Yesterday evening we held, in association with Lawrence Stephens Solicitors, our first portfolio tasting for a couple of years at the Pewterer’s Hall in London. The line-up featured a broad range from our wine list including new releases of old favourites, a number of new discoveries, and of course a handful of established greats.
The event was very well attended and right from the glass of Bonville Blanc de Blancs NV Champagne on arrival, there was a real buzz around the room. The Bonville was showing extremely well, but other stars of the night included (despite the obvious popularity of the Genot Boulager Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru 2007 and the classed growth clarets), the Verdejo from Pariente in Spain, an estate which was voted the best winery in Spain for 2011 by the Spanish Wine and Gourmet Federation.
The wines of Paxton Vineyards in the McLaren Vale, South Australia continue to impress, and the Pinot Gris and Quandong Farm Shiraz (both 2009) were real show-stoppers. The Nero Moro 2006 from Nicodemi quickly gained interest and continued to attract tasters throughout the evening, as did the Supertuscan Bordeaux blend Poggio de Paoli 2007 from Tenuta Lenzini, expertly presented by owner Michele and his consultant winemakers Filippo and Christian who flew in for the evening.
Over on the Bordeaux table Château Cassagne Haut-Canon 2006 garnered plenty of praise for its exquisite balance and minerality, while one of the undisputed wines of the evening had to be the André Brunel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Les Cailloux, Cuvée Centenaire, 2001; a fine showing which justified its glowing worldwide reputation.
We are very grateful to The Worshipful Company of Pewterers for providing such a fitting venue for the evening, and of course to those who helped make the evening as successful as it was, both staff and guests.
2008 is proving to be a good to very good 
