Wine Tasting

The other day our ever hardworking and lovely social deacons organised a wine tasting in college. Now I know that I risk you thinking, even more than you probably already do, that being an ordinand is not hard work but it is really… well some of the time ;o)

After a short intro on how to taste the wine –thankfully we decided to forgo the spitting! – we began with an 2002 English sparkling brut from a fairly local winery Chilford Hall. Now I am rather a fan of Champagne (and those wines that are Champagne but can’t be called that because of geographical protection rules) but I wasn’t blown away by this, it wasn’t very varied and had rather a chemical after taste. At £15.99 I would have expected more – but as someone said for an English vineyard not a bad effort. We then moved onto a 2006 Chablis by William Fevre. This was rather nice, simple and uncomplicated, probably wouldn’t hold its own at a meal but pleasant enough for drinking at a party, though at £13.75 you would have to be a fairly generous host! We then moved onto to a 2006 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from Tarras Vineyards. Folks this was absolutely scrummy and I heartily recommend getting some in. At £12.99 not to cheap but it was rich and fruity with lots of layers of flavour. It was definitely one of the most widely favoured wines of the evening.

We then moved on to some reds starting with a 2005 Bordeaux by Chateau Laussac. This was a lovely light wine, dry and sharp, with a lovely oakey smell. Some found the aftertaste a little sour but I didn’t think it was particularly, At £5.99 quite reasonably priced. Getting a little heavier we moved onto a 2005 Beaune du Chateau 1er Crus by Brouchard Pere & Fils . It was certainly full bodied but I don’t think it lived up to its £17.50 price tag. Somebody described the smell of it as wet ashtrays…. Which I think is a comment worthy of the great Jilly Goulden..

Finally for dessert we had a 5 year old finest full rich Madeira by Henriques & Henriques which was absolutely delicious. I am not normally a fan of fortified wines (the Eucharist aside of course!) but this was lovely warm and rich, reminiscent of Christmas puddings and cinnamon sticks. At £9 well worth adding to the Christmas Shopping list.

It was the first time I had done a formal wine tasting and I was surprised by how much fun it was. I actually learned quite a lot – but sadly on a ministry division grant I doubt I will have much opportunity to use it for purchasing…. But if I did I would definitely use the final tip of the evening which was that 2005 was a good year for European Reds and 2006 has been the best year for European whites for a long time. Apparently if you have the money, space and patience its well worth buying some 2006 Chablis and White Burgundy and tucking them away for a few years.

Happy drinking!