White Castle Winery

Our first visit to White Castle Vineyard was a few years ago when our daughter and (now) son-in-law adopted a vine for us following our discovery of this superb wine by winning a couple of bottles in a raffle. We were delighted as you can see in my blog post in 2021

We have revisited Robb and Nicola a few times since, in particular to purchase Welsh Sparkling Wine to celebrate our daughter's engagement to her Welsh love and for a super tour & tasting with our wine friends. 

The White Castle dream was to have a winery at the Vineyard making their wine pure Welsh from ground to bottle. 

The dream came true in 2024 with the opening of Y Gwindy, a superb purpose build winery with a row of impressive stainless steel vats and all the necessary wine making equipment including a bottling machine. 

White Castle wine is now grown, nurtured, harvested and produced on site making every drop 100% Welsh.

It's been a great growing year for the vines producing an abundance of grapes with riping happening earlier than previous years. When we visited Siegerrebe and Pinot Noir Précoce had already been harvested, pressed and were happily fermenting in the vats. 

We tasted both and although cloudy and still developing they were delicious, especially the Pinot Noir Précoce with a deep red colour and evidence of complex flavours maturing.

Robb and Nicola's hard work is evident all around the winery, as is their passion for what they are producing. Everything is in place and ready for the next harvesting which was happening just a few days after our visit. 

Y Gwindy had a wine smell that just made me smile, a smell I have appreciated in many wineries across Europe. One fragrance in particular means wine; that for me is wood, in particular oak, and filled the air from the White Castle branded barrels sitting ready for their next fill.

There are still a few finishing touches to happen in the winery, mostly finding the easiest working place for equipment, this is a discovery that will happen over the next few months as Y Gwindy is in full swing with this year's bumper crops.

One item to find its permanent place is the lovely board Robb and Nicola have had made to thank those who helped crowd fund their dream.

White Castle now produce a sparkling Cabernet Franc Rosé, a great addition to their range and one that came home with us along with Regent, our Christmas Day red. 

A sparkling Cabernet Franc is a new discovery for me that I'm keen to taste but I'll be opening it for something special with time to savour, as yet who know why or when that will be but hopefully soon.

Thank you Robb & Nicola for such a warm welcome, it was a real pleasure to visit Y Gwindy, your pride and enthusiasm is a delight to see. We'll certainly be calling by again on one of our travels to Wales, diolch.

A fun night of wine

Last Saturday was such a great night, another wine tasting with our friends. These nights are always fun but this time I added a bit of quirkiness. 

Learning more about wine is one of my hobbies. I'm always keen to know about where and how the wine was made as much as I enjoy discovering the aromas and flavours of different wines.

Unbelievably it's been 10 years since I first hosted a wine tasting for our friends, our tastes and wine choices have certainly changed.  I think everyone buys different wine now. 

That said some of our wine tasting on Saturday was blind which is always interesting to do so I did select known wines and brands. When you don't know the wine you have no preconceptions and are often surprised by your findings.

Throughout the night we had a raffle ... with a difference. Everyone was given a ticket as there was a prize per person and the last prize was the best one so you didn't really want your number to be drawn.

I have been busy with my crafting and after beginning with a bag of wine gums the next raffle prize was a wine waistcoat, the first bit of quirkiness.

Our first wine was one Hubby and I discovered on our recent holiday in France in Aldi on offer at just 2.99 euro, an absolute gem of a find.

Jules Larose Blanc de Blanc demi-sec sparkling wine is a Southern Rhone wine made from Colombard, Macabeo, Malvasia and Chenin Blanc. It's a very refreshing wine with fine bubbles and plenty of apricot and peach flavours. It is on the sweet side, we also brought home Jules Larose brut which I prefer but the demi-sec is delicious.

Our second tasting was a brand I have seen for a while in various stores but not yet tasted. Voga has such an usual bottle for wine, it's more like a water bottle. It has a cork closure with a screw top so the bottle can be resealed. The range is available in white, red and rosé which was our tasting bottle.

Voga Italia was a very light wine in colour and aroma. It was also light in flavour with notes of strawberries and red currants. This wine seemed to be a prime example of how we first taste wine with our eyes, from the bottle shape and light colour everyone thought it looked like weak squash and it was interesting that everyone struggled to find its flavours. Maybe this would give different results if tasted blind.

So the quirkiness continued with our first three whites ... all blind tasted. To everyone's amusement I had made wine bags from shirt sleeves and used the thin half of ties to make wine ties. I did change the buttons to be coordinated with the ties.

