The Portuguese Eight

The Portuguese Eight

This week we enjoyed 8 wines from Portugal – an excellent theme chosen by Tony. The most popular wine of the evening was an Animus Douro Reserva scoring a very respectable 14.57, courtesy of our Chairman Jim, closely followed by Vinceno Douro brought by Ian. The remaining wines, all from Portugal scored well making for a very enjoyable evening.

A full list of the wines sampled can be found here.

Welcome To 2026

Welcome To 2026

The first meeting of the New Year saw 5 members enjoy a curry from the award winning Hungry Elephant Indian Takeaway accompanied by a Matheus Rosé kindly supplied by our Chairman, Jim. After a delicious meal we went on to enjoy wines from Chile, France, Argentina, Italy and Portugal. The most popular wine of the evening was a Castellore Salice Salentino from the Puglia region of Italy, courtesy of Tony and scoring an outstanding 15.2 overall. An additional wine to finish the evening and to celebrate the New Year, a Dark Horse Merlot, completed the evenings meeting. Full details of the wines sampled can be found here…

A extremely enjoyable evening with great company and great wines. Our next meeting is on Friday 6 February which will have a theme of “wines of Portugal” A theme chosen by Tony.

All set up ready for the evening’s frivolities and the arrival of the curry.
The wines that we enjoyed and rated.

Christmas Jumpers

Christmas Jumpers

For the last meeting before Christmas and the last one of 2025 we donned our best Christmas Jumpers for a bumper meeting of 9 members enjoying wines with a “southern” theme. The most popular wine of the evening amongst a high scoring evening was Diablo Purple Malbec from Chile courtesy of Wayne scoring a 15.89. This was very closely followed by a South African Roodenberg Black scoring 15.33 brought by our Chairman Jim who kindly supplied a fine bottle of Tawny Port to finish the evening’s get together. Hot on Jim’s heels was a South African Bokenhoutskloof, Cabernet Sauvignon blend scoring 15.11, courtesy of Tony.

Full details of the wines sampled can be found here …

Our next meeting will be on Friday 9th January 2026 when we will also be enjoying a curry to start our 2026 meetings. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Please enjoy your wines responsibly over Christmas and New Year.

Birthdays and Curry

Birthdays and Curry

This week 8 members helped Wayne and Alan celebrate their recent birthdays with a very fine curry from the award winning Hungry Elephant takeaway. Alan kindly supplied a bottle of white wine to accompany the curry’s, whilst 2 of our members went with a bottle of Old Speckled Hen to accompany their meals. Neale provided us with an input and update on how many wine connoisseurs apply their ratings of wines using the 20 point system we have used for many, many years. A copy of which can be found here …

After the meal we enjoyed wines from New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Italy and France. The most popular wine of the evening was St. Emillion Grand Cru scoring an outstanding 16.13 courtesy of Wayne who also kindly organised and collected our meals. This was closely followed by a 15.63 for Ian’s Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. Another fantastic evening enjoying great company and great wines from around the world.

Full details of the wines sampled can be found here …

Old Wine Anyone ?

Old Wine Anyone ?

This week saw 7 members enjoy (mostly) 7 wines together with a wine from Georgia estimated to be at least 40 years old, courtesy of Lewis.

The most popular wines of the evening were a Barossa Blood Ink (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Grenache blend) brought by Neale and a Luis Felipe Edwards Malbec brought by Talbot, both scoring a respectable 13.43. These were closely followed by a Diablo Volcanic, Cabernet Sauvignon courtesy of Jim scoring 13.29. We did however have a record breaking score for a Maison De Tastelune, Pinot Noir scoring 4.71, brought by Paul. The previous record holders for the lowest scoring wines, Neale and Talbot, are very grateful to Paul for pushing them into second and third places respectively. The evening’s frivolities concluded with an additional bottle kindly brought by Neale.

To view more details on the wines sampled this week, click here …

Single Grape For 8 Members

Single Grape For 8 Members

This week’s meeting saw 8 members enjoy a themed evening chosen by our Chairman, Jim, of “Wines made from a single variety of grape”. We enjoyed wines from South Africa, Australia, Italy, France, Spain and Argentina with grape varieties including – Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero Di Troia, Syrah, Tempranillo, Malbec and Zweigelt. The most popular wine of the evening was an Italian Notte Rosa from the Puglia region made from the Nero Di Troia grape also know as the Uva di Troia grape variety, courtesy of Tony. This wine scored a very impressive 14.13 overall; 1.13 more than the second most popular wine of the evening an Australian Barossa Ink Shiraz brought by Jim. Alan kindly brought a bottle of Tsikoudia from his travels to Cyprus for us to sample and enjoy.

Another fantastic evening enjoying good wine and great company. Full details of the wines sampled can be found here …

Friday Five

Friday Five

This week’s meeting on the Bank Holiday weekend saw five members enjoy a themed evening of wines from Spain and Portugal. A theme chosen by our secretary Neale. The evening started with a Campo Viejo Blanco and finished with a Costa Do Castelo. The most popular wine of the evening was a Spanish “Matsu”, Gran Reserva from the Castillo De Veiling region of Spain, courtesy of Wayne, scoring a resounding 13.4 overall. The Matsu is a firm favourite of the society and Wayne. On its previous appearance it scored a 14 and was the joint favourite of that evening back in December 2022. The Matsu was closely followed by Portuguese Serra Mae brought by Neale and scoring 13.2.

A full list of the wines sampled can be found here …

Then There Were Six

Then There Were Six

This week’s meeting took some twist and turns with attendance. We were expecting seven members, which dropped to just five, but a late arrival (Wayne) just after the first wine was poured brought us back to six in attendance. The meeting being a free choice, we enjoyed wines from France, Australia, Argentina and the U.S.A. The most popular wine of the evening was an American “Jaw Drop” Syrah from Washington State, scoring an outstanding 14.17 overall, courtesy of our secretary Neale. The nearest to this was an Argentinian Cabernet Franc brought by Tony scoring a respectable 13.5. The evening concluded with a glass of Port with the choice of Tawny or Ruby courtesy of Talbot to help him celebrate his recent birthday, which of course we were all happy to help with !

A full list of the wines sampled can be found here …

Ten Wines

Ten Wines

The continuing warm weather inspired 2 members out of the 8 in attendance, to each bring an additional bottle of wine, in the form of a well chilled white to commence the evening. After enjoying these we enjoyed red’s from France, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Italy and the U.S.A. The theme for the evening, chosen by our Chairman Jim, was “Your favourite wine for £10 or less.” The most popular wine of the evening was brought by Stuart, a Dada Finca Las Moras, an Argentinian Malbec scoring 12.88 overall. This was closely followed by Spanish Mucho Mas scoring 12.63 courtesy of Ian. Another night of excellent wines and great company.

The full details of all the wines sampled can be found here …

The end result of a night of excellent wines and great company.