Tipple of the Month – February 2017

Published on: 4 Feb, 2017
Updated on: 4 Feb, 2017

Jeremy Blood of the Surrey Wine School

Jeremy Blood from the Guildford based Surrey Wine School reveals his locally available “Tipple of the Month”.

It’s a sad truth but there are some wines with bad reputations that are hard to repair.

The reputation of German wines as being sickly sweet and mass produced came about from large exports of cheaply made bottles of Liebfraumilch that came to the UK in the 50’s and 60’s. But Germany produces many top quality wines – just try their Rieslings or Pinot Noirs and find out.

Other wines with similar unfair reputations include Lambrusco from Italy, Pinotage from South Africa and some Greek wines. Another wine likely to feature in a worst top ten is Beaujolais from France mainly due to the reputation of the style called Beaujolais Nouveau that arrived in a hurry every November and often tasted like bottled banana.

This a sad because some of the very best quality and value can be found amongst the ten Crus of Beaujolais which include regions such as Fleurie, Morgon, Julianas or Régnié. All are made from the juicy, fruity and food friendly Gamay grape and must not be overlooked.

So my tipple of the month is an absolutely stunning wine from the Cru of Morgon.

Morgon, Château de Pizay, Beaujolais, 2015 Majestic Wine £10.99 or £9.89 on Mix 6 deal fruity aromas of blackberries, raspberries, cherries with a touch of musky, earthiness. Ready to drink but will also develop over the next few years.

Surrey Wine School starts its flagship Wonderful World of Wine 8 Week Course on Thursday 16th Feb at 7pm. For more information about Surrey Wine School, visit www.surreywineschool.com, call 01306 898569 or 07436 072518.