Whitewater Valley Wine Society

This month we will be tasting wines from Cambridge Wine Merchants, a merchant we've not previously featured at the Society.  Cambridge Wine Merchants started with one shop in Cambridge and have grown to become one of the biggest independent wine merchants in the UK.  Our presenter is Robbie Rugman, who some may recall presented Gallo wines to us a few years back.   Robbie has been with Cambridge Wine Merchants since the end of 2021.  This time Robbie will compare wines from Australia and the Old World.  

We've been alerted by The Raven that our regular second Wednesday slot coincides with the semi-final of the upcoming football World Cup.  The Raven expect the whole premises to be flooded with footie fans, so it's just not going to be practical for us to try to hold a tasting at the same time.  So there will be no tasting in December.   The Members' Choices evening originally planned for December will now take place in February.

Washington is the second largest wine producing state in the USA. So it's perhaps surprising that our Society has not had a tasting of Washington State wines in the past. We'll put that right this month as we welcome Craig Mitchell, who is European Ambassador for Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. The winery is the oldest in Washington State, initially named Ste. Michelle Vintners, but changed its name to Chateau Ste. Michelle in 1976 following the building of a French style chateau in Woodinville, just outside Seattle. The winery aims to build on old world winemaking traditions with new world innovation.

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. I'm confident that we can expect to taste some great wines! The evening will start with a brief Annual General Meeting.

Our Society receives tremendous support from The Wine Society and we are very pleased to announce that their Head of Buying Pierre Mansour will present to us this month. One of Pierre's specific roles is as buyer for Spain, so it very appropriate that he'll be presenting wines from the Rioja region. The Wine Society has an excellent range of Rioja wines in its portfolio. We'll be starting with a couple of whites, then moving on to taste a range of the reds for which the region is so well known. This is definitely one not to miss!

This will be a very special evening as we welcome Mimi Avery, 5th generation owner of Averys Wine Merchants. Tonight, Mimi will present eight wines from Averys own label range.  These are wines chosen by Averys to reflect excellent wines from around the world at sensible prices.  These are wines on which Averys stakes its reputation.

This month we are delighted to welcome Sarah Ahmed, aka The Wine Detective.  Sarah is an independent, London-based wine writer, educator and judge. One of her main speciality areas is Portugal and she was awarded Wine of Portugal Personality of the Year (Europe) in 2019.  It is a privilege to welcome Sarah as our presenter and we can look forward to a very special evening.

This month we welcome Heather Dougherty, who is presenting to us for the first time.  Heather is a qualified and experienced wine educator, based locally in Surrey.  She is one of only three Certified Rhône educators in the UK.  So good reason for us to ask her to present wines from that region.

Our visit to Stanlake Park Wine Estate will take place on Saturday 24th June at 11am.  The estate is situated near Twyford in Berkshire.  It's about 18 miles from Hook, so should be easy to reach for our 11am start. The tour will include a walk around the vineyards, a visit to the winery, a tutored tasting and a cheese platter. What a way to spend a summer morning!

Reflecting members' feedback, we welcome back Preet Sahota, who last year enthusiastically presented some stunning boutique wines from South Africa.  Since then Preet has expanded his portfolio to include boutique wines from Australia and New Zealand.  So this tasting will include wines from all three of those countries - a real treat for New World wine lovers!