Our first white tasted blind was Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc. It was recognised as a New Zealand wine as its aromas were very prominent, as we're its citrusy flavours. A few in our Group knew it was Villa Maria, it was quite interesting to watch everyone guess, doubt themselves and guess again.

Our second blind tasted wine was Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay. After tasting the first wine most people correctly recognised the grape but the brand was new to many. Full of peaches and tropical fruit with a touch of oak as a Chardonnay should be.

Our third wine was given away slightly by its taller bottle and those who enjoy this grape quickly identified the wine maker. From the Mosel Valley Dr Loosen is a lovely Reisling with plenty of fruity crispness with a mineral edge.

Our special white was Paul Mas Marsanne, a new grape to most of the tasters. A fresh and citrus wine that also has flavours of vanilla, toast and marzipan. Needless to say it was the favourite white wine of the evening.

As well as blind wine tasting I had also prepared a quiz, a question relating to each wine. The biggest surprise when the answers were revealed was that in 2023 the amount of wine imported from France was worth 900 million pounds.

Our red tastings began with three blind bottles, again hidden by my shirt style bottle bags.

A favourite of mine and Hubby's as well as most others our first red was Les Dauphins Cotes du Rhone. We have all enjoyed this wine under its English label and for many years as Cellier des Dauphins. It's always a lovely wine made from Grenache and Syrah full of fruit with a hint of peppery spice, so nice to have a familiar wine to enjoy.

The other two reds were quite tricky tasting blind. Everyone said red wine was quite similar with flavours of dark fruits and spice in most varieties. Red wine number two was McGuigan's Gold Label Shiraz and whilst not everyone was convinced they had the right grape they all enjoyed the wine with comments of it being an easy drinker.

Our final blind red was a wine one of our tasters drinks quote often with friends, however tasting blind he wasn't quite sure if it was. The wine causing doubt was Casillero del Diablo Merlot. A subtle difference with this merlot was the edge of liquorice making it different to the other two blind reds.

We then enjoyed two reds knowing what they were, and they were both delicious. Piccini Memoro is an Italian wine I discovered many many years ago through Tesco Wine Community and later revisited on my wine forum Cuvée Reserve. Both are no longer live but my forum is open as there are some great wine reviews to read.

Piccini Memoro has great flavours and intensity, it isn't a style of wine we taste very often. This deep red wine full of cherries and figs with a hint of coffee and oak was enjoyed by everyone.

Our final red was the most expensive and the most popular top up although slightly too jammy for a few tasters. 1000 Stories Zinfandel from California has been matured in bourbon barrels which results in a hint of spirit on it finish. Full of flavours which included cranberry, prunes, toffee and herbs we all agreed this wine was a sofa wine to just sit, sip and savour.

I didn't offer food pairings with these wines as blind tasting is tricky without adding extra flavours. I did however make an Orange Drizzle Cake to have with our final tasting. Unfortunately I missed taking my own photo if this sweet Moscatel from Valencia. A full size bottle, unlike a half bottle of dessert wine, this was absolutely delicious. A light sweetness gull of tangerine flavours that matched perfectly with the cake. This wine is very versatile, it would make a good aperitif, perfect with desserts or on it's own very chilled with ftuit garnish. 

We had a super night, I think we'll be adding in a quiz and maybe a fun raffle at future tastings as it added to our night out.

After raffling another bag of wine gums and my quirky bottle bags our final prizes were a bottle of Mulled Wine, Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc, Oxford Landing Caberet Sauvignon and Jules Larose Brut Blanc de Blanc.

A super night with hopefully another before Christmas, it's always difficult to select wines as there are so many in large stores and independent shops. Suggestions are always appreciated, wines or themes, especially new discoveries.

The Wine Society 150 Years

The Wine Society are hosting a number of tastings to celebrate their 150 years, the recent tasting in Birmingham was focussed on their second 50 year period. The wines exhibited were defined into five categories:

Generation series - focusing on 1924 to 1974

Anniversary range - limited collection of fine wine

1936 The first six appellations in France - Cassis, Tavel, Arbois, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Monbazillac and Cognac

1964 Bag-in-Box patented in Australia - highlighting sustainability 

Making moves outside mainland Europe - changes in the wider world of wine

With such a variety of wine it was not really possible to taste in style order which is always a slight issue at large tastings using the same glass however there was plenty of water available. As there was no tasting order and table 1 was at the far end on the room we decided to start at the nearest table and worked our way around the room initially  tasting only the white wines exhibited before retracing our route to enjoy the red wines.

