The Wine Society - Buyer's Favourites

We've been members of The wine Society for just over a year, during which time we've visited the shop at Montreuil in France but not managed to take part in a UK event. That changed last night when Hubby and I took the train to Leicester for a wine tasting evening based on The Wine Society's Buyers' Favourites.

The venue, The Ballroom, City Rooms, was in the older part of the city centre. A lovely, if a little tired, building with huge chandeliers in the foyer and a double aspect stairway leading into The Ballroom.

City Rooms, Leicester

Emma Briffett and Joe Granger, members of the Events Team greeted us at the door, explaining the layout of the room along with a booklet detailing all the wines. The venue was a large spacious room with four tables for the wine along the longest walls and a cheese and biscuits table at each end of the room; it was very easy to move around and sample the various wines.

Tasting booklet 

Wine selectors - The Buying Team

The Buyers were asked to chose their favourite wine in four categories: Alfresco, Party Faithful, Food & Wine and New Discoveries. From their choices 20 wines were selected for this tasting.

We began with the two sparkling wines on offer: Cava Conde de Haro Brut 2012 and Crémant de Limoux Cuvée Saint-Laurent Antech 2013. Both fine examples of sparkling wine made in the traditional method, the first having larger bubbles.

The nose of the Cava reminded me of my Dad bringing in a large red glass bowl of gooseberries picked from the garden, it's amazing how wine can evoke such memories.

Of the two sparkling wines I preferred the Cremant with it's fine bubbles and delicate fresh flavour.

We decided to try the white wines first, something we cannot always do at other tastings as the rooms are often busier and it's harder to move around. The Wine Society had perfectly spaced the wines so all were accessible and so our first white was Tabali Reserva Especial Espinal Limari Chardonnay 2015 followed by The Society's Vin d'Alsace 2014.

The Vin d'Alsace had a mainly riesling taste with a hint of gewurztraminer. As Mark (buyer) suggested it would make a 'refreshing aperitif'.


Changing tables our next white was The Society's Vinho Verde 2015, a lovely refreshing wine with a light fizz. I would happily serve this instead of a sparkling wine as a pre-dinner drink when friends come round.

Wine number 8 was Stoneburn Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015, bringing a smile already as sauvignon blanc is my favourite grape.

Although from New Zealand it was a light wine with a good nose and a mid finish. It was chosen by Sarah Knowles and I really liked its crisp citrus flavours.

Picpoul de Pinet has been a favourite of mine for a few years, where previously it was a wine to bring home from our holidays in southern France it is now becoming popular and easily available here in the UK. It is the best wine with shellfish, I have yet to find a better match and the Domaine Félines-Jourdan 2015 on offer was no exception.



Moving tables again and to the other side of the room our next white was a bit of a surprise. Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese, von Kesselstratt 2008. A riesling from the Mosel I was very surprised how sweet it was, full of apricots but very sugary, not at all to my expectation.

The Society's Gruner Veltliner 2015 was our penultimate white, an Austrian white with a white pepper nose ans a dry crisp long finish. I seem to be on the same taste level as Sarah as it was another one of her choices and one of my favourites from the evening.


Our final white was from Gloucestershire's Three Choirs vineyard, Payford Bridge 2014. Another crisp white with a dry finish - it was nice to see English wine being included.

That was our first tour round the room so time for a pause, cheese and biscuits, glass of water and a little comparing of notes. Hubby and I have similar but not exactly the same tastes and it's always interesting to see what each of us discovered.

Time for the reds, this time we worked back down the tables so started with wine number 20, Ventoux, Martinelle 2013. My overall favourite, so rich and fruity with a hint of spice and conjured up instant memories of holidaying in France. I did go back at the end of the evening for another tasting, just to check!

Moldova is not a wine country we know very much about but have seen more wines starting to appear in the UK. This red was plentiful in dark cherries and for me had a slight liquorice flavour. not the sweet type but root liquorice. I quite liked Individo Feteasca Chateau Vartely 2014.



Chile was the source of our next red, Koyle Cerro Basalto Alto Colchague 2013. The most expensive wine at the tasting and one of the most popular. A great blend of mourvedre, grenache, syrah and carignan with a musky nose, dark fruit and a lengthy finish.


Pinot Noir is not a grape I am drawn to but the Pedroncelli Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2014 was a light example with red currant flavours and as suggested would go very well with pizza although it was 14%


We recently tried and enjoyed Sicilian wine for the first time, another opportunity with The Society's Sicilian Reserve Red 2012 being the next red for us to taste. This was slightly tannic with a kick of peppery spice amongst the dark fruits.

