SPR Wine tasting, Tuesday 28 November 2023

Following on from last year’s success, this year’s SPR wine tasting took place on Tuesday 28 November and was kindly hosted by Savills. Once again the event was run by SPR committee member Joanna Tano and her husband Rob, who holds a diploma in wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET, https://www.wsetglobal.com/) and is a qualified wine educator. 

For those who attended last year, we were reminded of the wine tasting acronym BLIC, standing for the following: 

B: Balance – is the flavour harmonious, do the components blend well together? Is there enough acidity to balance the alcohol and fruit, for example? 

L: Length - how long do the flavours linger on your palate? In general, the longer the flavours last on the finish, the better quality the wine. 

I: Intensity – what is the strength of flavours? Can each flavour be easily distinguished? 

C: Complexity – how many different layers of aromas and flavours can you find in the wine? 

This year’s event focused on how different regions and climates can influence the flavour of a wine. We concentrated on two grape varieties – chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon - with three wines to taste and assess under each variety. Both grape varieties are relatively easy to grow, highly productive and tend to adapt well to different locations and climate, but will vary in taste depending on both, plus of course what the winemaker chooses to do during the production process.  

For the white wines, the grape of choice was Chardonnay. The Chardonnay grape is the second most widely planted white grape (Airén, a Spanish grape unknown to most but used to produce brandy and sherry, is the most widely planted!). The first white wine tasted was Jean-Marc Brocard’s “Vignobles Sainte Claire Chablis Vielles Vignes, 2021”. Made from old vines that are more than 70 years old, produced in stainless steel and unoaked, this is your classic example of a cool climate Chablis. The rule in Chablis is that wine must be produced from 100% chardonnay grapes.  

Following on from this was a South African chardonnay, located in Stellenbosch. This was Vergelegen Estate’s “Reserve Chardonnay, 2021”, grown in a moderate climate. Barrel fermented and matured, the wine had buttery notes, complemented by a lemony freshness. The final chardonnay was a Californian one from Sonoma County - “Hanzell Vineyards 2018”.  This hot climate chardonnay was the preferred wine of most. Produced using oak barrels, the buttery, vanilla flavour with apple, peach and nectarines flavours was a winner. It was also the most expensive of the three whites, and the quality of this wine shone through. 

And then onto the red wines, where we highlighted the cabernet sauvignon grape, the most widely planted red wine grape variety. We started with a wine from Saint-Estephe in Bordeaux, “Chateau Cos Labry 2014”. Saint-Estephe, on Bordeaux’s left bank, is close to the Gironde River which helps to cool the climate here. The second red was a South African one; “Aslina by Ntsiki Biyela 2020 (Stellenbosch)”. Our final red was from Western Australia, a hot climate which helps to produce a super ripe grape with strong blackcurrant/cassis and plum flavours. The “Vasse Felix Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2019” was favoured by many, although bottle number two also proved popular. 

The evening was rounded off with charcuterie and cheese, and more discussions over the wines tasted.

Becci Williamson and Joanna Tano

Thank you to Savills for kindly hosting this event.