Blogging means I meet a lot of people. And Manchester’s incestuous nature (honestly, everyone knows everyone else) sometimes makes things interesting.
Take David, the chap behind Wine Sessions Manchester. I first met him on a barge working with The Liquorists when I went sampling Bourbon and eating barbecue. I’ve since discovered he used to run wine tastings with mutual friend and have since this tasting in Didsbury, dined with him and his lovely lady at a supper club.
See? Incestuous.
David runs regular wine tastings in Didsbury from cocktail bar One Lounge. Every month a different theme, a different selection of wines.
This tasting, to fit in with the date, it was an English wine tasting – sampling some of the best wines on offer from this green and pleasant land.
England’s wine making has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years, we’ve learned to take advantage of the German climate’s similarities to our own and so most of the vines grown in the UK (around 90%) are Germanic in origin. Of course, the warming of our climate hasn’t hurt either.
Settling down in the bar, pretty cake tier in front of us, David began pouring the first of the evening – we were beginning, as ever, with fizz.
This was Three Choirs Classic Cuvee, a sparkling wine, made in the same way as Champagne (though of course, being made in the UK, it can’t call itself that). This is classed as one of the best wines the UK has to offer, a good dry fizz, lots of green fruits and almost sour apple on the palate.
Interestingly, David paired this with Jaffa Cakes. Yes, you read right, Jaffa Cakes. The Cuvee brings in more of the depth of the orange, and a touch more of the bitterness through, giving it more of a marmalade flavour.
The second wine of the evening, was again from the Three Choirs vineyard. Using the Phoenix grape, this wine was a rather interesting combination – everything from elderflower to pickled onions on the palate, a good touch of saline and hint at vinegar.
When paired with the cucumber sandwiches on our tier, it was easy to see why this would go well with salads – it’s herbal flavours would work beautifully and the cucumber really intensified the freshness. It’s an ideal summer white.
The third of our wines and we were moving on from the whites and onto our only rose. This was our last from the Three Choirs vineyard and was delicious example – on the nose lots of sour cherries, roses and strawberries. On the palate this was lightly dry, lightly honeyed, with lots of wild strawberries and gentle tannins.
David had paired this with the English summer classic, scones, cream and strawberry jam. All we needed was a bit of sunshine and a deck chair.
Moving into red territory and our first was from Chapel Down, their Union Red. A combination of four different grapes , including Rondo and Pinot Noir. I have to admit to loving this – along with cherries and plums, there are a hint of tobacco and liquorice, making this a surprisingly good English red.
Our second and final red was from Biddenden Vineyards in Kent. The Dornfelder is yet another German grape variety, that grows very well in England. This was softer and rounder than the Union Red, with lots of blackcurrants, and light tannins, with more of the perfume from the fruit, reminding me of cousin to Ribena, Vit C.
David couldn’t finish the evening without a nod to another great from the Chapel Down stable, the Late Harvest dessert wine. One of the best wines and one that brought me back to dessert wines in the first place, Nectar is the perfect word to describe it. It’s akin to drinking honeysuckle. Sweet, but not sickly, syrupy but not cloying, this was served chilled, alongside a piece of white chocolate cake, a lovely accompaniment to a superb wine.
It was a great way to end the evening and I can thoroughly recommend signing up for one of these tastings. At £20 per person, with nibbles to match the wines and 5-6 wines to sample, it’s a great way to try something new and learn a little with someone who doesn’t make it feel like a lesson.
The next tasting is on 25 May and features great barbecue matches with South African wines.
