Dear Members
Welcome to our May Newsletter. The April tasting was hosted by Tasting Team members Paul & Helen Nicholls at restaurant A Bordo, Javea on Thursday April 21. 53 members attended to enjoy wines from the Priorat region, one of the most prestigious DO’s in Spain. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but feedback from everyone was that Paul & Helen did a great job presenting some very interesting wines, and also a good food offering from A Bordo.
A full report on the tasting can been seen on our website by clicking here
Next Tasting May 19, 2022 – 7.30 pm
Our next tasting will be held at MR Hotel Les Rotes, Denia.
Neil Robertson and Vicki Wyatt will be hosting this tasting and have invited a seasoned wine professional, Brian Howard, from London to present to us. Brian is a founding member of Wine Intelligence. This company, founded in 2002 conducts projects on behalf of wine businesses in more than 35 wine markets. www.wineintelligence.com
Brian is one of the three founders and served as the company’s Business Development Director from its launch in 2002 up until his retirement at the end of 2010. He still acts as an advisor to Wine Intelligence, particularly on projects where his specialist knowledge proves valuable. Brian has led several strategy projects for generic bodies over the past seven years, including work for trade associations in Portugal, France and Chile.
We can look forward to a very interesting tasting and as members of our Tasting Team Neil and Vicki have worked very hard to ensure this evening is a great success. With Sue Blewett & Elwyn from our Venues and Menus team, together with Neil, Vicki and Sandy & myself, we tested a tasting menu to ensure the food would complement the wines to be presented and we are satisfied that members will not be disappointed with their offering.
The menu is below and we would ask you to book with Penny Floodgate giving her your choice of main course.
MENU
MR Hotel, Les Rotes, DENIA
Amuse Bouche
ENTRANTES
Mousse de foie con reducción de Mistela y frutos rojos
Vieira a la brasa sobre guisa de garbanzos y vinagreta de mango (Scallops)
SEGUNDO PLATO TO CHOOSE:
Either – Cochinillo cocinado a baja temperatura sobre parmentier de patatas (Suckling pig).
Or – Merluza sobre velute de azafrán y verduras de temporada (hake).
POSTRE
Cremoso de limón con frutos rojos y galleta de mantequilla
Cost €40 per member/ € 45 Guests
Dress code: smart casual jacket 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 May 13. 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
If you have any questions about this process please feel free to get in touch with the Treasurer: mike@granvillefamily.com +44 7710 158295
We would request that all members comply with this new payment arrangement which will greatly relieve the pressure on the Treasurer during our Wine Tasting Dinners. Thank you for your collaboration.
Forthcoming Events
June Tasting – Please note Dates
We are giving early advance notice for the June tasting which will be hosted by Tasting Team members Sara and Neville Richardson. We are also asking you to let us have an early expression of interest (though not commitment, so long away from the event).
Many members have enquired about holding different formats for our monthly meetings and different pricings. The June event will be very different! We are going to the Bodega of Pepe Mendoza in Lliber. Pepe is a local producer of very good quality wines concentrating on local and historic grapes. He is passionate about his craft and he has hosted UK Masters of Wine and featured in the UK Wine Society wine lists. His enthusiasm and his wine is bound to make this event special.
The event will take place between 4pm and 7pm on two successive evenings, Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th of June. (The limit on each evening is 25 people in order to receive the personal attention of Pepe and his team.) Each event will comprise tastings of at least 5 of Pepe’s wines accompanied by Tapas. The time is set to allow us to sit in the surrounding vineyard in the late afternoon sunshine, and even be back home for dinner if we’re still hungry. The cost of the event is €25 per person.
Pepe recommends that we don’t drive after his tasting (a good indication of the likely tasting volumes). So, we have made enquiries about transport and have provisionally booked two minibuses for each evening, to take a total of 25 people each time. The likely pick-up points would be central locations in Javea, Benitachell, Teulada and Benissa. However if there is sufficient demand we could add in different locations. The approximate cost for the return trip would be €10 per person.
It would be really helpful if you could give Neville and Sara an early indication of interest, directly to Neville at nev_rich@hotmail.com
The information required at this stage is:
- names of people interested in this event
- are you available on 15th, 16thor either (either would be really helpful if we need to balance up numbers between the two evenings)
- are you interested in taking up the offer of transport, if so where would be your ideal pick-up point (please don’t say ‘My front door’).
This looks like being a really fun event, whilst fulfilling the remit of the Tasting Team of trying different formats and venues.
September Tasting Thursday 15th
This will be held at Puerto Blanco, Calpe and will be hosted by Andrew and Kathy Johnson. More information to follow.
Please make a note in your diaries for 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.
Wine Trip to Montsant
And finally… those members on the Wine Trip set off early on Monday morning on what we will believe will be a memorable trip as this DO produces some excellent wines. We will all raise a glass to those not attending for good health, happiness and great wine-tasting!
We look forward very much to seeing you at the next tasting
Best Regards,
Tim Fawle
President