As with all tastings not all wines were to my taste but it was a super opportunity to taste so many varieties. All the wines were detailed in a great tasting booklet, I have reviewed the wines I photographed and a few favourites my camera missed.

Our starting wine was from the 1964 Bag-in-Box category, although this revolutionary technique started in Australia the white wine was from France (the red which we tasted later was Californian), hopefully the Wine Society will soon include a Bag-in-Box selection from the pioneering country. That said the Society's White Burgundy was a lovely wine to begin our tasting, it had a balanced minerality with a clean stone fruit flavour. 

An English sparkling wine began our 'Making moves outside mainland Europe' selection. Produced by Peter Hall who planted his Sussex Downs vineyard in 1974 Cuvée John Agard, Breaky Bottom this sparkling wine was 65% Chardonnay giving a full citrus flavour. 

Van Loggerenberg 'Kamaraderie' Chenin Blanc from Swartland South Africa drew my attention with it's striking label. In fact many of the wines at the tasting had special labels for the Wine Society's celebrations. This Chenin Blanc had lovely soft flavours of green apple and lime but was a pricey wine at £34.

Of the five categories I was most looking forward to 'Generation Series 1924-1974' as it included Domaine Jaume from France. As they are red wine producers our visit to this section of the tasting began with Cava Gran Reserva Brut, a dry sparkling wine with a toasty flavour. 

This category also included three white wines produced by the Hugel family in the Alsace region of France. Gentile was a gentle wine with a hint of minerality. The other two wines, Vin d'Alsace and Gewurztraminer, were both full of flavour and great representations of this region and it's German influences. 

My favourite white at the tasting was from the 150th Anniversary Series and was the highest priced at £45.  Surprisingly it was not a Sauvignon Blanc but a oak aged, complex, rounded Chardonnay, definitely a step above giving a true definition of fine wine. 

In my enjoyment of the Chardonnay I missed taking g a photograph but I did take one of the other white wine in the Anniversary series, Hunter Valley Semillon. A soft wine with apple and lime flavours with a dry finish. 

Staying with the fine wines we moved on to tasting the reds beginning with The Society's 150th Anniversary Amarone 2018. Fermented in stainless steel vats this blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Oselea is then aged in new oak for 18 months. The dominant flavour for me was dried prunes but I found the wine a little too tannic although it did soften in the glass. 

The other red celebrating the Society's 150th Anniversary was Geyserville Zinfandel 2019 from California. A blend full of black fruits especially cherries and a hint of liquorice this wine had plenty of flavour, a little pricy at £39 

Two red wines I was very keen to taste were from Domaine Jaume in Vinsorbes France. We visited here in 2016 during our visit to the Cotes du Rhone region. The Jaume family are featured on the front of The Wine Society's Magazine celebrating the generations of winemakers. 

Vinsorbes Altitude 420 and The Wine Society's Generation Series Vinsorbes are both made from Grenache and Syrah grapes with their raspberry flavours and touch of spice finishes. Having visited Vinsorbes it is certainly on steep slope enjoying the south sun and breezes from the mountains. I enjoyed both of these wines which brought back great memories of our visit, one we hope to repeat one day. 

My favourite red was also from the Generation Series, Chateau Le Boscq, Saint-Estephe 2016. This northern Medoc wine was very smooth, had plenty of flavour and a long satisfying finish. '

Amongst the array of white and red wines were two that stood alone, firstly Tavel Cuvée Prima Donna Rose from Domaine Maby. I discovered Tavel on recommendation from Heather Dougherty and although it isn't a wine I often drink I really do enjoy it. It's a wine that matches perfectly to light meals especially lunches in the garden on a sunny day.

Thje second wine being a dessert wine which, like the Tavel, was in the 1936 first six appellations in France selection. Monbazillac Chateau Pech La Calvie was full of peaches and honey, a fully flavoured wine that was crying out to be paired with cheese and nuts.

The final tasting was The Society's Cognac, again celebrating France's appellations. Distilled at Chateau d'Orignac this superb Cognac had been oak aged for longer than the appellations requirement of four years. It was filled with rich flavours of dried fruits and nuts with a hint of woodiness that added to its lengthy finish. 

Wine tastings are always an enjoyable event, a chance to try wines I probably wouldn't choose for myself and to learn more from fellow wine drinkers. Our home location does not always make it easy for us to access many of the events so when The Wine Society's 150th Anniversary tastings included Birmingham we were delighted to attend. It was a great evening with some superb wines, thank you. 

February Wine Tasting - rosé & whites

Our first tasting of 2023 was a general selection from Aldi, Fine Wines Direct,  Morrisons, Majestic Wine and Auchan, a supermarket in France. This post focuses on the rosé and white wine we all enjoyed. 

