Wine tastings & Events February - April 2008

Burgundy – The 2006 Vintage                                                Friday 29th February

2006 has been hailed by the press as a great white wine vintage but rather less good for the reds. My recent visit to all our regular growers suggested that the whites are indeed very good but the reds are actually much better than the pundits make out. This year we have decided to combine our Burgundy tastings into one event – a stand-up tasting at which you will be able to taste over 25 wines, both white & red:

• Chablis & Chablis 1er Crus from Domaine Billaud-Simon

• Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons & Grands Crus from Domaine Christian Moreau

• Rully & Rully 1er Crus – both white & red – plus Bouzeron from Domaine Michel Briday

• Santenay, Chassagne-Montrachet & Bourgogne Blanc from René Lequin-Colin

• Chassagne-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru & Saint-Aubin from Bruno Colin

• Meursault, Volnay, Auxey-Duresses & Aligoté from Vincent Bouzereau

• Nuits-Saint-Georges & N-St-G 1er Cru Bousselots from Jean Chauvenet

• Morey-Saint-Denis & M-St-D 1er Crus from Virgile Lignier

Venue: Georgian House Hotel                     Time: 7.00-9.30pm   Tickets: £19.00

2002 Bordeaux Left Bank                                                           Thursday 6th March

There was plenty of enthusiasm for the 2002 Bordeaux vintage when it was first released en primeur but, after the extraordinary 2003s and fabulous 2005s it has been rather forgotten about. As a result it remains quite good value today (if such a term may be applied to Bordeaux Crus Classés these days?). The tasting will be tutored by Richard Brazier who makes a welcome return to continue our series of Bordeaux vintage tastings. We will taste the following 9 wines:

• Château La Mission-Haut-Brion

• Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

• Château Leoville-Barton

• Château Leoville-Poyferré

• Château Gruaud-Larose

• Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

• Château Pichon-Longueville

• Château Pichon-Lalande

• Château Montrose

Venue: Georgian House Hotel                           Start: 7.30pm       Tickets: £49.00

Californian Wines from Rutherford Ranch, Napa Valley                Wednesday 12th March 

We have had lots of interest in Californian wines recently – dare I suggest that it’s as a result of Oz Clarke & James May’s recent television series? So here’s an opportunity to taste a great range from one of Napa Valley’s leading wineries under the tutelage of Julie Jackson who has been representing their wines in the UK for many years. We will taste 9 wines including:

• 2005 Sauvignon Blanc

• 2005 Chardonnay

• 2004 Merlot

• 2004 Zinfandel

• 2004 Cabernet-Sauvignon

• 2004 Rhiannon Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Venue: Georgian House Hotel                           Start: 7.30pm       Tickets: £19.00

Alsace Wines from Mittnacht Frères + Alsacien food                 Wednesday 16th April

In view of their recent string of good vintages it’s high time we held another tasting of Alsace wines. Mittnacht Frères have top quality vineyards near their base in Hunawihr and own significant parcels in the Grands Crus Rosacker & Osterberg. Since taking over from their father & uncle in 1995, cousins Christophe & Marc Mittnacht have converted the domaine to biodynamic viticulture and winemaking and are now making some of the very best wine that Alsace has to offer today. We will taste 9 wines including:

• 2006 Pinot Blanc

• 2006 Riesling

• 2005 Riesling Grand Cru Rosacker

• 2005 Pinot-Gris Grand Cru Rosacker

• 2006 Gewurztraminer

• 2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg

• 2003 Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive

The tasting will be accompanied by suitable Alsacien nibbles to show how food friendly these wines really are – Onion Tart with the Riesling, Foie Gras with the Pinot Gris, Munster with Gewurz & we’ll finish with Kugelhopf with the Vendange Tardive.

Venue: Georgian House Hotel                           Start: 7.30pm       Tickets: £29.00

Australian Shiraz – Terroir or not Terroir? That is the question                  Wednesday 30th April

We are all familiar with Aussie Shiraz but if we look more closely is there a regional identity to be found if we compare a wine from the Hunter Valley to one from McLaren Vale, Yarra Valley, Coonawarra or Margaret River? We will taste 9 wines to put this to the test and as a treat we will finish with a true Australian icon – Penfold’s Grange. The tasting will include:

• 2003 Hollick Wilgha Shiraz, Coonawarra

• 2005 Coriole The Soloist Shiraz, McLaren Vale

• 2005 Bremerton Old Adam Shiraz, Langhorne Creek

• 2004 Rolf Binder Heysen Shiraz, Barossa

• 2002 Keith Tulloch Kester Shiraz, Hunter Valley

• 2004 Yarra Yering Shiraz, Yarra Valley

• 2004 Ashbrook Estate Shiraz, Margaret River

• 1997 Penfold’s Grange

Venue: Georgian House Hotel                           Start: 7.30pm       Tickets: £35.00

                                                 Please click here to download a booking form

Date for your diary:

We will be holding a wine tasting at Haslemere Museum in the evening of Friday 25th April to coincide with a private view of an exhibition of local paintings by Martin Millard. You will receive a separate invitation nearer the time but in the meantime you may get a preview of Martin’s work by looking at www.millardpictures.com .