Wino's Wine Tasting, Spring 2010

Thursday night was spent in the traditional Maundy Thursday style.  We went to the Wino's tasting at the White Hart Lydgate.

It's always a good night.  Made much more relaxed by the bank holiday the day after.  As we drank our introductory glass we had a look through which suppliers were there and what they were offering for tasting.  As usual our friend was interested in the Spanish tables and I was eager to get to Italy's offerings.  With some French thrown in and a couple of Ports on offer.  We had a nice trip planned around the Old World :-)  We bought our tasting tokens and headed into the tastebud tour....

First off we went for a pink Prosecco (Cantina Beato Bartolomeo, £8.95).  Nice and light and a pleasant way to start the evening.  Not my favourite prosecco but one I wouldn't kick outta my glass.Whilst at the table it seemed a shame to ignore the Montepulciano (Olivastri Tommaso, &12.95).  This was absolutely gorgeous.  Everything you'd expect in a Montepulciano but deeper and richer.  Apparently it's the produce of a single vineyard, aged longer than is typical and is given a little extra care throughout.  This is one I'll definitely be buying in the future.  

From now on the wines may not be in the exact order I tasted them in.  I didn't take notes, just marked my enjoyment levels on my sheet.  I won't bore you with the wines that didn't tickle my fancy.  Just the one's that I liked or brought me something new.  I tried a Pinot Noir on the recommendation of a friend.  (Rossendale NZ, £8.95)  This gave me a very different sensation than I expected.  It was a nice light colour.  Light in taste, choc-full of raspberry flavour.  With a light but persistent fizzing sensation on my tongue.  It reminded me of a wine I'd drunk on a lovely sunny afternoon on Burano.  Which was definitely a good thing :-)  This is a wine I'd drink in the summer. lightly chilled.  It will get me out of the rut of French light reds.

I quite like Port but no virtually nothing about it.  Luckily there were two to try.  I only tried one as it was getting late in the night and once my tastings are in double figures I try and slow down.  I tried the older option. (Niepoort Tawny Dee, &11.95).  It was gorgeous, very mellow.  Warm in a much gentler way than Brandy or Calvados.  If I'm going to invest in a bottle of port this will be the one.

As well as wines and spirits you also have different foods to taste.  The tapas was fantastic a step above what I've had before and it's always been good.  My favourite looked like a miniature spring roll but was much nicer, Filled with a huge prawn and seasoned with chilli.  The Goats Cheese and Chorizo croquettes are something I'm already missing too.  There are also oysters available.  I can't stand oysters.  My mum says they taste like the sea, they do.  I don't like the taste of the sea.  Various cheeses are available, many locally sourced.  This table is always a joy.  We had a bonus this time of a local cheese-maker having another table selling his wares.  I bought my first 5yr old cheese.  I am thrilled by this but also a little frightened.  Peeling off that wax will be fun!  The hotel the tasting is hosted in makes it own sausages. The Lamb & Mint were gorgeous, I went back a couple of times just to make sure.

I've saved the best table for last.  This was Emiliano's table from Vinchio Vaglio, Italy.  His wines were all from the Piedmont region.  A region blessed with some of my favourite reds.  The skiing alright too.  The first I tried went straight into my favourites. (Barbera Tres Vescovi, £8.95).  Apparently the name translates as Three Bishops.  It had incredible depth for a Barbera but in taste rather than it being heavy.  It had a lovely deep colour, nice and fruity with just enough oak.  So the oak gave it character without taking over.  This is the wine pictured at the top of the page.  For the price it's immense value in my eyes.  I can foresee some stocking up coming on.  Next I moved 'up' the table to a Barbaresco (£15.95).  Emiliano explaining to me that Barbaresca is the 'little brother' of Barolo.  A wine that is made in the same way, from the same grapes but not aged as long.  This one had a lovely clear brick colour and was a nice wine.  Not one I'd like to spend that much on per bottle though.  Last wine to taste on this bottle was a Barolo (£18.95).  I was dying to get to this as Barolo is my favourite wine. This was a little darker than the Barbresco and has more depth and flavour.  It was nice but overall I was disappointed.  I've had much nicer one's in the past.  I have to say of the three, the Barbera was by far my favourite, it knocked my socks off.  On the table there was also a Grappa to try.  I had a small try of Dave's.  It was, well Grappa. A nice example but not a drink I can ever see myself enjoying.  It's just too harsh, 'fire water' is an apt name.  There were also some liquer chocolates made from the same Grappa.  They were very tasty!  Definitely a smoother way of enjoying the stuff.

All in all it was a great night.  Good food, excellent wine and nice company.  Roll on the next one.

Wino's can be found in the centre of Oldham.  63 George St, OL1 1LX  I highly recommend it.  Friendly, knowledgeable staff who have helped me with my wine choice over a large number of years.

The White Hart is in Lydgate, outside of Oldham.  http://www.thewhitehart.co.uk/  It is a fabulous place, wonderful pub with a large selection of ales and wines.  Glorious food in it's brasserie and restaurant.  Lovely hotel rooms and they hold fantastic weddings.  This I can definitely confirm, it where we got married :-)