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Living in London, there's no shortage
of freebie trade tastings to attend, but in my book the finest
tastings programme in the capital is the one offered by Kensington
merchants La Vigneronne. With several events each month, ranging from
stand up swirl and sniff events to more involved sit-down tutored
tastings, there's something to interest everyone. Prices are very
reasonable for the wines on offer, which rather refreshingly are not
restricted to stuff La Vigneronne is trying to sell, and range from
£15 for a typical Languedoc tasting to £100+ for a first
growth-style line-up. And while the La Vigneronne cellars, where the
tasting are held, are not the grandest surroundings, they are perfectly
adequate. The only snag is that you have to book up early as most of
the events sell up fast: they are announced a couple of months in
advance, so you'll need to get on the mailing list if you aren't
already on it. (Just in case the more cynical readers are thinking
that this glowing praise is prompted by some dark conflict of
interest, I have no commercial connection with La Vigneronne and I pay my own
way for the vast majority of the tastings I attend: I just think they
are great events.)
Tasting notes from La Vigneronne
events
- Leading
Languedoc wines, 36 of the best, May 2003
- Priorat, Spain,
September 2002
- Spanish
white wines, August 2002
- Portuguese
wines, May 2002
- Domaine de la
Marfée (Thierry Hasard), April 2002
- Domaine Font
Caude, Langeudoc, April 2002
- 2000
White Burgundies, February 2002
- Silvio Jermann,
Collio, Italy, March 2002
- Spanish wines,
February 2002
- La
Vigneronne Bin End Sale: 12 wines tasted, January 2002
- Bairrada,
Portugal, November 2001
- South
African tasting, November 2001
- New releases:
22 fine wines from the South of France, November 2001
- Domaine des
Aurelles, Coteaux du Languedoc, October 2001
- Château Musar
vertical, September 2001
- Mourvèdre
Blind Tasting, September 2001
- Thirty
years on: 1971 Bordeaux 'first growth' tasting, September
2001
- Bourgogne
Rouge, August 2001
- Domaine des
Chesnaies, Bourgeuil,
August 2001
- Bandols from
Domaine du Gros' Noré, May 2001
- Garage
wines of the Languedoc: new
southern superstars, May 2001
- 1998
Sauternes blind tasting La Vigneronne, April 2001
- 1999
Red Burgundy: hip or hyped? April 2001
- Marc
Kreydenweiss, Alsace, presenting his own wines, February 2001
- Condrieu: blind tasting the
1999s, February 2001
- 1998 in the South of France:
24 from La Vigneronne, November 2000
- Château de Beaucastel vertical
tasting, November 2000
- Spotlight on Chablis: La
Vigneronne tasting, November 2000
- La Vigneronne 'own imports':
24 interesting French wines, Sept 2000
- 1998 Gigondas, La Vigneronne
tasting, June 2000
- 1998 White Burgundies, La
Vigneronne tasting, June 2000
- Domaine du Baruel, La
Vigneronne tasting, June 2000
Contact details:
La Vigneronne, 105 Brompton Road,
London SW7 3LE (3 minutes walk from South Kensington tube station)
www.lavigneronne.co.uk
sales@lavigneronne.co.uk
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