Final Wine Tasting of 2024

Our final wine tasting for 2024 was early December and was another fun evening of wine tasting, new experiences, good food, a little quiz and a gift for all. 

We began the evening with a new experience for most, some liked it , other's not so sure. I ave only had vermouth with a mixer until earlier this year our daughter introduced us the neat vermouth or vermut over ice. We did visit a Vermut bar in Cardiff where there were hundreds to choose from. To begin our evening I went with middle of the road Bianco, served over ice with olives or salted peanuts. 

Vermuth is 75% percent wine that must include herbs and spices, usually artemisia absinthe (wormwood) and also has distilled alcohol (brandy) In  France the wine used is usually Clairette and Picppoul, with Noilly Pratt being the distinctive French brand. In  Italy the grapes used are usually Catarratto and Trebiano  Vermouth was originally Wormwood wine famous in Germany known as Wermut where the name is from – Vermut or Vermouth 

Our evening was not quite as before as we had two whites followed by two reds before enjoying our shared buffet. Afterwards we continued our tasting with the other two whites and three reds, although we did start with a sparkling wine to cleanse our palates after our delicious buffet. 

Our sparkling wine was Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne, a wine family for over 140 years from Nuits St Georges in Burgundy. The rose colour for this wine is from contact with the Gamay grape skins. It is first fermented in stainless steel vats and then in bottle as in the tradition champagne method. Everyone enjoyed this sparkling wine which was full of strawberry flavours and floral notes, I served it with frozen grapes which are a great way to cool a wine without diluting it. 

Our white wines were:

Firstly Robertson Winery Chardonnay: a winery established in 1941 and lying between Langeberg Mountains and Breede River near the South African coast. This chardonnay was French oaked with flavours of lemon and melon with a creamy edge. 

Staying in South Africa our second wine, Men in White Coats Viognier, was from the Western Cape.  The Gabb family have been making wine since 1995, enjoying the micro climate of the area and concentrating on being sustainable using bees to pollinate the vines. Paired with salmon pate on melba toast this wine had plenty of peach and apricot flavours. 

Morgado de Bucelas is a Arinto wine, a new grape to us which I was delighted to see was one of Olly Smith's choices on that morning's Saturday Kitchen. Bucelas is a place near Lisbon and Arinto is the star grape of the limestone area. This wine enjoys four hours on the skin before 25 days fermentation and is then aged on the lees four hours after giving complexity, it was certainly full of citrus and tropical fruits with good minerality. 

Our final white wine was Bolgrad Chardonnay Sukholimansky a wine from Ukraine. From the south west of Odessa this wine is produced near the sea. It is an exclusive with Lidl and the first Ukraine wine imported by a British supermarket. The distinctive label features the blue and yellow of Ukraine flag. It's a delicious wine made in stainless steel vats and full of ripe apricots with a lovely hint of white blossom. 

Our red wines were:

To begin with Chosen by Majestic Primivito, a new range that is focusing on wines from around the world. This Italian wine is created by Piccini, a winery of over 5 generations in Puglia. We enjoyed a Piccini wine at our previous tasting. A vegan wine that was full of blueberries with a cherry note and a hint of spice. 

Journey's End Steam Train Merlot was also from the Gabb family. Grown on 20 year old vines in the foothills of the Hottentot Holland mountains with views across to the Cape of Good Hope this South African merlot had plenty of red fruit flavours with a black olive edge. 

After our buffet we tried our second Ukrainian wine, Bolgrad Saperavi. It was full of flavour, lots of dark fruits as expected but with the addition of a slight hint of prune giving a delicate sweet edge. Everyone enjoyed this new wine. 

Copper Kingdom Shiraz had as expected bold flavours of blackberries, cherries, vanilla and spice. A lovely Australian wine from the Barossa Valley which was originally known for its copper mines, hence the label. 

Our final red wine was from one of the appellation named villages in the Rhone region in France, Chassaux et Fils Cairanne. This is mine, and some of our tasters, favourite style of wine with this Cairanne having 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre and 5% Carignan. A super wine full of fruit with additional mocha flavours. 

Our evening ended with a wine Hubby and I discovered on a trip to Funchal where we visited Blandy's to learn about Maderia wine. Before our trip we had only had this style of wine in cooking, as had our friends. Blandy's Duke of Clarence is a fortified wine made from Tinto Negra which is the only red grape on this Portuguese island. Blandy's have been making wine since 1811 and their label all relate to famous Dukes. The wine is heatedin stainless steel vats and unlike most wine making methods is then stored in the attic as it develops with heat and not cold. The Duke of Clarence is a three year old wine with great flavours of toffee, nuts, honey, dried fruit and caramel, a super wine to finish our tasting evening. 

As mentioned I had a little gift for everyone, being as it was nearly Christmas I made a gnome each, I'm not sure they helped with the quiz answers but they certainly added a bit of Christmas cheer. 

