We welcome Fliss Syrad, who is presenting to us for the first time. Fliss holds the prestigious WSET Diploma, and was recently awarded the Vintners Cup for coming top of all Diploma students worldwide. Fliss will present some top wines of New Zealand to us this evening.
In November we'll be welcoming David Wright, owner of David Alexander Wines. They are an importer, wholesaler and retailer of wine. David will present wines from Germany.
Tonight we'll be celebrating Christmas! And we're going to do that in style by raiding the Chair's Cellar! Yes, Keith will be digging deep into his cellar to bring you some superb wines, which will hopefully get us in the mood for the upcoming Christmas celebrations.
To start the new year, we welcome Richard Addison. He's a specialist in wines from the Swartland Region of South Africa. Swartland is a relatively young wine region, which has risen in popularity in the last 10 to 15 years. It is attracting many upcoming winemakers who make world class wines that have put this region on the map. Chenin Blanc and Syrah are sure to be included.
It should be a fun and fascinating evening to start the new year!
We have many wine enthusiasts within our Society and it’s always good to taste wines which are recommended by them. That's why this month we will open the floor to eight of our members, who will each introduce a wine of their choice.
This month we welcome Andy Brown. He's Commercial Director for Quinta de Pedra Alta, a winery with a long history based in the Douro Valley region of Portugal. I'm always excited when we can do a whole evening tasting wines from a single portfolio as it means we can explore their whole range of wines. Our evening will feature a range of whites, reds and ports. All the wines from Pedra Alta are blends, so we can see how the winemaker influences the style and character of the wines through careful blending of different varietals.
This month we welcome Robert Markham, who is presenting to us for the first time. Robert is Fine Wine Manager for Gonzalez Byass UK, a position he has held for 10 years.
Robert's speciality is fine wine brands from across Europe, including Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Champagne Deutz, Quinta do Noval, Disznoko Tokaji and Domane Wachau. So for tonight's tasting we'll be going on a European tour, featuring fine wines from France, Hungary, Austria, Portugal and Spain.
Preet Sahota is a presenter who needs no introduction to those who have been members for more than a couple of years. He has a reputation for bringing us lesser known wines from the new world, especially South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. We like the wines he shows us and they are well priced. So it comes as no surprise that Preet holds the record for the amount of wine ordered at our tastings. So it will be great to see Preet again and I know that we will all enjoy the wines he shows us this month. I confidently predict we're going to have a great evening and you will definitely like the wines!
In June we welcome Marion Tardiveau, who is presenting to us for the first time. Marion is a Customer Services Representative at Thorman Hunt, a family-run specialist wine shipper sourcing premium artisanal wine for restaurants and hotels in London and the UK. Italy is one of her favourite wine regions and it's wines from that country that we will be tasting this evening.
In April, member Alastair Dudley and I were invited to visit the Slovakian Embassy in London, where they were hosting a wine tasting of wines from Slovakia. It's fair to say that the wines we tasted very much exceeded our expectations. So this month we welcome Lucia Dovalova, Director of The Naughty Grape, which retails wines from Slovakia in the UK. Her passion and enthusiasm for wine is remarkable and her knowledge exceptional. This is a tasting not to be missed.