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!