Lifestyle

The Winemakers Club: Autumn Reds Tasting

If would be easy to walk straight past The Winemakers Club without knowing it was even there. Located under the arches of the Holborn Viaduct, it is a secret haven for wine lovers. The exterior is an urbane cavern with tall stable-like doors, stain glass windows and faint rattles from the trains overhead. It’s certainly a more ambient place to enjoy a glass of wine than many of the other wine chains dotted around the City. But the real recommendation is the wine itself…

The Winemakers Club sells rare wine that you have probably never tasted before. John Baum, one of The Winemakers Club’s stockowners and ‘wine finders’ conducted the ‘Autumn Reds’ tasting that I attended.  His relaxed demeanour and passion for wine set the tone for the very enjoyable evening ahead. The tasting consisted of six different wines from various European countries accompanied by a selection of cheeses and cold meats.

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The first wine we tried was a lambrusco. Yes you heard that correctly… lambrusco.  Until recently an unfashionable wine lumped in the same category as Germany’s liebfraumilch – sweet, cheap and forgettable. But lambrusco is making a comeback and the Paltrinieri Solco Lambrusco dell’ Emilia, Italy 100% has certainly got my attention. This sparkling red was popular with most of the guests and I found it to be just the right side of sweet, with soft tannins that gave it a more nuanced aftertaste than I anticipated.

The most popular wine of the night was the Karner Gabor Kekfrankos Birtokbor “Szucsu”2012 Matra, Hungary 100% kekrankos and, whilst I liked it, I found it slightly blander than some of the other selections. My personal favourite was the Dominio do Bibei Lalama Ribeira Sacra, Spain. It was a blend of 90% Mencia and 10% Brancellao, Mouraton, Souson. A rich and moreish drink.

After we had tried all of the wines John welcomed us to stay around and finish the bottles (everyone did). That was part of the enjoyment of the evening: it felt more like socialising with friends than a sales-like tasting. John genuinely seemed to love the wine he was talking about and when I saw people buying bottles later on he just seemed happy they liked it enough to buy some. Perhaps he was the best salesman of them all!

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The tastings are fortnightly and cost £15 per person. Tasting attendees get a 10% discount on all wines.

Highly recommended.

Keep updated with The Winemaker’s Club’s upcoming tastings and other news on Facebook and Twitter pages, or visit them at our shop: The Winemakers Club, 41a Farringdon Street, London, EC4A 4AN

Written by Gareth Brown @GarethBrown26

Gareth also has Booksie page for his stories and Youtube Channel for short films.