A member of my family went to the Yapp Brothers Wine Tasting at the Vintners' Hall in London. I was busy elsewhere so I have the price list with comments on the tasting. I see my taster has marked an Alsace 'Riesling' Charles Schleret 2004 at £12.95 as good, and a Banyuls Reserva Dom la Tour Vielle NV (meaning non vintage) at £19.50 as Good/VG (very good).
The Yapp Brothers specialise in wines from France. Their wines range from budget prices, many under £10 competing with supermarkets on price but offering more unusual wines. For example, a sparkling rose, Cremant de Loire Mousseux Brut Rose at £12.95.
You don't get the bargain hunting crowd you might meet at the 'free' Wine Society tastings up in Hemel. (There one person has to be a member but can take in a visitor such as a partner or friend for free.)
Here at the Yapp tasting, you might expect the crowd attracted to be well-dressed and well-spoken and well versed in wine, given the type of event, or the location or the fact that you had to pay £20 to attend. The list included Chateauneuf du Pape Le Vieux Donjon 2005, costing £40 a bottle. So for half that price, you get to taste that wine (which my family rated only fair - so they saved spending money on it) plus tastes of several others wines.
Translating the name of the wine from the French, that's a prestigious wine from the once new chateau of the Pope, the old cellar. This wine is an old nowadays wine, made from grapes picked way back in 2005, matured in a barrel, then stored in a bottle several years - and you try pricing a wine fridge or paying for your wine to be kept on bondage for an annual fee. Sounds like the pope had great wine, whether for communion or just for his health on a daily basis. And today we are all, the Italians and French and wine sellers and drinkers worldwide, still benefitting from his vineyard.
Their Xmas offers include a Chateauneuf/Cheddar gift box at £49.
You might get a refund on the price of a wine tasting if you spend £200 on a wine order - that's a lot of money. On the other hand, although I'm a cheap date when it comes to wine, even I can run up a bill of £20 on wine in one evening at a local steakhouse on a sparkling rose aperitif (or cocktail), a glass of zinfandel with my main course and a nice sweet muscat to go with dessert. (I've never had a wine from the muscat grape which I didn't like.)
The Yapp brothers Muscat de Beaumes de Venise Durban 2011 is £17.25. Beaumes de Venise is our favourite aromatic sweet dessert wine. If I am free on the date of their next Yapp wine tasting, I must make a mental note to go along.
www.yapp.co.uk
For a glossary of wine terms and places see my next post.
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, author, speaker. See Youtube, Linked in, Facebook, lulu.com
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