Pieroth Home Wine Tasting

For my birthday last October a friend got me a groupon voucher for a home wine tasting with the Pieroth wine company. Pieroth has been around for over 300 years and has built a reputation on providing quality wines. All the wines within the Pieroth range are only made from the first press of the grapes - -this guarantees a higher standard of wine.

The voucher allowed me to have a wine tasting with six of my friends in the comfort of my own home. It was a great evening. It was also interesting to have the wines on show dictated by someone else. Normally, when I have a wine tasting at home, I am in control of what wines we have - not having this control was actually quite nice, as I didn't know what was coming next. It was also great to have some wines from Germany and Eastern Europe which I wouldn't normally have the opportunity to try. The guy who MC'd the evening was friendly and well informed. It was a great night and I would recommend a home wine tasting by Pieroth to anyone.

The tasting was made up of 6 whites and 6 reds.

Vina Primera, Rioja, 2010 Spain

This was a light, refreshing wine made from 100% Viura, with nice apple flavours. The wine was dry with great crisp acidity. 11.5% abv. 3.5/5

Villa del Sole, 2010, Sicily

Wines from Sicily have to made only with grapes grown indigenously on the island. This was a fairly sweet wine with a beautiful floral bouquet. Nice, sweet palate with delicate peach and apricot. This would be a great wine for the summer. 12% abv. 3.6/5

Te Ariki, Chardonnay, 2008, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

This is an unoaked chardonnay but still retained that buttery character. This was a soft and smooth wine with a buttery nose and soft peach and apricot on the palate. 13.5% abv. 3/5

Armsheimer Adelberg, Kerner, 2009, Pradikatswein Kabinett Rheinhessen, Germany

Lovely light, sweet, fragrant wine. This wine had beautiful touches of rose and Turkish delight. There were loads of sweet floral aromas. This was a great wine. 9% abv. 4/5

Pieroth Blue, Burg Layer 2010, Schlosskapelle, Kabinett, Nahe, Germany

This is the signature bottle within the Pieroth range and comes in the typical blue Pieroth bottle. This was a good wine with pretty floral edges and notes of elderflower. 9 % abv. 4.5/5

Feher Arany, 2010, Duna Borregio, Muskat-Ottonel, Hungary

Lovely sweet wine, heading more towards the dessert wine part of the spectrum - but an adult, well made dessert wine. Beautiful fresh white grape aromas here. 10.5% abv. 4.2/5

Flying Grapes, Sangiovese Rubicone, 2009, Italy

This was a heavy, tannic, dark wine with thick dark fruit flavours. 12.5% abv. 2.8/5

Calle Mayor, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009, Spain

This was a big wine, with a big, thick dark nose with some almost vegetal aromas. There were some dark plummy fruits flavours but these were fairly hidden. This is a wine that definitely needs food - ideally big, red meat dishes. 14% abv. 3/5

Paolo Guidi, Nebbiolo d'Alba, 2009, Italy

This wine is made on a Barolo estate, but due to the fact that it doesn't go through the same ageing process as a Barolo - it can't be classed as one. This wine had big, dark fruits and big tannins to match. 13.5% abv. 3/5

Golden Grape Estate, Leonard's Saddle, Shiraz, 2009, Australia

Lovely big, red fruits. Plenty of plum and blackcurrant with a good helping of pepper. Well structured. 14.5% abv. 4/5

Ferdinand Pieroth, Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Murfatlar, Romania

This was a nice sweet red wine. This actually comes under the classification of Beerenauslese. This wine is fragrant but not too mouth filling - would be good as a party wine. 11% abv. 3/5

Bor Forras, 2008, Hajos Baja, Blaufrankisch, Hungary

Blaufrankisch is actually the German, Hungarian and Eastern European name for Pinot Noir. This wine was presented chilled. it was full of sweet red fruits - this would also be a good summer wine. 10.5% abv. 3.2/5

Due to the fact that the tasting was at my place I got a free bottle of wine to say thank you for hosting the evening. Obviously after a 12 bottle tasting we didn't open this bottle - however it will be reported on later.

We did however have a nice glass of The MacAllan 15 year old Fine Oak Whisky to round off the evening.

The Black Cottage

Tonight, we had a spicy roast chicken for dinner - so I opened a recently bought Sauvignon Blanc. It was amazing; perfect with the chicken and an all round great wine.

