September 2015 - Broadening your Horizons

This month we had our very own Tony, presenting unusual wines from unusual countries – or “Broadening your Horizons". He went to a lot of time & effort finding and sourcing all these wines with a couple of good finds. All the wines are from M&S, except the Macedonian.

White

India: Jewel of Nasik – Sauvignon Blanc. £7 – Worth a punt. Pretty decent white.

Japan: Sol Lucent Koshu – Koshu. £13. Koshu is apparently Japans Number 1 grape. Well, no. Just don't. Tasted of almost nothing. There are a million better ways of spending £13 per bottle

Croatia: Marko & Marino – Malvasia. £10. Rounded, Well bodied. Reasonable.

Red

England: Spirit of London – European Grapes. £16. This is a wine made in London of European grapes. Its OK. But you can get the same quality for less than half the price. Why bother? I can't really understand the target market here.

Macedonia: Aemilia – Shiraz, Vranac, Petit Verdot £9.99 (Waitrose) – Pretty decent. Deep black, good tannins. Worth a go.

Israel: Raconati – Carignan, Petit Syrah. £10. A very decent wine - But you can (could?) get it at £6 online if you buy a case. Which would be a steal.

Georgia: Ordvela – Saperavi. £16.99. A very respectable wine, and just a little different. Might be worth trying, but it is a touch on the pricy side.

Greece: Anthemis – Vind de Liqueur of Samos. A good sticky..

A good evening...

August 2015 - Brazilian Wines – Nicholas Corfe of Go Brazil

Nick presented some excellent wines, which are also excellent value. Brazil is not the first country that comes to mind when you think of wine, but the south of Brazil is roughly the same latitude as the wine growing areas of Chile,Argentina and Uruguay. Most of the wines here come from that area, with the Rio Sol coming from 8 degrees off the equator – which gives 2 crops a year!

The favourites were the Sanjo Moscato, which is a classic muscat – tasitng of grapes, clean, fresh and well made; the Amadeu sparkler which compares very well with many Champagnes at the same price; and the Assinatura which was the star of the evening – even at the price. Nick kindly gave us a modest discount and we rustled up enough to order 4 cases of wine – 16 of the Assinatura, which speaks volumes of how well liked it was.

All the whites were clean, fresh, well made, so chose your poisin, the reds also very good although the Rio Sol is perhaps a bit so-so.

All in all some great wines, and well worth investigating. Give them a go.....

AmadeuSparkling Brut Champenoise 2013 12.5% £17

Sanjo Moscato 13% £9

Campos de Cima Viognier 2014 13% £11

Sanjo Nubio Sauvignon Blanc 2013 13.5% £12

Rio Sol Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 13% £9

Pizzato Fuasto Tannat 2010 13% £11

Sanjo Nubio Malbec 2013 12% £13

Campo de Cima Assintura 2014 13% £18