A Perfect Score

Let the tasting commence!

For our February Tongham Taster’s evening we were invited around to Steve and Yvonne’s place in The Street, Tongham.  Steve had arranged a little tasting competition for us to see how much we had learnt in 16 months of our little group.  Despite a cold and snowy evening, eight of us gathered around their dining room table for an excellent evening of wine, food and chat, spiced up with Steve’s little fun competition.



A snowy day in Seale and Tongham

For our “Red All Over” evening, Steve had gathered together six single varietal red wines and we had to guess which grape varietal each was.  As we are not Masters of Wine, Steve gave us a chance by telling us in advance that he had a French Gamay, an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, a French Malbec, a New Zealand Pinot Noir, an Italian Sangiovese and a Spanish Tempranillo.   As usual we were blind tasting but we did get a little clue from whether the wines were a screw cap or not!

So how well did we do in identifying the wines and how did we rate them?  As usual the wines are listed in a descending order of preference and all of the scores noted are out of twenty.  Score are listed in the order John E, Jane, Steve S, Ian, John S, Clive and Sheila.

It was such a cold night outside that we really appreciated Steve's choice of doing all reds for this evening.

1. Katnook, Founder’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra Australia 2009, 13.5%, Waitrose £11.00

Everyone had this wine in his or her top three bottles of the evening and three had it as their top wine.  For those of us trying to guess the varietal is was relatively easy with its dark colour and classic plummy cassis with notes of tobacco and herbs taste.   This was the most expensive wine of the evening but one, which we can recommend.  Scores were 13.5, 15, 14.75, 13, 14, 14 and 12.  The region of Coonawarra in South Australia is the best in that country for Cabernet Sauvignon and Katnook Estate is a well know and respected wine maker and thus no surprise that this wine pleased our educated palates.

2. Marques de la Concordia Crianza 2007 Signa, Rioja Spain, 13.5%, Majestic £7.00

This wine had two top votes from our panel and three second places.   It was the last wine we tasted and had the classic taste of an oaked Rioja with vanilla notes and an aromatic elegance and was a relatively easy “spot” for some of us.   Marques de la Concordia produces some good value wines that are sold in Majestic.   Scores were 14.5, 14, 14.75, 14.5, 13, 19 and 11.  Another wine we can recommend.

3. Chateau Cos Suzanne Vielles Vignes 2006,  Cahors France, 12.5%, Auchan €6.50

This wine got one top vote but split the rest of the panel with some liking it and some not so sure.  It was one of the most difficult of the varietals to spot and probably wasn’t 100% Malbec but we had fun tasting it.  Initially some of us had this down as the Tempranillo as it had a distinct oakiness.  Clive loved it and thought it would be ideal for sitting beside the fire and supping throughout the evening.  Scores were 13, 14, 15, 11, 10, 18 and 10.  I’m rather disappointed that I missed this wine from an independent vigneron at the last Foire aux Vins in Auchan!

4. Majestic Peaks Pinot Noir 2009, Central Otago New Zealand, 13.5%, Majestic £7.00

This wine also got one top vote but not all of us appreciated this relatively cheap Pinot Noir from New Zealand.  For most of us it didn’t have the classic New Zealand Pinot Noir taste but the light colour of the wine and cherry taste helped identify the grape.  Scores were 10, 16, 12.5, 11, 10, 14 and 6.  Jane liked the taste of this one but Sheila found it too light and gave it a very low score.  At the price it may be worth trying.

5. Hospices de Beaujeu Beaujolais Villages 2010, 12.5%, France, Waitrose £8.50

Our first wine of the evening, Steve was very generous and slightly chilled this Beaujolais made with the Gamay grape.  It was relatively easy to identify with its light purple colour and classic Beaujolais taste.  Yvonne thought this was nice and like most Gamay wines is an easy match for many foods.  Scores were 10.5, 12, 10, 10.5, 10, 12 and 8.  This is a wine to drink and enjoy with snacks or food rather than to savour.

6. Mandrielle Sangiovese 2010 Banfi, 12.5%, Toscana IGT Italy, Majestic £6.00

This was the second wine of the evening ad definitely didn’t really have the classic taste of a good Chianti or Brunello for instance.  However, the colour helped give it away a little and if you have drunk enough cheap Italian wine over the years it did have a certain characteristic that gave it away.   Scores were 10, 8, 10.25, 9, 9, 13 and 9.  There weren’t really any fans for this but at last it wasn’t too

I claim my prize!

When we got to the end of the evening, Steve was rather surprised that three of us, Ian, John S and myself had all managed to identify all six wines and thus got the perfect score!   A tie break meant that I won the prize of a  really nice bottle of Mas de Cynanque 2008 from Saint Chinian, but I shared it with the rest of the team as it was a Friday evening, by which time we were discussing Vladimir Putin, and it probably gave everyone a Saturday morning hangover!

Chorizo and Saucisson

Steve and Yvonne had put on a really great spread including some lovely bread from Tongham Bakery, some lovely saucisson and chorizo and some amazing Comte and Ossau Iraty cheese from Waitrose, not too mention the usual palate cleansers.  A great fun evening.

Next up is  a Tongham Village Hall wine tasting dinner on Saturday March 3^rd when we will be having seven Mediterranean wines matched with seven Mediterranean dishes  for just £22.50 a head.  This event is open to up to fifty or sixty people depending on demand.  Give Jane a call on 07983 154 295.

Following this, our next Tongham Tasters’ evening is on Friday March 16^th when I will be presenting six, hopefully stunning,  Italian wines (two white and four red) along with some Italian pasta dishes.  This evening will cost the normal £10 per head and will be limited to our normal ten or twelve participants.  We love seeing new faces so if you live near Tongham and want to join in the fun ring me, John, on 07717 876 743.  For our other dates and more information, click on Wine Circle above.

As usual thanks to Clive for his excellent photographs of the evening.