The Richmond and Teddington Wine Societies met for our first live events since the end of February and it felt great!
Despite all the fun of the monthly video tastings and regular Zoom events, from my point of view you cannot beat being in front of a crowd – socially distanced of course!
Richmond met at the Britannia over three nights in the last week of July, with appropriate spacing in their newly refurbished upstairs room. I used a microphone to avoid voice projection, and everyone took care of themselves and each other by following the seating plan and avoiding the usual close contact pleasantries.
We tasted through a great range of Spanish wines that eminently demonstrated the diversity that this fabulous wine country has to offer.
Albarino, Cava, Mencia, Garnacha Blanca, Rioja and Ribera del Duero all featured as we gulped down 11 different wines. The Britannia, as ever, turned in some great food with a Spanish twist.
At Teddington on the 7th August, we tested out the St Mary and St Alban hall. A great space with good acoustics and ample room for everyone to feel comfortable and adhere to appropriate distancing.
A similarly diverse set of wines were tasted with the addition of a trio of Ribera del Dueros from the excellent Valduero estate that had fortunately arrived from Spain that week.
On the hottest day of the year (at that point), the hall was airy and not too hot and a quiche salad followed by a selection of Spanish cheeses from Teddington cheese suited the wines really well.
Four great nights and a strong overall sense that people were pleased to be out! Our next tastings are of wines from Southern Burgundy and Beaujolais – book early if you want to participate in person!
If you would like to enjoy a tasting of Spanish wines in the comfort of your home (or join with friends via Zoom), find out more here.
All the wines featured during the societies and online tastings are listed in the wines we have tasted page.