For those who are unfamiliar with the ‘Call my bluff’ format, ‘en bref’ it is an evening of fun and involves a competitive viniferous guessing game. Each of the ‘wise men’ in turn describes the wine that has been poured then each table must guess which of the three is telling the truth. At the end of the evening the table with the most correct guesses wins. It probably took new members and guests a few minutes to settle into the rhythm of bluff and double bluff, however those familiar with the format, including our ‘Bluffers’, certainly pitched in with gusto.

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On 26 January 2023, Jonathan Pedley MW came to waken members of the Club from their Christmas hibernation. For him, as he said, it was a great pleasure to be back to face-to-face tastings after the remote tastings of the Covid period.

 

Jonathan is now (re)-trimmed, his daughter having insisted that the Old Testament Prophet hair and beard had to go, but the cutting of the locks had no Samson effect. This was Jonathan at his best – fascinating wines, glorious insults, deep knowledge, effortless ability to communicate. As Hilary Reid Evans said in her closing vote of thanks, with Jonathan you can never forget (and never should forget) the sheer fun of wine.

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Our Call My Bluff tastings haven’t been running quite as long as I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue but they generate a nearly equivalent charge of wit, ingenuity and fabulous stories (in every sense of the word) from our Three Bluffers: Richard Bampfield MW, Michael Palij MW and Jonathan Pedley MW. Not only that but this occasion was graced with our very own ‘Samantha’ totting up the scores…

Jonathan, unshaven since the start of lockdown sported a remarkable ‘yeard’ that reminded members of a rather mischievous Old Testament prophet. Richard, with Stellenbosch (twinned with Basingstoke – not) as his backdrop was his usual elegantly charming self, while Michael, as always, brought authority, gravitas and far-flung travels to the party.

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Close on the heels of every MW’s ultimate boondoggle, the International Symposium (hosted in Logroño, Rioja), comes a tasting to explore all that is new in Spanish wine. Is there a new Revolution? Let’s see.

The evening started rather later than planned due to an unthoughtful lorry overturning and massively delaying the arrival of our speaker for the evening. Perhaps more importantly he had the wines…

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The 30 second summary: seven mystery bottles, three Masters of Wine, outrageously straight-faced bluffing, much debate, occasional coin-tossing and much laughter. And some good wine too, thanks to the generosity of our three presenters.

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For his presentation to Oxford Wine Club about ‘rethinking rosé‘, Jonathan focussed on two major themes. Firstly, that of rosé wines and age: should rosé always be drunk young, will it develop complexity with age? Secondly, he asked us to consider whether rosé could aspire to greatness or was it just a simple pleasurable drink?

Jonathan outlined the upsurge, since 2003, in the popularity and consumption of rosé wines in the UK. The days of only having a choice between uninspiring Mateus and Anjou rosés are well and truly behind us, with many more rosés now on the market. Ten years ago rosé wines comprised less than 1% of all UK sales. Currently, the figure is in the region of 10%. Rosé is now drunk throughout the year and not uniquely during the warm summer months.

The presentation consisted of two parts. We were firstly asked to taste 3 vintages of rosés from the well-respected Château de Sours (Bordeaux): 2012, 2013 and 2014. The second part of the tasting was a ‘blind’ tasting of 4 Côtes de Provence rosés and 1 from Languedoc.

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The Oxford Wine Club tasting on 21 January was an evening of bluff and double-bluff. Jonathan Pedley's insistence that (practically) all the wines we tasted were from Morrison's had to be weighed against Michael Palij's assertion that they were (practically) all from his own cellar or those of his most illustrious wine-maker friends, whilst Richard Bampfield played the trust me I'm a trustworthy chap game (to great effect).                                 

Yes, it was round 3 of the Club's occasional Call My Bluff evenings. As always there were tricky decisions to be made. Do you put your faith in psychology or in tasting skills? Do you put your trust in your own tasting skills or do you rely the (apparently) most trustworthy panellist or the less trustworthy?

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The shade of Silvio Berlusconi hung over the OWC tasting on 24th January, when Jonathan Pedley MW, channelling the spirit of Il Cavaliere, gave us a typically wise and witty look at two great grapes. The last ‘Big Match’ was Cabernet Sauvignon... read more

The view from the back row - June 10th 2010 It does not seem so long ago – or perhaps it is just because I am getting old – but, incredibly, it was in December 2005 that the OWC last held a ‘Call my Bluff’ evening. On that occasion, Club... read more