Tongham Heritage Open Days

The Historic Tongham Village Hall

This year, Tongham is participating more than ever before in the National Heritage Open Days from the 6th to 9th September 2012.

Jane and I have devised a Tongham Hop Trail, which is a family friendly self-guided trail around Tongham.  Much of the late 19th and early 20th century history of Tongham was associated with the hop industry and there are remnants of it today.  Follow the Hop Trail and visit some of Tongham’s historical buildings and links to the hop growing trade.   Admire the unusual detached bell tower at Saint Paul’s Church, visit the newly refurbished kiln, walk with you children through Tongham Community Wood and take part in a nature quiz, visit Tongham Village Hall and enjoy tea and cakes whilst viewing the photo exhibition, visit the White Hart which is holding a beer festival or visit the local Hog’s Back Brewery.  There will be much to do over the weekend.

You can download the "Tongham Hop Trail" brochure from the Guildford Borough Council website, here:  Tongham Hop Trail map [4Mb]

Participating in the "Tongham Hop Trail" and in the Heritage Open Days are these fine Tongham institutions:

The Kiln – www.amberandgreen.com
 St Paul's Church – www.stpaulstongham.org.uk
 Tongham Community Wood – www.tonghamwood.org.uk
 The White Hart pub – www.thewhiteharttongham.co.uk
 Tongham Village Hall – www.tonghamvillagehall.org.uk
 Hogs Back Brewery – www.hogsback.co.uk

Details of Tongham Open Days events and opening times can be found in Guildford Borough Council's Heritage Open Days brochure, which you can download here:  Heritage Open Days brochure 2012 [4Mb].

For those of you who are wine enthusiasts, note that Greyfriars Vineyard on the Hogs Back near Puttenham will be open on the Sunday September 9th between 10am and 4pm.  They are well worth a visit.  If in doubt read a report on our Tongham Tasters  visit there last year.  Click here for a report on a Vineyard in Transition.

Checking out the grapes at Greyfriars vineyard in 2011

Hope we see you around Tongham on the weekend of 8th and 9th of September!

If you cycle, do take a ride down cycle route 22 (turn left at Kei's restaurant in Runfold after cycling down Grange Road)  to Puttenham to see Surrey's last Hop garden.  They will be picking in September so be quick.

Puttenham Hop Garden August 2012

If you enjoyed our Hop Trail and fancy a longer walk through this part of Surrey's Literary Heritage click here.

POP-UP RESTAURANTS

Pop-Up restaurants, whilst not new, have become very popular of late and essentially are temporary restaurants in all sorts of venues or supper clubs in people's homes.   On New Year's Day this year we had a rather unusual one near us when Hampton Estate set up a pop-up restaurant in the open air on Puttenham Common.   It was great fun and they served up some nice but basic dishes to quite a large crowd at lunch-time. I realy enjoyed the apple fritter. Considering the time of year they were rather lucky with the weather, although it did start to rain later on.  If you don't know about Hampton Estate, do visit their web-site as they sell some great beef and other products.

On the way to the Pop-Up Restaurant on Puttenham Common

First Course of Meatbals, Crusty Bread and Salad

Dessert Course of Apple Fritter

The Make-shift Kitchen

A Large Gathering Came For Lunch

I suppose some of our Tongham Taster and Tongham Village Hall events are in effect pop-up restaurants so if you enjoy this kind of thing or have yet to experience a pop-up restaurant do give us a try.  Coming up soon are:

Saturday 3rd March 2012 - Tongham Village Hall, Tongham, Surrey, UK - Mediterranean Wine Tasting Dinner - £22.50 per head with about 50 to 60 guests expected.   Give Jane a call on 07983 154 295 if interested.

Friday 16th March 2012 - Our house in Grange Road, Tongham, Surrey, UK - Italian Wine and Pasta Evening - £10 per head with about 10 to 12 guests expected.   Give myself, John, a call on 07717 876743 if interested.

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.

