Currently Sommelier and Bar Manager at St John’s College, Oxford, Yannick Joseph has had a long and stellar career in both catering and the world of wine. An award-winning chef, expert in champagnes, born in the Auvergne and also expert on the wines of the Loire and Rhône as well as the Auvergne, Yannick brought a unique, refreshingly different and very personal approach to this tasting.

On 21st March, we were privileged to host Richard Kelley MW at St Cross for his 8th tasting for the Club. For this very special event, he returned to the Loire, specifically to the wines of Domaine Huet. For Richard the wines of Huet were truly life-changing. Why?

Well, in 1981, at the Bristol Wine Fair, a young man from a teetotal family had a taste of Huet 1969. From that was born in Richard a lifelong passion for the wines of Chenin Blanc, the ‘world’s greatest grape’. The Loire - an ‘underdog region’ in France - was ‘on our doorstep’ and over the last forty years Richard has not only got to know the region intimately but also the vignerons who have devoted their lives to Chenin Blanc.

Approximately 50 OWC members gathered at the Cherwell Boathouse Marquee on a mild winter evening for a wonderful ‘Greek odyssey’ tasting of some of the best in Greek wines. Our speaker, Czech born MW Lenka Sedlackova, who now works at Bancroft wines, is on the Greek wines judging panels for both Decanter and the recently established 50 Best Greek Wines Award.

For those who are unfamiliar with the ‘Call my bluff’ format, ‘en bref’ it is an evening of fun and involves a competitive viniferous guessing game. Each of the ‘wise men’ in turn describes the wine that has been poured then each table must guess which of the three is telling the truth. At the end of the evening the table with the most correct guesses wins. It probably took new members and guests a few minutes to settle into the rhythm of bluff and double bluff, however those familiar with the format, including our ‘Bluffers’, certainly pitched in with gusto.

The word ‘selected’ considerably underplays Mark’s generosity when he presented seven spectacular sweet wines to the Club at St Cross on 22 November.

For Mark, wines are under an imperative duty to be interesting. If they’re not, he’s not. In the case of sweet wines that means he’s always looking for good natural acidity so that the wines are not just ‘sweet’ but offer the possibility of refreshment. For our tasting he also wanted to show how these wines age. As he said, everyone knows what a young Sauternes tastes like – and he feels that in their middle years many sweet wines are uninteresting - but once they have thirty or forty years age? Well, we’ll come to that later…

A little over 40 OWC members and guests attended a tasting of wines from Brazil, presented by Nicholas Corfe, Managing Director of Go Brazil Wine and Spirits. We tasted a range of eight quality wines from recent vintages ranging from a traditional method sparkling wine to a fortified late harvest Tannat. The vast majority of those present had never before tasted good quality Brazilian wines. Thus, the evening proved to be an eye-opening and informative moment for many. Before sampling the wines, Nic gave us a brief outline of the history and geography of winemaking in Brazil which I have attempted to summarise below.

John Livingstone-Learmonth’s tasting of the wines of the Rhône at St Cross on 19^th September was remarkable for its passion, its erudition and the quality of the wines he showed. Rightly this was a full house of members – over 70 in total – a tribute to the man and his subject.

The Club members were treated to a highly entertaining and informative presentation on the world of rosé by Provence resident, rosé producer, and rosé specialist Elizabeth Gabay MW. (A return visit to the Club. She made a first presentation to us several years ago).

The wines tasted were:

Mateus Rose

Shypoke, Rosé of Charbono 2020.

Troupis Route Gris Moschofilero 2021.

Cabernet d’Anjou: Chateau La Tomaze Rosé 2020

Château de Manissy, Tavel Rosé Tet de Cuvée

Saint-Chinian: Château Milhau-Lacugue Rosé 2020

Rioja Rosado, Finca Allende 2017

Alto Piemonte, Al Posto dei Fiori, Le Pianelle Rosato 2018

Aoton Lola Retsina Rosé 2018

‘Ten wines, ten different aspects of Rioja.’ Such was Andrew Halliwell’s pitch when he came to talk to Club members at St Cross College (a new and very successful venue for the Club).

And ten wines there were: a sparkling Rioja, a rare Tempranillo Blanco, a rosé made by Andrew himself at Bodega Obalo, and then seven reds ranging from examples of new wave, fruit-driven wines from Garnacha and Maturano Tinto to more traditional, Tempranillo- and oak-dominated wines.

A wonderful tasting of wines from the Wine Society’s portfolio, illustrating the effects of terroir on the choice of grape variety in California and Oregon and contrasting wine making techniques. A sparkling wine (Quartet Anderson Valley Brut, Roederer Estates NV) was the entry wine followed by four pairings:

1.  Elk Cove Vineyards Williamette Valley Estate Pinot Blanc 2021 versus Epiphany Santa Barbara Grenache Blanc 2018
2. Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Chardonnay 2020 versus Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2021
3. Fess Parker Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2021 versus Piedrasassi Sta. Rita Hills Sebastiano-Patterson Vineyard Syrah 2017
4. Long Meadow Ranch Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 versus Once and Future Dickerson Vineyard Napa Zinfandel 2020.

The presenter, Sarah Knowles, who has responsibility for wine buying at the Wine Society for Champagne and Italy as well as North America, also discussed her ‘wine journey’ from geography undergraduate to MW.