Wine Challenge - first 20 bottles

Saturday was the first session in our 100 wine tasting challenge as part of our scout group's 100th Birthday celebrations - did you read my last post about our challenges - great photos too.

Our first 20 wines were from California, Chile and Argentina. It was great fun sourcing the wines especially as my budget was £4.50 a bottle - and before I write any more I must say a HUGE thank you to Trivento and CyT UK who so very kindly donated 4 bottles of their Borde Rio Argentinian wine.

All ready !!

As you can see we were taking this challenge very seriously - I had tasting note sheets ready along with aroma tables to help identify fragrances and flavours. Many of the scout leaders and their friends had not been to a wine tasting before and were ready for an informative evening.

For each place I made a glass placement - a circle for each glass (2) and we poured the wines in pairs (one & two; three & four;) By having the two circles it was easier to keep track of which wine was being tasted as in the glass some did look quite similar.

All lined up ready to go

These are the wines we tasted - and their source; we did not take full wine tasting notes but I've added a few things I remember people commenting on. We did have four blind tastings too - two whites and two reds.

White wines

tanguera - blend of white wine (Asda) : too dry for most people

The Boulders - viognier (Co-operative) : crisp and refreshing, two tasters favourite

Blossom Hill - chardonnay (Co-operative) : most people had tried this before

Oak Leaf - chardonnay (Asda) : very different to the above chardonnay, again a few people had had it before and was a favourite with a couple of tasters

El Riquelme - pinot grigio (Asda) : too light in flavour

El Riquelme - sauvignon blanc (Asda) :  a light sauvignon which nearly caused a riot

as a firm favourite with three tasters

Isla Negra - sauvignon blanc Reserva (Co-operative) blind tasting : very different to previous sauvignon blanc, many thought this was a chardonnay

Borde Rio - chardonnay (donated by Trivento and CyT UK) blind tasting : comments ranged from too sharp to smooth, spice flavour with maybe a touch of ginger, a little too sweet.

After tasting our 8 white wines we had a little break and hit the cheese table. 20 varieties of cheese (all from Asda) ranging from hard cheese, sliced cheese to soft melting camembert. We didn't match the cheese to wine but certainly had another glass of our favourite white.

 

 Here's our cheese selection:

President le Bleu

Mild Cheddar slices

Mozzarella slices

President Emmental slices

Port Salut slices

French Brie

Classic Blue Stilton

Castello soft cheese with pineapple

Royal petit Camembert

Ilchester Wensleydale with cranberries

Lye Cross Farm mature Cheddar

Apetina with green olives and garlic in oil

Greek style salad cheese

Applewood smoke flavoured Cheddar

President Crème de Brie

Go Dutch Gouda

Ilchester Mexicana slices

French goats' cheese

Belton Farm Red Leicester

Wensleydale ginger and apricot

The surprise and favourite was the Castello with pineapple, and the Port Salut was a first for many too. The stilton and Mexicana were acquired tastes as both a little strong in their own way. The Camembert once cut decided to melt away and the Crème de Brie had to be quickly spread onto a cracker.

So to clear our palettes from so much cheese we started the rose wine off with a sparkling, followed by three more rose wines which delighted the ladies.

Rose wines

First Cape - white zinfandel sparkling (Morrisons) : low alcohol at 5.5% and was too light for some, however would be very refreshing outside in the summer

Gallo - white zinfandel (Asda) : a well known favourite with the ladies

Echo Falls - rose blend (Tesco) : anther well known favourite

Crow's Landing - shiraz cabernet rose (Co-operative) : a deeper rose with a heavier spice palette.

With the white and roses having been tasted with a variety of comments the discussion moved to the cost of the wines. It became quite clear that although the wines were alright there was more depth and body to the more expensive wine from Trivento and CyT UK. The cost of UK duty surprised some and when taken into account shows how little actual wine is in a £4.50 bottle.  

