The Grand Tasting - next week.

November 01, 2012

Connolly’s Grand Tasting – latest update

 

Our tasting last year at The Waterhall was one of our best ever and the line-up of wines and exhibitors this year looks even more impressive.

 

Peter Bright, is a legend in winemaking circles; born in Sydney, he worked with some of Australia’s leading growers before taking on the role of “flying winemaker.” Although he has made wine all over the world, it is his influence on Portuguese winemaking that has elevated him into the highest tier of vignerons. Terra d’Alter is his most recent project in the Alentejano region of Portugal where, through a marriage of local grape varieties and new world know-how, he has created a range that expresses both regional character and cutting edge winemaking. Peter will be on hand together with his UK agent, James Fleetwood, to talk you through a selection from Terra d’Alter.

 

Romania is fast establishing a reputation for producing some seriously well-made yet modestly priced wines from both indigenous & international grape varieties & we shall be showing 3 wines which we consider to be some of our most impressive “finds of the year.”

 

Over the course of the next week, we shall be unveiling more of the extraordinary range that we have put together for you – our palates have been worked to the bone on your behalf as we unearth previously undiscovered treasures from the world’s vineyards. You may think I exaggerate but it is fair to say that we have to kiss a great many frogs before finding a Princess and our most recent tasting last night was the closest I have come in 30 years in the wine trade to a “Jackass”* experience. In recent weeks, I have tasted some fascinating wines from countries as diverse as Brazil, Slovenia and India but whilst they were of varying and sometimes dubious quality, they were all recognisable as wine and offered some degree of pleasure. By contrast, 3 Georgian wines that we slipped into last night’s tasting afforded the unique sensation of applying a vacuum cleaner to your mouth before sucking out not only every last drop of saliva but also fillings, teeth, tongue and any other stray matter that had found its way in. Watching the reactions of Mark and Lucas as they were physically assaulted by the aggression of the tannins was perhaps the highlight of my day. I am seriously considering including these little gems in next week’s tasting for comedy value alone.

 

Tickets are still available from either store or by ringing 0121 709 3734 or emailing lucas@connollyswine.co.uk. Tickets are priced at £15.00 each including a £5.00 voucher.

 

Please feel free to forward this email to friends and contacts who may be interested.  

 

* Editor’s note: For those above the age of 25 or without teenage sons, Jackass is an American television format which involves the presenters daring each other to take part in stupid, dangerous and painful challenges.

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