Literary Connections, a Tongham walk through local literary history

After a hard life eating and drinking, we all need a good ramble to walk off those calories. Tongham is ideally situated to take advantage of the Surrey Hills, Blackwater Valley path, Basingstoke Canal towpath and the old Tongham railway line. This is number one in a series of blogs to give you some different ideas for walks around Tongham.

Tongham Village Hall, where we regularly hold wine tastings, was built for those engaging in physical activities or for social, moral, cultural or literary purposes. This walk manages to combine the first and last of these objectives. It will surprise many residents of Tongham that there is such a wealth of literary connections just south of the village and in this age of the car it is so easy to miss out on so many of the local beauty spots and points of interest around us.

The walk I took and describe below is about 7 miles long and may take about 3 hours. The highlights are Waverley Abbey, Crooksbury Hill and Moor Park. There is a possible picnic spot at Waverley Abbey or on Crooksbury Hill. Refreshments might be taken at the Barley Mow Pub in Sands. I found this route suitable for walking a dog, mainly on lead but there are a few points where you could let the dog have a run.

Tongham Village Hall

1. Start out from Tongham Village Hall which is located at No 75 The Street in Tongham, and head uphill along The Street in a southerly direction towards the Hog’s Back. At the top of the hill continue onto the Hog’s Back going down into Runfold.

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) mentions both Tongham and the Hog’s Back in Chapter 18 when describing the Savage and his abandoned Air-Lighthouse (used to guide helicopters) on Puttenham Common. Huxley was born in Godalming and was a keen cyclist around the Surrey Hills.

Freeman Wills Croft wrote the detective novel The Hog’s Back Mystery (1933) set in the area just south of the Hog’s Back (Seale, Hampton, Sands, Puttenham, Binscombe etc). It is a good read that stands the test of time if you like Whodunits. Croft lived in Blackheath near Guildford.

Charles Ludwig Dodgson (Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland fame) would visit his family in Guilford and often walked across the Hog’s Back and into Farnham. He is buried in Mount Cemetery near Guildford.

Mike Hawthorn's two children's books

Musician-singer-songwriter Richard Thompson wrote the song MGB-GT which contains a line in which he claims to have driven at 110mph along the old Hog’s Back.

As we pass into Runfold we join the Pilgrim’s Way which went from Winchester (St Swithin) to Canterbury (Thomas a Becket). Amongst the first to trace the route was Hilaire Belloc (The Old Road 1904). A prolific writer, he was perhaps best known for his Cautionary Tales. This part of the Pilgrim’s Way is not part of the route for Chaucer’s pilgrims who just travelled from London to Canterbury.

2. Continue down the Hog’s Back and then follow it to the right into Guildford Road and then along here until you reach Crooksbury Road just before Barfield School.

Footpath near Barfield School

Barfield School has had houses named after Mike Hawthorn, Jane Austen and J.K.Rowling.  Mike Hawthorn attended the school and is best known as Britain’s first motor racing World Champion but he also wrote four books including two children’s fiction books. Jane Austen certainly passed by here from Chawton and up onto the Hog’s Back in 1813; she wrote about the fine views.

3. Turn left into Crooksbury Road but shortly turn right up a footpath along the perimeter of the school. Keep right along the footpaths eventually turning sharp right at some steps and then follow the North Downs Way through the woods and onto Compton Way. Turn right into Compton Way and follow it as it turns left downhill. Shortly, turn left into the driveway of Moor Park House.

Moor Park House

Moor Park House was the home of Jonathan Swift who wrote Gulliver’s Travels. In his time at Moor Park he wrote two books. He had a female acquaintance called Stella, hence the name of the cottage at the far end of this section of the walk.

Another writer who passed by here was William Cobbett best known for his 1830 book Rural Rides where he describes the early nineteenth century countryside and gives free of his opinions about many things, hence his nickname Peter Porcupine.

Footpath after Moor Park House

Stella's Cottage

4. Follow the footpath past Moor Park House and all the way along past pill boxes, the nature reserve and Mother Ludlam’s Cave to Stella’s Cottage. Turn right into Camp Road and then straight on into Waverley Lane. Follow the road around to the right and then turn immediately left into the grounds of Waverley Abbey. Go into Waverley Abbey and spend some time there.