And so to our final 8 wines:





Red wines

tanguera - blend (Asda) - not a popular wine

Vinyards World of Wine - merlot (Tesco) : a little too much tannin for some

El Riquelme - merlot (Asda) : very different to the merlot above, less tannin

Jacktone Ranch - shiraz (donated from our cellar, originally purchased from Tesco) : the strongest wine at 14%, too deep for some, loved by others.

Isla Negra - cabernet sauvignon merlot (Asda) - a smoother red with slight tannin, easy drinker

Monte Nevado - cabernet merlot (Morrisons) : again quite different to the above wine although mainly the same grapes, more fruit but with tannins

Jacktone Ranch - cabernet sauvignon reserve (donated from our cellar, originally purchased from Tesco) blind tasting : a favourite red with most of the men; the ladies, who were on the whole not red drinkers, liked this as it had more blackcurrant flavours.

Borde Rio - malbec (donated by Trivento and Cyt UK) blind tasting : the overall winner of the night, fought over for the top ups; comments included fruity, woody, smooth, mellow and warming.

What a night - it was a great success as you can see from my poor tea towel - who spilt !!



Thank you to everyone who helped, especially my perfect wine waiter assistant Hubby. I was a little nervous with having such a tight budget, 20 wines and cheese to source, notes to make without opening the bottles (a hard chore) and talking through all the wines whilst sampling them myself (the hardest chore for sure).

Our next wine tasting is Easter Saturday where I'll have another 20 wines and 20 cheeses ready for another night of fun.

The wines will be from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I have already been sent a donation of Australian red wine from The Wine Reserve and Calais Wine - huge thanks to them for their generosity.

Our local Tesco has donated 5 bottles of wine plus some 1/4 bottles of cava - thank you Tesco

And my lovely friend Julie has donated an Australian white

If you can help too please email me aimetu.clare@hotmail.com  thank you

A HUGE challenge for 2014

I have been given a huge task for 2014 which is a very special year for a couple of reasons, and to do this challenge I'm asking for help -

 - advice, ideas, and donations (cheeky but I need just a little help please)

SO what's going on ... well ...

I have been in Scouting for over 25 years: Beaver Leader, Group Scout Leader, District Chairman and now Group Secretary. My late father Ron Mellor was also in Scouting but he clocked up a bit more - nearly 60 years and was awarded the Silver Acorn (second highest award).

Dad celebrating his Silver Acorn at the regular fundraising
Bingo for the local old aged pensioners 

Our group was originally 1st Ansley Hall based in Ansley Common, a small mining village on the edge of Nuneaton. Being on the outskirts, after the pit closed, and as the population grew up the numbers in the Scout Group decreased and so in the late 60s/early 70s the group moved into a new area and was renamed Nuneaton North.

1st Ansley Hall Scouts on their first camp 1914

 The new area was part of the most deprived in Warwickshire and I know my Dad, the other leaders and myself felt we were really needed and did make a small difference to some of the families. Originally Nuneaton North met in Camphill Community Centre but in the mid 1980s land was acquired and with the support of many local and national businesses, volunteers and the Scout Leaders a new Headquarters was built - Pole Star Lodge.

Opening of Pole Star Lodge -October 1991

Nuneaton North Scout Group in its new Headquarters has grown and grown and is a hub of activity most evenings of the week with : 

Beaver Scouts

Cub Scouts

Scouts

Explorer Scouts

Network Scouts

2014 is our Group's 100th Birthday !!!

 Everyone in the Group is taking part - we are aiming to do 100 challenges each of 100 things. Lots of planning is still happening but some already decided include:

100 different knots (well we are scouts!!)

100 postcards sent to us

100 different carrier bags

100 metres of 1p coins

And so to my challenge...  

