Invitation to our monthly tasting – The Winery W9

You are invited to our next tasting on Monday 10th March from 17.00-21.00h at our shop in Clifton Road W9.

We started last month with Casteggio’s newly arrived Postumio, their sparkling Pinot Noir. This month we are showing Cruase, their sparkling Rose version – also 100% Pinot.

Graf von Schonborn. Don’t tell us we didn’t warn you. Firstly, it’s the bottle. No, it’s not Mateus Rose! It is a Bocksbeutel (Goat’s Sack), the traditional bottle from Franken, an hour’s drive east of Frankfurt. Secondly, it’s the thrilling liquid within – racy, dry Riesling fizzing with volcanic mineral goodness. http://www.thewineryuk.com/growers/graf-von-schonborn/

Our favourite biodynamic growers in the Rheingau, the Kuhn family, have an organic dry Riesling that seems to hint at peach stone called Weinhaus Kuhn Riesling trocken. We'll be tasting it on Monday.

Biodynamic? That's the extreme end of organic viticulture where decisions are aligned with the cycles of the moon.

Completing the line-up of whites is a Bordeaux – Chateau Larmevaille, Entre-Deux-Mers, from the Riviere brothers. Mainly Sauvignon Blanc – it's all about melon and fresh cut grass.

Speaking of Pinot Noir, Spatburgunder is German for Pinot Noir and Pinot Lovers are being drawn to its sensual charms in droves. Hans-Bert Espe and Silke Wolf were also drawn to Pinot (and to each other) at Geisenheim, Germany's top wine university. They then moved to Baden, just north of the Kaiserstuhl and set up their winery in a former Canadian Air Force Bunker, only moving out when commercial flights restarted on the runway. They recently built a larger replica as far from the airport as possible. http://www.thewineryuk.com/growers/shelter-kenzingen/

The Spanish tend to put Ribera del Duero rather than Rioja in their top spot. Unless, of course, they are from Rioja. We love them both – in different ways. We will be showing Alvides' Roble – a wine between Joven and Crianza, turbocharged by a spell in oak (Roble = Oak). The Spanish do like their oak but, fear not, it’s not like licking timber planks – it’s like walking through a forest with a glass of brambly red wine. http://www.thewineryuk.com/growers/alvides-villalba-de-duero/

Syrah in its pure form can be a visceral experience. It’s fruit, it’s meat, sometimes elegant and always powerful. A fist in a silk glove. We’re opening David Reynaud’s biodynamic Syrah from just outside the Crozes-Hermitage boundary.

http://www.thewineryuk.com/growers/david-reynaud/

We do hope you can join us and, as usual, feel free to bring a friend.

You can keep an eye on our upcoming tastings and events here;

http://www.thewineryuk.com/tastings/

You can also keep in touch on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/thewineryuk

Dan, Ben, David and our new colleague Paul.