raclette.  Scores were 12.5, 12, 11.5, 9, 18, 11 and 10.5.  Comments included - a nutty taste, rather lemony.

6.  Cuvee Reserve, Adrien Vacher, Rousette de Savioe, French White 2009, 12%, Auchan €4.48.
This wen suffered from being served slightly too warm and immediately after the slightly sweet rose.  Thus it was voted by all seven of us as the worst wine of the evening.  Funnily enough it tasted great next day!   Scores were 11, 10, 8.5, 6, 14, 8, and 6.  Comments included - not a lot of taste there!

Raclette

Three of our regulars volunteered to enter a competition to see who could make the best homemade mulled wine.   Ian came up with a recipe that had been passed down the family over the years and contained Cabernet Sauvignon, Cointreau and other secret ingredients.  It certainly had the potential to be excellent but had perhaps been over sweetened on the night.  Clive used a BBC recipe on the web that included wine, sloe gin, cinnamon, satsuma and lemons.  It was very good, spicy and warming.     Jane used the cheapest possible wine she could find and a recipe from the Thermomix cookbook.  Probably the cheap wine let her down slightly and did not have enough body or sweetness but still had a lovely spiciness.   In the end we called it a draw!  

So ends 2011 and we look forward to some more Tongham wine tasting evenings in the New Year.  First event will actually be in Farnborough where John S will be introducing us to some New World wines for the New Year on Thursday January 12th.   Steve S will be hosting our February event,  Jane our March event and Clive our April event - all in Tongham itself.   Some great evenings to look forward to as we enter 2012.   Do feel to join us for any of these evenings if you live locally and fancy a sociable evening chatting and drinking wine. Click on Wine Circle at the top of this blog for more details.

Thanks again to Clive for some of the photos accompanying this blog.

Kiwi Kapers

John & Jane introduce the evening

On Saturday 19th November we had our tenth wine tasting in Tongham Village Hall and for the first time indulged in some New World Wines - the wines of New Zealand.  We had our biggest attendance to date and Jane cooked eight courses for over sixty people!   The fund raising element was also successful and we raised over £1,000 for the maintenance of the Hall.   Below is a report on the evening and some food and wine facts about New Zealand produce. 

NEW ZEALAND FOOD AND WINE FACTS

The Maori, New Zealand’s indigenous people, originally came from Polynesia from where they brought with them the kumara sweet potato. Traditional Maori cooking is done on hot stones in an earth oven known as a hangi. Apart from Maori influences, New Zealand cooking has developed alongside Australian cooking and has strong British, Mediterranean and Pacific Rim elements.

Classics of New Zealand cuisine include;

Jane's Kiwi Pavlovas

Pavlova – A meringue dessert that was created in honour of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in about 1926. Both Australia and New Zealand claim they invented it first.

Anzac Biscuits – Oat biscuits created during World War 1 to send to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers fighting on the front line.
Lamington, Leamington or Lemmington cakes – These sponges covered in desiccated coconut are a common cake in Australasia. The raspberry ones are more common in New Zealand.

Raspberry Lemmington Cakes

Meat Pies and Sausage Rolls – Both of these British classics are popular in Australasia and are often served with tomato ketchup.

Lamb – There are more sheep than people in New Zealand and although much lamb is exported it is still a favourite ingredient.

Green-Lipped Mussels – New Zealand is an Island and thus seafood is bound to play a part in its cuisine. The big mussels are good on their own or in curries or soups. Other seafood such as prawns, scallops and oysters also find their way into New Zealand cooking.

Kiwifruit - Originally known as the Chinese gooseberry, the Kiwifruit plays a part in New Zealand cuisine as it is so widely grown there.

Fusion cooking – This is a style of cooking that combines different culinary traditions. In New Zealand this often combines European and Asian elements.

New Zealand has been making wine since the middle of the nineteenth century but did not really become one of the world’s important wine regions until the 1980s. Amazingly Sauvignon Blanc was only planted commercially in New Zealand in the early 1970s. New Zealand wine comes from about ten designated regions some on the warmer North Island and some on the cooler South Island.

