I write this while the taste of all those lovely wines still lingers on the tongue and the nose of pineapple still lingers in the airā¦ and before the hangover from the over indulged wine tasting kicks inā¦ ! I know I should āsquashā it to the back of the palette and let it linger on the roof of my mouth but I enjoy the flavour too much ā¦ am I a wine heathen? I know for some wine is a religion and I respect that and this afternoon I was taught to respect it a little more.
I met Franco Valori for the first time today who presented these Corcovo fine wines on behalf of and alongside Domingo, the ValdepeƱas family wine producer and I donāt know what I was expecting. Franco is a formidable English man from an Italian family selling fabulous wines for the Spanish Corcovo wine family.. and he is passionate about it. He explained to me that he got into the wine selling business after trying some great wines for his twin sonsā christening and the business blossomed from thereā¦.lucky for usā¦
I wasnāt able to be at any of the other recent Corcovo wine tastings as I was away but a treat was waiting for me on my return so I already knew that the Blanco AirĆ©n was going to delight me with the traditional AirĆ©n grape that is grown in a mix of limestone, sand and clay at a height of 700 mtrs. ā¦ just delicious.. perfect with smoked salmon and blue cheese. We had the lovely mix of cold meats and cheeses provided by the Hill Top ā¦ just the smoked salmon missing! Myself personally, I enjoy this wine with friends on our terrace, just living the dream! I only bought a fewā¦..!
Franco continued to present the Verdejo followed by the ālong lifeā (it improves with age!) Moscato and claimed the fruity next tasting of the Rosado to be among the ābest in the worldā which had recently won a silver award. One of our group wondered just how much this would retail in the UK and we debated that it would retail for at least Ā£13 in a supermarket and perhaps Ā£25 in a restaurant! Lucky for us itās only ā¬4.50 tonight.
Jackie Thomas, a U3A wine tasting newbie on our table, has been a member of U3A wine tasting in South Africa, Australia, and America and I hope your taste buds were dazzled Jackieā¦.
We were in for a treat when the reds were produced to, by now, a noisy U3A bunch. The fruity young Roble Temperanillo tasting of vanilla and black pepper was a smooth oak barrelled red, was nicely chilled and slipped down a treat.
We finished on a 2018 harvest Reserva and, as usual, the best was reserved until last. A five year process.. fermentation and before bottling, 2 years in a barrelā¦ just deliciousā¦.
Thereās a Wine Tasting Seasonal Break now but the fabulous group organisers Pat & Brian Clarke will be following up with the usual Wine tasting events ā¦ so keep your eyes peeled for these and remember that famous Wine Mottoā¦. āOpenā¦.and allow to breatheā¦.āā¦If you can wait that long!
Write-up by Fiona Sankey
