The week before last, I was putting the finishing touches to our new wine tour destination in the Languedoc region. Deep in ‘La Garrigue’ lies the beautifully restored Château Les Carrasses that is to become our wine base for education, vacation and sensation. All you need in one glorious setting for a complete wine and food adventure. I will keep you informed of its development and we are due to announce the date of our first trip next week.

Every time I return from a wine trip anywhere, I never forget the importance that each producer places on the success of the individuality and quality of their own creation, it is their ‘raison d’être!

The French call it ‘Expression de Terroir’, a term that captures everything from the vine, the grape, the soil, the location, climate and weather - add these to the passion, character and skill of each individual wine maker, then you have all the ingredients so essential for the making of ‘real’ wine.

When I told you the story of Alain and Natacha and cuvee Ange, Alain told me his lament, the difference between real wine and that of industrialised production.

Here it is in his memory:

“Without a doubt, the unique qualities of wine make it inimitable, yet its magic touch goes unfelt if you cannot sense the underlying personality of the people who have made it, stamping the wine with their true ‘art de vivre’. Industrialised wine production thwarts the human dimension in wine, reducing it to a run of the mill product seen by the consumer as all too predictable and out of date. So a welcome here to all who love ‘real’ wine, to those curious about the good things in life, eager for discovery and wishing to keep a memory of their experience alive.”

They have assembled an expert panel of tasters – they are told what part of the world the wine is from and its price bracket: cheap wines up to £4.99 as well as ones costing £40+. Eight price brackets in all.

There are 5 levels of awards: gold, silver, bronze, commended and no award.

The judges will be tasting them blind (just the price bracket and region). Think I might be ‘blind drunk’ if I were a judge and they’d all get a prize!!

The awards are announced next month and if you’d like to know more about the judging visit www.decanter.com.

The Wines of Spain have recently seen a complete rejuvenation of style whilst still retaining the traditional wine making methods, but with a new twist of a more modern approach.

From the northern vineyards of Rioja, Navarra, Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Penedes, heading south through the vast plains of La Mancha and down to the Andalucían Sherry country, I have travelled them all and much is changing. This wine evolution has been gradual but is now so effective that it is having a major global impact upon the world of wine.

Ambitious and far thinking Spanish wine growers realised some time ago that with all the activity taking place particularly in the ‘new wine world’ that if certain changes were not adopted, they would be left in the shadows with nothing but history to tell the tale.

Old traditional wine styles still exist in many places, particularly Rioja and through fashion influences other areas also with a long history of wine making such as Priorato, have emerged as the contender to the ‘red wine throne’. Other more vibrant wine styles have appeared using recognised international grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer and along with more indigenous varieties such as Verdejo, Airén and Albariño, prove they can not only exist side by side but also complement each other by providing a much greater selection of well made and interesting wines. The areas of Penedès and La Mancha have particularly entered this arena in some spectacular fashion.

Why not check out my full feature on Spanish wine regions to learn a bit more about this fantastic wine region and to help you choose the perfect Spanish wine.

Happy Drinking, Alan Hunter, Wine Guru at ‘The Vino Club’  

I have found you a great wine bargain for you to enjoy this weekend and it has also inspired me to bring back to life that old dinner favourite from the past – Duck a l’ Orange, see the full recipe.

On a visit to Waitrose supermarket in Cheltenham I discovered a ‘special offer wine’ that was a must for me to try: Anciano Tempranillo 2003 Gran Reserva – Valdepeñas

Tasting Notes:This wine is made from the famous Tempranillo grape that we know so well and normally associate with the great wines of Rioja. Produced not in Rioja, but in the southern- most tip of the vast central Spain region known as La Mancha – Valdepeñas. It has a DOC quality control status all of its own, such is its importance as an individual wine region of exceptional quality.

Made from 30 year old vines, this wine was treated to a slow fermentation process before being matured for seven years, of which for two years it rested in oak, giving this wine its ‘Gran Reserva’ title. Gran Reserva is a selected wine that has been aged for at least five years, of which at least two years must be in oak and three in bottle. 

It displays wonderful concentrated aromas and flavours of crushed fully ripened strawberries with just a hint of caramel from the oak ageing, and at the reduced price from £8.99 down to £ 5.99 this really represents great value for money – Try it for yourself and leave a comment here to let everyone at The Vino Club know what you think – I loved it!

(It even says on the back label – a good match for roast duck!!)

Note: Anciano I feel is on ‘special’ as this vintage may be coming to its full life expectancy soon and also may not be available at every store. Try now so as not to be disappointed.

If unfortunately Waitrose was all out be sure to check back next week to see another great alternative that I highly recommend from the Tempranillo grape variety, you definitely wont be disappointed.

Have a lovely weekend from us all here at the Vino Club. Happy Drinking – and always remember to drink responsibly!

Alan Hunter, Wine Guru at ‘The Vino Club’

Research has been carried out at the Purdue University in America. They have discovered that “a compound found in red wine called reservatol converts into another compound called piceatannol, which blocks fat cells from forming”. This compound is also found in peanuts and red grapes.

The scientists are hoping that these discoveries will help pave the way for future treatment of obesity.

