The Wine Society

I've been looking at The Wine Society website for a little while, wondering about their vast variety of wines and contemplating joining. I was delighted at Christmas when our grown up children bought us membership and my drooling, contemplating and pondering could at last have the final stage of ordering and most importantly tasting.

The Wine Society first began at the Great Exhibitions in 1874 when a co-operative company began to buy good quality wines and sell them to members. Over 1500 wines are sourced by nine buyers and sold to members; the Society is non-profit making with surplus monies being used to enhance service and supplies.

Membership is a one-off fee of £40 giving you a unique share number. Our membership came with a £20 voucher off our first order which was an added bonus.

And so to choosing wine - what a task ! We decided to choose a random selection as opposed to a mixed case, although we were tempted by Top Society Sellers - a case of the top selling Society wines, 6 red and 6 white. 

Our 'name-the-day' delivery arrived as arranged and we opened our box in eager anticipation. All the wines looked tempting however we dutifully laid them in our rack ready for selection as required, and as we have now tried a few I thought it time to blog our findings (all photos are from The Wine Society page) - tasting notes are always subjective but here's what we discovered.

Duo des Deux Mers - France 2013 I was very intrigued with this wine, and I loved it.

It's from the south of France but as the name suggests from two regions. The duo refers to the two grapes in this white, sauvignon from Gascony and viognier from the Languedoc; Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean being the two seas. 

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A lovely pale yellow colour with a nose full of gooseberries and pineapples, with a background of crisp green apple. It had a slightly syrupy palette with a smooth finish. A pure dry tasting wine full of  kiwi and gooseberry flavours - but without being sharp or acidic.





The Stop Gap Chardonnay - France 2013  Another wine that interested me because of its origins, fruit from the Languedoc and Beaujolais, and another I loved.

This white burgundy had a deep yellow colour which matched its creamy vanillaness. It was full of pears, peaches with a spicy tingle to its finish. A lovely unoaked wine with a nose of red apples and just a hint of vanilla.







The Society's Ruppertsberger - Germany 2013  Not our usual choice of grape but this German Riesling caught our eye; it's blended with silvaner which is a new name to us.

Very sparkly in the glass, its straw yellow having striking highlights. We were expecting an oily nose but this Riesling was full of green grass and apples, quite refreshing. It's palette was smooth and cream, with some vanilla; a little like a chardonnay but with a crisp sauvignon finish - not at all as we expected but very much enjoyed.

The Society's Cotes du Rhone - France 2103 A favourite red grape and a part of France we love so we were keen to try this wine.

A beautiful deep red colour with scarlet highlights led to a nose full of damsons and cherries. Our mouths were filled with the same damsons, sour cherries but joined with a smokey dryness that had a smooth finish. An really enjoyable soft Cotes du Rhone that was without oak and full of fruit.

This will be on our favourites list - a lovely example of a smooth french wine.






Malabarista Tempranillo-Granache - Spain 2012  This wine again is not our usual choice, we are not keen on Rioja but this is from the neighbouring region of Navarra.


It's nose was full of dark fruit but yet quite light, unlike it's colour which was a deep, almost claret-like red. Quite acidic high notes were immediately evident on tasting followed by damsons, plums and a slight aniseed/liquorice note. It was certainly full flavoured with slight tannin and long finish.





We have enjoyed our first few wines from The Wine Society, not only tasting but discovering more about them and adding notes to our tasting book. It's great to have the catalogue to mark wines we've tried - a book that will be travelling with us next weekend as we're visiting France and will have the opportunity to call in at Montreuil-sur-Mer and the Wine Society's french shop.