Meeting 371 - - "Wines from the Chairman's Cellar"
Friday 21st February 2014 Neville Hall, Waltham St Lawrence
Wines from the Chairman's Cellar proved to be a fascinating evening, putting everyone's knowledge and
tasting skills to the test. Our Chairman, Colin Mair, very generously donated a range of wines from
his cellar in celebration of his 70th birthday. Two of the wines brought back memories of places
visited during our Branch's excursions to Lake Garda and the Moselle Valley.
A Riesling Sekt Extra Trocken 2010 from Wolfgang Kohl provided an easy drinking apéritif.
The two white wines, a Lugana 2012 Le Morette from Valerio Zenato and a Soave La Rocca 2008
from Pieropan, were both full of flavour, with the Soave proving very complex.
The main focus of the evening was to identify four Bordeaux "look-alikes". As a standard,
Colin provided a Château Léoville Barton 1988 from Saint Julien. Not surprisingly this scored 9.
The challenge then began as we had to name the country,
vintage and price for four unknown wines.
From a possible score of 12 points, Judy Henley was the winner - scoring 5! There were many
defensive cries of "I had the right countries but in the wrong order!" Colin went on to
offer a range of Amarones to accompany Charlotte's Moorish Lamb casserole with chickpeas and
aubergine served with oven baked rice, cucumber raitha and green beans.
A taste of Bonnezeaux 1989 went with the mouthwateringly delicious rhubarb sponge pudding with custard and cream.
As this was a special occasion, coffee was served along
with petits fours prepared by Frank de Mengel.
To finish, Colin provided two Grappas for those who wished a digestif. (CG)
| Aperitif: Riesling Sekt Extra Trocken 2010 - Wolfgang Kohl | 6+ |
| (1)Lugana 2012 Le Morette - Azienda Agricola Valerio Zenato | 7+ |
| (2) Soave La Rocca 2008 - Pieropan | 7+ |
| (3) Château Léoville Barton 1988 - Saint Julien | 9 |
| (4) Italy Veneto: Perseo 2007 Le Morette - Azienda Agricola Valerio Zenato | 7+ |
| (5) Germany Pfalz: Das Kreuz 2005 - Rings Freinsheim | 7 |
| (6) USA Virginia: Octagon 2008 - Barboursville | 8 |
| The Red supper wines : | |
| Amarone della Valpolicella Classico: Farina 2010, Ca' la Bionda 2005, Allegrini 2006; |
|
| Perseo 2009 Le Morette - Azienda Agricola Valerio Zenato | |
| The White supper wines : | |
| Bonnezaux 1989 Domaine du Petit Val - Louis Goizil | |
| The Digestif: | Bonnezaux 1989 Domaine du Petit Val - Louis Goizil |