The venue, The Ballroom, City Rooms, was in the older part of the city centre. A lovely, if a little tired, building with huge chandeliers in the foyer and a double aspect stairway leading into The Ballroom.
Emma Briffett and Joe Granger, members of the Events Team greeted us at the door, explaining the layout of the room along with a booklet detailing all the wines. The venue was a large spacious room with four tables for the wine along the longest walls and a cheese and biscuits table at each end of the room; it was very easy to move around and sample the various wines.
The Buyers were asked to chose their favourite wine in four categories: Alfresco, Party Faithful, Food & Wine and New Discoveries. From their choices 20 wines were selected for this tasting.
We began with the two sparkling wines on offer: Cava Conde de Haro Brut 2012 and Crémant de Limoux Cuvée Saint-Laurent Antech 2013. Both fine examples of sparkling wine made in the traditional method, the first having larger bubbles.
The nose of the Cava reminded me of my Dad bringing in a large red glass bowl of gooseberries picked from the garden, it's amazing how wine can evoke such memories.
Of the two sparkling wines I preferred the Cremant with it's fine bubbles and delicate fresh flavour.
We decided to try the white wines first, something we cannot always do at other tastings as the rooms are often busier and it's harder to move around. The Wine Society had perfectly spaced the wines so all were accessible and so our first white was Tabali Reserva Especial Espinal Limari Chardonnay 2015 followed by The Society's Vin d'Alsace 2014.
The Vin d'Alsace had a mainly riesling taste with a hint of gewurztraminer. As Mark (buyer) suggested it would make a 'refreshing aperitif'.
Changing tables our next white was The Society's Vinho Verde 2015, a lovely refreshing wine with a light fizz. I would happily serve this instead of a sparkling wine as a pre-dinner drink when friends come round.
Wine number 8 was Stoneburn Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015, bringing a smile already as sauvignon blanc is my favourite grape.
Although from New Zealand it was a light wine with a good nose and a mid finish. It was chosen by Sarah Knowles and I really liked its crisp citrus flavours.
Picpoul de Pinet has been a favourite of mine for a few years, where previously it was a wine to bring home from our holidays in southern France it is now becoming popular and easily available here in the UK. It is the best wine with shellfish, I have yet to find a better match and the Domaine Félines-Jourdan 2015 on offer was no exception.
Moving tables again and to the other side of the room our next white was a bit of a surprise. Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese, von Kesselstratt 2008. A riesling from the Mosel I was very surprised how sweet it was, full of apricots but very sugary, not at all to my expectation.
The Society's Gruner Veltliner 2015 was our penultimate white, an Austrian white with a white pepper nose ans a dry crisp long finish. I seem to be on the same taste level as Sarah as it was another one of her choices and one of my favourites from the evening.
Our final white was from Gloucestershire's Three Choirs vineyard, Payford Bridge 2014. Another crisp white with a dry finish - it was nice to see English wine being included.
That was our first tour round the room so time for a pause, cheese and biscuits, glass of water and a little comparing of notes. Hubby and I have similar but not exactly the same tastes and it's always interesting to see what each of us discovered.
Time for the reds, this time we worked back down the tables so started with wine number 20, Ventoux, Martinelle 2013. My overall favourite, so rich and fruity with a hint of spice and conjured up instant memories of holidaying in France. I did go back at the end of the evening for another tasting, just to check!
Moldova is not a wine country we know very much about but have seen more wines starting to appear in the UK. This red was plentiful in dark cherries and for me had a slight liquorice flavour. not the sweet type but root liquorice. I quite liked Individo Feteasca Chateau Vartely 2014.
Chile was the source of our next red, Koyle Cerro Basalto Alto Colchague 2013. The most expensive wine at the tasting and one of the most popular. A great blend of mourvedre, grenache, syrah and carignan with a musky nose, dark fruit and a lengthy finish.
Pinot Noir is not a grape I am drawn to but the Pedroncelli Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2014 was a light example with red currant flavours and as suggested would go very well with pizza although it was 14%
We recently tried and enjoyed Sicilian wine for the first time, another opportunity with The Society's Sicilian Reserve Red 2012 being the next red for us to taste. This was slightly tannic with a kick of peppery spice amongst the dark fruits.
Back to France for another of my evening's favourites, Corbieres Rouge, Domaine du Trillol 2011. From the southern region of Languedoc this red was full of cherries and plums and instantly transported me back to many sunny holidays.It was a lovely full bodied red at 14.5% which would be amazing served with a juicy steak dinner.
Our final two reds were from opposite sides of the globe; Te Mata Estate Hawke's Bay Syrah 2013 from New Zealand and The Society's Beaujolais-Villages 2014 from France. Opposite tastes too with the Te Mata being full of sour cherries, blackberries and a spicy finish, and the Beaujolais being lighter with dry red fruits. Both good examples of their given varieties but given the choice I would chose the Syrah.