The South Island includes Marlborough which is New Zealand’s largest wine district. This is where much of the NZ Sauvignon Blanc comes from but they also grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. South of Marlborough is Canterbury where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay dominate. Even further south is the Central Otago region where Pinot Noir is the rising star. The other main region of the South is Nelson where smaller artisanal growers are more likely to be found.

The North Island’s biggest and best known region is Hawkes Bay where you will find Chardonnay and loads of different red grapes – many of the best NZ reds apart from Pinot Noir come from this region. At the southern tip of the North Island are the Wellington regions of Martinborough and Wairapara – these are other good regions for Pinot Noir. Other regions on the North Island include Gisborne, Auckland, Northland and the lesser known Waiheke Island where the small producers dominate.

New Zealand wines are never the cheapest wines in the supermarket but they do offer very reliable quality and some superb examples of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and increasingly other varietals.

NEW ZEALAND WINE TASTING DINNER MENU

Pelorus with Salmon Blinis

1. Cloudy Bay Pelorus Brut NV
New Zealand Chardonnay Blend Sparkling White Wine made using the traditional champagne method (Majestic and Waitrose £16 to £19))
Served with Smoked Salmon Paté on homemade Blinis
This is one of NZs best sparkling wines made by a winery owned by Veuve Cliquot. It has creamy, yeasty, apple and hazelnut flavours.  A great way to start off any special evening.  Buy some for Christmas.

2. The Ned Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Marlborough
New Zealand white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes near the Waihopai River (Majestic and Watirose £7 to £10)
Served with Beetroot and Goats Cheese Verrine
This is my favorite NZ Sauvignon Blanc as it doesn't have just the classic New World fruitiness but a good minerality as well.

Jane prepares the salad

3. Lone Range Heretaunga Chardonnay 2009 Hawkes Bay
New Zealand oaked white wine made on the North Island with Chardonnay grapes (Marks & Spencer £10 to £11)
Served with Prawn, Avocado and Mango Salad
NZ doesn't just make Sauvignon Blanc whites and here is a fine example of a Burgundy style Chardonnay with citrus, peach and apple flavours.  Beautiful as long as you don't mind the oakiness.  I loved it.

4. Clocktower Pinot Noir 2009 Marlborough
New Zealand red wine made with Pinot Noir grapes (Marks & Spencer £10 to £12)
Served with Johnny's Fusion Sausage Roll served with Jane's Homemade Tomato Ketchup
Pinot Noir was the first red grape that really made it big in New Zealand and this one has a fruity acidity to offset the typical fattiness of a sausage roll.

Jane's Tongham ketchup

5. Wild Rock Gravel Pit Red 2009 Hawkes Bay
New Zealand red wine made with Merlot and Malbec grapes (Waitrose £10 to £11)
Served with Lamb and Kumara Hot Pot
This shows that the North Island can make great reds using grapes other than Pinot Noir. Its big dark fruits and spicy flavours should stand up well to a hearty stew.

6. Man O'War Syrah 2008 Waiheke Island
New Zealand North Island red wine made with Syrah Grapes (Noel Young Wines, Harvey Nichols £17 - £18)
Served with a Cheese Board (Cheddar, Gouda and Manchego)
This is a seriously good red wine even if it doesn't have the classic New World syrah/shiraz flavours and enhanced our classic cheese board.  The white pepper complexity of this wine makes it a exceptional tasting experience.  A wine also great for drinking on on its own.  Do try this one.   Here is a link to Noel Young wines.

A lovely first course

7. The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Marlborough
A late harvest New Zealand sweet dessert white wine made with Sauvignon Blanc grapes (Majestic £9 to £13 a half bottle)
Served with Kiwi Fruit Pavlova
Dessert wines from New Zealand have only recently started to be imported into the UK. We are serving ours with a classic NZ dessert.  Pleasant and worth a try but too one dimensional to beat a classic dessert wine.

