Dear Members
Welcome to our September Newsletter and I hope you are enjoying the hot summer wherever you are!
We are sending this Newsletter out earlier than usual as some of us are travelling late August/ early September.
Many of you who were here in June participated in a visit to local bodega Pepe Mendoza in Lliber which was organised by Neville and Sarah Richardson who as members of the Tasting Team came up with idea to visit a local bodega in place of our normal tasting and dinner.
The visit did not disappoint. Pepe is a local producer of very good quality wines concentrating on local and historic grape varieties. He is passionate about his craft, has hosted UK Masters of Wine and his wines have featured in the UK Wine Society wine lists. He was unable to attend our visit but his very competent winemaker Christian hosted us with a professional presentation of the wines.
Everyone had an opportunity to buy the wines that were tasted and the fact that the total amount of wine purchased was €2400 demonstrated our opinion of his wines.
Many thanks to Neville and Sarah for organising the visit. A full report is available on the website by clicking here.
Committee and Tasting Team Meeting June
We organised a meeting to evaluate the first six months of the year following the introduction of the Tasting Team concept to organise different formats for tastings. Everyone unanimously agreed that this concept is working well.
The Tasting Team comprises of both Committee and non-committee members and are all volunteers. All those involved agreed that it has been an enjoyable experience and are happy to continue with this format. We welcome any members who would like to become part of the Team as it is a fun activity and you are well supported by the Committee and Team.
Next Wine Tasting
Thursday 15th September – Puerto Blanco, Calpe at 7.30 pm
The evening will be hosted by Tasting Team members, Kathy and Andrew Johnson. The theme is “Past Presidents’ Partners’ Preferences”. 5 wines will be presented, each a favourite of the spouse of a Wine Society president.
The menu is below. As you will see our menu is slightly different to usual. Each course has been chosen to pair with the wine that has been selected by the presenters. We would ask you to book with Penny Floodgate giving her your choice of main course.
First 2 courses to share
Croquetas caseras de gambitas con langostinos y salsa piquillo.
Salmón marinado con aliño tropical, citricos, wasabi, wakame
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Main Course to choose
Lomo de bacalao con tomate confitado y almejas.
– or –
Solomillo de cerdo Ibérico con salsa de Oporto trufado.
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Plato de Queso
Postre Especial
Cost €40 per member/ € 45 Guests
Dress code: smart casual (jackets with optional ties) and the usual attire for the ladies.
Bookings will close as usual the Friday before the tasting which, for this month, is 12.00 noon on FRIDAY September 9th. Guest’s places will be confirmed on the previous FRIDAY. Please ensure you make your booking in good time.
Any cancellations after the deadline will still require payment to be made for you and/or your guests. Reservations please to: Penny Floodgate Tel: 965794996 or email: pennyfloodgate@gmail.com Penny will always confirm receipt of your booking. If you have made a reservation and do not receive a confirmation from Penny you are not booked, so in that case please check with her.
Once confirmed please pay the relevant amount into our bank account as follows:
IBAN ES81 2100 9015 2102 0021 8418
Costa Blanca Wine Society
Please remember to include in the payment reference the names of the people being paid for and the event – in this case for example: “John Doe and Jane Doe April tasting”.
- Do not make a payment until you have received confirmation from Penny.
- As soon as Penny confirms your place you should make the payment.
- Members should pay for their guests in this manner so that no payment is received from a non-member.
- Please do not use a non-Spanish bank for this purpose – the charges can be horrific. If you do not have a Spanish account please get in touch with Mike Granville
- Please make your payment as soon as possible after Penny has confirmed your place – don’t leave it until the last minute to make your transfer
Autumn Wine Trip
The Autumn wine Trip will not take place this year for various reasons.
The unavailability of Wine Trip members Shirley and John Sloggie as well as the fact that many members’ wine stocks are overflowing due to the high level of purchasing over this year we are not planning a wine trip this autumn.
As a point of interest, since October of last year members have ordered around €20,000 worth of wine!
Thursday 20th October – La Senia, Denia
Tasting Team members Hugh & Gillian Epsom will be offering us a light-hearted evening of “Whose Wine is it Anyway?”. If you have not attended one of these evenings it is great fun which generates a lot of discussion with fellow members as well as tasting some nice wines.
Thursday 17th November – Los Amigos, Javea
A prestigious bodega from DO Montsant and DO Priorat has agreed to present their wines to us. The owner, Albert, is a wine innovator producing some interesting wines. As many of you could not attend the recent Wine Trip this is a good opportunity to enjoy his wines.
Thursday 8th December – A Bordo, Javea
Christmas Tasting which is the President’s choice of wines.
Please make a note in your diaries of these important dates. The Tasting Team and your committee have worked very hard to provide us all with a varied programme of events and we hope that as many members as possible will attend.
Best Regards,
Tim Fawle
President