Corporate Wine UK - Lothian Life Wine Tasting

Caledonian Hilton Hotel, Princes Street, Edinburgh
3rd December 2006

I found this event on the Internet and decided to give it a try. I hadn't been to a standing tasting event since living in New Zealand. I like these events but sometimes find I don't get as much out of them as the smaller events. I'm glad to say this was not the case on this occasion. This was mainly due to Stuart's time and patience during the evening.

I tried 14 of the the 40 wines available to try. Although I won't share all of my notes here are a few highlights of the great wines I tried.

Viega Serantes Albarino 2004 (£8.99 on the night)
A single vineyard wine at a great price. It's light and fresh like a lot of the wines I tasted, it's almost clear in colour. It's not powerful on the nose, more white fruits such as melons and pears. It's smooth to taste and not tart or harsh like some Spanish wines I have tasted. It's a great quaffing wine and I can picture drinking this wine on summers day with light savoury snacks.

Bovin, Vranec (£6.99 on the night)
Time was getting on and I knew I had to get to Centotre to pick up the wine I ordered last week. Stuart said that if I was going to finish on a high note then this wine would be the one and he was right. This grape, Vranec is indigenous to Macedonia. It's a light red with lots of red fruit flavours. The tannins are there but manageable due to slight savoury taste.

Jean-Pierre Marniquet Champage
I watched as a group of fellow tasters made their way through the fizz that was on offer. They all tried:
Lenoble Cuvee Intense NV
Pol Roger Reserve NV
Dom Vincent Blanc
Jean-Pierre Marniquet Champagne

Price wise the Pol Roger was the most expensive (£24.99 on the night) and it was enjoyed by all. The grapes are taken from a number of vineyards and mixed each year to create the same reliable taste, if it's what you like it's a fantastically consistent taste that never lets you down.
But the Jean-Pierre Marniquet Champage came out as the favourite. It's a small vineyard and all the grapes come from the estate, it could be said to be unpredictable but I kind of like that idea and at £15.99 (on the night), real value for money.