Fusion Sausage Roll

8. Coffee served with Raspberry Lemmington Cakes

Thanks to everyone who turned up and made this a special evening.  Special thanks to Jane whose cooking makes these evenings a culinary experience and also to Christine, Bob and others who also put in much hard work.  Finally, thanks to Clive for some of the pictures that accompany this post.
 
Coming soon - my recipe for the sausage rolls!

For other recipes from this evening, visit Jane's blog Why is there Air.

Its all Greek to me!

For our November 2011 Tongham Tasters evening we were back in home territory following our October trip to Farnborough. It proved to be another fun evening of good wine, food,conversation and laughter.  Our host was Sheila. She had gathered together six wines and some food from Waitrose. What would our six intrepid tasters think of them? Find out below with scores out of twenty in the order John E, Sheila, John S, Steve S, Jane and Ian. As usual the wines are presented in descending order of preference. All were tasted blind so that we could test our lack of wine tasting skills and score them without prejudice.

1.. Organiki Tsantali Cabernet Sauvignon Private Collection 2006, Greek Red, Waitrose £8.99. 14.5%

Two Thirds of our tasting team had this as their top wine of the evening and everyone had in their top three wines. It was a very smooth tasting wine with some raspberry, tobacco and herbal flavours. Ian wondered if it was from Portugal and John E wondered if it was an Argentian Malbec. Jane complained that she couldn’t taste the sunshine! John S spotted that it was a Cabernet Sauvignon but nobody guessed it was from Greece. Scores were 13, 13, 17, 15, 17, and 16. This was a Greek red that we can definitely recommend for slightly under £9.

2. San Leo Vino Spumante Prosecco Aromatico Brut NV, Italian Sparekling White, Waitrose £8.99. 11%.
The other third of our tasting team voted this sparkling wine their top wine. Only John E didn’t really rate it at all, and he was also the only one to identify it as a Prosecco. It has a nice bouquet and Ian thought it had lots of umph! Quite a few thought it was chardonnay but they were wrong. Scores were 10.5, 16.5, 13, 13, 18 and 14. Most of the team rated this a good sub £9 sparkler.

3. Neethlingshof Estate 2011 Stellenbosch Gewurtztraminer South African White, Waitrose £6.99. 13%.
Both Jane and Ian wondered if this from the Alsace. Others wondered if it was an Italian Pinot Grigio. With a slightly smoky taste, it was in fact a pleasant South African Gewurtztraminer from this year’s vintage. Everyone had it in there top four wines and the scores were 12, 16, 12, 12.5, 14, and13. Another good buy white wine at this price.

4. Waitrose Seriously Plummy Grande Reserve Maury, French Dessert wine, £9.99 for 37.5ml, 16%.
With some wondering if it was Spanish or Californian, John E confidently said it was French and a 100% Grenache Vin Doux; for once he was right! Steve S said he thought it was well made. What was absolutely certain was that it went perfectly with chocolate; Sheila thoughtfully providing us with some 85% cocoa chocolate pieces. Scores were 11, 12, 12, 10.75, 15 and 15. This sweet red wine is an absolute must for chocoholics.

5. Champteloup Selection Rosé d’Anjou, 2010, French rosé wine, Waitrose £6.99. 11%.
John E confidently announced this wine was a white wine, somehow totally ignoring the cough mixture colour! Sheila though it had not a lot of flavour, John S thought it floral and Ian described it as rose hip syrup. Not a popular wine with no top four votes, the scores were 10, 10, 9, 6, 8 and 11. Probably one for those who don’t really like wine!

6. Chateau Musar 2004 Gaston Hochar, Lebanese Red wine, Waitrose £18.99,
Although there was some taste of blackcurrants there was also an unpleasant taste of glue in this light coloured red wine. Nobody really liked it and when we unveiled what it was we found out it was a similar wine to the Lebanese wine that bombed at our tasting a few months ago. Scores were 8.5, 8, 8, 8.75, 12 and 8. I wonder if it tastes better and you decant as they instruct on the bottle. At this price we wouldn’t bother trying.

