On a Friday night in April, over 100 Liverymen and their guests met on Zoom for a Wine and Tapas tasting session, hosted by Wine Poole and Brindisa Charcuterie.
The Events and Engagement Chairman, Warden Steve Chick, tells us how he is always excited to have wine and food delivered to his door.
With the hamper unpacked and anticipation building, he tells us how everyone enjoyed the delights of a virtual Wine and Tapas night...
The Zoom doors opened at 7pm to over 100 people and our hosts for the night were introduced by The Master; Lindsay Poole from Wine Poole and James Robinson from Brindisa, an importer of specialist Spanish produce.
Having attended the previous virtual tasting events, I knew that Wine Poole had paired their wines beautifully with products before so I had high hopes for more of the same with the delicious tapas products. I was not disappointed, we were in for a treat.
We began the event with a Starter of white wine, Finca Remendio Rueda, which interestingly had depictions of fish on the label which could have been concerning for a “meat” event but it truly complimented our “starter” of Perello Olives.
The main course was a red wine, Borsao Bole Garnacha and didn’t feel like the stated 15% ABV at all! I have to say that this was my favourite choice of the night. Acorn-fed cured Iberico loin and Iberico salchidon were matched with this sublime wine. James was really informative and extremely knowledgeable on these samples.
I like to learn something new every day, which at my age, gets much harder to do! I now know to look out for the black ankle tags on Iberico hams, and hopefully it won’t be my turn to be paying, as these are the top notch, super-expensive kind.
James had provided cut slices from different parts of the ham to show us the different textures and fat content created because of the ham being hung. The melt in your fingers fat felt very decadent and demonstrated the points he made perfectly.
The final course was Majorcan sobrasada from indigenous Balearic black pigs and the cured Manchego cheese, which paired beautifully with the Gran Logrado Reserva Rioja 2013. This last bottle will definitely be my wine of choice when Autumn comes and I am back to a diet of stews and casseroles; it's a real warming, fruity blend.
The Clerk ably and deftly dealt with questions from our 60 strong zoom participants which were well answered by Lindsay and James. An online poll was taken to vote for the products of the night and the winners were: Borsao Bole Garnacha and a tied first place for the cured meats Castro Cebo de Campo and the Iberico Salchichon. But for me, the best poll result was that 100% of Zoom callers would attend this event again!
The Master thanked Wine Poole and Brindisa for their help in providing and hosting such a wonderful night, before the breakout rooms were opened for the “after party”.
It was heart warming to see so many of our Liverymen and guests staying on for some fellowship while finishing off their wine.
Many thanks to our great Events and Engagement team for putting on another fun and informative evening. Thanks also to Liveryman Lucinda Baker and Assistant Paul Dolan for the photography.
Look forward to seeing you all at the next one.
Warden Steve Chick