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.

On 24 January 2017, the Club was privileged to spend an evening with Sam Lindo of the Camel Valley vineyards. Privileged not just because Sam is a three-times English Winemaker of the Year and immediate past chair of the UK Vineyard Association but because Camel Valley is a rather special site.

Camel Valley was set up by Sam’s father Bob and his mother Annie in 1989 just above the Camel River in Cornwall. Though they didn’t realise it at the time it was about the best possible spot for a vineyard with the lowest rainfall and the best protection from the sea influence. Unlike most of the UK’s vineyards it’s on loam (a mix of clay, sand and silt) rather than chalky soils. This, according to Sam, makes Camel Valley’s life ‘easier’ but it’s also part of a counter-cultural take on life. They aim for simplicity: pick, crush, press. Let the grapes do the work…

And it’s paid off! Camel Valley has gone head to head with the Champenois in competition and come off best. They won the first of their long list of gold medals in international wine competitions in 2005 up against the best Champagne can offer and have repeated that feat many times since, most notably for their Pinot Noir rosé wines.

Pierre Mansour gave a masterclass on Rioja and Ribera del Duero to a full hall at St Peter’s on Monday evening. As anticipated, the two wine regions both oozed class, but their important differences were very apparent and moreover, well explained by Pierre. Given the chill, I dare say that the red-leaning (OWC has no political affiliation) tasting was welcome in that it was full of winter warmers

Members were delighted to again welcome Christelle Guibert, Director of Tastings at Decanter, to a tasting befitting the end of the OWC events calendar after another successful year.

After possibly our most rapid AGM ever, the real business of wine tasting got underway.  Jasper is BBRs’ Burgundy expert and Beaujolais effectively falls within the remit.  Beaujolais also happens to be something that Jasper is very keen on. In fact it is one of his regular drinking wines for home and his cellar has a very ample selection of wines, many with some significant age.

Aged Beaujolais at first sight seems to be something of an anachronism. However what we are looking at today is the village Crus, and not the Beaujolais Nouveau or even the Beaujolais Village that many will remember from the past. And these wines are indeed something quite different as we were all about to find out.

This was Richard’s sixth visit to the Oxford Wine Club, but who’s counting?  When he last presented South Africa to us in 2012, his alter ego, Rick, The Wine Liberator (see www.theliberatorwine.com) was in its infancy.

2016 sees the Liberator project going from strength to strength, with his Episode Six recently receiving the ultimate endorsement of being Jancis Robinson’s wine of the week, and Richard returning to talk about the New Wave of South African wines.

Richard’s interest in South Africa began when his MW dissertation took him there in 1993.  Back then, everything was changing with the end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela poised to become South Africa's first black president.  This set the scene for our wines – all, bar the first producer featured, had set up in the post apartheid era.

John Livingstone-Learmonth first visited the Rhône in 1973, and has since dedicated most of his life to writing and talking about the region’s wines - describing himself as ‘the oldest rocker in town’ in his LinkedIn profile. He is the author of four books on the Rhône, including The Wines of the Northern Rhône, which won the Louis Roederer International Book Prize in 2006, and runs the website drinkrhone.com. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole and an honorary citizen of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 

John explained his belief that balance, rather than intensity or concentration, is the quality that makes for great wines. Wines chosen for the tasting were made by young winemakers, and all reflected the passion, commitment and sureness of touch of their creators in their ‘hand-made’ quality. 

A remarkable tasting with a remarkable presenter … and some nice food too.

The Club was honoured to host Caroline Furstoss, native of Alsace, ‘Sommelière de l’Année’ in 2014, columnist for the Revue du Vin de France and one of the few experts on the wines of her native region. In France, Caroline explained, it’s often difficult to get the French to take the wines of Alsace seriously. All those Germanic names, all those ‘lieux-dits’ to remember. However, a full house at Lady Margaret Hall on 24 February 2016 was very receptive.

Well the evening started with a resounding pop, if not a bang! A capacity crowd were presented with the first flight of four sparkling wines that were selected for their typicity and quality. After some table based discussions Richard set proceedings in motion with the first challenge – what was wine number 1?

The majority of members and guests correctly identified the first wine as a Prosecco and discussions then changed to why this was a good example of Prosecco and what you should look out for in wine of this type.  It was generally considered that this wine was fruity and fresh and easy to drink.  Slightly off-dry, the wine was well balanced and had a good finish, if not the most complex of sparkling wines. The typical “nose” of pears was quite prevalent and another good identifier of a Prosecco.  What people were surprised about was the fine bubbles which are not unusual for good quality Prosecco (typically people assume the tank method results in coarse, unintegrated bubbles).  What was however noticed was that the wine did go flat more quickly than the other three in this flight, which were all traditional method.

The November tasting provided welcome respite from the late Autumn weather with a classic St. Emilion vertical tasting! It was hosted by Dr. Gerald Sacks (an OWC member) and Madame Nicole Roskam-Brunot, of Chateau Cantenac – a Grand Cru St. Emilion property. Mme Roskam-Brunot is owner of the chateau and a member of the Jurade of St. Emilion (one of the first 5 women Jurats, as they are known [translation: judge]). The Jurade dates from 1199, having been incorporated by a charter from King John of England (which covered this part of France at that time), and granted the area a level of autonomy. King John’s likely rationale however, was to obtain a supply of good wine for his court! The Jurade originally governed the city, including civic, legal and administrative affairs (which included the quality of the wine!), even after the area became French sovereignty in the 15th century, until shortly after the French revolution. It was revived in 1948 by growers to raise the profile of wines of the area, and continues to play a ceremonial role in celebrating events in the wine calendar.