Thanks to Sheila for selecting these interesting wines. I particularly appreciated the Greek red and the Maury. With the wines Sheila served some cheese, Polish sausage, bread crackers and a selection of dips. Her conservatory proved another great location for one of our tasting sessions.

Next month is our Christmas party on Thursday December 15th in Grange Road Tongham. Three of our group will be competing to find out who can produce the best mulled wine. We will also be having a raclette cheese dish served with some Savoie and other French wines. If you want to join in the fun, click on Wine Circle at the top of this blog. Cost will be slightly more than the normal £10 for our December evening but everyone is welcome if they have an interest in wine, food and socialising.  Before this we have our New Zealand wine tasting dinner in Tongham Village Hall for which we have already sold out our 57 tickets.  See you there!

The Joy of Ceps

et voila un risotto aux ceps dans leThermomix

For the first get-together of our second year of Tongham Tasters we were back in Farnborough and the highlight of the night was to be some home cooked foraged ceps in butter. We were also going to have a risotto of ceps and Jane brought along a beautiful Alsation tarte a l’oignon. Finishing off the evening was some interesting mature goat’s gouda. Definitely a night for us foodies and knowing Ian, we would be treated to some interesting wines as well. In fact he introduced us to three wines from The Wine Society and three wines fom Majestic, which represented some favourite wines that would match the food for the evening.To see which wines we preferred read on. As usual we present them in descending order of preference and with the scores out of twenty in the order John E, Clive, Ian, Steve S, John S and Jill. Jane and Kathryn also joined in our evening but didn’t score the wines.  Ian overspent a little on the wine and food but a great evening at £10 each for us all.

1. The Society’s Exhibition Chianti Classico 2007, Italian Red 13.5%, Wine Society £11.95
Five of our seven judges voted this their top wine of the evening. It had a strange initial nose of cheese or woollen carpet but this chunky spicy tannic wine with dark berry fruit and liquorice was just what everyone fancied at the end of the eveining. Scores were 15, 18, 14.5, 12.25, 13 and 15. A lovely warm Tusacan wine with Sangiovese as its dominant grape but I suspect something else as well. Would go well with some nice Italian food – shame the Society have sold out of this!

Wild ceps waiting to be sauteed

2. The Society’s Exhibition Central Otago Pinot Noir, 2009, New Zealand Red. Wine Society £12.95.
This got five top three votes with its strawberry bouquet and cherry taste. It had us guessing whether it was Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc or a Cru Beaujolais. Certainly very pleasant and I nearly fell of my seat when Ian said the price was £7.50 but he had got it wrong and it was nearly £13! Unfortunately, The Society has sold out of this one as well.  Score for the record were 13, 16, 15, 13.5, 12.5 and 12.   It went well with the ceps dishes.

3. The Society’s Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Classico, 2010, Italian White 13%. Wine Society £5.95.
A number of our team quickly identified this Italian white – well done team! It had a citrussy lemon flavour and again proved very popular and is good value at this price. Scores were 14.5, 14, 14.5, 13, 10 and 12. This is the sort of wine that makes the Wine Society’s £40 lifetime joining fee worth paying.   A nice match for the hummus served with this wine.

4. Martin Codax Albarino 2010, Spanish Galician White 13%. Majestic £10.49
This wine was Steve’s favourite of the night but most of us identified it as Italian or as a chardonnay. We all preferred it to the previous month’s Albarino as it didn’t have too much spritz. There was some minerality with hints of tropical fruit, peaches and almonds. Scores were 13, 14, 13.5, 14, 11.5 and 13.

Jane's suberb tarte a l'oignon coking in the oven.