                                         - a  wine tasting for the adults in the Group, especially the Executive Committee who are also volunteers and help run the business side of the charity (Scout Groups are registered charities)

                                        - and yes 100 wines (in the year of course)

My plans are 5 separate events of 20 wines but not in any particular order, although I did think the sparklers would be good in November :

 France

 Europe

 Southern Hemisphere

 Americas and South Africa

 sparklers, sweets and any other

My reason for blogging, tweeting and facebooking is I need a bit of help getting going. I have a few questions but my main plea is for any donations

- seriously just one bottle would be a huge help

As well as being a birthday celebration we are fundraising throughout the year for a replacement minibus - we need transport on an almost daily basis, getting members to various activities and most importantly throughout the year for camps.  

The wine tastings will be ticketed but I really, really would love to have all the money for the funds instead of for buying the wine so donations will be a huge help, however small. The year will be covered by the local press, group newsletters and media social sites so your  donation will acknowledged in many formats.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated - you can contact me by email

aimetu.clare@hotmail.com

I'm excited but a bit daunted as 100 is a big task. Thank you so, so much for helping it's definitely appreciated and I'll let you know all about my challenge.

Edited to add the pledge list 

Chateau de Petit Thouars 
The Wine Reserve
Trivento

Sun & showers = good food & wine

What a weekend !! - both weather wise and fun wise !!

Our friends came with us to our lovely caravan on the West Wales coast for the weekend. The weather was very mixed but it didn't hinder our plans. It is always beautiful as Tywyn Photographers show with their frequent photo updates on Facebook and Twitter.

This is my very quickly taken rainbow phone photo from Fairbourne Beach looking at Barmouth Bridge. It was pouring and I really did just quickly point and click :-/

Friday night we dined at Walkers Quality Restaurant in Tywyn which I think has the best fish and chips - my fish combo would have fed all of us and was superb. I had cod, haddock, plaice and scampi - all cooked perfectly and accompanied by their delicious chips.

One of our friends had the fish combo too and the other the sausage and mash - Hubby had a steak and was very impressed. The restaurant is small and booking is advisable but the staff are so welcoming and the food perfect after an evening's drive.

Walker's does serve alcohol and we shared a good bottle of McGuigan Black Label Sauvignon Blanc which was served nicely chilled with an ice bucket.

McGuigan Black Label
Sauvignon Blanc

It was a full-flavoured wine with the signature crispness of a sauvignon; lovely flavours of peach and lime with a light nose of summer grass and mangos. It was a perfect match for my fish combo and although maybe not a first choice did go well with the meat dishes too.

Saturday's weather was very hit and miss; the weather forecast was cloudy but fair early morning building up to heavy showers. We had planned to do Precipice Walk which is reasonably high and as suggests has some tricky footpaths (single file please) so we set off mid morning with cloudy/sunny skies.

It's quite a steep walk in places and fairly rocky so I always need a pole and at times a helping hand too. I couldn't find my modern pole so took my Dad's thumb stick - I haven't got a photo and have left it at the caravan but I'll remedy that next blog. Hubby did catch me having a windswept moment on the viewing bench half way round - I think the view from here is stunning and very much worth the walk.

A much needed bench !!

The view looking down the Mawddach Estuary

The view looking north

The clouds were building as we made our way back round to the car however a beautiful butterfly was just using it to enjoy the final rays before the rain set in.

Enjoying the rays

As you can see from my first photo the rain then arrived and rain it did - so heavy with some thunder. For us is meant an afternoon in the local pub watching the football before returning to the caravan to enjoy a home cooked meal starting with a bottle of Freixenet Cordon Negro - one of my prizes from Tesco Wine Community.

Freixenet Cordon Negro

Another great weekend with good friends at a place we love - next year we will be visiting our caravan in it's perfect setting many more times than we've managed this - if you get the chance visit Tywyn and it's surrounding area - you won't be disappointed :-)

Trivento 2012 Reserve Malbec

I was very lucky to be chosen by Tesco Wine Community to be one of their reviewers for Trivento - their 2012 Reserve Malbec.