Culzean Castle

Culzean Castle sits on an amazing setting on the west coast of Scotland with stunning views over the Firth of Clyde. Entering through winding woodland, through an arch and under a viaduct the castle looks an idyllic home but it's past purpose was a fortress in times of feuding families and Scottish unrest. 

On entering the castle the first hallway is a magnificent display of armoury, not something I am usually taken with the the intricate designs in which they swords and weapons were laid was a spectacle in itself. 

The first mention of a tower in this location is in the 1400s with more significant buildings mentioned in documents dating back to the 1600s. Culzean Castle was the seat of the \Kennedy family, not related to the American President, but one of Scotland's oldest clan tracing their ancestry back to Robert the Bruce. 

The rooms in the castle were very plush in design and furniture. The oval staircase designed by Rober Adam was stunning, as were the views from the Red Drawing Room

I always enjoy discovering the kitchens and downstairs in old castles or houses. Culzean Castle had an amazing kitchen with so many ovens and of course shiny copper pans. It must have been very hot working in there. 

The grounds of the castle were quite steep being of the cliffs, it was a long way down to the early 1900s Gas House so we admired it from above.

Culzean Castle was a great place to visit, now owned by National Trust for Scotland it was full of history, beautiful art work and was in a stunning location. A great visit we both enjoyed. 

Snowshill Manor

 

Charles Wade owned Snowshill Manor which he turned into an elaborate stage for displaying all his passions.  He didn't actually live in the grand house but in a smaller dwelling that was once stables. 

It is impossible to write about all the items Wade had in his collection of varied and sometimes unusual finds. His reason for buying an item may be the colour, the craftsmanship or the design. He was very concerned with items and crafts being lost and so often bought many items to save them. He restored the Cotswold manor house to display them, I'll leave you to enjoy the photos - it really is a place to be visited not read about. 

As you can see his collections were very varied and quite unique. Every room had something different and intriguing, it's a place the really needs more than one visit. it's easy to see why he lived in the smaller dwelling - there's no room inside Snowshill Manor although he did hold many parties in the house, they must have been such fun. 

The Three Wine Men

Back in November Hubby and I had a day trip to London for the Three Wine Men's The Big Christmas Wine Fest held at Lindley Hall a location we used to visit for the Tesco Wine Fairs many years ago.

There were wines from around the world with Oz Clarke, Olly Smith and Tim Atkin chatting to everyone around the room and hosting some Master Classes, we didn't book any as there is never enough time to visit all the stands so adding an extra class in would make it a rushed time ... and we like to sip and chat. 

It was lovely to again meet Heather Dougherty who was hosting C.V.N.E wines, we began our day with a super glass of sparkling Cune Cava. We did return to Heather's stand later in the day to try some of the other wines from Spain. 

Staying with sparkling wine to begin our afternoon we stopped by Cap Classique with their extremely good Graham Beck; they had Pinot Noir Rose and Cuvee Clive along with my preference Blanc de Blancs. There were plenty of other South African sparkling wines to taste, I really liked Haut Cabriere Pierre Jourdan Belle Rose.

And staying in South Africa one of my favourite sparkling wines was being showcased at KWV; Laborie Methode Cap Classique Rose Brut, I really like this dry rose. We have enjoyed many bottles of KWV wine including their Mentors range, especially the Petit Verdot which is a wine you don't see so much of in the UK. The very complex Roodeberg 1949 was a delicious blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Carignan, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this would be a great Sunday dinner wine. 

Whilst waiting for \hubby to go tot he cloakroom with our coats I was chatting to Oz Clarke who directed me to his favourite English wine from South Devon. It wasn't on the show listing, I was honoured to be able to try this newly released Sharpham 2024

 

My favourite new discovery wine was Ernie Els Big Easy Chenin Blanc 2023, it was so crisp and full of apply flavours. Hubby tried the reds in the range, Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa is not a wine we've had before. The highest priced wine was the Ernie Els Signature 2017 but Hubby's preference was the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was nice to have time to chat to the actual winemaker who was there, often at wine events it is wine servers behind the stands who know very little. This event had every stand hosted by the wine people involved, it was great to have a chat with Joe Wadsack at one of the other stands. 

Of course we made sure we visited the Sud de France Top 100 and to our delight a few of our favourites were there, namely from Domaine Paul Mas. And even more to our delight Les Domaines Paul Mas had their own stand with so many of their superb wines. I love all the Paul Mas wines, it's amazing how many vinyards and different labels there are, sadly not all available to the UK. 

There were so many wine stands, far too many to mention, as well as gin and whisky. I don't think we missed any out and enjoyed discovering new wines as well as visiting old friends. I couldn't possibly write about all the wines so have picked my highlights and will finish on a must .... Louis Jadot wines from France. A delicious selection of white and red wines from Burgundy with my favourite being Pouilly- Fuisse, although not a chardonnay drinker this chardonnay is one I very much enjoy. 

Thank you Oz (not inthe photo as he was doing a Masterclass), Olly and Tim, we had a great time chatting and sipping. You can never know enough about wine and we certainly discovered new tastings ... Merry Christmas