At the entrance it states that Waverley Abbey was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott’s novel Waverley. This is somewhat misleading as the novel is not about the local area or an abbey at all. It probably inspired him to come up with the name for the main character Edward Waverley. The monks themselves wrote the Annals of Waverley which describes their life and famous visits such as that of King John in 1208.

Old Bridge by Waverley Abbey

Part of the Waverley Abbey Ruins

5. Retrace your steps back to the road and follow the B3001 Waverley Lane around to the right towards Godalming. Be careful here as the pavement does not continue very far and you will need to walk in the road. After a couple of hundred yards turn left up a footpath. Follow this footpath past a number of houses until you reach Crooksbury Road. Cross the road and follow a footpath to the left.

Arthur Conan-Doyle lived in Hindhead and set the Sherlock Holmes’ story The Solitary Cyclist (1903) around Crooksbury Hill.

6. Keep going uphill and slightly to the left until you reach the memorial trig point at the top of Crooksbury Hill. Admire the absolutely stunning views and then turn around and head on down the hill and eventually towards the right until you get to Smuggler’s Way. Turn left into Smuggler’s Way and continue down to the Barley Mow Pub.

The Barley Mow pub in Sands

Was The Barley Mow the pub where Sherlock Holmes had a punch-up in The Solitary Cyclist? I think The Donkey is more likely but who knows?

7. Turn right out of the pub into Sands Road but soon turn left into Sand’s Recreation Ground. Cross the Rec into the far right corner and exit by the side of the golf course into Binton Lane. As you exit look to the left at Jan Smut’s memorial stone which is hidden in the undergrowth.

Smuts Memorial Stone

Jan Smuts was a soldier and Prime Minister of South Africa. He wrote the preamble to the United Nations Charter and an unpublished work on Walt Whitman. The memorial dates from 1958 and was put there by old local soldiers who admired him as an enemy and as an ally. His only connection with the area is that he stayed a short time at the home of his private secretary’s parents in Sands.

8. Go along Binton Lane until you reach the cross roads with Seale Lane and Thundery Hill. Take care along this stretch as again there is no pavement beside the road.

Binton Lane

Thundery Hill is named after the Norse god Thor and reminds us of the pre-Christian era legends. Local village Thursley is also named after him, as is the day of the week – Thursday.

9. Go up Thundery Hill and back up to the Hog’s Back and then retrace your steps back to the Village Hall.

This blog post, map and directions are for guidance purposes only. Please use an Ordnance Survey map to plan out you own route using this blog for ideas on possible points of interest. The suggested route does not necessarily indicate a right of way. Wear suitable footwear and high visibility clothing and take great care when crossing roads or walking on the side of roads without pavements. No responsibility is taken by the writer for anyone undertaking these walks.

A Tale of Terroir

For our May Tongham Tasters’ evening we had a more specialised theme than normal – we were to taste five French Sauvignon Blanc white wines. Our reward was to be a mature red at the end of the evening. After eight months, I was at last going to be allowed to choose the wines – the pressure was on. Surely after all my practice of drinking wines from Sancerre and Pouilly Fume, this would be a veritable doddle! Alas, the budget was just fifty pounds for six bottles; I was going to have to very thrifty and search a wider area of France for value. After much diligent research I got together what I thought were 5 pretty good value Sauvignon Blanc white wines and a cracking red as well. But how would our eight man tasting team perceive them?.... and would they be able to spot the Sauvignon Blanc that was blended with something else as well?

The evening started well enough, as I explained how New Zealand wines shouted at me whereas French wines talked to me and occasionally sung to me, and then someone mentioned that dreaded word…….”terroir”!

In order of preference after voting, here are my wines and our collective views on them. Scores are in the order: John E, Steve S, Sheila, Jane, Clive, John S and Ian.

