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Wine Tastings

If you would like to learn more about wine, then why not come along to one of our Wine Tastings?

 

We offer a range of tastings as follows:

- Wine Club Evenings (Approx 8 per year - 4 in each shop) - Exclusive to Wine Club members, a range of wines are opened for you to taste at your leisure, always linked in some way - maybe grape variety, maybe style, maybe country/region, or maybe just our Top 10 wines of the moment


- Wine Tasting Evenings (approx 3 per year in each shop) - Open to anyone, these events are always ticket in advance, and are led by a speaker - possibly a winemaker, someone else connected with a vineyard focussing on wines from one estate, or maybe a wine specialist, focussing on wines from a region/country.  Tickets for these events are limited, so we suggest you always book your ticket well in advance


- Tasting Dinners (approx 3 per year in each village) - we link up with local restaurants/gastro-pubs to provide evenings of fine food and wine, with care and attention paid to matching the wines well to the food.
 

- Portfolio Tastings (twice yearly in each shop) - a wide selection of wines are open for you to wander round and taste at your leisure.

Details of forthcoming tastings will always appear on our homepage, as well as below.

 

NEXT TASTING

Friday 28th September 2012
8pm at South Downs Cellars, Lindfield

 


 

The Wines of Ata Rangi, Martinborough (New Zealand)

Presented by Helen Masters - wine-maker

Ata Rangi is owned and run by Clive Paton and his wife Phyll, with Clive's sister Alison and winemaker Helen Masters.  Clive planted the bare, stony home paddock at the edge of Martinborough in 1980 and, in doing so, was one of a handful of people who pioneered grape growing in the area.  Ata Rangi's first vineyard covered less than five hectares on thin, well drained alluvial soil, deposited on what was the original course of the river as it flowed east to the Pacific Ocean. 

Ata Rangi are renowned for their Pinot Noir and are  widely regarded as New Zealand's top pinot Noir producer, according to Tim Atkin MW.  They have been awarded the Five Stars in the 2012 Great New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification by Matthew Jukes and Tyson Stelzer for the Gold Medal Standard of their last five vintages.  At the 2010 International Pinot Noir Conference Ata Rangi were bestowed the title of Tipuranga Teitei o Aotearoa (maori for Great Growth of New Zealand, or Grand Cru) in recognition of their commitment to evolving and developing NZ Pinot Noir.
They also produce a range of white wine including the stunning Craighall Chardonnay that is sourced from Low yielding 20yr old Mendoza clone vines and fermented in Burgundian barriques (22% new oak) using indigenous yeasts.  The Pinot Gris, from the lismore block, is harvested fairly late to enable the grapes to develop their full flavour profile.  The resulting wine is closer to the richer Alsace style of Pinot Gris than the leaner bone dry style of Pinot Grigio found in northern Italy.


Cost: £15 per person
 

For further details, please contact James on (01444) 484025
 

 

Tailor-made Tastings

If you would like to organise a wine tasting for you and your family/friends/colleagues/employees this can be arranged in the comfort of your own home, office or at South Downs Cellars. With a selection of wines picked to suit your palate and your pocket, we offer an informative yet informal tasting service.