Summer Soirée Success 2018

A glorious evening of wine, food and fun....

Following weeks of glorious weather and a good few weeks of prep/tasting on our part, we were ready for our 4^th Annual Summer Tasting. An opportunity to celebrate some great seasonal new wines complete with BBQ. We cheerfully laid out the tables, spread the cloths and lined up the wines in readiness for your arrival. So obviously it rained!!

Quick, back in with the wines and move the tables out of the rain. Fast forward 5 minutes later to the sun back out and wines too! Rosé T-shirts on and you started to pour through the gates as we poured the Durello Spumante to welcome you.

42 wines and 3 gins were on offer and we hope you got to taste as many as possible. I think some of you managed all, with a little pitstop provided by The Ginger Butchers and Riverside Café. But apart from the food, which were the stars of the show?

Clear winner (and coming as no surprise to us as we all adore this wine) was the Angelvin Rosé from Provence presented by the winemaker himself Logan Wallace and his Father Jim, visiting us especially for the tasting. A quintessential Provençal Rosé from St Tropez with a delicate balance of fruit, freshness and lingering liquid loveliness, it also matched our new team shirts – both perfect for this Summer weather.

The white and sparkling Rosé Malbecs also caught your interest on our Malbec table hosted by Juan Matas from Gourvid, Argentinian Specialists. As did the Mad Bird Malbec range both for the eye-catching labels but more so for their fabulous deep flavours. Who knew Malbecs could be so wide ranging in what they deliver?

Another rosé winner was the Cline Cellars Mourvèdre Rosé literally arriving just in time from California, shipped especially by us for the tasting. This is one sourced by Sarah last year when she visited the vineyard and its sunshine flavours clearly impressed you too.

Beyond that it was a real mixed bag of old classic favourites such as Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, Chablis Domaine de la Motte and Ontañón Rioja (white Tempranillo? Simply Wow!) through to new modern stunners such as Mantlepiece Cinsault and Le Riche Chardonnay from South Africa. All impressing with quality and value and expertly advised upon by our friends Alec, Craig & Graham.

And if they weren't enough, Lucy and Faye from True North Distillery showed the fabulous Sheffield Dry Gins which were enjoyed from the Original to Moorland Berries to the Raspberry and Pomegranate – another perfect Summer serve in a large copa glass and a juicy wedge of orange.

So, a big thank you to you all who came, we hope you enjoy these wines through the summer – we have more when you run out!! Same again next year? But if you can't wait there's always November 16^th & 17^th 2018 for THE BIG ONE.