Tuscan Tasting at The Wine Society

15 December 2016.


To The Wine Society in Stevenage with St Albans U3A Wine Tasting Group 1 to learn about Tuscan wines. The Tuscany Workshop was presented by Sebastian Payne MW.

(L to R) Gill, Anthony, Peter, Richard, Mary

 

Sebastian Payne MW

This was the most expensive of the ten wines, the cult 'Super Tuscan' Sassicaia. The 2005 vintage currently retails at £210 a bottle.

We finished with this sweet dessert wine, served from half bottles (£32 half) accompanied by mince pies. 

From 18:30 they were very generously pouring an aperitif Prosecco. No price info was given but checking TWS website afterwards it’s listed at £17 a bottle.

Upstairs each setting had 8 wine glasses with a good measure, I estimate an eighth of a bottle pour. A 9^th glass would be filled with the final wine, a dessert served with mince pies.

4 of the 9 tasting wines were marked as ‘for tasting only’ and no price was shown. Afterwards I checked winesearcher.com and show the prices below.

The 9 wines tasted were

1) Meriggio Fontodi 2014 £17

This was a Sauvignon blanc shown as ‘for tasting only’ but its on the TWS website at £17

OK savvie, Sebastian said little about it except that he felt it was too expensive to compete in a crowded SB market

2) Chianti Rufina, Frascole 2013 £10.95

80/20  Sangiovese/Canaiaolo

Soft, light but theres a good tannin grip on the finish

3) Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Tre Rose, Santa Caterina 2013 £13.30

70% Sangiovese. Beautifully perfumed, soft fruits dry tannins on finish. My second favourite of the night. I will buy this one and try it with food.

4) Cepparello Isole e Olena 2010 Magnums (£99.50 magnum

100% Sangiovese, aged in wood. Could be labelled as Chianti Classico but they don’t as they’ve been making it since before Classico rules changed in 2000 to allow 100% Sangiovese.

My favourite, beautiful balanced wine, lovely fruit/tannin.

5) Colledila Chianti Classico Gran Selzione, Brolia)  2011 £34

Another 100% Sangiovese, but not for me. Had a dusty smoky nose and a sour finish, but others on the table really liked it.

6) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Gianni Brunelli 2010 £55

Ripe sweet fruit, delicious. Equal 2^nd favourite

7) Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido Bolghere 2005 ‘for tasting only’

Well, what a surprise! Introduced without a fuss, no indication given of its cult status or price. The Super-Tuscan!

Good vintage, picked early before grapes raisined, Cabernet Sauvignon 90% Cabernet Franc 10% 13.5% abv.

It was a lot less expressive than the previous Sangiovese, it was dry, taut with sweet fruit and finesse. Winesearcher lists this at £210

8) Flaccianello della Pieve,  Fontodi 2004 Magnums ‘for tasting only’

Enjoyable with good fruit structure.

Winesearcher lists this by the bottle at £82.50

9)   Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, Fontodi 2005 half bottle ‘for tasting only’

Dark colour, treacle sweet, gorgeous, mmm, another mince pie please.

Winesearcher lists this at £32 a half

So some expensive wines, presented by a MW. It was a good evening, and good value. Total cost of flight (Halving magnum/doubling half) is around about £554