Next tasting - Friday 8th August

Member's tasting and AGM

On August 8th we will have the annual member’s tasting after the AGM. 

The member’s tasting is always an interesting event, revealing where people’s interests lie and showing off the discoveries that they have made. It’s an event I look forward to a lot, and I hope you do too. Margaret Connor has collected 7 volunteers to present wines, I am sure it will be a good evening. 

The AGM will start the evening. Documents for this will be circulated later this week. The agenda for the AGM has been revised by the committee, thanks mostly to Bob McKinley. 

Please could I ask you to signal your attendance in the usual way, by paying the attendance fee before Monday 4th August. The unchanged details for this are given in the attached PDF.

I do hope you will be able to attend. The AGM is an important part of the management of our Society, and the members volunteering to present wines deserve your attention. 

What we tasted in July 2025

In July we welcomed back Dan Ruell from Mentzendorff. A few of us had been at the Mentzendorff Spring Tasting in London earlier in the year, and we selected a range of our favourites from that event to be shown here. It was a great tasting, with a very polished Sancerre, wonderful Pinots from the Willamette Valley, and a dry Oloroso which was extraordinary value. Our Mentzendorff tastings are always very interesting , allowing us to taste extraordinary wines.

For more information:

Web: https://mentzendorff.co.uk

The wines tasted were:

1. 2023 Hubert Brochard Sancerre Les 3 coteaux. Sauvingnon Blanc. France

2. 2019 Cartuxa branco, Vinho da Talha. Arinto, Roupeiro, Trincaderis, Fernao Pires, Malvasia. Portugal

3. 2020 Tapada do Chaves Vinhas Velhas branco. Arinto, Malvasia Fina, Fernão Pires, Tamarez, Roupeiro. Alentjo, Alentjo, Portugal

4. 2019 Ponzi Reserve Willamette Valley, OR. Pinot Noir. USA

5. 2021 Ponzi Paloma Willamette Valley, OR. Pinot Noir. USA

6. 2023 Cartuxa Tinto, Vinho da Talha. Alicante Bouschet. Alentjo, Portugal

7. 2012 Tapada do Chaves Reserva Tinto. Trincadeira; Grand Noir. Alentejo, Portugal

8. NV Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana Oloroso Faraon VORS. Palomino Fino. Jerez, Spain

   
   

   

   
   

L-R: Tim Edwards & Mark Payne from our pouring team, and Dan Ruell from Mentzendorff

Next tasting - Friday 11th July

Dan Ruell of Mentzendorff

On July 11th the Grand Union Wine Society will have its annual Mentzendorff portfolio tasting. 

One of the UK's longest-established wine importers, Mentzendorff has a stellar collection of producers offering some of the finest wines available. 

This year a few of the Grand Union committee were able to attend the Mentzendorff spiring event in London, and have selected some of the most impressive wines there for our July tasting. We will be tasting wines from France, Iberia and the USA. 

The Mentzendorff tastings at Grand Union are always popular, with the wines being offered at very attractive prices. I do hope that you will be able to be there. 

Please make your payment to attend in the usual way, as per the standard instructions attached. Your prompt attention is helpful to us, please pay by the end Friday 5th of July. We will be glad if you will consider inviting guests to the tasting.

As always, our tastings are posted on our site at https://guws.co.uk and on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GUWSLeicester

Web: https://mentzendorff.co.uk