January’s meeting of the Moleside Wine Tasters as usual pulled no punches in its search for the best from our local suppliers and we invited new member Chris Dick to share his impressions with us.
Chris writes “This was my first visit to the monthly event and my immediate impression was one of inclusiveness and good humour.
Eleven of us gathered at our usual Church Gate House venue to taste – by coincidence – eleven wines. The supplier particularly under our spotlight his month was Sainsbury’s.
The wine prices ranged from a £5.85 Cava that could go well with a sweet dessert – and not much else – to a very pleasant £12 dessert wine from Hungary.
But resting in between was a mixed bag and the whites didn’t get us off to an encouraging start with reactions covering a full spectrum from ‘yuk’ to ‘at least the bottle would make a good candle holder in a power failure’ (Ed: Thanks David for that one).
Actually my personal favourite comment, relating to a white Malbec, was: ‘Water left over from a miracle that never quite became wine.’
We were all most relieved when the red wine (No. 5) came out.: The Trivento Private Reserve 2021
‘Phew red at last … where’s the steak?’.
Indeed two of us voted that this was the best wine of the group.
Actually all the reds were well received – as was that Hungarian dessert wine (No.11) – The Royal Tokai Late Harvest 2021.
But there was an overall clear winner that we could put forward as the Moleside Probus Wine of the Month.
Number 8. An Italian Memoro Puccini 2019 available from Sainsbury’s for £10.
STOP PRESS – Reliable sources report that, at the time of publishing,
this is available at Sainsbury’s as a Special Offer – £6.50
Our thanks to our regular visiting mentor Trudy Welsh for her knowledge and easy manner and of course for her delicious cupcakes …. to go with the dessert wine.
What delighted me as a first timer at one of these regular Moleside sessions is Trudy’s ability to switch between her detailed knowledge of the wine, the grower – she seems to know many of them well – soil, climate and precise location.
And she integrates all this understanding with her numerous anecdotes and tips which produced some very humorous and most enjoyable exchanges.
If you would like to try out a club wine tasting meet it costs £20 and all members need do is contact Bob John for the essential details. Look forward to seeing you there.’
Thanks Chris and our thanks as ever to Bob, the two Davids and Trudy herself for another colourful Moleside Wine Tasting.
The next meeting of the Wine Group is on Thursday 23 February.
And to reach reports on our previous meetings click TAGS below.