Our first Wine Society wine tasting evening came to an end all too son, having had a great time tasting and comparing wines as well as chatting to Emma, Joe and Robin McMillan (CEO).
Thank you to everyone involved for an educational, enjoyable wine journey.
| City Rooms, Leicester |
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| Tasting booklet |
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| Wine selectors - The Buying Team |
We began with the two sparkling wines on offer: Cava Conde de Haro Brut 2012 and Crémant de Limoux Cuvée Saint-Laurent Antech 2013. Both fine examples of sparkling wine made in the traditional method, the first having larger bubbles.The nose of the Cava reminded me of my Dad bringing in a large red glass bowl of gooseberries picked from the garden, it's amazing how wine can evoke such memories.
Of the two sparkling wines I preferred the Cremant with it's fine bubbles and delicate fresh flavour.
We decided to try the white wines first, something we cannot always do at other tastings as the rooms are often busier and it's harder to move around. The Wine Society had perfectly spaced the wines so all were accessible and so our first white was Tabali Reserva Especial Espinal Limari Chardonnay 2015 followed by The Society's Vin d'Alsace 2014.
The Vin d'Alsace had a mainly riesling taste with a hint of gewurztraminer. As Mark (buyer) suggested it would make a 'refreshing aperitif'.
Changing tables our next white was The Society's Vinho Verde 2015, a lovely refreshing wine with a light fizz. I would happily serve this instead of a sparkling wine as a pre-dinner drink when friends come round.
Wine number 8 was Stoneburn Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015, bringing a smile already as sauvignon blanc is my favourite grape.
Although from New Zealand it was a light wine with a good nose and a mid finish. It was chosen by Sarah Knowles and I really liked its crisp citrus flavours.
Picpoul de Pinet has been a favourite of mine for a few years, where previously it was a wine to bring home from our holidays in southern France it is now becoming popular and easily available here in the UK. It is the best wine with shellfish, I have yet to find a better match and the Domaine Félines-Jourdan 2015 on offer was no exception.
Moving tables again and to the other side of the room our next white was a bit of a surprise. Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese, von Kesselstratt 2008. A riesling from the Mosel I was very surprised how sweet it was, full of apricots but very sugary, not at all to my expectation.
The Society's Gruner Veltliner 2015 was our penultimate white, an Austrian white with a white pepper nose ans a dry crisp long finish. I seem to be on the same taste level as Sarah as it was another one of her choices and one of my favourites from the evening.
Our final white was from Gloucestershire's Three Choirs vineyard, Payford Bridge 2014. Another crisp white with a dry finish - it was nice to see English wine being included.
That was our first tour round the room so time for a pause, cheese and biscuits, glass of water and a little comparing of notes. Hubby and I have similar but not exactly the same tastes and it's always interesting to see what each of us discovered.
Time for the reds, this time we worked back down the tables so started with wine number 20, Ventoux, Martinelle 2013. My overall favourite, so rich and fruity with a hint of spice and conjured up instant memories of holidaying in France. I did go back at the end of the evening for another tasting, just to check!
Moldova is not a wine country we know very much about but have seen more wines starting to appear in the UK. This red was plentiful in dark cherries and for me had a slight liquorice flavour. not the sweet type but root liquorice. I quite liked Individo Feteasca Chateau Vartely 2014.
Chile was the source of our next red, Koyle Cerro Basalto Alto Colchague 2013. The most expensive wine at the tasting and one of the most popular. A great blend of mourvedre, grenache, syrah and carignan with a musky nose, dark fruit and a lengthy finish.
Pinot Noir is not a grape I am drawn to but the Pedroncelli Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2014 was a light example with red currant flavours and as suggested would go very well with pizza although it was 14%
We recently tried and enjoyed Sicilian wine for the first time, another opportunity with The Society's Sicilian Reserve Red 2012 being the next red for us to taste. This was slightly tannic with a kick of peppery spice amongst the dark fruits.Back to France for another of my evening's favourites, Corbieres Rouge, Domaine du Trillol 2011. From the southern region of Languedoc this red was full of cherries and plums and instantly transported me back to many sunny holidays.It was a lovely full bodied red at 14.5% which would be amazing served with a juicy steak dinner.
Our final two reds were from opposite sides of the globe; Te Mata Estate Hawke's Bay Syrah 2013 from New Zealand and The Society's Beaujolais-Villages 2014 from France. Opposite tastes too with the Te Mata being full of sour cherries, blackberries and a spicy finish, and the Beaujolais being lighter with dry red fruits. Both good examples of their given varieties but given the choice I would chose the Syrah.
Our first Wine Society wine tasting evening came to an end all too son, having had a great time tasting and comparing wines as well as chatting to Emma, Joe and Robin McMillan (CEO).
Thank you to everyone involved for an educational, enjoyable wine journey.
1 comment:
It's a beautiful building and been used for so many things. Did you notice the seamstress statue stitching away right outside the entrance?
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