Black Cottage, Sauvignon Blanc, 2011, Marlborough, New Zealand

Wow! This is extreme Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with all the bells and whistles. The nose erupts with gooseberry, passion fruit, lychee and buckets of tropical fruit like pineapple, mango and a slight hint of lime - all this exotic-ness is laced with freshly cut capsicum. This wine is stunning and mentally takes you to hot sunny climates. The palate is full of exotic, tropical fruit with great acidic freshness. This is an awesome wine. I will definitely buy this again - I am already thinking of sipping this while talking to friends on a sunny summers afternoon in my garden. I loved this wine. 4.2/5 (13% abv) £10.99 Majestic Wines.

New World Pinot

Last night I opened a bottle that was left at my house over the Christmas period. It was just laying there, alone - so I thought I would help it fulfill its life's purpose.....I drunk it!

Corriente del Bio, Pinot Noir, 2010, Bio Bio Valley, Chile

This wine is full of ripe, juicy, soft red fruits - loads of red cherry and hints of raspberry on the nose. There are also some slight minty edges too. This wine has a nice, almost Burgundian feel to it and is quite an old world expression of the grape. There is a lovely creamy texture from the use of oak. There's lots of fruit on the palate and the oaky complexity comes through really well. This is a lovely expression of this grape variety, with good tannins and structure. This is good for an everyday Pinot; this wine is good value for money. 3.5/5 (13% abv) Marks & Spencer £7.99

Celtis Australis

Over the weekend I opened a bottle that I got as a gift from a friend who is currently staying with us. This wine is from Naked Wines (www.nakedwines.com). Nakes Wines is a company I have heard a lot about (but never bought from) so I was interested to try this wine. From what I understand, Naked Wines work with small producers, helping them to get their businesses off the ground. Working with small producers enables Nakes Wines to provide great wines for their customers; wines that are properly and lovingly made, which are a lifetime away from the mass produced wines that are so readily available. It was a lovely wine and has helped me decide that I will now definately be buying some wine from Naked Wines - if this bottle is anything to go by, they stock some great stuff.

Benjamin Darnault, Celtis Australis, 2009, Saint Chinian, France

This is a lovely blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre and Carignan grapes. The name apparently comes from the Latin for 'hackberry' - a tree that grows in the region. This wine has beautiful dark cherry and plummy aromas on the nose. The wine remains somewhat understated and lets you come to it, rather than revealling all on the first sniff. The nose also has some beautiful sweet blackcurrant and vanilla notes and the faintest hint of cedar. The palate is silky smooth with soft supple tannins. You get more of the dark cherry with some perfectly integrated oaky complexity. The wine has a lasting comtemplative length. This is a very well made wine and I would be interested to try the rest of Benjamin Darnault's range. I will definately get this again. 4.2/5 (13% abv) Naked Wines £9.49

The Feathered Dinosaur

Last night I opened one of the bottles I intended to drink over the Christmas period - before I had a cold! It's was a huge wine, so big in fact that I may well have been able to taste it even with a cold.

d'Arenberg Estate, The Feathered Dinosaur, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004, McLaren Vale, Australia

This is a really big, 'thick' wine. The nose errupts with huge amounts of sweet blackcurrant and some summer fruits. There is also some ripe plum and blueberry. Like other d'Arenberg wines I have tasted, this is not a delicate wine, your nose almost gets assaulted as it reaches the glass! The palate is heavy with some of the black fruit from the nose but with more of a bramble, hedge row, earthy character. Even though this is a 2004 wine, the tannins are still quite grippy, providing some good structure to this wine. This would be ideal with a BBQ as the smokiness would stand up to this wine - think big BBQ steaks or game sausages. This is my only bottle but it would be interesting to see how this would have developed over time. 3/5 (14.5% abv)

The Same Wine But Different

Firstly, I need to appologise for the lack of posts over the last week. I managed to pick up the local cold that was going around; consequently I couldn't smell or taste a thing....not an ideal environment for wine tasting! The cold has gone now and my sense of smell has returned. So, tonight I opened a bottle I have tried before. I really liked it the last time, I loved it this time!

