AGM 2021: Minutes

COSTA BLANCA WINE SOCIETY

Minutes of the Covid-Delayed AGM ZOOM meeting held on 15^th June, 2021.

President Tim Fawle called the meeting to order at 18.05 CET, after a minor technical delay..  24 people attended the meeting through the Zoom link.

1. 50 Apologies for Absence were received from:

Keith & Sally Cottrell                                   David & Pauline Welpton

Sue and Richard Owen                               Gillian Ashworth

Mary & Rod Anderton                                 Terry & Mary Sewell

Malcom Cain                                                 Hilary & Stewart Wass

Eliza and Phil Fraser                                   Richard & Hazel Marsden

Jo Cronstedt                                                 Martin & Veronica Dunkley

Jacki Brown                                                  James Grigor

Gro & Tony Salter                                        Chris & James Pacey

Barbara Priest                                              Jutta & Brian Courtenay

Alan & Rosemary Murdoch                        Neil Robertson

Vicki Dryden Wyatt                                      David Miller

Anne Joyce                                                   Paul & Helen Nicholls

Martin & Veronica Dunkley                         David & Theresa Brain

Keith & Pat Pacey                                        Ron Watson

Tony & Gro Salter

 

1. Approval of 2020 Minutes

The minutes from the previous AGM were approved unaltered.  Proposed by Hugh Epsom & seconded by Mike Granville

1.  Matters Arising

None

4. Treasurer & Membership Secretary’s Report – Mike Granville

There were technical difficulties and the Financial Report was not shown on screen, but was presented by Mike (as follows).

It was stated that a copy may be requested by Members from Mike Granville at mike@granvillefamily.org and is attached to these minutes but the web version of these minutes exclude the full set of figures, as the web is available to non-members.

• The society is in a strong position with assets of nearly €4000.
• We have lost €122 in the 2021 year to date, which includes Zoom fees and €100 for the website.
• The move to La Caixa has been liberating for your treasurer as the banking app works well and easily. We will see heavier banking fees, but that would have been true had we stayed with BBVA.
• Fifteen new members have availed themselves of the €10 concessionary membership fee, and the majority have taken part in at least one Zoom event. Mike commented that the age profile of these new members has reduced the average age of our membership which is good for the long term benefit of CBWS
• Membership now stands at 111 – perhaps a few more if people not currently responding to emails come back to life when we return to live tastings.
• All members booked onto the Majorca trip have now been repaid at €70 a head. The balance on the trip account stands at €82.

 

• The accounts have been checked by Keri Theophilus.

 

The 2020 accounts were approved as proposed by Andrew Johnson & seconded by Penny Floodgate

 

5. Presidents Report:  A brief Summary of the 2020 Activities

A full report was issued during early 2021, which included:

5a. January: AGM at Restaurante Abiss, Calpe

5b. February: Restaurante La Senia, Denia.  Presentation by Enrique Garcia, Sommelier of the Michelin 2 star restaurant Bon Amb, Javea

5c. 7 Zoom Meetings (thanks in part to Neville): including a Bodega Presentation by Vinyas de Terrer in September, when about 50 cases of wine was purchased

 5d.  October:  Home Tastings at Tim’s & Neville’s with 10 guests each

It has been a difficult year for everyone concerned, but we have very enthusiastic Members, including New Members attending the Zoom Meetings.

 

6. Presidents Report:  The 2021 Tasting Programme

There have been 2 Zoom Bodega Presentations already this year.  One involving Bodega Martue (thanks to ex-President John Sloggie) when 80 cases of wine was ordered and also Finca Los Aljibes  (thanks to ex-President Paul Nicholls), which was a Bodega (with the horses & carriage) that the Society visited in 2016 when 117 cases were ordered.

The Bodegas have had difficult times over the Covid period and the Society was able to obtain some good offers.

At the last Committee Meeting on 25^th May 2021, it was thought that the Society might be able to physically meet in June, but this will not now be possible and Neville has offered to make a Zoom Presentation/Tasting instead, entitled “‘Eco, biodynamic, natural, organic, sustainable- do these titles mean anything? Clever marketing tools or the future of wine?”

The Committee has accepted Neville’s kind offer to review the CBWS scoring system with the Members on the next Zoom Tasting (17^th June) being guinea pigs for a possible new system.

We hope that the rules will allow a physical Tasting in September, which would be a social meeting with no formal ‘Tasting’ and probably at Puerto Blanco.

There may be an overnight Wine Trip in October and the destination is still to be decided.

The October Tasting should involve John Davies in person or by Zoom on a large screen (at Carasco?) and the Society already has the wine from a 2020 visit that was cancelled by Covid Rules.

The November Tasting will hopefully be a Bodega Presentation (physical or by Zoom).

December brings the Christmas presentation by the President, hopefully at Royal Club Nautica Javea Restaurant.

 

7. Restructuring Proposal

The President advised that the lack of a Vice President provided a time for reflection and an opportunity to consider more interesting events, perhaps influenced by our younger Members.  Andrew Johnson pointed out that we mustn’t ignore the successes of the Society, which has remained strong because of the input of Tim & Neville.

The proposal is to construct a Tasting Team comprising of 4 or 5 members who will work together with the President in developing an interesting programme throughout the year. Those in the tasting team will be responsible for a CBWS evening, including liaising with the Bodega and venues and menus team, sourcing the wine, pairing it with the menu etc. They will not be expected to make a presentation themselves, although they can if they would like to. The Tasting Team would actively participate in developing the programme for the year, in close collaboration with the President.

 

The simple principal of this proposal is to spread the workload amongst a number of people whilst at the same time developing a varied, interesting and enjoyable programme.

 

We have a very enthusiastic membership and working as part of the Tasting Team will be an enjoyable experience with fellow members.

The President would ask for volunteers after the Meeting, and it was considered that non-Spanish speakers would be welcome as so many Bodegas have English speaking personnel in their team.  We plan to introduce this new approach in the Autumn of this year to work out the programme for 2022.

The Restructuring Proposal was approved:  proposed by Andrew Johnson and seconded by Colin Donadio.

 

8. O.B.

There being no other business, President Tim Fawle closed the meeting at 18.42 CET.

 

Pepared by:

Paul Smithard                       CBWS Secretary                  25^th June 2021