The Wine Appreciation Group

Leader:  Annie Scotney - wine@ashbyu3a.co.uk -

WINE APPRECIATION GROUP

The objective of the group is to widen the members’ experience of wines and all matters pertaining to wines. Annie Scotney is the leader of the group and coordinates meetings. We are currently tasting a choice of wines bought by a different member each month, usually with some theme to connect them. Those present at the tasting share the cost.

If you are interested in joining us please contact Annie at wine@ashbyu3a.co.uk.

We currently meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 7pm.

25th February

Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to postpone the meeting for a week but we were able to meet a week later. Kurt had seen an article in the paper suggesting that there were good alternatives to Chablis but at a lower price, so we tried some of their suggestions.

First was 2024 Castellore Pecorino Terre d’Abruzzo 11% from Aldi at £4.99. Abruzzo is on the east coast of Italy opposite Rome. This was a very nice clean dry white citrusy and a nice aftertaste. A very good start but although we were all reluctant to score it too highly without knowing what was to follow, we scored it 7.8/10.

2nd was a Greek 2024 Assyriko 12.5% £11 from Tesco. Although being dry and lemony it had an oily richness and a slightly frizzante taste on the tongue. A slightly unusual taste, as are a lot of Greek wines, as they are often made from Greek varietal grapes which don’t appear in other wines. Again we all liked it. Quite different to the first but very pleasant. It didn’t score quite as highly at 7.4/10

The third wine was from Galicia in NW Spain, a 2024 Rias Baixas Albarino 13% from Sainsburys at £12.50. This is particularly recommended for seafood and shellfish. A crisp and with high acidity but with a fruity notes. Style wise it was half way between the other two. We didn’t think that this was the best Albarino we’d tasted and it was quite pricey so it only scored 7/10

Fourth was 2024 ‘The Pebble’ Chenin Blanc Val de Loire 11.5% from Tesco at £9. This is a recently introduced brand at Tesco, again with quite a high acidity and with supposedly grassy, flinty overtones typical of the Loire. We thought it didn’t have much flavour at all. Pleasant, there was nothing offensive but nothing remarkable about it either. It only scored 6.7/10.

So far each wine had scored less than the previous wine, so we were a little apprehensive about the last – an actual Chablis. This one was 2023 Chablis Premier Cru by Albert Lucas 12.5% and £14.99 from Aldi.

We needn’t have worried. This is what Chablis should taste like. it was a year older and so had a little bottle age and a touch of oaky vanilla, not a lot, but it just added a little creaminess to it whilst still having a nice acidity and freshness. Delicious. The only wine to score a 9 from one of us and 8.1/10 overall.

However when it came to our choice of the month, it had to be the first wine, the Pecorino from Aldi. It was not as good as the Chablis but very nice and easy to drink on its own or with food and it was just 1/3 of the price. Well recommended. Stop press, this wine appears to be out of stock now 🙁