February Wine Tasting - reds

I really enjoy hosting our wine tastings, maybe if I had my time again it's a world I would have explored more and possibly worked in but I'm very happy enjoying this great hobby. 

My previous post was about the rosé and white wines we enjoyed at our latest tasting; this is all about the reds. We are a split group, predominantly the ladies enjoy the whites and the chaps the reds so I try to keep a balance.

We've been doing these tastings since 2014 so setting up is no longer a worry. I laminated the glass placement sheets,odd glass and even glass numbering, when we first hosted a tasting; it's been a great help as after a clean they are ready for the next time. I do print tasting sheets for each event, everyone scores their wine out of 20 - a great way of finding out which wine is the best! 

Tools of a wine host

Although it wasn't the third Thursday in November (the traditional opening day) our first wine was Beaujolais Nouveau by Pardon et Fils. This wine from Majestic Wine £8.99 is made from the Gamay grape which some like, others don't take to. It was full of summery fruits, strawberries, blueberries and redcurrants with a soft finish. I paired this with roast chicken, everyone agreed with the pairing but as a cold chicken salad not a roast dinner.

Our second red was quite a contrast, a darker colour in the glass and deeper flavours. PepperBox Shiraz is from South Eastern Australia and is a wine from Casella Family Brands. It's widely available in various supermarkets but this was another Majestic Wine buy at £7.99.

It was a deeper red in the glass with scarlet highlights, aromas of red fruits followed into the mouth with added notes of peppercorn and cinnamon. It had a lovely length to its finish with hints of chocolate and mocha.

As with the whites I included a comparison in our red tastings. Two Spanish wines, Matsu and Siglo, both Tempranillo although Siglo has a small percentage of Garnacha. Surprisingly the Matsu was from Morrison's £7.99, we have only previously found this at Majestic Wine. The Siglo was a special buy at £9.99 from Fine Wines Direct who are in Cardiff, we always pop by when visiting our daughter as it's the only place I know that stocks the Siglo range.

Matsu is one of three wines available, all with a photo of a chap on the label (there is also a white wine with a lady on its label). El Picaro is 'young man' with the wine being aged 2 months on the lees in concrete vats. El Recio is 'midlife' as this wine is aged for 14 months in second use oak barrels. The oldest wine in the range is El Viejo (old man), made from vines over 100 years old it is aged in new French oak for 16 months.

Our tasting was El Picaro, the youngest of the range. Tempranillo is a grape I really don't like so I was reliant on everyone else's tastes buds. The flavours discovered were blackberry, liquorice and a slight spice. Those who lime Rioja wine really enjoyed it. 

Siglo is a wine I can drink, maybe the Garnacha softens the Tempranillo. As with the Matsu it had plenty of red fruit and hints of liquorice. It was obviously my favourite of the two but the room was undecided, a sign of two good wines.

Siglo is part of Famillia Manzanos which dates from 1890. There are six wines in the range all with distinctive bottles and coverings, the most known is a sack cloth. These are made by Aspredema which is a Spanish organisation that's aim is the Promotion of Adult People with Intellectual Disabilities (translation).

Our final two reds were both wines I decanted beforehand, about two hours at home and put back in the bottle to transport them to the venue. With both wines I paired a chocolate brownie, it really brought out the flavour in both wines although we always taste the wine before a pairing.

A new wine to all of us was a Lebanese wine from Bekaa Valley made by Domaine de Tourelles who were the first French winemakers to settle in Lebanon. Although produced in the east, this wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Syrah and Carignan is bottled in France. It was a real find in Aldi, everyone agreed it seemed a more expensive wine than it's £8.99 price tag.

Cotes du Rhone is a wine style we all enjoy, in previous tastings we've opened a variety of producers and geographical locations including a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. However our final red was the first Gigondas included in a tasting. Hubby and I visited this very pretty village in 2017 as part of our Rhone holiday. 

Produced by Chassaux et Fils, Aldi's winemaker, our £7.99 Gigondas wine was a blend of Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault and had an abundance of red fruits; cherries, blackberries, blackcurrants. A lovely finish of liquorice and spice made this my favourite red of the evening. 

It was another fun night enjoying wine with friends, that's what it is all about isn't it? 

As the Lebanese wine was so popular I am going with the theme of new discoveries for our next tasting, either grape, style or location ... sourcing the wine is part of the fun and I have found a few already!