Domaine de la Janasse, Terre de Bussiere, Vin de Pays de la Principaute d'Orange, 2005, Rhone, France

This is a wine I picked up from Majestic Wines a few years ago, made by famed Chateauneuf du Pape producer - Domaine de la Janasse. I reviewed this wine back in 2009 (see post 23 September 2009). This wine has since had another 2 years or so of bottle age since I tried it last and the difference really shows. The wine is a blend of 55% Merlot, 25% Syrah, 10% Grenache and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a beautiful wine, full of dark, sultry cherry aromas with spicy, herbal edges with hints of vanilla. There is a great purity of fruit to this wine with nice ripe raspberry and violet coming through on the nose. The wine is very well structured. The use of oak has been integrated seemlessly. This wine is wonderfully complex with smooth tannins which have softened with age. This is a lovely poised wine. It is not an in your face wine and almost takes a backseat role. This is a thinker's wine. This is my last bottle. As far as I know, Majestic do not stock this wine anymore; which is a shame as it's a great wine and I don't know where I am going to be able to get some more from! 4.7/5 (14.5% abv) Majestic Wine.

Boxing Day Special

On Boxing Day, our best friends came over for the evening - obviously including 'Pinot Guy'.

So I decided to open a bottle that 'Pinot Guy' brought back for me from South Africa in 2009. It went down a treat and brought a sparkle to 'Pinot Guy's' eye.

Jordan, Cobbler's Hill, 2005, Stellenbosch, South Africa

This wine is a South African style Bordeaux blend - 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. It was a great wine; lovely ripe black cherry and blackcurrant aromas. The wine was super soft and perfectly balanced. The palate was full of dark fruit flavours and great oaky complexity. The wine had great length and good tannic structure. A great wine to enjoy on boxing day and to relax with, with friends. 4.6/5 (15% abv)

Christmas Day Wines......

Once we arrived at my parent's house and got settled it was time to get straight into the very important task of opening presents - we did this, helped out with the fist bottle of the day.

Anakena, Chardonnay, 2001, Central Valley, Chile

If I tasted this blind I would have said it was a sauvignon blanc. This wine is extremely fruit forward and full of fresh capsicum with mild hints of granny smith apples and gooseberry citrusness. This wine has great acidity and is so refreshing. It would be a great summer wine. 4/5 (13% abv) Majestic Wine

After the presents were opened, we waited for Christmas dinner to be ready by drinking some beautiful sherry.

Apostoles, Palo Cotrtado Vieja, Jerez, Spain

This is a great 30yr old sherry which has aged extremely well. This wine perfectly balances the sweet and savoury spectrum of sherry. You get lovely sweet toffee with a salty aftertaste. This is a great sherry and would be perfect with cheese. 4.3/5 (20% abv) Majestic Wines £15.99

The wine we had with Christmas dinner was the one I had been looking forward to the most. I wanted to introduce my father to the wonderful world of Tyrrell's wine - and what a better way to do it than with the Vat 47 Chardonnay.

Tyrrell's Wines, Vat 47 Hunter Chardonnay, Hunter Valley, Australia

This was a beautifully fresh wine with a creamy, oaky texture. This is a great wine with plenty of orchard flavours. The rich creaminess of the palate is amazing - yet the wine seems perfectly balanced. As I said yesterday - there is a reason why Tyrrell's wines are iconic.....the two Tyrrell's wines I have had this Christmas have proven why - Tyrrell's wines rock! 4.7/5 (14.5% abv) Majestic Wines £27

As we had dessert, we opened a nice little dessert wine to go with it.

Browns Bothers, Special Late Harvested, Orange Muscat and Flora, 2008, Victoria, Australia

This was an ultra sweet wine with aromas of honey and nectarine with some hints of mandarin and white grape. It had a lovely delicate aftertaste. Such a nice wine and actually a pretty good match to most desserts. 3.9/5 (10.5% abv) Widely Available

The Christmas Wines have begun!

I have been looking forward to Christmas ever since I organised my Christmas Wine List. I decided that this year I would try some of the wines I have been keeping back; after all if you can't celebrate at Christmas - when can you?

I know it's Christmas Eve - but this year my wife and I celebrated our Christmas on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas Day with both sets of parents! We started off the day with our usual Christmas breakfast - smoked salmon and scrambled egg...accompanied with champagne!

Henriot, Blanc Souverain, NV Champagne, France

This was a beautifully classic, crisp champagne with lovely toasty edges. There was a good content stream of bubbles in this champagne. It went perfectly with breakfast.

Later, as the day progressed, it was time for something completely different....

Chateau Batailley, Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 2004, Bordeaux, France.

