With Christmas around the corner, we welcomed an enthusiastic crowd at the Eastcott Community Centre for the Festive wine tasting. With fairy lights and mince pies at the ready, it was time to get the bubbles flowing.
1) Arestel Cava, £5.99, Lidl
Our welcome drink was a glass of bubbly; this semi sweet Cava.
Cava is made in the same way as the pricier Champagne (using the traditional method of a second fermentation in the bottle), but doesn't come with its pretentious price tag.
It uses local Spanish grapes - parellada, macabeo and Xarel-lo.
Described by wine legend, Olly Smith, as "the best bargain of the year", we served this as a suggestion for a Christmas crowd pleaser if the budget is tight.
Our tasters were impressed with the wine, getting plenty of thumbs up. A guest remarked that "It's the best wine of the night."
2) Asda extra special riesling, £8.50
Our first white wine of the evening was a dry riesling, from the Niederosterreich area of Austria (the lower bit of Austria).
The wine is bursting with stone fruit flavours and a hint of apple and it was chosen as a Christmas pairing with turkey, as it would make the white meat 'sing'.
This would also be great to pair with salmon starters and smelly cheeses.
Our tasters were divided over this wine. Some loved its freshness, for others it was a bit too dry. One taster felt that it was OK, but bland.
3) M&S "Found" Verdil, £9
Our next wine takes us to Spain's Valencia region, where we find the native grape, Verdil. These grapes have orange skins so when the wine juice is slowly fermented with the skins, it takes on an orange hue and notes of citrus.
For Christmas, we felt this would complement fish (especially shellfish), prawns and spanish tapas. You could also impress your guests with a grape variety they may not have come across before.
It's fair to say this one didn't go down so well with our tasters. There were a few positive comments, that it was fruity and christmassy. However, some complained that it was too citrusy and another commented that it tasted as though it might strip your teeth enamel. The most damning comment was "It's got a weird taste, like old socks". It was time to pass around the slop bucket and move on.
4) 30 degrees pinot noir, Co-op, £8.65
After the Verdil disaster, I redeemed myself with Co-op's Irresistable 30 degrees Pinot Noir.
This example is from Chile's Casablanca Valley where the East/West laying vineyards funnel in the cooler air from the coast to keep the grapes cooler. Pinot noir is a fussy grape to grow and demands the cool climate.
The Co-op have stocked this brand for many years and it's easy to see why it's popular. As well as being Fairtrade, it's light but also got a complexity beyond its modest price tag. I'd tried several pinot noirs and decided this was the best to serve at the wine tasting.
As a Christmas wine, this is versatile enough to pair with the turkey, or red meats, and is useful around a Christmas buffet and with strong cheeses. The tasters were impressed. (Phew!)
5) Diablo Dark Red, most supermarkets £8.00 - £10.00
We were staying in Chile for our next wine. From the Maule Valley, Diablo dark red comes from producers Concha y Toro, who are the largest wine producers in South America and are responsible for many sub brands in the supermarkets.
The wine is a blend of shiraz and malbec, but it's the aging in oak that gives it such a smooth and elegant finish, with vanilla notes. You'll also find its sister wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon with a grey label.
The tasters were enthusiastic about this one, and were pleased to hear that it's often found on offer in the supermarkets. "It's amazing," said one taster, whilst another was impressed with the prominant cocoa notes.
For Christmas, this will pair with red meats (of course) and mushrooms as well as mature cheeses.
6) "Triana" Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Majestic Wine, 17.99
We finished the evening off with the best match for a mince pie - the sickly sweet Pedro
Xinenez sherry. It has been described as a 'sugar rush in a glass'!
From Jerez in Spain (the true home of sherry) comes a glass full of viscous, boozy raisins. The wine is made by taking ripe pedro xinenez grapes and leaving them in the hot sun to dry out. This concentrates the sugar, so that they can then be crushed into liquid form and fermented.
The juice is then fortified by adding grape spirit, and further aged in a solera system. PX Sherry (as it is known) is the sweetest sherry you can get.
This example from Majestic Wine is an IWC medal winner and comes from the respected Hidaldo family bodega, which was established in 1792. If you can't make it to Majestic, you can find alternative PX sherry in half bottles in Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons.
In addition to enjoying with mince pies, this could be poured over ice cream or served with Christmas pudding or sticky toffee pudding.
The verdict?
We ended the tasting with a vote on the favourite wine of the night. The results were:
1st - Diablo Dark Red - 36% of votes
2nd - Coop Pinot Noir - 24% of votes
3rd - Riesling - 16% of votes
Joint 5th - cava and px sherry - 12% of votes
6th - M&S Verdil - 0% of votes
Look out for our next tasting events in 2025!
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