We’ve kicked off the festive season with three tastings at Richmond and our customary Friday night at Teddington. We kept the lineup of wines for tasting small, for good reason – they were pricey. And all suited to Christmas day, although this required me to describe consumption somewhat in excess of what most people might…(Read More)
Over three tastings at Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies we explored neighbouring countries, whose wine cultures have taken somewhat different directions. Hungary, with a long winemaking tradition, particularly around the Tokaj region, has struggled in recent years to establish a position for itself in the modern pantheon of wines. While sweet Tokaji wines have a…(Read More)
Richmond Wine Society met on Monday and Tuesday, and Teddington on Thursday and Friday last week, and over 100 of us sampled some of the best wine from this year’s wine awards. The Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge, Sommeliers Wine Awards and Independent Wine Merchant Top 100 are made each year, judged…(Read More)
Last week at Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies we took ourselves on a journey up the Loire Valley and back again. Loire wines tend to suffer from being from a region that everyone thinks they know well (think Sleeping Beauty chateaux), with some wine list regulars (think Muscadet, Sancerre and Anjou Rosé), but lacking a…(Read More)
No, not a football match, but the last topics for our monthly tastings at Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies. At our Modern Germany tastings in April we covered, as would be expected, some superb whites, but not all were Riesling! We tasted a lovely Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder in German) from the Mosel and a Gew…(Read More)
In April I ran a Bordeaux Left Bank fine wine tasting with dinner at Le Salon Privé in St Margarets. It was a great opportunity to explore just how different the wines are from different AOCs within the Médoc region. The famous 1855 classification ‘set in stone’ a five level hierarchy of the best…(Read More)
The famous regions of Rioja and Ribera del Duero were the focus of the Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies’ March/early April tastings and we enjoyed three very buoyant nights. Of course, it is impossible to do justice to these wines in just one tasting, but what showed through was some stunning fruit filled quality…(Read More)
Our Giro d’Italia masterclass on 19th March was a celebration of top class Italian wines as we toured from the most north eastern tip, close to the Slovenian border, all the way down to Sicily. Italy is a never ending source of wine exploration and exhibits the most extraordinary diversity of grape and style…(Read More)
Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies welcomed Robbie Rugman – the Fine Wine ambassador for Gallo Family Winery this week with the clear aim of broadening our taste horizons and showing a very different, high quality side to the extraordinary and famous wine company. While many people are familiar with Barefoot, Turning Leaf and Gallo Family…(Read More)
This blog is being written by Fliss, Tim’s wife. I’m currently studying for the Diploma in Wine, and my first written paper is on Fortified Wines, so it’s lucky for me (if not for readers of Tim’s blog) that I can put some of my learning to practice. My thanks to…(Read More)
Thank you to everyone who braved the cold this week to kick off the Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies 2019 tastings. We had a fantastic turnout over the three nights. Tuscany with a Twist was our theme, as we endeavoured to explore some of the lesser known facets of the region as well as celebrate…(Read More)
Welcome to 2019, which will be a great year for wine lovers in Richmond, Twickenham and Teddington! The tastings for Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies have been scheduled on the website, do take a look, and save the dates, and you can book your place now for our January tastings, where we focus on Tuscany…(Read More)
At our tasting at the Britannia last night, over 40 Richmond Wine Society members discovered that there is a lot more to Provence wines than rosé. Yes, the region is enormous, yes it produces a lot of wine, but if you are prepared to look beyond the pink haze, you will find some very special…(Read More)
Last night we enjoyed a Marlborough Masterclass at Bacco. Kevin Judd was the winemaker at Cloudy Bay throughout its ascent to fame, and has since set up Greywacke, and our mission was to compare, contrast and potentially choose between the wines of these two estates. After a glass of Pelorus (Cloudy Bay’s fizz) we…(Read More)
The Richmond Wine Society reached a very exciting new wine frontier last week as we explored the wines of China. We had a huge turnout over the two nights which reflects well on the insatiable wine curiosity (or is it thirst) that our membership has. The development and growth of China’s wine industry has…(Read More)
