Author: Terence Gale

September 30, 2021

Our host for the 30 September 2021 wine-tasting was Tony Raeburns.    Seven of us enjoyed   sampling and trying to identify a selection of ‘Lesser Known European Reds’ coming from France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. As usual our tastes varied but a score of 3 on 6 was achieved and was highly commendable.

November 23, 2021

Stephen and Kate Long were our hosts for this month’s wine-tasting on November 23^rd. The title ‘Swiss red varietals’ was intriguing and included a selection of 6 different grape origins ranging from Syrah, Cornalin, Humagne Rouge and the well- known Pinot Noir……. Again 3 out of the six reds were correctly identified……

Wine-Tasting for 2022

January                                —————

February                              Martin Vaughan

March                                   Terence Gale

April                                       Rudi Pluss

May                                       Stephen Long

June                                       Ian Cappin

July                                        Tony Raeburns

August                                  David Gwilliam

September

October                               Gerry Swart

November                          Brian Allardyce

December                           —————–

             

We have been very fortunate that there has been good support for our group in these challenging times……though who can resist a glass or two of wine to talk of many things, as the quote goes by Lewis Carroll, from the Walrus and the Carpenter ‘the time has come the walrus said, to talk of many things, of shoes and ships, and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings’…….

So on June 30, we were kindly hosted by Paul Sochaczewski and his wife Monique. Paul provided 6  varying red wines from Italy, whose labels were conveniently covered by the traditional ‘socks’ donated by Hamish McCombie some eons of time ago…..the highest score was 3 out of the 6 correctly identified.

On July 13 our hosts were from Morges, Ian Cappin and his wife Anne. The choice of wines that evening, were from different regions of Spain, whose most well-known reds are the Rioja wines……. again the highest score was 3 out of 6.

August 27 was our latest wine-tasting evening hosted by David Gwilliam and his wife Paddy. Again we were confronted by wines from Italy, which all seemed to be ‘ruby’ red with rich plum aromas and cherry fruit flavors…..and difficult to differentiate. Highest score was only 2 correct…….

OF note: Our wine group consists of some 25 members, and we like to have at least 6 participants with a maximum of 8 for a session to be held…….the ladies generally organize a restaurant for themselves and are there to drive their husbands safely home………!

Our next wine-tasting will be hosted by Tony Raeburn with the theme ‘lesser known European reds’ on the 30 September at 7.30pm……. 6 ‘winers’ have already signed in…..

Our first wine-tasting since January 2020, was just like a breath of fresh air; 7 of us enjoyed an evening of chit-chat and trying to solve the covered (Hamish’s socks) labels of 6 bottles of red wine from the surrounding region of Prangins….with a final decanting of a 40 (1981) year old vintage Bordeaux red which was much appreciated…..even by the ladies who had come to collect their husbands……

Terence Gale
Host

For the future:

June	Paul Sochaczewski
July	Ian Cappin
August	David Gwilliam
September	Tony Raeburns

On Friday July 26, Martin Vaughan hosted the latest ‘wine connoisseurs’ tasting…… 9 members responded…….6 wines were selected from 6 islands around the world……Brian Allardyce surpassed himself with 3 correct wines and their related islands……..chapeau!
Our next sessions are:
David Gwilliam in August
David Stieber in September
Ian Cappin in October
Myself Terry in November
Come and join us for our next sessions…….a warm ‘wining’ awaits you…..