After the small (but perfectly formed) October gathering at
Cath's tasting Bordeaux and Burgundy wines (and the rogue Costiere de
Nimes, which we won't mention too often to Micheal!), Nishma managed to get a full
complement of the WoW crew for a “Wine on Wednesday on Friday" on November
17th, and encouraged us all to get naked (ooh-errr missues) - Naked Wines, that
is (www.nakedwines.com)!
Naked Wines works on the basis of members investing £20 per
month and then invests in winemakers, making wines that are distributed directly,
in theory cutting prices for consumers by 40-60%. Apparently there are 100,000
investing customers (“Angels” as Naked Wines calls them), which means about £2m
per month going into winemaking. This means
helping talented would-be winemakers in assistant winemaking positions to get
started on their own projects, all of which sounds good to me.
The Naked Wines website has reviews of their wines from
thousands of users, giving both a percentage score and a value for money
rating.
The selection we tried could have been specially selected to
demonstrate exactly the typical (stereotypical?) tastes of each wine variety -
a Prosecco to start then New Zealand Sauvingon Blanc, a German Reisling, a
Southern French Rose, a New Zealand Pinot Noir, an Argentinian Malbec and a
South African Merlot. All were good
wines, and all were easily identifiable as exactly what they were meant to
be.
Here are the detailed tasting notes (with Naked Wines
"non-angel" pricing):
PROSECCO: Saccheto, £8.49
A really pleasant Prosecco to start the evening – light and
great value at that price
Small and Small Sauvignon Blanc by Bill and Claudia Small,
£11.99
This was a hugely fruity(gooseberry, of course) wine,
without any of the sourness of a typical Sauvignon Blanc. I liked this wine
(and I normally am not at all a fan of Sauvingon Blanc, thinking them far too
acidic - give me a good glass of Chardonnay instead!). Nish
says she sometimes puts this wine in the freezer to make it really cold first,
and I can understand that with all the fruit, this wine could take that. The
experts describe this as "Racy, refreshing and rejuvenating this is a
glass of pure gooseberry deliciousness. It doesn't get much fresher and finer
than this. Perfect for washing down a massive bowl of freshly cooked mussels".
Yumm!
Klein Riesling Trocken 2011: £10.99.
A classic German dry Riesling. Good aroma and nice fruit, but with a dry aftertaste. A wine you could drink all evening - even on its own. Naked Wines say "Wonderfully crafted by Peter Klein who won the second place in Germany's Young Winemaker of the Year competition 2009, this is a classic dry Riesling with lots of edge and verve, and deliciously intense lemon and white peach fruit flavours", which seems a good description.
A classic German dry Riesling. Good aroma and nice fruit, but with a dry aftertaste. A wine you could drink all evening - even on its own. Naked Wines say "Wonderfully crafted by Peter Klein who won the second place in Germany's Young Winemaker of the Year competition 2009, this is a classic dry Riesling with lots of edge and verve, and deliciously intense lemon and white peach fruit flavours", which seems a good description.
Benjamin Darnault "Pique-Nique" Grenache Rose Vin
du Pays d'Oc £9.99.
A dry rose wine, not much of an aroma and a slightly sour
aftertaste. Perfectly pleasant and would be nice, well chilled, on a warm day
on a terrace in the South of France, but perhaps one of those wines that does
not travel as well. The description is: "Think freshly crushed strawberries
with a couple of raspberries thrown in to boot, combined with freshly whipped
cream and a nice sharp bite. Top-drawer rose, and fresh as a morning
daisy". I'm not sure I got all of those flavours though.
Monowai Pinot Noir 2011 (New Zealand ), £13.99.
This was a good Pinot Noir, with the classic dark cheery aroma / flavours. Quite a light wine (as you would expect from a Pinot), this was another easy drinking wine. Over to the experts at Naked Wine: "This spicy, fruity Pinot Noir is made on the banks of theNgaruroro
River
This was a good Pinot Noir, with the classic dark cheery aroma / flavours. Quite a light wine (as you would expect from a Pinot), this was another easy drinking wine. Over to the experts at Naked Wine: "This spicy, fruity Pinot Noir is made on the banks of the
Angel's Reserve by Mauricio Korca Malbec, £9.49.
Slightly embarrassingly, I can’t remember much about this wine - it was dark red, very pleasant, but obviously not hugely memorable. I’d blame that on it getting late in the evening and all of that, but I suspect that it was more the massive impact of the next wine.......
Slightly embarrassingly, I can’t remember much about this wine - it was dark red, very pleasant, but obviously not hugely memorable. I’d blame that on it getting late in the evening and all of that, but I suspect that it was more the massive impact of the next wine.......
Stephen de Wet Arabella Merlot 2011 (South Africa )
£8.49.
A really full, fruity wine - loads of jammy berry flavours and great on a cold night - almost too heavy to drink on its own (and it isn't often I will say that). "... one of the most intense black cherry fruit flavours, that feel and taste in the mouth as if they've been whisked up with a shot of espresso and liquid dark chocolate. Add a hint of spice to the finish and you've got one hell of a mouthful of red wine". I'd agree entirely with that, and add that at £8.49 or £6.25 for Naked Wines Angels, this is really good value.
Next month - Christmas!!!!!!
A really full, fruity wine - loads of jammy berry flavours and great on a cold night - almost too heavy to drink on its own (and it isn't often I will say that). "... one of the most intense black cherry fruit flavours, that feel and taste in the mouth as if they've been whisked up with a shot of espresso and liquid dark chocolate. Add a hint of spice to the finish and you've got one hell of a mouthful of red wine". I'd agree entirely with that, and add that at £8.49 or £6.25 for Naked Wines Angels, this is really good value.
Next month - Christmas!!!!!!
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