The scout headquarters looks very different set up for our wine evenings to when it's full our young people enjoying a variety of activities. It's nice for our Leaders to have their own activity. All leaders and committee members in Scouting are volunteers, I'm not sure the general public realise how much time (and own money) is given, people often presume Souters are paid the same as teachers ... when in fact we are a registered charity.

I love seeing all the wines lined up ready to be tasted. As I mentioned this range was from a variety of sources, hopefully I ordered the wines to progress everyone's tastebuds and not have any dramatic changes from one to the next.

Our first wine was from one of my favourite producers, Cellier des Dauphins. It was a wine we bought in France from Auchan as so had the French style bottle and label. Here in the UK the bottle is taller and straighter and labelled 'Les Dauphins'. We have enjoyed both their red and white wine before but not the rosé. 

Cellier des Dauphins Prestige Rosé is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault which is becoming more popular in Cotes du Rhone wines as it adds softness and aromas. A lovely salmon colour this wine gave plenty of floral and fruity aromas with a flavour of soft red berries. Everyone enjoyed this and began chatting about summer days.

Our next wine, a Chardonnay, was a Cotes du Jura made by Chassaux et Fils who are Aldi's French winemaker. This wine had plenty of peach and apricot flavours with a slightly nutty finish. It was appreciated by everyone, a great wine at just £4.99.

At our tasting I offer a food pairing idea with a few of the wines; my first food pairing this time was with our next wine, Marques de Riscal Rueda Verdejo. A winemaker we have enjoyed before but as a red wine, this was our first white and was from Majestic Wine at £7.99

I paired it with homemade salmon pate which was lovely with the crisp citrus notes. The herbiness of fennel, grass and verbena also paired well with the salmon creaminess.

Something new followed; again from Aldi our third white was The Falls, £7.99, a Riesling from Canada. We have tasted Australian Riesling with it's oily characteristic and German Riesling with its crispness but not a wine from North America. This wine was produced in the Niagara Peninsula which is the strip of land that separates where Lake Erie in America meets Canada's Lake Ontario. 

It had the flavours and characteristics of both New and Old World Rieslings, I found the nose a little off putting as it was quite petroly but the flavour was lovely, especially with the Japanese rice snacks as a food pairing.

As I mentioned before this wine tasting was not on any particular theme, it was not comparing grapes or geographically focussed however our last two white wines were compared to each other. 

Sauvignon Blanc is my favourite grape, I love wines from this grape produced from all over the world but my absolute favourite is French Sauvignon Blanc, in particular Sancerre. I had a bottle of Touraine Sauvignon Blanc from Auchan and The Ned was on offer in Morrisons at £7.49 so decided we should see which style everyone preferred.

The Ned, produced by Brent Marris of Marisco Wines, has a super full nose with plenty of citrus. It's flavours of lime zest, gooseberries and fine herbs has your mouth watering for more. A wine enjoyed by everyone and very popular at 'top up' time. 

Pierre Chanau is Auchan's winemaker and they produce many wines for the French supermarket. Thus Touraine, from Central Loire, also has a citrus aroma but was softer. With a mouth full of lemon and lime with a hint of blossom this was also enjoyed by all.

And the choice ... it was actually equal. The overall thoughts were that if you wanted to sit in the garden on a sunny day with nibbles then The Ned would be perfect, however on the equally sunny day if you were enjoying a light lunch, chicken salad or pasta carbonara then the Touraine would go down very well. 

I really enjoy everything about our wine tasting events; choosing the wines, writing the tasting notes and of course sharing the wine with friends. Everyone enjoyed our selection of rosé and white wines, I'll be posting about our red wines soon. 

Christmas wine tasting

Christmas was the theme of our recent wine tasting with our scouting friends. Our HQ always looks lovely set up, the mural depicts our Group's history from 1914 in our original hut to the present day, a great back drop.

Each place has the wine list with tasting notes along with a place setting for two glasses (odd and even numbers to match the list). Everyone also had a small plate of nibbles for pairing with some of the wines.

All our wines were purchased at Tesco or Sainsbury's taking advantage of their '25% off six or more bottles'. Our first wine was Tesco Finest Blanquette de Limoux. France produces sparkling wine as well as champagne, the two main styles are Blanquette and Cremant.

Blanquette

The name 'Blanquette' comes from the Mauzac grape which develops a white down on the vines leaves - hence 'blanc' or white. Blanquette de Limoux must contain at least 80% of its primary grape, Mauzac. Other grapes included in the blend can be Clairette, Chenin Blanc or Chardonnay which is used to add highlights to the wine.