This was a beautiful, dark brooding wine with loads of dark cherry, blackberry and plum aromas. The wine has been exposed to oak - like most Bordeaux but it didn't over dominate the wine. There were hints of smokey cedar and cigar box. The palate was super soft ad silky with some smokey dark fruit flavours. I would get this wine again. 4.6/5 (13% abv) Majestic Wines £30

The last wine of the day accompanied our Christmas dinner. I will openly admit that I have a soft spot for Tyrrell's wines. Tyrrell's was the fist winery I ever visited and I was blown away by their wine. This visit to Tyrrell's was one of the primary catalysts to my passion for wine. This was a wine that I have been looking forward to having again for a while.

Tyrrell's Wines, Vat 1, Hunter Semillon, 2000, Hunter Valley, Australia

This is an awesome wine - light, crisp, clean and fresh - I can't believe that it's 11yrs old, it doesn't taste like it has aged at all. There is plenty of honey and citrus aromas on the nose with some white pear, apricots and a touch of peach. This wine has great acidity with all the fresh fruit flavours carrying over to the palate. This really is a great wine - there is a reason this wine is iconic and it certainly lives up to the hype! I am so glad I have one bottle left. 4.8/5 (11% abv)

Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz

Jim Barry, The Lodge Hill Shiraz, 2009, Clare Valley, Australia

The nose on this wine is full and perfumed. It's full of blackcurrant, violets, black wine gums and blackcurrant cordial. There is a slight floral edge to this wine with tiny hints of cinnamon. As well as the blackcurrant there's loads of big ripe, sweet cherry aromas and a touch of mocha. The palate is lush and bursting with more blackcurrant and cherry flavours. The palate also has more mocha but also a nice spicy kick to it with a hint of mint. There are also some lovely fine grained tannins in this wine providing some nice structure. This wine is still young (2009), it would be interesting to see what it's like in 2 years time - if it lasts that long! This is a great wine to come home to and a great way to start the Christmas break! 4.5/5 (14.5% abv) Majestic Wines

The Heirloom Shiraz

Last night we went over to 'Pinot Guys' house. I took over a bottle which I already knew he had tried and loved. My wife and I were helping 'Pinot Guy' and his wife to babysit a friends baby.....really it was just an excuse to hang out!

The Heirloom, Shiraz, 2009, Barossa Valley, Australia

This is another wine that I tried at the Wine Gang's Christmas Wine Fair. I loved this wine and remember writing down in the brochure - "this is why I love wine". I was shocked to find out that this wine is now being stocked at Tesco. This wine is awesome. The nose is full and big, dark and sultry. The nose is full of blackcurrant and sultry violets. There is a great, spicy edge to this wine. You could get lost in this wine. The nose is almost like blackcurrant cordial and black wine gums. The palate is dark and not as sweet as the nose. You still get plenty of spicy blackcurrant but the palate is much drier. This wine has tight, grippy tannins which will develop with some bottle age. The use of oak has added some structure but takes a backseat and doesn't dominate the wine. The length is poised and long. A great wine. 4.6/5 (14.5% abv) Tesco

Australian Durif Shiraz

The Black Stump, Durif Shiraz, 2010, South Eastern Australia

Tonight, it was time to open another wine that I tried at the Wine Gang's Christmas Wine Fair. I loved this wine during the show. Opening my own bottle reminded me of how good this wine was.

This is a beautiful, dark, engaging wine. This wine is full of dark berry aromas - lots of blackberry and some sweet liquorice. The wine also has some lighter elements, hinting at crushed raspberries. The palate is silky and smooth with perfectly integrated oak. As well as plenty more dark berries the palate also has a smokey edge with hints of tobacco and dark chocolate. This is a great wine and was great value for money at only £7.99 4.3/5 (14% abv) Laithwaites.

Les Cascadelles Pouilly Fume

I will admit, I have a bad habit: I buy wine and then keep it back waiting for a certain event to occur or a certain person to come over for dinner before I open them....the events seems to get delayed and while the friends come over, the wine and food matches seem to differ from the wine I was keeping back.....therefore the wine just sits there and gets older and older - sometimes even getting past its best!

This is a habit I am trying to break - the wine has been bought to be drunk.

Tonight's wine is one of those wines that I have been keeping back - so tonight it is time to open it. Event or no event!

Les Cascadelles, Pouilly Fume, 2007, Loire Valley, France

The nose is lively and fresh. The nose if full of intense lemon and lime aromas with hints of gooseberry. The nose is alive and wakes you up. The palate is also full of limes and lemons with flavours of granny smiths and orchards. This wine has nice acidity and a great length. This is a lovely wine which has lasted well. This wine would be great on a hot summers afternoon. 3.9/5 (12.5% abv)

Friday Night Bordeaux

Tonight, I thought I would go for something a bit different.

