The Stars of the Show

There are plenty of wine tastings around – but I haven’t seen many as well attended as the annual Great Western Wine Portfolio Tasting, with over 450 enthusiastic guests, creating bustle, noise and conviviality amidst the glittering and majestic surroundings of Bath’s historic Assembly Rooms last month. Throw in the entirety of the enthusiastic Great Western Wine team, a large serving of wine producers, almost 150 wines, and it’s a recipe pretty much made in heaven for a fantastic evening.

This year, in addition to the vast portfolio of wines, there was further interest, with a range of Craft Ales from award-winning local beer producer Wiper & True, a selection of increasingly popular Sake from the Akashi Sake Brewery and a delicious, and irresistible array of cheeses from local cheesemonger, the aptly-named Pong Cheese – I particularly loved ‘the goddess’, an unctuous, washed rind cheese, produced locally at Ivy House Farm, near Beckington.

I popped along to check out a few new wines, chat to some of the guests and catch up with the many wine producers, who make the trek to our beautiful city to support this event. And not just any producers…  most of them are ‘A’ listers, in the world of wine, including Taittinger Champagne, the renowned English sparkling wine producer Ridgeview,  New Zealand’s multi–award winning Yealands,  Marques de Riscal; a true classic of Rioja, and many others including the impressive Ixsir winery from Lebanon.  It’s great to have the producers and brand ambassadors at these events – no one is more passionate, or more knowledgeable about their wines, than they are, and you really get to understand the stories behind what’s in the bottle.

‘We love this event every year’ one guest told me ‘ it’s a fun evening out, but it’s our chance to try new things and wines that we wouldn’t normally choose. Buying wine can be a bit scary, and we don’t always like to ask, but this way, we can discover new things and then we’ll be more confident about buying them.’

It’s an easy tasting to navigate, with each table of wines, given an apt name, to help guide the guests; from ‘The Christmas Table’, and ‘Fizz, Bang, Pop’, to Autumn Foragers Favourites, and ‘Big, Bold and Beautiful’ (glorious and busty aromatic whites, and broodingly rich reds), and  also included a table of top choices from Great Western Wines’ very own Master of Wine, Jon Pepper.  Everything in the tasting booklet is also helpfully labelled in terms of style.

Great Western Wine take orders on the night, and I asked them to give me their top 5 or 6 most popular choices – there’s an interesting trend here, which point to Italian red grape varieties, and crisp, Sauvignon styles at the top of the leader board. What’s exciting on the red wine front, is that these wines aren’t the well-known tried and tested, but lesser-known ones, proving that when you give people a chance to try new things, they go for them!

I was surprised but thrilled to see a personal favourite Negroamaro del Salento, Varvaglione at the top of the charts - a gorgeously smooth, generous, velvety red from the deep south of Italy, yet with a refreshingly moderate 12.5% alcohol.  Perfect with Autumn game, and lamb shanks.  It’s great to see people choosing wines that may not be that well known or recognised, and this is a classic example of why the Portfolio Tasting is such a fascinating and wonderful event.

The number two spot went to the avidly-followed, and highly popular Heartland Dolcetto Lagrein, an Australian wine, made from two northern Italian grape varieties, and created with the alchemist wizardry of legendary winemaker Ben Glaetzer.  Soft, plump, textured, and bursting with bright, juicy, perfumed blackberry fruit.  Just the right weight, just the right balance – a very clever wine, perfect for winter nights and Christmas.

The top selling white on the night went to a lesser-known style of Sauvignon, which was another welcome surprise.  Vina Leyda Sauvignon Gris, Kadun Vineyard, with its squeaky-fresh, crisp, tongue-tingling and zesty fruit, it’s just a bit spicier, and fuller-flavoured than the Sauvignon Blanc equivalent, with hints of ginger and gooseberry.  Other top whites included the ever-popular Yealands Sauvignon Blanc, and a classically-balanced Pouilly Fume cuvee de Boisfleury.

As for me, I rediscovered old friends that I haven’t looked at for a while, and met new ones; I’m fortunate enough to have tasted a vast proportion of the Great Western Wine range, but there’s always more to learn. Here are a few of my favourite new findings:

Ixsir Altitudes White 2013 – an absolute delight, and thrilled to see such a fresh, intriguing, multi-facetted white coming from Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.  It’s made from a melting pot of grape varieties – Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier; with the Muscat and Viognier providing the exotic perfume, and floral, generous flavours, and the Sauvignon and Semillon cutting through with freshness, zest and liveliness.

Eruzione Bianco 1614 Carricante, Planeta – my love affair with all things Sicilian is well-known, and this is a new addition to my list. Named after the volcanic eruption of 1614, this is a razor-sharp, sassy white, from the crunchily-fresh Carricante grape which is grown 900m up on the dark, black, volcanic soils of Mount Etna. It has an amazing vitality and haughtily reined-in, beguiling power.  Bright, zesty, and crackling with fresh mint, and ripe lemon freshness, it’s softened and enhanced by a dollop of floral, lime-fresh Riesling in the blend.

Souson, Ailala Ribeiros Do Avia – my first introduction to the red partner of the lovely Ailala Treixadura from north-western Spain; made from a little-known red grape, which is known as Sousao in northern Portugal, it’s a vivid, bright, and very lively red, with a rich spiciness, but also remarkable freshness.  Full of ripe blueberry, mulberry and cherry fruit, it’s balanced and soft, with a juicy yet velvety style, softer and fruitier than many big Spanish reds.

Finally, staying in the same region of Spain, another brooding Spanish charmer, this one with a seductive wildness; Licis Mencia.  Made by highly-respected sommelier-turned winemaker Franck Massard, Licis is the tiny plot where the wine is made, and Mencia is the grape.  It has a haunting, smokey, perfumed depth, not always seen in a red from this area.  Elegant yet bold, with deep, brooding richness, it has evocative scents of violets, wild thyme, and freshly crushed raspberries, and delivers a riot of flavours including black cherries, plums, sandalwood and fresh herbs – delightful, beguiling, with an untamed streak of wildness, which simply adds to its character. Loved it!

Going to the Great Western Wine Portfolio tasting, is rather like letting a child loose in a sweetie shop (think Charlie and the chocolate factory without the nasty bits).  It’s a chance to explore, learn, try new things, talk, meet new people, listen to winemaking tales… and most of all to discover new wine gems, and catch up on new vintages of much-loved favourites, with great stories to tell.   It makes for some exciting and delicious wine drinking over the winter months. Be bold; explore; try something new.

By Angela Mount

If you feel like you've missed out then take a look at our upcoming events schedule here to see what else is in store.