Wine tasting - Christmas ideas

Since doing the first wine tastings for our Scout Leaders in 2014 they have become very popular events. We now hold about 3 each year and being the start of December it's always good to look at wines for Christmas

Our tastes have changed and developed since those first wine tastings. Everyone can now appreciate the difference between Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Shiraz so it's good to offer a wide variety. It's always fun to set the Headquarters up and prepare tasting notes.

Table set

Tasting notes ready

We began this time with a bottle of Arestel Cava made from Xarel-lo, Parerlada & Macabeo. A Lidl Cava that is usually £4.99 but was a special offer a few weeks ago at just £3.49. We offered orange juice to make a bucks fizz however only one person in the group added it to their glass of bubbles everyone else preferring it unaccompanied. It was quite citrusy with plenty of  lively bubbles. I paired this Cava with some sea pearls from IKEA, not caviar but seaweed, served on blinis it matched perfectly.

All of the wine for the evening came from ASDA, they have a great range with reasonable prices. Taking advantage of their 25% for 6 bottles offer it enabled me to buy some great wines for our set budget.

Our white selection

Extra Special  Soave Superiore Soave this wine was recommended by our daughter. She is still learning about all the different styles of wine and selected this to go with seafood. I really enjoyed this light fresh Italian wine with it's slightly nutty flavour, it would be a great seafood pairing.

Our second white was Graham Norton's Own Sauvignon Blanc. Such a great tropical nose, rich apple and citrus flavours this wine was loved by everyone. I served salmon pate as a pairing. It would be perfect served with a fish starter at Christmas.

The story of how Casillero del Diablo got its name with the disappearing wine thought go be the Devil stealing it is very interesting. This Pinot Grigio from Chile was full of pears and apples, quite a refreshing drink with a hint of tangerine on it's finish.

No-one had tried 19 Crimes before: quite a striking range with its photo labels of convicts.  The history behind the bottles is linked to the 19 crimes that if committed would result in you being banished to Australia. This Australian  Chardonnay was creamy, buttery with plenty of honey notes. It really matched with pigs in blankets and chicken sausage and would be perfect with a roast turkey dinner.

Louis Jadot  Les Petites Pierres Chardonnay was our final white. A beautiful  white from burgundy this was a more traditional wine full of  apples. This wine is often served with roast dinners and this would also be perfect with a Christmas turkey dinner. It was the favourite wine of the evening.

Our Rosé was another from Casillero del Diablo. This Rosé's the striking bottle caught my eye. It was a Shiraz wine with strawberries, raspberries and a touch of spice, not the usual sweet Rosé that most people like. Everyone thought it's a very different wine but quite liked it's dryness.

Our red selection

Trivento Malbec is a favourite wine with all of us. We've had this wine from Argentina at many of our tastings. If you are looking for a Christmas red you can't go wrong with this beautiful Malbec; deep colour, full of fruit with a super kick of space at the end. It always pairs well with steak so we tried some Jerk Beef.

Extra Special Valpolicella Ripasso made from Corvina Veronese, Rondinella & Molinara was an interesting wine. It has added body and depth which is produced by semi dried grapes being added for the second fermentation. It certainly added a richness and was the favourite out of all the reds we tried

19 Crimes The Banished Shiraz another wine from Australia linked to the crimes of England. This wine was very rich not as spicy as other shiraz wines but a full fruity round bodied red that paired really well with mature cheddar cheese.

Apothic Red was another deep fruity red with a background of mocha. Everyone thought it would be perfect with Christmas pudding with its blackberries, plums and deep fruitiness.

Fruitiness was abundant in our final red, Jam Shed Shiraz. I was very impressed with this wine especially as it comes from a village called Clare! It was packed full of jammy fruit perfect with our mini mince pies and Liebekuchen. A really rich red that you could sit back and enjoy at the end of a meal.

Our final drink of the evening was Cerne Abbas Gurt Coconut Rum Stout. A beer that we brought home from our Dorset holiday had mixed reviews  as not everybody enjoys a dark beer. I'd made rocky road with rich chocolate, salted peanuts, marshmallows and cherries to pair with the coconut and chocolate flavours in the stout. It was a split room based mainly on whether people liked coconut or stout or didn't like either.

In all our 'Christmas' glory 

Overall we had a great night and discovered some super wines that would be great with a festive dinner. It's always fun at our tastings and I'm sure there will be many more such nights in 2019!