5. Trimabach Pinot Blanc 2007, French Alsace White. Majestic £10.49
This wine got only two top three votes and was probably too dry to be served with the tarte a l’oignon. It was another wine that appeared to have a cheesy nose, this time Jane identified camembert. Scores were 12.5, 17, 11.5, 12, 10 and 11. Very much of the dry Trimbach style this was the first time I had had a Pinot Blanc that did not go well with food.  Perhaps, try as an aperitif.

6. Domaine Chevalier Pere et Fils Ladoix, 2007, French Red Burgundy Majestic £15.99

This was not a bad wine at all but the overall standard of the evening left it in a disappointing last place and it was the most expensive wine of all! Nobody had it in their top three and four had it in last place. It had the typical strawberry and cherry nose of a pinot noir and there was some oak as well. When I tasted this later in the evening it had opened out and I am sure we would have enjoyed it more if we had decanted it. Scores were 10+, 15, 10, 12.25, 11 and 11.

So this turned into a resounding triumph for the wines from The Wine Society, particularly the exhibition wines. A very enjoyable evening of food and wine. Many thanks to Ian and Kathryn for their hospitality. Ian's cooking of the ceps in butter was top class and Jane's cooking went down well as usual.  Next month we are back in Tongham to sample wines selected by Sheila. This will be on Thursday November 11th. Steve S has volunteered to choose the wines for our February evening on a date yet to be selected. In between we have our December party and another trip to Farnborough.

Detail of Kathryn's beautiful table centrepiece

Enjoying our 13th get-together

If you want to join us for our tastings please click on Wine Circle above to find details of how you could join in the fun of our interesting food and wine experiences.

....and finally off into a Pinot Noir sunset!

INVITE TO OUR NEW ZEALAND WINE TASTING DINNER

SATURDAY 19th NOVEMBER 2011, 7PM

                                              

TONGHAM VILLAGE HALL

£22.50 per head inclusive of all food and wine

8 Courses – 7 Different Wines to Taste

Contact Jane Etherton to book your place and participate in the life of your village. Tel 07983 154295

All profits go towards the upkeep of Tongham Village Hall, 75 The Street

Registered Charity No.200365

Pic 'n' Mix

(see the bottom of this blog for top tips on how to buy good wines under £10)

Merriment before the wine tasting even begins *

We had our twelfth Tongham Tasters wine tasting get-together this month to complete our first year of existence. The event promised quite a lot as we had six of our regular tasting team buying wines up to the value of ten pounds to compete to see who could buy the best wine. Reality was something different and it highlighted the difficulty ordinary wine drinkers have in purchasing wines. In this respect it was highly interesting and as usual the company was excellent and we had a great time even if some of the wines were decidedly weird!

So what wines did we try, why did our six team members pick them and which did we prefer. As usual we present them in descending order of preference with individual scores out of 20 in the order John E, Ian, Clive, Jane, Sheila, John S and Steve W.  Prices quoted are what our team actually paid and are often after receiving a discount.


1. Marlborough Springs Sauvignon Blanc, 2010, New Zealand white 13%, Sainsbury £6.35
Clive selected this one because he thought that a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would stand a good chance of being a good quality and popular wine. This was a tactic that worked and three of our tasting panel of seven voted this their favourite wine of the evening and everyone had it in their top four. It was one of cheaper wines as Sainsburys had it on special offer when Clive bought it. A number of us including Ian and myself identified this as a NZ Sauvignon Blanc, although it didn’t have the power and fruitiness of many examples. Flavour comments included sherbety and elderflower. Scores were 14.5, 11, 19, 12, 9, 15 and 14. This was a pleasant wine at the offer price, if not particularly complex or exciting but at less than seven pounds you shouldn’t expect too much. New Zealand wines are almost always a safe bet if buying wines in your supermarket, particularly at prices just over the ten pound mark and are thus well worth buying in 25% off promotions.

