On Tuesday, 2nd March, Cambridge Wine Merchants' staff were invited to join a staff training session on Australian wine. The event had been organised by CWM together with Wine Australia, in order to raise awareness of the regional differences and wine styles that can be found throughout the "Fifth Continent".
The wines that were tasted came from different regions - from emerging "hot spots" like Tasmania (we tasted the fabulous Jansz Sparkling Wine) and Heathcote (an interesting, rather hot and arid region - our example was the Tyrell's Rufus Stone Shiraz 2007), to famous and established wine-growing regions such as Barossa, Yarra and Eden Valley.
One of the highlights was the last wine on the list - Campbell's Rutherglen Moscato, a sweet, very intense and honeyed fortified wine.
Everyone agreed on their favorite wines - the winners were Peter Lehmann's "Margaret" Semillon from 2002 - a creamy, buttery style, very well aged and great value for price (only £12.99!), Mount Langi Ghiran Cliff Edge Shiraz, from the Grampians wine region, and the above mentioned Jansz NonvintagePremium Brut and Rufus Stone Shiraz.
The tasting motivated staff to promote Australian wines
during the "Regional Heroes" retail competition,
which we will be running in April and May.
The retailer with the highest increase in sales
of Australian wines can send a member of staff
to Australia, and there will be landmark tastings
for the whole staff.
Here is where our staff tasting took place,
at Cambridge Chop House/Kings Parade
Steve Hovington, our WSET tutor, says:
"The Jansz NV Brut & Peter Lehmann Margaret Semillon showed how wonderfully clean, fresh and characterful Aussie whites can be. I was interested in the climatic differences between the Eden and Clare Valleys and how this affects the style of the Rieslings produced there or how similar differences in the Yarra valley & Adelaide Hills affect the style of Chardonnays."
He also believes that "over all it was a useful exercise and very well presented and look forward to pushing the regional heroes message in the Spring."
If you are thinking about treating yourself to one
of our delicious Sherries...why not take two bottles
of any Gonzalez Byass Sherry and receive a
FREE half bottle of the "Solera 1847"
Oloroso Dulce Sherry!
This offer is available on all Gonzalez Byass Sherries
except the half bottles Tio Pepe, and half bottles of the
Solera 1847, and goes on for three months until the
beginning of June.
The Solera 1847 Oloroso is a sweet blend of 75% Palomino
and 25% Pedro Ximénez grape varieties,
with an average age of nine years. A real treat!
Please come to one of our lovely branches to ask for details.
We will also have this exceptional Sherry up for free
tasting in all of our shops on the weekend
from 19th to 21st March.
Cambridge Wine Merchants are known for their commitment to staff education and training, and we are proud to say that everyone who is working for us has a high wine-related knowledge.
Just recently the five members of our Bridge Street branch passed their WSET course, held by our tutor Steve Hovington, and were extremely successful.
Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, working part-time at Bridge Street, passed with 92% "with distinction". All the others passed with very high grades too.
The event took place this January, at the Malmaison hotel, Birmingham. It was organised by the Harpers Wine & Spirits magazine, and was attended by representatives and owners of a number of independent wine merchants from all over England - including Hal Wilson, owner and managing director of Cambridge Wine Merchants.
The prestigious and longstanding Varsity Blind Tasting Match is an annual competition in blind wine tasting between the blind tasting teams of the Oxford University Blind Wine Tasting Society and the Cambridge University Blind Wine Tasting Society. It is sponsored by Champagne house Pol Roger.
This years’ event took place on 25th February at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in Mayfair, London, and was judged by Wine Superheroes Hugh Johnson and Jasper Morris MW.
Star Radio 107.9 Cambridge listeners, you get the exclusive chance to win our brilliant gift hamper full of fairtrade goodies - Wine, chocolate, sweets, coffee, tea, beauty products, and much more!
The Cambridge University Wine Society, a student-run organisation whose main sponsor is Cambridge Wine Merchants, hosted one of the very popular wine tastings in the Upper Hall of Peterhouse.
The event took place on 17th February and featured CWM chairman Brett Turner, passionate about German wine.
He introduced the attendants to the fascinating German wine region of the Mosel, whose main characteristics are extremely steep vineyards and, for the wines, an extraordinary and unique balance of sweetness and acidity, helping wines to age well over decades.
The wines that were showcased came from small producers Fehres and Reinert, all Rieslings of different grades of sweetness. Guests and presenter alike were astonished and fascinated by the great balance especially of older wines.
And of course, it was a lot of fun too!
On Tuesday, 2nd March, Cambridge Wine Merchants' staff were invited to join a staff training session on Australian wine. The event had been organised by CWM together with Wine Australia, in order to raise awareness of the regional differences and wine styles that can be found throughout the "Fifth Continent".
If you are thinking about treating yourself to one
