PRE-CHRISTMAS STICKIES – 30 NOVEMBER 2004

Local independent wine merchant Andrew Chapman’s first visit to the Club blended together information, fascinating wines and a few cookery hints into a heady cocktail.

Nine very different sweet wines were tasted, and in the first section the differences that climate and soil can make on the same grape variety were clearly illustrated as we tasted two Rieslings followed by two Semillon-based wines. The first Riesling, from the Mount Horrocks vineyard in Australia’s Clare Valley, had been produced from cordon-cut vines to ensure concentration of flavour. The second, from the Forrest Estate in New Zealand’s Marlborough region, was more botrytised in style but with good balancing acidity. Andrew told us this wine is excellent with strawberries or crème brûlée! The first of our Semillon wines, a Sauternes from Château Castelnau de Suduiraut, proved more subtle in style than the Tim Adams botrytised Semillion, which showed greater bottle age and more balancing acidity. Most members agreed that the Sauternes was a little disappointing (reflecting the fact that you don't get a lot for your money in Sauternes at this level) and that the Tim Adams Semillon represented much better value for money. Andrew’s menu suggestions for the Tim Adams included lemon tart and tarte tatin.

The second part of the tasting introduced us to five different grape varieties, methods and geographies, as we experienced a Trockenbeerenauslese, made from a variety of grapes which had been selected individually by hand to ensure the correct levels of ripeness had been reached. A 6 Puttonyos Tokaji followed, in which heavily botrytised grapes had been added to a dry base wine. Perhaps the greatest revelation of the evening was a Valpolicello Recioto Classico, which had both sweet and savoury flavour notes and Andrew assured us goes very well with blue cheeses.

The last two wines, a Californian Orange Muscat from a producer with an evident sense of humour (his range includes a port-type wine called Starboard) and an Australian Muscat from Campbells in Rutherglen, brought us to an intense tasting conclusion. Both wines have sufficient structure to deal with the richest of dishes, including those notoriously difficult to match like chocolate puddings.

The evening ended with a welcome opportunity to socialise, quiz Andrew further about the wines and to experience the wines alongside a variety of pâtés and cheeses. Well done to all those concerned for a wonderfully friendly and informative evening.