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22 JUNE 2004 : SAUVIGNON BLANC AROUND THE WORLD : KAREN HYDE
On a sadly cold and wet evening our Club Secretary, Karen Hyde, took us on a world tour, with the surprisingly versatile Sauvignon Blanc grape as our constant companion. For those who attended the tasting convinced the Sauvigon Blanc grape could not produce a satisfactory sweet or oaked end result, Karen proved otherwise, accompanied by a detailed and fascinating explanation of how differing viticultural and vinification practices could impact, and climate and soil affect this noble grape to produce such varied results. The Santa Rita Sauvignon Blanc from Chile's Casablanca Valley provided perhaps the most unexpected surprise of the evening, with its lower acidity, lemon/citrus nose and excellent length. Perhaps a foretaste of what we will experience in next season's Chile versus Argentina session? HRE.
14 JUNE 2004 : AGM
Paying tribute to Charles Garrett, Graham Harding stressed his unique place in the history of the Club and the gratitude of all members for his inspiration and effectiveness in building it up. He leaves a huge gap in the administration and direction of the Club. In recognition of all he has done for us Charles will now become Honorary Life Vice-President of the Club. Graham also thanked Hilary for her work as Chair of the Committee over the last year. Hilary will be staying on as a Committee Member so we will continue to have the benefit of her experience. Lastly, Graham put in a plea for all Members who have a view on the work of the Committee – whether complimentary or otherwise – to let us know. We welcome suggestions, comments – and criticisms. GH.
The tasting which followed the AGM, led by Club Committee Member Hans Sundin, provided an opportunity for each table of tasters to pit its wits against a carefully chosen pairing of three sets of wines. Hans guided us expertly, and with his inimitable dry sense of humour, through the contrasting features of a Vouvray versus a New Zealand Gisborne organic Chenin Blanc, a Zinfandel from California versus an Italian Primitivo/Syrah and a Lirac versus a Chateauneuf du Pape. As ever, the exercise proved a salutory lesson to all those whose assumptions and preconceptions were called into question as the answers were revealed, amongst much hilarity. HRE.
26 MAY 2004 : BURGUNDY : JASPER MORRIS
Club Vice President Japer Morris lives in Burgundy for a good part of each year. At the tasting on 26 May, he made everyone who attended feel as if they too were an honorary Burgundian. So vivid and memorable were his stories I know can't have been the only person who left the tasting feeling as if I had actually met the winemakers and knew their family histories, while clutching my list of restaurant recommendations for the next time I visited Beaune, Macon or Pernand Verglesses! With a light touch and a strong sense of humour, Jasper tutored us through the importance of the topography and geology of the Cote de Nuits, and explained the significance of the contrasting approaches to wine making to be found amongst the tasting samples. The concept of fruit and flower days in biodynamic winemaking was certainly new to me! From the organic Bourgogne Rouge, out of the stable of vineyards owned by former negotiant Jean-Claude Bousset, to the 'mystery' wine (a Patrice Rion Chambolle Musigny 1996) Jasper produced a constant flow of exciting contrasts. A truly fascinating evening. Don’t miss Jasper’s next visit – whenever we’re fortunate enough to get space in his diary. HRE.
FEBRUARY 2003 : MYTHS AND LEGENDS : CHARLES GARRETT
Many thanks to all who braved the unfamiliar territory of wine myths and legends. They were rewarded with the New Zealand Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc in good form, and generally agreed to come out ahead of its rival. There was also the opportunity to taste two Swiss wines among various others – quite a revelation to many of us. There also turned out to be an opportunity to win some wine – two bottles were awarded to two people who identified the link between Cloudy Bay and Oxford.
MARCH 2003: TOP BURGUNDY : MICHAEL PALIJ MW
Commiserations to those who had to drop out of the March Top Burgundy tasting for various reasons. This meant that the patience of several people on the reserve list was finally rewarded and we had a full house!
Hunting down top Burgundy with some bottle age proved to be quite a challenge. Good Burgundy is of course produced in small quantities and so older wines are much less available than high quality Bordeaux. It can be very frustrating to track down what seems to be a promising wine at a manageable price (yes, even extravaganzas like this have their price limits), only to discover that there are not quite enough bottles to meet our needs! However, via telephone, sales, price lists, internet and auction, we finally came up with eleven wines.
When it came finally to the tasting, Michael Palij was on excellent form and we were treated to a tour de force in terms of the presentation and information to absorb. There were some stunning wines (a Chablis and a Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru among the whites and a Morey-St-Denis Premier Cru, a Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru and a Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru among the reds, to name my personal favourites). There were also learning experiences: a white Grand Cru certainly did not justify its reputation or price, showing lack of commitment to quality on the part of the producer, and a 1989 red Cru Cru, fabulous when opened for decanting, was giving off lots of volatile acidity when we came to it – but the quality was till evident. The Mazy-Chambertin 1997 at £32.25 showed that although High quality Burgundy is undoubtedly expensive, the odd bottle is affordable for special occasions – as members have subsequently proved by buying a total of 48 bottles!
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