1. Domaine de Salvard Cheverny Le Vieux Clos “Delaille” 2009, Majestic Wines, £7.99
Three of our intrepid team of eight tasters voted this their top wine and another four had it as their runner up. However, nobody realised that this was a blended wine as it tasted like pure Sauvignon Blanc. It in fact had 15% Chardonnay as well. Many thought it tasted quite New World compared to the other French wines that we were tasting. It certainly had a nice bouquet and taste that perhaps came from maturing the wine on its lees. The scores out of 20 were 15, 14.5, 11, 18, 17, 15, and 13. This was another winner from Majestic Wine Warehouse.

A really nice red!

2. Altos D’Oliva Gran Reserva Catalunya 2000 Spain, FromVineyardsDirect, £7.95
With four of our judges putting this at No.1 and another as runner up, our red wine of the evening did rather well. Everybody’s first guess was that this was an Australian Rhone blend – but no it was from near the Priorat region of Spain. It was the oldest wine we had yet had at a Tongham Tasters evening and everyone thought this would go well with a BBQ. Many including Kathyrn got the liquorice taste of this Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranilla, Garnacha, Shiraz blend and John S thought it chunky with a hint of sweetness. Sheila thought that it not only sung to her but did the whole Karaioke repertoire! Scores were 15.5, 14, 14, 14, 12, 15, and 14.5. This is a wine that represents great value for money.

3. Domaine Octavie Touraine Sauvignon 2009, FromVineyardsDirect, £8.75
One top vote, three seconds and two thirds gave this wine our bronze medal of the evening. A few like Steve S thought this was a blend as it wasn’t particularly Sauvignon Blanc like and had more sweetness and less acidity than normal. Clive thought he detected a little spritz. Scores were 13, 13, 10.5, 16, 16, 13, and 9.5. Worth adding to your list if you are trying to make up a mixed case of twelve wines, I enjoyed it more when I tasted it on its own with a meal rather than part of a tasting flight.

Jane expounds on Teroir!

4. Vallee Blanche Sauvignon Blanc Cotes de Gascogne 2009, Majestic, £5.99
The cheapest wine of the evening, it did rather well in the scoring with two third places and four fourth places.. Variously described as quite minerally and quite fruity, some thought it very dry and, some like Jane, quite sweet! It was certainly fruity, perhaps apple-like with some citrus and lychee, and was another with a touch of the New World rather than the Loire about it – in fact it comes from the South West of France. Scores were 14.5, 11.5, 10, 13, 15, 12, and 10.5. This is a very good value nice wine from Majestic. Don’t be put off by the cheap looking label as Steve has been in the past.

5. Clothilde Davenne Saint-Bris Sauvignon 2009, FromVineyardsDirect. £9.75.
The most expensive wine of the evening did rather disappointingly with just two top three votes and not much else. A nice wine it is perhaps not very Sauvignon Blanc like. It was interesting that it had a much darker colour than the other wines. Clive was not sure of the aftertaste but It went well the spicy aubergine dip that Jane made. Scores were 12.5, 12, 6.5, 13, 10, 11, and 12. An interesting wine that frankly is better based on previous tastings than these scores would indicate but on this tasting perhaps not worth the price. Whenever, I have bought wines from this small Burgundy appellation before, they have been cheaper and better value.

6. Domaine Henri Beurdin et Fils, Reuily 2009, Majestic £7.99.
This wine should have been OK based on previous tastings but when served too cold has a bitterness and grittiness that is unpleasant. However, once it warms up and you have some food with it, then these bad characteristics disappear. It was an interesting lesson in serving wine at the right temperature and how food can improve wine. For the wine nearest to the traditional Loire Sauvignon Blanc area it was not so good. Scores were 11.5, 9, 4, 8, 13, 9, and 6.5. A real spread of scores for this one, depending on whether it was scored based on first or last impressions. This was a tricky wine to serve correctly; interestingly, enough it says on the bottle to serve it fresh and not too iced – should have read the label!

