Start your wine club at home

A growing popularity among the young for enjoying wine has made wine clubs the in thing.

Wine guru Maryna Strachan, managing editor at Wine-Extra magazine and consultant to TOPS at SPAR Wine Show says a wine club is a lot of fun and the best way to get to know your wine in the company of new and old friends.

“You don’t need to be a wine expert … to have a A to Z knowledge of wine.”

The ideal number of members for a wine club is 20.

“With 20 members, you won’t need to have two bottles of each wine you sample, you can get 20 glasses out of one 750ml bottle,” said Strachan.

Plan a theme for the night

“Select a variety of sparkling wines or MCC (Méthode Cap Classique) and let their fine fizz do the talking.”

Strachan advised that people should drink from the same shape and size glass.

Before you taste.

As tempting as it is to get stuck in, restrain yourself and let a bottle of wine breathe before tasting it. This includes the white and rosé. In doing so, the flavours and aromas are loosened up and exposed.

Score your wine

Tasting notes can be downloaded from the internet or a Platter’s guide and used to introduce the wine to the group. Swirl the wine in the glass and smell again to stimulate your olfactory senses.

“Then sip and swirl the wine around in your mouth before spitting or swallowing, if you prefer. Remember, wine tasting is subjective so it’s recommended to ask everyone in the group to describe what they pick up during a tasting as there will quite likely be a number of different opinions around the table.”

If you want to take your wine club to the next level, introduce a wine scoring method.

Describe the taste

Strachan said it is easier to pick up the smell of the flavours on the nose.

Common flavours in white wine are freshly cut grass, asparagus, tropical fruit or butterscotch, depending on the varietal, and in red you’ll often hear descriptions of spices or coffee.

Keep your palate clean.

If you want to get the best out of your tasting don’t chew gum, smoke or brush your teeth before a tasting. Also don’t wear perfume or cologne because this dilutes the aromas from the wine.

Where to buy your wine

With more than 6 000 wines available in South Africa you’ll never run out of wine to taste. You also don’t need to live in the Cape to taste wine from this region.

The TOPS at SPAR Wine Show is hosted in Pretoria at Menlyn Park Shopping Centre from 25 to 27 August.

COMPETITION:

Rekord readers stand a chance to win tickets to the show or a hamper valued at R5091 which includes:

• 1X double ticket to the Pretoria TOPS at SPAR Wine Show valued at R360
• 1X Spülboy unit and soap valued at R4,731 (The Spülboy Portable glassware cleaning system is an industrial glassware cleaning system that requires no electricity or hot water for 100% bacteria free, beer ready, glasses. It cleans anything from a 1L beer glass, red wine glass or shooter glass and everything in between including delicate champagne flutes by using a fraction of the water that conventional dishwashers do. The Spülboy scrubs off any lipstick stains, grease or grime residue.)

*Hamper to be collected at the wine festival.

To enter this competition, fill out the application form below and use the word ‘TOPS’ in the keyword section.