2. Vina Taboexa Rias Baixas Albarino, 2010, Spanish white, Waitrose £9.99
Ian surprised us by not bringing along something from the Wine Society. However, he did pick a popular grape variety and bought it in a good supermarket for wines and went right up to the price limit. This wine had the best bouquet of any we tasted on the night and had a nice flavour but in the mouth its petillant character was not appreciated by most of our tasters. The fizz was too extreme for most of us and detracted from its lime and stone fruits flavour. Scores were 13.5, 13.5, 12, 14, 13, 13 and 10. If you don’t mind a slight fizz in your white wine this could be a wine for you.

3. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Languedoc Grenache Syrah Carignan, 2010, French red 14%, Sainsbury £5.88
Sheila adopted the very good tactic of buying one of Sainsbury’s normally excellent Taste the Difference range. It was our cheapest wine of the evening as it had been bought whilst on offer. Most of the team thought it was a Californian Zinfandel or perhaps an Italian Primitivo. John E eventually got that it was from the Languedoc and it had that characteristic sweetness of that region allied to the pleasant colour you get in a Grenache based wine. Score were 9.5, 12, 13, 15, 12, 12 and 11. This is a red wine for those with a sweet tooth but not terribly exciting and not one of the best of the Taste the Difference range – why not try the Barbaresco red or the Gruner Veltliner white, I had them both this week and they are very pleasant.

4. Premiere Vouvray, 2010, French white, Londis £8.47
Steve selected a wine he had served a number of times at is daughter’s christenings; always a good tactic to pick a wine you have tried before. Jane wondered if this was “one of those dreaded Pinot Grigios” but Ian quickly identified it as an off dry Chenin Blanc. Flavour comments ranged from Steve’s rhubarb and custard, to John S’s melon and pear to John E’s pear and marzipan with a hint of lime. Although it was off dry it had reasonable acidity but perhaps was just a little bland. Score were 11-, 10.5, 16, 10, 9.5, 10 and 11. A safe bet to serve your grandmother at a party.

5. Ritu Viognier, 2010, Indian white, Waitrose £6.99
Jane brought along a wine that had been recommended by Olly Smith on a recent Saturday Kitchen on TV. She also thought it would be interesting to see how one of Waitrose’s new range of Indian wines would do in a blind tasting. Using press recommendations is often a good tactic but Olly had recommended it with a curry and we drank it on its own. As soon we started to sniff this wine there were loud exclamations from around the table. Oohrr!! Said Ian, good grief! said John E, tastes like Indian whisky said Steve W, which was quite a good guess. Ian again guessed the grape variety and flavour comments ranged from clove and dried mango to Christmas pot pourri. John E thought it might taste quite good by the time you got to the third bottle! Steve actually quite liked it but was relatively alone in this opinion. Score were 8+, 8.5, 12, 10, 8, 11 and 11. This wine needs a curry to hide its differentness.

6. Chateau Musar, Hochar Pere et Fils, 2004, Lebanon red 14%, Majestic £9.99
John S had adopted the admirable tactics of buying from a specialist wine retailer, spending up to his limit, buying a wine from a well respected producer and selecting a red that had aged. So how come it came last? I think we must have got a rogue bottle, although I note from the Majestic web site that at least one other customer thought it foul as well. The smell and taste was of the sort of plastic cement that you make plastic kits with when you are a kid. Truly bizarre smell and taste for a wine; it was like sniffing glue and tasting fried blackberries. Still, Clive, the sage of Tongham, says we mustn’t grumble! Scores were 8.5, 8.5, 13, 12, 8.5, 10 and 12, Hopefully, John’s second bottle will taste better.

This month Clive welcomed us into his home and conservatory and Sarah cooked us some really nice home grown and cooked tomato and basil soup and we had Tongham bakery bread and also some roll mop herrings. It was difficult for Clive to match the food to the wine as everyone brought the wine along on the night. Following this evening we will return to our usual tactic of one person buying all of the food and wine for most of our evenings. We must say thanks to Clive and Sarah for their hospitality and well done Clive for winning our little competition.

Thank you also to John S who brought along a Wine Nosing Aroma kit for us to try.  It was fun but we found after our six wines we quickly found it difficult to detect the more subtle aromas; no problem with the manure aroma funnily enough!