The March tasting at the Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies celebrated the wines of New Zealand. Specifically, we focussed on the Family of XII – a fraternity of twelve of New Zealand’s most prestigious and enduring artisanal wineries. We tasted twelve wines – a top class example from each estate – incorporating Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay,…(Read More)
Teddington Wine Society meets on 31st March. Not long now till we taste twelve wines from New Zealand’s Family of Twelve, and I’m completing the round up of the wineries we will be exploring. Villa Maria is so well known it is hard to imagine it is a family owned winery – but it…(Read More)
Continuing my preview of our exciting lineup of wineries represented at our New Zealand tasting this month. James and Annie Millton established Millton Vineyards and Winery in 1984. Their four individual dry farmed vineyards are situated on the East Coast of New Zealand in the wine appellation of Gisborne. Located just a few kilometres from…(Read More)
Our celebration of New Zealand’s Family of Twelve approaches, and I’ve been reminding myself about the wineries whose wines we will be tasting. Twelve independent wine producers from across the two islands, who share best practice but retain very distinct personalities, including: Kumeu River, the most northern of the family, whose vineyards are…(Read More)
Bacco was packed out for our March masterclass as we focussed on the superb red wines of Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret. Situated in the hallowed village of Vosne-Romanée just to the north of Nuits St Georges, the estate dates back to the 1920’s when the two families merged their vineyards but the Mongeard…(Read More)
Victoria, in the south east corner of Australia, was the focus of our tastings at the Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies last week. Thirty people at Teddington enjoyed a superb lineup of wines with an Australian-themed meal on Friday, while on Tuesday and Wednesday Richmond Wine Society experienced a similarly great wine selection, with…(Read More)
Our Saturday cheese course sessions are designed to be a little bit more relaxed but cover more ground with more wines and cheese spread over three hours. The France & England afternoon soon became a contest as we matched similar style cheese from each country against each other and paired them with a French wine…(Read More)
Our Monday evening Cheese Course is well under way and our focus on 6th February was on the cheese and wines of Italy. There is no question that Italy is a worthy rival to France in both departments – in particular the fact that Italy produces almost as many cheeses and many more wines. We tasted…(Read More)
Our 2017 Monday night cheese course kicked off last night with France as our destination. With over 370 recognised cheeses and probably a host more that don’t find their way onto the register, France is often seen as the centre of the cheese universe. Rightly so on the basis of the nine cheeses we…(Read More)
Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies visited Spain last week in what was deliberately a Rioja Free occasion. The theme was Spanish innovation and we took a good look at a number of lesser known regions and some wonderful local grapes. No one can dispute the success of Rioja and their importance to the Spanish wine…(Read More)
I have been delighted by the response to the courses I am running on cheese and wine in January and February. As you know, I am passionate about wine and its amazing partner, cheese. Over four weeks I will broaden people’s cheese horizons – tasting cheese that is absolutely in prime condition, and sampling some…(Read More)
We are updating the website and Facebook page with all of the events we are running at Richmond, Teddington and St Margarets this year and it is a fabulous line up of topics. We will celebrate the Old World, the New World and the Newest of the New World – our Richmond tasting in April…(Read More)
Last night 40 of us enjoyed an evening of exploration at Le Salon Privé in St Margarets. Our destination was Burgundy, and the objective was to compare and contrast, and enjoy, some wines from the fascinating region. We didn’t venture to the Mâconnais, but the Côtes de Nuits, Beaune and Chalonnaise provided…(Read More)
There was a phenomenal turnout of over 50 people for Teddington Wine Society’s tasting of Portuguese wines last Friday. Excited by the prospect of an eclectic, wide ranging tasting of indigenous grapes and an exploration of some of the lesser known valleys and regions, we took over the main stage of the Landmark rather…(Read More)
Over February, March and April we have completed our Bordeaux trilogy: the Left Bank comprising the Medoc, Margaux, Pauillac and similar famous communes; the Right bank – Saint Emilion & Pomerol; and Graves which also incorporated Sauternes. It is impossible to do justice to Bordeaux in one sitting, so the opportunity to focus on specific…(Read More)