2012 Trivento Reserve Malbec

So after I enjoyed this red wine I hope you enjoy my review:

My first thoughts were what a classy, stylish bottle - a good label does make a difference.

Hubby and I decided to have this with lamb, initially I did think steak but we decided to do our tasting with lamb for a change - and what a success it was. Our first glass was straight from undoing the bottle and then an hour or so later with our dinner.

The Malbec in the glass was so smooth; it clung to the glass like a velvet crimson coating leaving the tears running with a haze a red. I kept swirling as it really looked so rich.

A definite hit of blackberries for my nose followed by a slight spice, maybe cinnamon. It brought to mind Christmas pudding.

The taste was quite different, a little tannin but not overpowering, slight fruit but a lovely surprise of vanilla. Hubby thought almost icing sugary in texture but not sweet. A warm glow and a mouth of rich fruit was our first after taste.

All of this before we even began eating - and what a difference!! The lamb lifted the fruit in the taste and lessened the tannin. It added to the vanilla in the after taste and brought the wine altogether. A really, really good pairing, which we loved more and more as we enjoyed our dinner.

I did leave a glass until the following day - the colour was same as was the nose but the taste had mellowed. The tannin had lessened to almost nothing, the blackberries were more prominent in the taste and the vanilla has softened slightly. However my preference would be to let it breathe an hour or so but no longer as it was best the day before with our meal.

We had visited the Trivento stand at the Tesco Wine Fair but I tend to do mainly whites at the fairs and missed this one - but I did try Concho Y Toro Otorio Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2006 at the Casillero del Diablo & Trivento stand - beautiful !!

Concho Y Toro Otorio Late Harvest
Sauvignon Blanc 2006

It is so smooth, with the depth of a good sauvignon blanc but with honey syrups, It isn't over sweet just so so smooth and one I will be enjoying over the festive season - I can already image a glass with Christmas pudding or poured over a bowl of Christmas pud ice cream.... maybe I won't wait until Christmas after all practice makes perfect !!

Please leave your comments about my blog or the wines - I love to read them

 - thank you for calling by !!

Favourites - Bird and Dozen !!

After two day of working hard on my Dad's front garden (he passed away last year and we're renovating the house) I came home to a very much needed glass of my favourite bird - sorry not Quirky Bird but Famous Grouse.......Ginger Grouse !!

It has a light amber colour with a slight head on pouring. It's quite sweet but not overly so and the ginger has a good kick. Although there is no whisky in Ginger Grouse there is a slight hint of the Scottish liquor lingering in the mouth. It's a lovely drink, best served chilled and enjoyed outside on the patio.

I'm not actually a whisky drinker - bourbon is more my tipple - I just love the Grouse Bird and look forward to his antics every Christmas.

And so to my favourite dozen - well it could well be .....

After the Tesco Wine Fair we order a case of Tesco Finest Four Star Whites and Tesco Finest Four Star Reds. They are a fantastic way of trying new wines from around the world - all of which have high recommendations.

Finest dozen

I was impressed by the list when I ordered but even more impressed when the wine arrived - I am really looking forward to trying all of these:

Tesco finest Block 13 Shiraz Grenache 2011.

This wine is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvèdre and is from South Australia.

It's one the Tesco Community have been loving and I have been waiting to try - I can't believe it but I missed it at the Wine Fair.

Tesco finest Douro 2011This wine is from Portugal and is a blend of Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional. We are actually enjoying this wine this evening - our first glass with a beef roast dinner and now a second as we settle down for the evening. We decanted it in our stylish new decanter from Dunelm and are drinking it from our gorgeous new glasses from Franglais Vins (Calais).

It has a nose of red cherries with a fruity taste and a hit of spice on the finish. There is some tannin but it's very slight.

Tesco finest Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2011.

An Italian wine aged in oak.

Tesco finest Argentina Malbec 2012.