So what lessons can we learn from our team’s successes and mistakes? What would my top ten tips be for buying good wine under £10 a bottle?

• New Zealand wines are very reliable - dont forget we will be having a New Zealand Wine Tasting Dinner in Tongham Village Hall on Saturday November 19th.
• Supemarket own-brand wines, especially Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference, represent good value for money.
• Waitrose and Marks and Spencers offer, perhaps your best chance of picking up an interesting bottle of wine if shopping at a supermarket.
• Buy from supermarkets when they are offering their 25% discounts.
• If spending up to the £10 limit then on line retailers and specialist shops probably give you the best chance of high quality and value. The Wine Society, Fromvineyardsdirect, Majestic and Laithwaites are all worthy of consideration. The supermarkets seem to be concentrating on the lower end wines at present.
• If buying in specialist wine shops ask for the staff’s recommendations. If buying on- line look at the customer comments.
• Following press recommendations can help you make a decision and take the stress out of wine buying but not all will be to your taste. Picking out the medal winners can also be a tactic that works but remember that most producers don’t enter these competitions.  Otherwise why not attend a wine group like ours and buy the favourite wines you taste.
• Don’t buy wines from expensive areas like Burgundy, Bordeaux, Barolo and Sancerre if only paying £10 or less, you will normally be disappointed.
• Avoid the big advertised brands although if you want to play safe some brands like Wolf Blass and even Jacobs Creek can be well made wines.
• Be wary of just buying a bottle because of an attractive label or buying wines where the value is too good to be true.

Follow two or more of these recommendations and you may be on to a winner. Also remember that wine tasting is an adventure and trying different wines is exciting but sometimes they will be a disappointing bottle or two; this is just part of the adventure.

We start our next 12 months of Tongham Tasters with another visit “over the border” into Farnborough, Hampshire where Ian will be hosting our “Joy of Ceps” evening on Saturday 15th October. Theme will be wines to serve with your foraged mushrooms; he has also asked Jane to cook a Tarte à l’oignon so there should be some good food for our Tongham and Farnborough gourmets. Knowing Ian, there should be some interesting wines for us as well. In November Sheila will be hosting our TT evening on Thursday 10th whilst we will be having a Christmas party theme on December Saturday 12th. January 13th will see another Farnborough event with John S presenting New World wines for the New Year. If you would like to join us you would be most welcome – click on Wine Circle at the top of this page for more details.

*Thanks to Clive Greenfield for the picture at the top of this blog post.

Peaches and Garlic



Pinot Noir and White Bean Soup

 There is a craze on food and wine blogs at the moment to name tem matching flavour combinations, so here goes with my contribution to the genre.


Cheese and Beetroot – A personal favourite (cheddar or Cheshire cheese work best)
Figs and Parma Ham – A really sensual combination
Haggis and Canadian Icewine – You can tell I am not Scottish but believe me this works really well.
Lamb and Mint Sauce – You can’t get more English than this. If you don’t like mint sauce try anchovies, if you don’t like anchovies, splash out on a good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pork Sausages and Marmalade – This is one from my childhood; I imagine we all have a weird one like this.
Rhubarb Jam and Peanut Butter – This is vegetarian heaven in a sandwich.
Toasted Teacakes and Butter – Perhaps, the quintessential taste of England.
Tomatoes and Lemon – A surprisingly good combination when cooking.
Tortilla (Spanish Omelette) and Dry Fino Sherry – A Spanish tapas classic. Fino Sherry works well with olives as well.
White Bean Soup and Pinot Noir – Actually, Pinot Noir with almost anything! A good Premier Cru Burgundy preferably.

And one that didn’t make the list……

Peaches and Garlic – An in-joke with the Whyisthereair blog so don’t try this one.

I won't be asking another five blogs to participate, that is too much like one of those old chain letters.