Sounds like an all round “super food” as we learn that it is thought to have cancer, heart and neurodegenerative -fighting properties.

The team of scientists plan to continue to study this compound further to “improve the stability and solubility of piaceatannol to create a biological effect”.

So we understand that there is still some research to do but this definitely sounds like a step in the right direction to us! Here at the Vino Club we will be sure to feel a little less guilty about that chocolate egg and glass of wine this weekend.

For more information about wine and your health why not visit our section on health recommendations.

Happy Easter!

They are hoping the rise in cost will help to change the behaviour of those that cause the most problems for the police and hospitals. The idea is that having a minimum price will mean the cost of cheap alcohol, popular amongst binge drinkers, will become less affordable.

David Cameron stated; “We’re consulting on the actual price, but if it is 40p that could mean 50,000 fewer crimes each year and 900 fewer alcohol - related deaths by the end of the decade”.

The change in price will mean a £2.99 bottle of red wine containing 9.4 units of alcohol, would be priced up to £3.76.

Here at the Vino Club we are hoping it doesn't cause a problem for the responsible drinkers who like to buy a good wine to really enjoy it. But it is definitely something to think about. Do you know how many units you drink a week and would you know what the recommended limit is? Why not check out our article on recommended limits to make sure you are drinking responsibly.

So what do you think about the proposed changes? Do get in touch and get the discussion started; we look forward to hearing from you.

Perhaps this year, rather than a pint of Guinness or a novelty green beer, you might like to try some traditional Irish wine.

This unique drink is made from pure honey, fruit of the vine and herbs, otherwise known as ‘Mead’.

It was thought to have first been made by Irish monks; its popularity soon took off and was served at Irish feasts and weddings.

Mead was believed to have great powers of virility and fertility so the bride and groom were encouraged to drink generous amounts of the honey wine from their special goblets. If a baby was born nine months later, all credit was given to the Mead!

So whether you getting married or not, Mead is a fantastic drink for a celebration. This medium sweet wine can be enjoyed warm or chilled and can be the perfect partnership to chicken or turkey. Or perhaps you’re going to go all out and have it with a traditional St Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage.

If you do decide to try it, do get in touch and let us know what you thought. We look forward to hearing from you, cheers!

There are many positive arguments for choosing organic produce;

• Organic foods do not contain dangerous pesticides
• Organic produce is considered more nutritious than typically grown products, they are said to contain more vitamin C and have a higher quality protein content
• Organic farming is better for the environment

So now it seems more and more people are following suit and choosing organic wine. Wine is considered organic by means of its growing method on the vineyard as well as the wine making and bottling process.

However one big downside to buying organic is the cost. Organic products are more expensive to grow therefore the extra cost is covered by the consumer on the price tag.

So here at the Vino Club we’d like to know whether you buy organic wine, do you prefer the taste? Do you mind paying more for the organic and possibly “healthier” alternative?

To find out more on the subject check out our article on Organic wine.

Christmas always results in people over indulging in alcohol and food. But now the New Year has passed and it seems that everyone is starting a new regime to get back into shape. Before you put away the wine until next Christmas and start drinking warm lemon water. Here at the Vino Club today we are going to look at some recent research about health benefits of traditionally made wines, health problems that can occur from drinking wine and give some recommendations on how to enjoy drinking wine without compromising your health.

UK researchers have recently discovered chemicals called procyanidins in red wine, the research suggests that procyanidins are responsible for red wine's well-documented heart-protecting effect when consumed in moderate amounts. They found traditionally made wines from Nuoro province in Sardinia and the Gers region of the Midi-Pyrenees in south-west France have on average between two and four times the level of procyanidin than wines from any other part in the world. The researchers believe the way that wines are made is the key. In traditional wine making, grapes have a three to four week fermentation period. Modern-style wines are only fermented for a week, resulting in little or no procyanidin.

Although wine has many health benefits, excess drinking raises the danger of cancers and liver disease. In moderate amounts, detoxifying small amounts of alcohol is a walk in the park for your liver. Once you exceed 4 glasses of wine per day, however, the liver goes into overdrive in order to clean out your system. The kidneys are another set of organs that help in the process. The problem arises when a continual binge occurs over alcohol for a long period of time. In this case, your liver and kidneys start to become tired and will eventually fail.

One in four English adults drinks too much, research by a government watchdog has found. Some 10 million people are consuming alcohol at hazardous levels, with stronger drinks and larger glasses especially among wine drinkers contributing to the drinking epidemic. Middle-class wine drinkers are most at risk, with seven million exceeding. The research concluded that GPs ought to be tripling the number of patients they advise on how to cut down drinking.

The NHS recommends some basic guidelines to follow in order to enjoy wine at levels that will benefit your health. Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day and women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day.

For more information on what's good and what's not when it comes to wine and your health, check out our section on Health Recommendations.

Have a good look around, you'll find news snippets, wine trivia, recommended wine with food, cocktail recopies, wine types and regions, a guide to storing wine and much more!

We love hearing from our members so why not use this blog to tell us what you think of the new look Vino Club, other stuff you'd like to see perhaps, and anything you think might interest other members - got any wine tips to pass on?

This round's on us – cheers!