Blanquette is made using 'methode champenoise' having a secondary fermentation in the bottle before final bottling after nine months. This sparkling wine is fresh and dry with a yeasty edge. It has a pale yellow colour with glints of green. Blanquette de Limoux is slowly cooled to 6/7 degrees which produces flowing lines of brisk bubbles.

Cremant

This sparkling wine is predominantly made from Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc which produces rounded flavours with a fine mousse. The wine is matured on its lees for 12 months before final bottling, again using the Champagne method. Cremant de Limoux has a paler colour with yellow highlights and finer bubbles than those in Blanquette. 

As an alternative to starting Christmas with bubbles our second wine was The Rose Garden produced by Boschendal. This light South African rosé has plenty of summer fruit with a subtle spice edge. Although probably more of a summer wine it was a perfect aperitif wine with its soft balance and fruit finish .

With Christmas in mind the next two wines were paired with Christmas dinner starters: seafood and pate. Paul Mas Heritage was our pairing for seafood - Lobster crisps were a substitute and did pair well with this Clairette wine. From Southern France, this wine had plenty of fresh fruit and apple flavour with blossom high notes. 

The wine to accompany pate our red wine was Luis Felipe Edwards Gran Reserva Pinot Noir. From the Leyda Valley in Chile these grapes ripen slowly resulting in a deep red fruit flavour. Aged in oak barrels gives this wine soft tannins and a lengthy finish. It paired well with the pate but would be equally as good served with the main Christmas dinner. 

It can be difficult to pair wines to Christmas dinner, do you match the meat which can vary from turkey to beef; or the delicious vegetables, stuffing or roasties? I decided to match to turkey and beef with everyone have two slices of each and importantly a little jug of gravy. 

It isn't only matching the food but everyone's preferred wine style, therefore for each meat we tried two wines. With turkey our two white wines were Yealands Sauvignon Blanc for those who enjoy a dry crisp wine, and Bellingham Chardonnay for those who like a slightly creamier wine. 

From New Zealand Yealands Sauvignon Blanc was full of crisp stone fruits with a super tropical aroma, It paired well with turkey but maybe without the gravy which slightly flattened the wines mineral finish. 

My preferred turkey with gravy match was Bellingham's Chardonnay with it's creamy flavour of butterscotch and hint of orange peel. It added a depth to the turkey and gave a lovely citrus finish. 

Our two wines for pairing with beef were Brancott Estate Merlot and Cru des Cotes du Rhone Vinsobres. Again it depends on individual palate preferences and with or without gravy. The Merlot was full of dark fruits with woody notes, soft tannins and a long finish. It was delicious with the beef and gravy but a little strong with the beef alone.

My favourite pairing was the French Cru des Cotes du Rhone from the village of Vinsobres. It was so inviting with its dark red colour and scarlet highlights leading on to warm fruit aromas. Its full fruit flavour with a hint of herbiness and lengthy finish really was delicious. 

Our final wines were wines to enjoy with or without food, sitting home on a cosy night or enjoying with friends. Two white wines and two red wines to be enjoyed by everyone. 

St Mont is a wine from the South of France that is not always available so when we see a bottle we buy one. A Tesco Finest wine that is made from Gros Manseng, Petit Courbu, Arrufiac and Petit Manseng. it's a light crisp wine that is full of citrus and white fruit. it is especially good with a cheese board but delicious unaccompanied. 

Our final white was also from the South of France; Elegant Frog Viognier. This super wine from Jean-Claude Mas is aged in oak barrels which enhances the aromas of dried fruits and vanilla. Enjoyed on it's own or with food this Viognier for me is a must at Christmas.

Vina del Cura Rioja is quite a weighty wine which some may enjoy with Christmas dinner whilst others may prefer it as a wine to enjoy later in the evening. A Crianza Rioja with soft vanilla tones and peppery spice. Aged for 12 months in oak barrels it is full of ripe berries 

Our final wine was 'Merry' Malbec from Trivento, a crimson red in colour with plum and raspberry aromas. This wine's vanilla notes are well balanced with sweet tannins and a smooth finish. Trivento Malbec is one of my favourite wines to drink unaccompanied. 

All the wines were superb and although paired as if for Christmas Day they can be enjoyed on any occasion. Tesco Finest St Mont was the overall favourite white, a new discovery for many, however there was no overall red favourite with all being enjoyed. 

Merry Christmas, enjoy the festivities with those you love enjoying good food and wine - cheers!

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