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What we tasted in January 2026

  • 2 days ago

Southern Italy - Ben Robson; Bat and Bottle


Our first tasting of 2026, our 40th anniversary year, was presented by our good friend and long-term supporter Ben Robson of the Bat and Bottle in Oakham.


Ben presented a set of wines from Southern Italy covering a huge range of styles that were quite far from the standard sweetish southern reds that are so well known. From the light and mineral Verdeca to the rich and substantial skin-contact Falanghina, we were shown what quality white wines can be like from Puglia and Campania. The reds spanned a good value and perfumed first own-label Negromaro, some natural wines from Basilicata and Campania, and a couple of highly interesting and refined wines from Puglia and Etna.


Ben is a hugely enthusiastic speaker with intimate knowledge of his wines and winemakers, we were also glad to have Ben's partner Emma with us as she was able to provide her own perspective. We had a great tasting.


For more information: https://bat.wine


The wines tasted were:

  1. Cantina Sampietrana; IGP Salento (Puglia), 2023. Verdeca

  2. Cantine di Marzo, Vigne Laure; DOCG Greco di Tufo (Campania), 2021. Greco

  3. Cantine del Mare, Torrefumo; DOP Campi Flegrei (Campania), 2020. Falanghina

  4. Giustini, Bat and Bottle; IGP Puglia, 2024. Negroamaro

  5. Camerlengo, Antelio; IGP Basilicata, 2018. Aglianico

  6. Cantine del Mare, Sorbo Rosso, Riserva; DOP Campi Flegrei (Campania), 2018. Piedirosso

  7. Paolo Petrilli, Agramante; DOC Cacc'e Mmitte di Lucera (Puglia), 2019. Nero di Troia, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Bombino

  8. Palmento Constanzo, Nero di Sei; DOC Etna, 2013. Nerello Masclese, Nerello Cappucio


Ben Robson - after a great presentation
Ben Robson - after a great presentation

Next tasting - Friday 9th January

  • Jan 6
Southern Italian wines with Ben Robson


The first Grand Union tasting of 2026 will take place on Friday January the 9th, when Ben Robson will present a selection of wines from the south of Italy. 


Ben, with his Bat and Bottle wine shop in Oakham, has been a long-term supporter of our society. He has a deep knowledge of Italian wines as he spends a significant time there each year. 


As I am sure you know, southern Italy produces wines which are rich and ripe, with a warmth reflecting their origin. 


We will be tasting wines from the southern Italian regions of Salento, Puglia, Campania and Basilicata, and as always with Italian wines there will be a fascinating range of grape varieties on display, with several that are almost certain to be new to at least some of us. As if all that wasn’t temptation enough, the last wine of the evening will come from a very special area in the south-west of the country, about which Ben says “there are few places on earth that the wine world is more excited about”.


I hope that you and your guests will be able to join us.




What we tasted in December 2025

  • Dec 15, 2025

Christmas Tasting - Duncan Murray


In December we gladly welcomed the return of Duncan Murray. Duncan's shop in Market Harborough is always a very welcoming spot, and his free Saturday tastings there are very popular.


Duncan told us that he has been presenting to the Grand Union for 30 years or more, in recent years entertaining us at our Christmas tasting with his terrible jokes and delicious wines.


We had a wonderful variety of both white and red wines, covering a huge range of styles. The Petali Assyrtiko was savoury with great texture, while La Baie Orientale was delicate and floral, the Chablis was unoaked in strong contrast to the Harewood Estate Chardonnay. The Marcillac was a good example of a summer red and the Pinot Noir was light-footed too. For me, the pick of the bunch was the Côtes du Rhône Villages. The Late Bottled Vintage port was a great finish with the mince pies.


We had a blind tasting too: I got the colour right, but little else. It was actually a rather good Cabernet Sauvignon from near the Gobi desert in China at over 1000 m altitude, made with the collaboration of the 15th generation of the Austrian Moser family.


For more information: https://duncanmurraywines.co.uk


The wines tasted were:

  1. Diamantakis, Petali; Crete, Greece, 2024. Assyrtiko

  2. Lionel Osmin; La Baie Orientale; Le Sud-Ouest, France, 2024. Muscat, Muscadelle, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Riesling

  3. Domaine Fournillon; Chablis, France, 2022. Chardonnay

  4. Harewood Estate; Great Southern Western Australia, 2021. Chardonnay

  5. Lionel Osmin, Marcillac Fer de Soif; Marcillac, France, 2023. Fer Servadou

  6. Harewood Estate; Denmark, Great Southern Western Australia, 2024. Pinot Noir

  7. Blind Tasting – Changyu Moser XV; Ningxia Helan Mountain, China, 2021. Cabernet Sauvignon

  8. Mas de Boislauzon. Le Deux Chènes; Côtes du Rhône Villages, France, 2023. Grenache, Syrah, Carignan

  9. Kopke LBV; Porto, Portugal, 2020. Touriga National, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Sousâo


Duncan Murray - ready to present
Duncan Murray - ready to present

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