Chateau Siaurac, Lalande de Pomerol, 2006, Bordeaux, France

This wine is part of the Baronne de Guichard portfolio. The wine is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The nose is full of blackberry, blueberry, dark plums, mocha with hints of violet and underpinnings of tobacco. There is a bit of a floral edge to this wine. The palate is full of dark berries and more floral flavours. The wine is quite light; it is not as dark, heavy, oaky and tannic as I was expecting. The tannins are soft. The length is quite nice and again not too heavy. This is a lighter Bordeaux than I was expecting and is actually quite a refreshing change. This would be really good with a roast beef dinner with all the trimmings 3.9/5 (13.5% abv)

The Stunning Anakena Ona

Tonight I opened a bottle that I have had my eye on for a while but have deliberately been keeping back - tonight the pressure became too great......I opened it!

Anakena 'Ona' Pinot Noir Merlot 2006, Casablanca Valley, Chile

This wine is 79% Pinot Noir, 15% Merlot, 3% Syrah and 3% Viognier. On paper this is a combination that shouldn't work - however this wine has been made perfectly and it works oh so well! This wine has a beautiful, rich, ripe, opulent nose full of big, dark cherries, plum and crushed raspberries. The depth of ripe, black cherry aroma is mind blowing. It's intense and amazing. The nose is almost like thick cherry jam/cordial. The palate is dark and thick with more black cherry but with some spiciness and oaky structural complexity. This wine presents layer upon layer of cherry, spice and oak. The tannins are soft and the length just keeps on going. This is a great wine. This was my last bottle - I am desperate to get some more! 4.6/5 (14.5% abv)

Another Cheeky Majestic tasting & an Old Loosen Rose

Last night on the way home from work I stopped by my local Majestic - just to see what they had on the tasting counter. I was so glad I did.

Majestic Sonning had the new range from Chase on tasting. These spirits and liqueurs are divine.

The Marmalade Vodka wowed me and literally tasted like someone had just dropped a spoon full of marmalade in the glass - it was fantastic. The manager was talking about marmalade martinis on Christmas day...great idea!

The liqueurs were something that normally I would have passed by but I was encouraged to taste them. I tasted the blackcurrant and the raspberry - both were exquisite and will definitely be on my shopping list the next time I am at Majestic Sonning. The blackcurrant was thick and sweet and tasted like blackcurrant cordial. The raspberry was probably my favourite and honestly tasted like the jam from the inside of a jam doughnut - superb.

Later that evening, I decided to open up a bottle that I was aiming to have over the summer, but due to the shockingly bad weather we had, it never got opened! This wine was getting a bit old, so I was glad I opened it as I am not sure how much longer it would last.

Dr. Loosen, 'Villa Wolf' Rose de Pinot Noir, 2006, Pflaz, Germany

The wine had a beautiful, pinky amber colour to it. This is such a delicate and poised wine that it doesn't give much away. The nose has hints of strawberry, raspberry and apricot with summer fruit pudding and the faintest hint of clementine. The palate is super soft and lightly fragrant. You get more of those summer berries but also with some nice acidity. This is such a delicate wine that if you didn't concentrate on it, you would miss what it had to offer. This would be a great wine with a BBQ in the summer or on a picnic on a hot summer's afternoon. 3.8/5 (10.5% abv)

The Return of the Penalolen

Last night I opened a wine that I have been drinking for a while. The amazing Penalolen! This was a wine that I used to get from Oddbins; when Oddbins started having 'issues' I was devastated that I could no longer get hold of this wine. However, I am so glad that Majestic have now included this wine in their new Chilean range.

Penalolen, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009, Maipo Valley, Chile

This wine is rich and lush and as good as I remember it. The nose is full of rich, juicy berry fruits. There's plenty of blackberry, blackcurrants, raspberry and plum. The nose also has some sweet, chocolatey, mocha aromas too. There is also a slight herby, floral edge to this wine. The palate is bursting with ripe flavours, full of dark berries and hints of spicy chocolate and tobacco. The tannins are lovely and soft, the length is long and the oak has been integrated beautifully. It would be interesting to see how this wine has developed in a years time....if it lasts that long! 4.4/5 (14%) Majestic Wine.

