The winemakers club - Hungarian wines

Tonight I'm at my first ever wine tasting at an independent wine merchant in Faringdon. I've been here once before, with a friend from work. It's a beautiful wine bar that has made a home in a tunnel or something, I'm still working it out. Candles are littered around the place, with old wooden furniture creating little spaces. There is a fire going, but it's not enough to keep the cool, that swirls around away. And the place is made of bricks. There is a giant bookcase at the back with all the wines they sell and a grudge to the left with bottles to try.

Twice a month they hold a wine tasting and this evening the feature is Hungarian wines. There are 6 to try plus cheese and charcuterie on the side.

It starts off as a bit of a shambles, we started 25 mins late because half of the people, all from one party hadn't arrived. By this point we started without them.

We first up enjoyed a lovely sparkling white, this was followed by a ..... Which we enjoyed with some strong meats. Apparently it's a good wine to have with the salty Hungarian food.

It was at this point that the other half of the party appeared, they had been in the area next door enjoying the Ł80 bottles at the wine owners preview event haha. Oh my did we get distracted, it was rather hilarious!

Once we all settled down we continued our evening of tastings which included another white, two reds and a dessert wine, which we enjoyed with some cheese.

The evening was more of a social adventure as opposed to a lecture. We were given a short intro in the wine, the region and maker. A number of these bottles were limited production.

Apparently before the Cold War, Hungarian wines were a dominate force. But when the soviet army moves in they ripped up all of the wine land and planted crops to feed the army.

As such a lot of the Hungarian type of wi e is still trying to make a come back in the market. So if you ever see a X or X I urge you to buy it over the point noir, you'll he in for a treat.

Attending an event solo can be a dicey move sometimes. At first j was quite alone but thr group of people who came together were loud and excited and happy to include me. The wine and the face that I sat in the middle of them may have helped. They asked if I was going to dinner with them at the end of the night and I kind of wished I was.

All in all it was good fun, but maybe next time they should make it clear where each event is.

The Winemakers ClubRead more