Argentinian Malbecs are appearing more and more on wine programmes and in wine reviews, I'm planning beef with this with maybe a pepper sauce.

Tesco finest Cabernet Sauvignon Carménère 2012.

This wine is from Chile and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère.

Tesco finest Nero d’Avola 2012.

Finally another Italian wine, this one is from the south of Italy.

And so to the whites - I always considered myself someone who preferred white to red but over the last year tasting more and more wines recommended by friends on the Wine Community I am enjoying reds too. In fact the reds disappear from our wine rack quicker than the whites.

Tesco finest Côtes de Gascogne 2012.

This is a French blend of Gros Manseng and Sauvignon Blanc grapes;

it's one I have had before and love with a crisp chicken salad.

Tesco finest Picpoul de Pinet 2012.
Another French wine from Languedoc- Roussillon;

 and another that I just adore. It is best served well chilled and in my opinion enjoyed on it's

own on a hot summer's evening sitting outside.

Tesco finest Tapiwey Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Reserva Especial 2012.

This is a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile.

Tesco finest Gavi 2012
This is an Italian wine.

Tesco finest Bergerac Blanc 2011
This wine is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon and is again from France.

Tesco finest Pinot Grigio 2011
This Italian Pinot Gris is the final wine in this case.

I am very, very pleased with the white selection, although some may have preferred wine from more of a variety of countries - being a French fan I'm more than happy.

As you can tell there are some new wines to me and Hubby - I'll be making tasting notes and sharing our finds in my future blogs. Thank you for reading my news - I read and appreciate all your comments, thank you.

Birmingham - Tesco Wine Fair

We've had a very busy few weeks since coming home from France - I didn't have chance to blog our holiday but I will add a few gem finds in a blog soon. Technology has been on hold for me as my ipad belonged to school and my laptop was very, very old.

I have been extremely spoilt by Hubby as I now have a Nexus tablet and a new Dell laptop - so watch out cyber space !! Retirement has certainly not been slow or boring - in fact I cannot believe tomorrow is the start of my 4th week.

We have been so busy with birthday treats, Bicester Shopping Village, Houses of Parliament, Birmingham's new library, Caro Emerald, Cardiff and Tesco Wine Fair. don't worry this blog will not be about them all - it would be a book if it was, but I have linked the places so please go and investigate online.

So the Wine Fair yesterday - it was another great opportunity to try over 200 wines. This was the first year the fair has been in Birmingham, but our 7th visit. As Birmingham is only 20 miles away we went by train for the fair whereas previously we've stayed away for the weekend in London, Bristol or Manchester. I think I prefer staying away - the train journey was a bit of a chore. The fair is at the NEC which is a massive exhibition centre on the outskirts of Birmingham so for us it was a train into the city and out again. It was quite a long walk from the station to the actual hall and it didn't evoke quite the same atmosphere as the Brunell Centre in Bristol or Horticultural Halls in London.

However once inside the Fair it was tasting and chatting as always - with slightly less stands but each one with 6 wines wines and great experts ready to help with all the questions.

My booklet has notes on many, many wines, tasted and enjoyed; here are some of my favourites of the day (photos are from Tesco Wine) :

Tesco Finest Saint Mont - South West France

This was a first for us - a white from the Atlantic coast of France, right down south. It's a very fresh wine, lots of apples and apricots but not too dry.

Yalumba Viognier 2012 - Eden Valley Australia

Another crisp fruity wine with apricots but with the addition of some light floral notes

Apothic Red - California USA

A real smooth red which I could easily sit and sip all evening - it's a blend of  Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wirra Wirra Church Block - McLaren Valley Australia

A deep red filled with ripe berry fruit, the soft tannins are perfect for it's weight leaving a great finish.

It was great to meet the wine experts - Frances Adams from Tim Adams was lovely; The Fergus was on show but not sadly The Aberfeldy. I also loved Tim Adams Clare Valley Shiraz 2009 with it's full nose, spicy/deep smooth fruit taste with a spice after tone.

