Hello and welcome.
On the last weekend of September we had our first wine tasting and the launch of JMB Wine with, of course, a party to follow! Wines from Fritz Wassmer, Agricola Brandini, Champagne Yannick Prevoteau and fine Swiss beer from Simmentaler were all enjoyed – there was not much spitting in evidence!
Tasters were most surprised and impressed by the quality of Wassmer from Baden as many of them had never sampled wine from this area before. The Pinot Noir M was the highest scoring wine of the day. “Delicious” and “I’m a fan” were some of the (legible) comments.
In the white wines, the Wassmer Sauvignon Blanc, “Passion fruit, minerally, clean and complex” and the Brandini Langhe Bianco Le Coccinelle (ladybird) flew away home in the popularity stakes.
Champagne-wise the Prevoteau wines were all rated highly with the 100% chardonnay Brut Amandine nosing a nostril-hair ahead of the gold medal Brut Carte d’Or and the Rose.
The beers weren’t scored but there is already a growing local following for Simmentaler’s Mountain Pale Ale.
We had ideally chewy sourdough bread from The Smiddy Farm Shop in Blairdrummond to accompany the tasting and T&R Skinner Butchers from Kippen provided outstanding roasted ham and sirloin of rare roast beef for afters – not to forget Mrs. Beaton’s exceedingly good bakewell tart!
Thanks to everyone who helped, especially the sommeliers who learned and tasted the wines unstintingly, so they could give suitable advice whilst coping with their stations being invaded by eager customers.
Full notes on the wines and wineries can be found in other posts on the site.