Vivat Bacchus - Wine Club & Dinners

Dear Wine Clubbers,

We have almost reached autumn and in Europe and the rest of the northern hemisphere it is getting closer to harvest time for the wineries. Reports from both Bordeaux and Burgundy have been cautiously optimistic about the conditions so far this year and it looks like an above average vintage is forecasted. It will certainly will be difficult to live up to the dizzy heights of the 2009 vintage.
 
The South African winemakers take it easy during July and August and some come over to the UK in September for the SA wine shows. That gives us the opportunity to host them for our very popular dinners at which they present their wines. This year we are lucky to have Paul Cluver representing their vineyard and Niels Verburg of Luddite with the Cape Winemakers Guild wines.


Here is our line-up for the Wine Club for September:

 

Tuesday 31st August (Monday being a bank holiday)

Wine and Cheese

How does cheese develop over time? We will track the ageing of Pecorino Romana from its youth through to maturity and explore which wines match with it during the various phases of its metamorphosis. Originating in Emilia Romagna in North Eastern Italy, this sheep's milk cheese changes enormously over time. From young, unaged Pecorino Fresco matched with Soave Classico Pra 2009 to the wonderfully flavourful final product with a good Super Tuscan.

£20 per person


Monday 6th September
Bubbly Time!! Sparkling Wines from all over the world

With the UK being the biggest export market for Champagnes, it is clear that we certainly like our bubbles. At times however, we have to limit ourselves to less expensive alternatives like Prosecco or Cava or some of the wonderful new sparklers from the new world. But are we missing out on other less well known ones? Join us as we explore the unknown, from Sekt in Germany to Sparkling Shiraz in Australia, Lambrusco in Italy to Txacoli in Spain and discover some really fine and interesting wines.

£15 per person

 

Wednesday 8th September

Wine dinner with Paul Cluver of Paul Cluver Wines

Our top selling white and red wines both come from this beautiful winery in Elgin, east of Cape Town. We have had a long and fruitful relationship with the winery and the annual dinner with Paul and his wines is a great favourite with our regulars. Join us for a 4 course meal featuring stunning food by Head Chef Jordi Vila and his team while Paul will introduce their award winning wines for each course. Not to be missed!!

 

£49 per person and only 40 seats available

 

Monday 13th September

Cape Winemakers Guild wines with Niels Verburg of Luddite Wines

It is somewhat of a coup for us to have these wines at the Wine Club. The Cape Winemakers Guild is the cream of the winemaking fraternity of South Africa, now totalling 41 members, they strive to improve the level of local winemaking continuously and Niels Verburg, the winemaker of Luddite wines will be hosting the tasting of a range of the wines from the CWG. This is a unique chance to taste a range of wines from different areas by the stars of the wine industry in SA and also to evaluate these wines before the annual auction in October.

 

£15 per person


Thursday 16th September
Wine Dinner with Niels Verburg and the Cape Winemakers Guild wines

Wine Dinner with Cape Winemakeres Guild wines presented by Niels Verburg from Luddite. After tasting the wines on Monday night it is time to match a few of them with Jordi's creations. Be prepared to be wowed by the cutting edge fare currently eminating from our kitchen. 

£49 per person and only 40 seats available


Monday 20th September

Laura's Whacky Wine Alphabet: B
 
Prepare yourself for some Big and Burly Red Wines when we explore the letter B in Laura's alphabet of wine this month. This month will see us taste a range of reds from Bonarda in Argentina to Barbera in Piedmont and Blaufrankisch in Austria, there will be some surprises, blind tastings and of course the 'B' quiz. We will also be looking at the effects of barrel maturation on wines and of course blending, we may even try it ourselves.. Remember, somebody is going to walk away with the bottle of something good after the quiz.

£15 per person 


Monday 27th September
Wine and Cheese with Caroline and Laura  

It is time to put our entry into the British Cheese Board competition to the test to our Wine Club members. Come taste  and judge what the girls have put together representing Vivat Bacchus in this competition. We will of course pair them with South African wines. The cheeses featured will be Lancashire Bomb, Waterloo, Cerney Somerset, Lord of the Hundreds and Devon Blue.

£20per person

 

 


Kind regards to all and hope to see you soon.

Gerrie and the team at VB

 

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