Despite the fantastic weather outside, a dozen people gathered around the marble table for this unusual wine tasting. I say unusual because I picked three “infamous” white wines.

The first was highly appreciated by everybody, the Three Choirs English Medium Dry 2008 white wine is only made a few miles away from us in Newent, near Gloucester. The winery has been awarded many times in different English wine competitions and I can easily understand why: The nose is very fresh with lots of fruit aromas like melon and candied lemon. On the palate, we found a very light wine in weight but with a precise balance, a pleasant dusty texture, lots of fruit again with an apple & pear play, hints of melon, the finish is short but with a refreshing bitter/zesty touch.

The second wine was maybe a little bit too unusual for the general palate, the Martius 2005 from Agricola Falset-Marçà originate from the district of Priorat in Spain. It is 100% White Grenache with 10% barrel fermented. Although the nose showed some nice grass and citrus note, we were not impressed by the strong petrol & old wet wood aromas. On the palate, it was a little bit disastrous with a very strong alcohol feel, especially on the finish. I found grass again with some apple bitterness.
My guess is that the wine has become too old and I will try to get a very young sample for the near future.

The third wine was moderately appreciated by the crowd but certainly very highly rated by myself. The Roussette 2007, Cuvée Emilie, l’Idylle is made in the eastern region of France: Savoie. A region that is also known for creamy cheeses and expensive ski resorts. This wine shows a lot of character. The nose is highly aromatic with flowers (violette), orange zest, wet rocks and slight petrol. On the palate, the wine strikes with very intense flavours of red peach & apricot. Zingy with a toffee layer. The body is on the light to medium which makes it a little bit unbalanced considering the high level of flavour. The finish is interesting too with a bitter minerality.