Greyfriars – A Vineyard in Transition

John inspecting the vines

Our nearest vineyard and winery to Tongham is Greyfriars on the Hogs Back near Guildford.   We have visited them a couple of times over the years and were long overdue another visit.   Since November 2010 it has been under new ownership so it was going to be interesting to see what their plans were.  An open day on Saturday September 10^th 2011 was an ideal opportunity to see.  A few enthusiastic Tongham Tasters, John, Jane and Sheila got together and made the trip the few miles along the Hogs Back.

Bottles produced under the old owners

A Little History

Two vets, Bill and Phil, planted the Greyfriars vineyard in 1989 because the planning permission for the land on which they had their vetinary centre required some agricultural use; after an abortive attempt at sheep farming, they settled on a vineyard.  Being on a south facing chalk slope of the North Downs, it is a great spot for growing grapes.  For Bill and Phil it was a sideline to their main business and the vineyard was very small and the winery very much of the “garage” type. As a hobby business it was quite successful and they had no problem selling about 4,000 bottles of their still and sparkling white wines to the local community each year. We had visited them a couple of times and bought some of their wines that could be very acceptable in a good year. They grew only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Grapes and as well as trying to produce a champagne style sparkling wine they produced some interesting still wines including a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend.   After the 2006 vintage, no more still wine has been produced as the climate and economics favours the sparkling wine.

New Ownership

Mike explaining the riddling process

In November 2010 Mike Wagstaff bought the vineyard and brought along David Line as his Vineyard Manager.  Neither, has a history in the industry as Mike made his money in the oil and gas industry and David had his own rock band and later a wine bar.  Brave men!    Their ambition is to expand the vineyard and winery from its current hobby scale to become a small commercial vineyard producing quality English sparkling wine.   They have already began expanding the vineyard and planting new vines.  As well as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, they have added the classic champagne variety Pinot Meunier and also a little Pinot Gris.   More expansion and planting is planned.   Following this they will redevelop the winery so that they have better production and storage facilities.   Their aim is to produce an English Sparkling wine that is more than just a Champagne copy and reflects English wine growing and style.

Greyfriars Pinot Noir

The Open Day

The Old Vineyard

Their open days are very popular, the new owner’s had their first in June this year, and there were a lot of people already visiting when we turned up at 11.30.  We were taken on a very interesting tour of both the old and new vineyards by David the Vineyard Manager.  It was a lovely time of year to visit as we could see well developed grapes ripening on their vines.  We were impressed by how many new vines, something of the order of 12,600, had already been planted as part of their expansion.  David was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable and gave us a great tour.  All of the pictures on this blog post were pictures we took on the day.

Brand  new tractor in front of the new plantings

Some of the 12,600 new vines

For the tour of the old micro-winery we were accompanied by the owner Mike who was also very enthusiastic, welcoming and knowledgeable.  It will be interesting to come back in a few years time when they have redeveloped this part of the business.  At present it is as it was under the old owners but some new equipment will start being delivered soon.

After this came the business of tasting and after a lovely welcome from Hilary we tasted two still white wines and three sparkling white wines.  These were the wines produced under the old ownership and thus do not currently represent the true potential of the current team.  However, they made for a very interesting tasting and we eventually bought three of their sparkling wines; my favourite being the 2004 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blend Sparkling wine at £17.   Incidentally their still wines sell for about £6.50 and ther 2006 Sparkling for just £13.50.

 I highly recommend you go up to one of their open days and follow their progress over the coming years.  It will be interesting to taste some of their wines after they have redeveloped the winery.  We wish Mike, Hilary, David and their team good luck and we will certainly visit them again.   You can follow their progress and get the dates of their open days on www.greyfriarsvineyard.co.uk.    They should be harvesting in early October.

Chardonnay ripening on the vine

Pinot Noir Leaves and Grapes

By the way, there is public footpath through the vineyard that you can pick up if you park near Puttenham Golf Course, follow the North Downs Way and then head uphill. 

New plantings through the tractor window

Chardonnay

Jane tasting the local produce

If you want to read my 2012 update - click here.