We had the inaugural meeting of Wine Appreciation Group 2 in July, and were lucky to be able to sit outside on one of those balmy evenings we enjoyed this summer. We had the help of Norma and Terry, who run Wine Appreciation Group 1, who came along to advise us all on how their group operates.
The theme of the evening was “A Wine for Summer” and we had 3 very different white wines and a rosé to taste. But to the surprise of us all, the winner was a red Cotes du Rhone bought from Lidl. Unusually for a red, the wine is required to be served chilled. Every wine came with interesting information about its provenance, and sometimes a story. In the case of the red, it came from the old-established firm of M. Chapoutier, and we were told that every child born to the family is given a name starting with the letter M in case they end up in charge of the family firm. Andy Henderson, who brought the wine, added that he first drank it at the end of a hot and exhausting day’s walking in the Alps – a recipe for making the evening’s refreshment memorable!
The group continues to meet every 2 months, with Australian Reds being the theme of our next tasting.
Richard North
This is an article published in the Winter 2019 edition of the Hayling Island U3A newsletter