I did introduce myself to the Piggy Bank team - and was reminded I hadn't liked their Tempranillo on the Tesco Review - but I did like their Sauvignon Blanc 2012 and their Syrah 2012.

Hardy's had a new brand - Houghton - with a light Sauvignon Blanc Semillion 2012 and Cabernet Shiraz 2012. These grapes are grown on the west coast of Australia which is a different area to Hardy's normal wine grown in the south east. Apparently there is a cooler breeze which prevents the grapes from being over ripened in the strong sun and leads to lighter, smoother wines. Both were superb, different to the expected Hardy's but with quality and flavour. The Hardy's labels have had a make over and look very stylish.

Tesco Wine by the Glass had the dominant stand across the back of the Hall - it was great to meet Laura and see the team. From their stand my favourite was the Yalumba Voignier. Tesco Finest had a Wine Trail in the booklet to follow - a little tricky at times to work out which stand the wines were on. At Bidendum Wine I was given a blind tasting of a fresh, slight fizz white wine. I amazed myself (and I think the wine chap) in recognising Riesling - it was one of the Finest Wine Trail wines:

Tesco Finest Tingleup Riesling 2011 - Western Australia

I'm not a Riesling fan as they are too sweet but this was fairly dry which did have me doubting my knowledge for a moment but the slight under fizz confirmed my thoughts. It's very different from the German Rieslings and not as petrolly as the other Australian ones I've tried.

I could write loads and loads - as I look through my booklet I keep finding another one to share but I think that's enough to wet your palette. If you have never experienced a Tesco Wine Fair then you should as they are an amazing way to learn so much more in the world of wine.

Wine - taking stock

It's soon time for our annual holiday to France which will of course include a visit to Calais Wine, Majestic Wine, Pidou and Auchan to replenish our wine cellar.

Our favourites and must buys are:

Cheverney --- Touraine Sauvignon Blanc --- Cellier de Dauphin --- Gamay

We do like the Ca'Lunghetta range at Calais Wine and Robertsons from Majestic but we're always open to new finds.

But we do enjoy other wines from elsewhere - earlier this week we had a chilli con carne dinner with a lovely bottle of Domaine de la Contrie - Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil which we bought from S H Jones. It's a lovely Loire Valley red.

 A light Cabernet Franc red with a deep purple colour
- raspberry and blackcurrant fruit bouquet and palette.

Our good friends joined us for dinner again last night and as it has been so warm lately I decided on light courses. Our menu was:

goats cheese and beetroot salad with rustic bread and olives

chicken, pork and chorizo meat wrapped in iceberg lettuce,

served with chutneys and air fryer chips

summer fruit pavlova

To start our meal off we opened a bottle of the very very good Freixenet Cava - although I generally prefer french bubbles I do enjoy this Spanish fizz. I was very lucky in winning a case with Tesco Wine  Community earlier in the month so our cellar is well stocked.

Freixenet - thanks to Tesco

Freixenet is full of light bubbles - all racing to the top of the glass with great speed. 

In the glass - a golden yellow with glistening highlights with an array of small and light bubbles which ascended with speed.

On the nose - light fruit, apples and pears, Hubby thought of Pear Drops.

On the palette - bubbles dissolved away rather like sherbet, a light fruity taste with a crisp dryness hitting the roof of your mouth.

To accompany our meal we had a lovely white Viognier our friends brought with them from their holiday in Spain and a bottle of Willunga 100 -Cabenet Shiraz 2010 - another from SH Jones when we went to the Matthew Jukes Tasting Evening.

The Willunga was a beautiful red with a deep nose of dark plums, cherries and a hint of spice. The flavour is very rich with more berries bursting through. There is just a hint of tannin with an subtle oaked finish.

All in all it was a lovely evening of excellent wine, good food and it was such a change to sit outside until quite late with a Nespresso coffee and Amaretto.