April 2012 - the AGM. Wines by the Committee

And so, the AGM. As usual, we did a committee tasting, with a selection of wines from around the world.

We had, the Whites:

Vouvray Demi-Sec 2009 Domaine Bourillon-Dorléans £7.99

Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc 2009/2010 Marlborough £6.99

Gavi di Gavi 2009 La Toledana £9.99

McGuigan Chardonnay 2007/2009 South Eastern Australia £7.99

And the Reds

Gestos Malbec 2009 Finca Flichman, Mendoza £6.49

Agentinian Fairtrade Malbec, Cooperative £???

Côtes du Rhône 2006 E Guigal £8.99

Rioja Gran Reserva 2002/2003 Casa del Comendador, Lagunilla £7.98

The Chardonnay was interesting, as we had (by accident) both a 2007 and a 2009 bottle – both picked off the same shelf at Majestic. The 2007 was more “old style”, oaky, full-bodied, buttery, while the 2009 was lighter and fresher. How much of this reflects changing wine making styles, and how much was due to the age difference is anyone’s guess.

The Rioja, at 10 years old, was definitely showing its age, with a real brown tinge to the colour. I thought it was past it's best.

All in all a good selection of wines – which is just as well, as they were our emergency wines, held just in case a speaker did not show up. It was time to drink them....

Also, we had a vote on the meeting fee – its been £7 for a few years now, and as we have burned through the £5000 we managed to accumulate 5 years ago, its now time to balance the books. So we have increased it to £8 per meeting. Its quite surprising how wine has shot up in price. It only seems like yesterday when you could get a good bottle for a fiver – now its more like £8 or so.