The Waxed Bat

Last night I opened one of the bottles I tried at the Wine Gangs Christmas Wine Fair 2011. I loved this wine at the tasting and decided I must get my hands on a bottle - so a week or so later a trip to Laithwaites in Theale was in order. I tried to hold off as long as I could - but last night I buckled under the pressure!

The Waxed Bat, Shiraz Petit Verdot Malbec, 2010, Mendoza, Argentina

This wine was as good as I remembered it to be. The nose is sultry with dark berry fruits with hints of cinnamon and a slight smokey spiciness. The palate is thick and dark with pre-dominantly blackberry aromas with plenty of pepper characteristics and hints of raspberry on the aftertaste. The tannins are soft and supple. This wine has a brilliant use of oak providing structured hints of cigar box. This is tasting great now, especially considering how young it is - it will taste even better with a bit of bottle age. 4.3/5 (14% abv) Laithwaites

An Ageing La Motte Sauvignon Blanc

I have realised that I have a few bottles of white wine which have been laying around for some time. With the Rieslings, this is not a bad thing - aged Riesling can be awesome. However, with some of the others, it's time to drink up or run the risk of them going past their best - tonight's wine is one of those ageing wines!

La Motte, Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, Franschhoek Valley, South Africa

This is a bit old for a Sauvignon Blanc but still has a lovely fragrant nose, full of white and stone fruits. There is some citrus here too. This smells a bit matured, developed and poised. After some air you can get some white pear and the faintest hint of pineapple. The palate is perfumed, with more of the white pear characters, it is also a bit oily. The palate is a bit thick, maybe this is due to the age. The wine maker says this is an unwooded Sauvignon Blanc - I don't think I have ever had an oaked Sauvignon Blanc. I tasted this when it was younger and it was much better and more fragrant; this time it's my fault, I've left it too long! The lesson here: don't put off till tomorrow what you can drink today! 3.5/5 (when this was younger it would have been 4.1/5) 13.5% abv

Majestic Sonning: Wine Walk

Last night I went to the 'Wine Walk' held by my local Majestic Wines branch - Sonning. To be honest, Sonning is one of the better Majestics that I have been to - great, friendly staff, good range, its roomy and bright and all round a good wine buying experience. I have been to a 'wine walk' before so my excitement gradually grew through the day as I had a rough idea of what to expect. Last night however, Sonning pulled out all the stops! It was by far the best wine walk I have been on to date. The selection was great and the food counter just added to the whole exeprience with some lovely breads, cheeses and a charcuterie board. All in all it was a great night of tasting through the winter range.

The wine list included:

Green Point Brut Rose NV
Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2008
Vocoret Chablis Premier Cru 'Les Forets' 2010
Black Cottage Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Marlborough
Heggies Chardonnay 2010 Eden Valley
Vouvray Demi-Sec 'La Bourdonnerie' 2010
Leyda Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010
DOmaine de Villemajou 2009 Corbieres Boutenac
Saint-Joseph 2009 Vidal-Fleury
Chateau Lebegorce 2002 Margaux
Taylor's 10 year old Tawny Port

Stand out wines for me were probably -
Trimbach which didn't give much away but was fresh and balanced.
The Black Cottage which was classically Marlborough Sauvignon
The Margaux which had aged well and tasted mature and developed with plenty of layers of complexity.
The Taylor's Tawny Port this was a lovely way to end the tasting - full of lovely nutty aromas and dried fruits and Christmas pudding.


As well as a great tasting, there were also a few other surprises in store. The Sonning branch had a rep from the Martin Millers Gin company there making G&Ts for everyone at the tasting. Martin Millers is a great, smooth gin. Apprently the secret is that the gin is distilled in England and chilled in Iceland where they also add the lemon, lime, cucumber and sweet licorice flavours.

The other surprise was there was also a rep from Vinalba. This allowed us to have a tutored tasting through the Vinalba range. The wines on show were:

Vinalba Torrontes 2011
Vinalba Malbec (80%) Touriga Nacional (20%) 2009
Vinalba Malbec Reserva 2009
Vinalba Bordeaux Blend 2010
Vinalba Gran Reserva Malbec 2008

All of the wines were showing really well. In all fairness the Gran Reserva was the stand out wine for me, however the reserva was also very good and would probably be the one I would drink more of.

All in all it was a great night. Thanks Majestic Sonning for putting on such a great 'Wine Walk' - sign me up for the next one!