It was an interesting mix of wines and showed how the different terroir from the different areas of France allied with the different wine makers’ skills and techniques can turn out quite different tasting wines. The 2 different goats cheeses, aubergine dip, brandade and crudités all went down well with the home made rolls and pitta bread. We had a great crowd along and the conversation flowed on many topics as well as wine.  Did we really talk about the Eurovision Song Contest?  It was great to have Kathryn along for the first time and hope we see her again at future evenings. Cost of the evening per person was just £7.30 – good value I think. It was good to try wines from yet another interesting inline retailer – FromVineyardsDirect.

The table is set for a great evening

Next month we will be having another Friday evening event and the theme is BBQ wines and if the weather is good we will be having a BBQ as well. The date for your diary is Friday June 3rd. Click on Wine Circle at the top of the page for more details – all are welcome. Location will be somewhere in Grange Road, Tongham.

For our July evening we are celebrating French National day on Thursday July 14th - this evening will be a bit special as we are doubling the budget for the evening and having some rather nice French wines and food.  As usual contact John via email at tonghamtaster@gmail.com or ring him on 07717 876743.

Our August evening will be another Friday evening event and the theme will be Old World versus New World wines.  Venue will be in Tongham.    For our Farnborough fans good news as the Setmber event will be in Farnborough on Thursday September 15th.

Invitation to the February Tongham Tasters Wine Get-together

Less than two weeks to go before the next Tongham Tasters’ get-together. This month, Clive is hosting the evening and providing the wine and food. As usual we will be blind tasting six different wines. The date for your diary is Thursday 17th February at 8.00pm and the location is Tongham, Surrey, UK. The cost of the evening is shared between those who attend and is limited to a maximum of £10 per person.

6 Glasses ready to be filled with interesting wine.

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

For more information and FAQs, click on Wine Circle above. Hope to see you on the 17th!

To contact us ring John on 07717 876743 or email tonghamtaster@gmail.com.

TONGHAM TASTERS FRENCH WINE TASTING COURSE

During the next 52 weeks, I’ll be doing a weekly blog on the wines of France, gradually covering the main wine regions. If you follow the course over 2011 you’ll gradually learn the basics of French wine. The blogs will be short and to the point. The best bit is that I’ll be setting you homework each week – a bottle of wine from the region to buy and try. This way you can gradually catch-up on the Tongham Village Hall wine tastings you may have mixed over the years. The wines will all be available in UK supermarkets or national wine shops such as Majestic so anyone in the UK should be able to do their homework diligently.

So what do we have to look forward to over the next 12 months -

Sancerre Pinot Noir Grapes

January - Bordeaux

February – Loire Valley

March - Languedoc-Roussillon

April - South West

May - Rhone Valley

June - Provence

July - Alsace

August - Champagne

September – The East, Jura & Savoie
October - Burgundy
November - Beaujolais & Macon
December - Vins de Pays

And this month :

January week 1 – Bordeaux Basics
January week 2 – Bordeaux Right Bank
January week 3 – Bordeaux Left Bank
January week 4 – Bordeaux Dry Whites
January week 5 – Bordeaux Sweet Whites

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.

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.

Dates for your diary

Tongham Tasters hold wine tastings in Tongham near Farnham Surrey on the second Thursday of each month.   As we hold our get-togethers in our homes, participants are limited to 14 each evening.  Each month a different member of our wine circle selects the wines.  Cost of the food and wine is shared and the cost per person is limited to £10.  We warmly welcome new wine lovers coming to our evenings.   All of us are at different levels of wine knowledge and experience, so don't let being a novice put you off - we all learn more by drinking interesting wines each month.   Also don't worry about not living in Tongham as tasting doesn't necessarily involve swallowing.  Get a flavour of our get-togethers by reading the reports of our evenings and other blog postings below.

Our next events are -

Thursday December 9th - 8.00pm - Sheila
Thursday January 13th - 8pm - Steve & Hazel
Thursday February 10th - 8pm - Clive

To find out more email any questions to tonghamtaster@gmail.com or ring John on 07717 876743.