SPAIN - 3, MALTA – 0

Another happy TT evening!

This August, Chris and Andy were hosting one of our tasting evenings for the first time and welcomed a good attendance of eleven of us, to taste some Spanish and Chardonnay wines as well as a surprise sixth bottle.  Chris had chosen most of the wines as she doesn’t generally like Spanish and Chardonnay wines but had thought with our budget she could choose some which she might appreciate more.  These wines had come from Great Western Wine.co.uk as she had enjoyed their Blanquette de Limoux we had served at our Tongham Village Hall Mediterranean Wine Tasting Dinner. The surprise sixth wine was a gift from her daughter who had been on holiday to Malta.

Would the Medina match the meatballs?

How much would Chris and the rest of us appreciate these wines?  Find out below with the wines presented in descending order of preference.   Scores are out of twenty and are shown in the order John E, Jane, Ian, Kathryn, Clive, Sheila, John S, Jill, Andy, Chris and Sarah.   As usual, we blind tasted all of the wines.

1. Vallobero Pago Malarina Rioja 2010, Spanish Red 13.5%, Great Western Wine £9.30.
Our most popular wine of the evening got five top votes and three runner-up positions.  A relatively modern style Rioja we didn’t guess where it came from with Languedoc being amongst the guesses.  The main grape variety was Tempranilla and it had a fruity kick.   The score were 11, 18, 14.5, 13, 16, 12, 13, 12, 11.5, 17 and 14.  A very smooth easy drinking red.

Detail from the Albarino label

2. Eidosela Albarino Rias Baixas 2011, Spanish White 13%, Great Western Wine £9.95.
Some of us at least managed to get this as an Albarino as it had the classic fruit salad flavours and a very slight sherbet fizz. It had support from the white wine lovers in the room and got four top votes and three runner-up spots.  The scores were  12-, 12, 10.5, 18, 16, 10, 10, 12.5, 12.5, 15 and 15.5.  A pleasant summery white wine.

3. El Mago Organic Garnacha 2011, Spanish Red 14%, Great Western Wine £8.95.

Two of us, including myself, thought this the top wine of the evening and a further six had it in their top three.  It certainly had us guessing a Spanish wine but nobody got the Garnacha.  It was very smooth with a cherry taste.   The scores were 12+, 13, 11.5, 14.5, 16, 11, 12, 10, 13.5, 11.5 and 12.75.  A smooth red that would pair well with most food.

4. Leyda Chardonnay Reserva Leyda Valley 2011, Chilean White 14%, Great Western Wine £8.50.
I gave this wine the runner up position but only three others had it in their top three.  Chardonnays tend not to do well in out tastings even if some of us wondered if this was a Sauvignon Blanc as it had a good level of acidity.  However, the creaminess should have told us that this was a Chardonnay.  Some found it slightly metallic. It certainly had the forwardness of a New World wine.   Scores were 12, 10, 9.5, 14.75, 10, 7, 11.5, 10.5, 12, 13 and 10.5.   A very pleasant Chilean Chardonnay.

5. Domaine Rives-Blanques Chardonnay Chenin Haute Vallee de l’Aude 2011, French White 13.5%, Great Western Wine £8.95.
A Chardonnay blend from the South of France, this wine got three top three votes and it had some sweetness on the palate that led some to believe it might be a Pinot Grigio but others were guessing Chenin Blanc which was about 10% of the blend.  Scores were 10, 10, 9.5, 16.5, 14, 7.5, 11, 11, 10.5, 12 and 9.5.   Our white wine fan liked this one.

6.  Medina Sangiovese Delicata 2010, Maltese Islands Red, purchased in country.

The joker in the pack, nobody guessed this was from Malta or that it was Sangiovese.  Most of us thought it tasted like an old wine that was past its best.  Nine of us voted it as there worst wine of the evening, but it did have one supporter in Jane.  Scores were 9, 16, 6.5, 10, 14, 6, 6, 6.5, 7.5, 9.5 and 7.75.  Probably, quite pleasant when drunk in Malta in a sunny café with some local food.

So the Spanish wines came out easily on top, securing the first three places, the Chardonnays didn't fare that well and Malta came firmly last.

Chris's lovely Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Onion Onions

Chris, as well as providing us with some interesting wines, served us some excellent food with her Goats Cheese and Caramelised Red Onion Tarts easily the evening’s favourite.  We also had some meatballs, Spanish ham and cheese croquettes and risotto.  Another typical and excellent Tongham Tasters’ evening and well worth making the trip to neighbouring Farnborough!   Well done Chris!

Jane back from diet

We have some rather exciting evenings  in the next four months between now and Christmas with our Chablis and Chinon events designed to take our regulars wine knowledge a step further.
In September, Jane and myself will be hosting “Chablis Uncorked” an excursion through the wines of Chablis from Petit Chablis to Grand Cru Chablis with some old and rare wines in between and a little gourmet bite to accompany each glass. This will be one of our high budget evenings but we expect a big crowd to help share the cost.   This evening will be in Grange Road, Tongham from 8pm on Saturday 22nd September.  Maybe our Chablis evening will make some of our group Chardonnay lovers at last.
In October, Steve will be back from a tour of France and will be presenting us wines from “Six French Wine Regions”.  This evening will take place in The Street, Tongham at 8pm on Friday 5th October.   As an aside, Steve who is our resident expert in all things Languedoc, recommends the following website http://www.tastelanguedoc.blogspot.co.uk.
Also in October we have our  “Andean Adventure”, an Argentinian and Chilean wine tasting dinner in Tongham Village Hall.   This will be at 7pm on Saturday 13th October.
In November, I will be presenting our very first vertical wine tasting with six Cabernet Franc red wines from three top producers in Chinon from six different years between 1990 and 2008.  It will include one producer’s top cuvee from three different years. Our “Chinon Vertical Take-Off” will be on Friday 9th November at 8pm in Grange Road, Tongham and will have a slightly higher budget than normal.   I hope it will turn you into fans of Chinon, which is something I have been for some time now.

The vineyards near Chinon castle, the subject of our Vertical tasting

Sarah, Chris and Kathryn chat

In December we will be having our Tongham Tasters’ Christmas Party and we will probably have everyone bring some Christmas “booze” which for once needn’t be wine and some nibble to accompany it.  I expect we will have some competitive element to see who comes along with something that best represents the spirit of Christmas from somewhere around the World.   This is provisionally set for Friday December 14th with the venue in Farnborough and with Ian and Kathryn hosting.

Well done Chris!

We welcome newcomers to our little tasting group, so if you want to join in one of our exciting upcoming events, ring John on 07717 876743 or email John at tonghamtaster@gmail.com.   We normally all put £10 in to the kitty at each of our events and this pays the cost of the food and wine.   For our big budget events the cost can be a little more (up to £25) but for regular attendees the cost still averages out to £10 per evening including all food and wine.  Sociable wine enthusiasts from beginners to experts are most welcome.  Blind tasting is fun and helps you lose any misconceptions you might have about certain wines, so give it a go.

If I look at this wine close enough will I be able to guess what it is?

Butternut Squash Risotto

Spanish Ham and Cheese Croquettes

Chablis is the subject of our next tasting in September

For more pictures of Chablis and some short notes on the town and appellation click here to help you get in the spirit for our next tasting evening.

Cheerio until next month!

 Thanks as usual to Clive for many of the better photos accompanying this post (for those of you who don't know Clive, he is the one missing from the above photos!)