Back to France for another of my evening's favourites, Corbieres Rouge, Domaine du Trillol 2011. From the southern region of Languedoc this red was full of cherries and plums and  instantly transported me back to many sunny holidays.It was a lovely full bodied red at 14.5% which would be amazing served with a juicy steak dinner.


Our final two reds were from opposite sides of the globe; Te Mata Estate Hawke's Bay Syrah 2013 from New Zealand and The Society's Beaujolais-Villages 2014 from France. Opposite tastes too with the Te Mata being full of sour cherries, blackberries and a spicy finish, and the Beaujolais being lighter with dry red fruits. Both good examples of their given varieties but given the choice I would chose the Syrah.



Our first Wine Society wine tasting evening came to an end all too son, having had a great time tasting and comparing wines as well as chatting to Emma, Joe and Robin McMillan (CEO).

Thank you to everyone involved for an educational, enjoyable wine journey.

The Wine Society

I've been looking at The Wine Society website for a little while, wondering about their vast variety of wines and contemplating joining. I was delighted at Christmas when our grown up children bought us membership and my drooling, contemplating and pondering could at last have the final stage of ordering and most importantly tasting.

The Wine Society first began at the Great Exhibitions in 1874 when a co-operative company began to buy good quality wines and sell them to members. Over 1500 wines are sourced by nine buyers and sold to members; the Society is non-profit making with surplus monies being used to enhance service and supplies.

Membership is a one-off fee of £40 giving you a unique share number. Our membership came with a £20 voucher off our first order which was an added bonus.

And so to choosing wine - what a task ! We decided to choose a random selection as opposed to a mixed case, although we were tempted by Top Society Sellers - a case of the top selling Society wines, 6 red and 6 white. 

Our 'name-the-day' delivery arrived as arranged and we opened our box in eager anticipation. All the wines looked tempting however we dutifully laid them in our rack ready for selection as required, and as we have now tried a few I thought it time to blog our findings (all photos are from The Wine Society page) - tasting notes are always subjective but here's what we discovered.

Duo des Deux Mers - France 2013 I was very intrigued with this wine, and I loved it.

It's from the south of France but as the name suggests from two regions. The duo refers to the two grapes in this white, sauvignon from Gascony and viognier from the Languedoc; Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean being the two seas. 

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A lovely pale yellow colour with a nose full of gooseberries and pineapples, with a background of crisp green apple. It had a slightly syrupy palette with a smooth finish. A pure dry tasting wine full of  kiwi and gooseberry flavours - but without being sharp or acidic.





The Stop Gap Chardonnay - France 2013  Another wine that interested me because of its origins, fruit from the Languedoc and Beaujolais, and another I loved.

This white burgundy had a deep yellow colour which matched its creamy vanillaness. It was full of pears, peaches with a spicy tingle to its finish. A lovely unoaked wine with a nose of red apples and just a hint of vanilla.







The Society's Ruppertsberger - Germany 2013  Not our usual choice of grape but this German Riesling caught our eye; it's blended with silvaner which is a new name to us.

Very sparkly in the glass, its straw yellow having striking highlights. We were expecting an oily nose but this Riesling was full of green grass and apples, quite refreshing. It's palette was smooth and cream, with some vanilla; a little like a chardonnay but with a crisp sauvignon finish - not at all as we expected but very much enjoyed.

The Society's Cotes du Rhone - France 2103 A favourite red grape and a part of France we love so we were keen to try this wine.

A beautiful deep red colour with scarlet highlights led to a nose full of damsons and cherries. Our mouths were filled with the same damsons, sour cherries but joined with a smokey dryness that had a smooth finish. An really enjoyable soft Cotes du Rhone that was without oak and full of fruit.

This will be on our favourites list - a lovely example of a smooth french wine.






Malabarista Tempranillo-Granache - Spain 2012  This wine again is not our usual choice, we are not keen on Rioja but this is from the neighbouring region of Navarra.


It's nose was full of dark fruit but yet quite light, unlike it's colour which was a deep, almost claret-like red. Quite acidic high notes were immediately evident on tasting followed by damsons, plums and a slight aniseed/liquorice note. It was certainly full flavoured with slight tannin and long finish.





We have enjoyed our first few wines from The Wine Society, not only tasting but discovering more about them and adding notes to our tasting book. It's great to have the catalogue to mark wines we've tried - a book that will be travelling with us next weekend as we're visiting France and will have the opportunity to call in at Montreuil-sur-Mer and the Wine Society's french shop.