Mumsnet Wine Club launch wine tasting 9-10pm Thursday 24th March 2011

[CatherineHMumsnet]

By now, some of you should have had delivery of either the tasting cases you won in our prize draw, or the ones you ordered.

Inside your case you'll find six bottles which will enable you to take part in our first online wine tasting and discussion.

The bar opens at 9pm on Thursday 24th March 2011 with last orders at 10pm. All you have to do is find a glass, log on to Mumsnet and let us know what you think of what you're drinking.

We'll have one of the winemakers whose wine is included in the case, Heidi Seifried, logging in from her vineyard in Nelson, which is on the western side of New Zealand as well as Rowan Gormley, Naked Wines' founder from not-so-far-away Norfolk, who'll be on hand to answer any general wine questions you might have.

WIN CHAMPAGNE!
And if all that's not enough of an incentive, we've got three bottles of champagne on ice to offer out to Mumsnetters who join in the chat.

So whether you want to just try one bottle with us or open all six from the tasting case and invite some friends round to share the fun, we look forward to seeing you online on the night.

There's still time to order your case if you haven't done so already. It's £39.99 for the six bottles (a discount of over £25) and if you order before 21st March you'll have your wines in time for the tasting.

Cheers!

inoculating = adding yeast to turn the grape juice sugars into wine (alcohol)... lovely smells. Our yeast do all the work to make the wine, so we strive to look after them and get them off to a good start!

Really enjoyed the Gewurtztraminer. On the Aotea now. This has a really lovely smell.

Congrats on the pg Heidi.

I had lots of things to say about the Gewurtztraminer when i started drinking it I have now polished off half the bottle and can't remember what they were. Something about powerful florals, I think. The Cath Kidston of wines. V nice, anyway.

Joining the room ....clink, clink

I don;tusually like white wines, but found the Aotea Sauvignon Blanc quite nice. I'm eating garlic bread, is that the same as garlic prawns

Thanks Heidi - it sounded far more painful than adding yeast!

DH thought that this wine has a slight eggy after-taste - I can kind of see what he means (I guess sulphorous rather than eggy!) - what would that be?

Hi Norky

The general idea is that, by helping small winemakers, you get better wines at a really good price.

The way it works is

• you pay in £20 a month (ie enough for one bottle of wine a week)
• which you can then use to buy any wines you like
• we deliver next day
• and you get 33% CashBack for your next order

We use the money you pay in to support the winemakers, so they can focus on making wine (rather than selling wine). And we dont have to waste money selling to you, so we can afford to give you 33% off.

Does that make sense?

• (grr) Bottles'

Aotea - on opening sharp gooseberry / cat pee smell and the first taste after pouring was zingy and tongue tingling. Lots of gooseberry on tasting, rather sharp.

... Not as keen on the Aotea - tastes to me much more like a typical white wine with that sharp edge I'm not mad keen on. Hmmm going to grab some food so I'll see if that helps...

First of all, thank you very much mumsnet and naked wines, getting my surprise wine delivery the other day was really great :)

My mum, husband, friend and I had a little tasting session earlier and made some notes with two of the bottles:
Ok, so we tried the NZ Syrah... thought it smelt quite acidic, tobacco-y, and mineral-y. We decided it was an earthy wine, it was thin, and also noticed spices, maybe cloves and mint.

Then we had the Chile Syrah Cabernet Franc... we tasted tea, cherries, blackberries. We thought it was oakier, and it had more tannins. It was thick and velvety, port-like.

And DH and I also had some of the NZ Sauvignon Blanc with a green spring vegetable risotto last night, and thought "pear drops", sweeter than some other NZ Sav Blanc, maybe fruitier.

My favourite was the NZ Syrah. But they were all tasty really!

It was definitely fun to think about and discuss what we were drinking rather than just thinking "yeah nice". If you see what I mean.

Yes, Aotea is by myself and our team here too (as well as Classic South = Naked Wines exclusive wine blends) and our Estate Seifried label. Basically Aotea is our reserve parcels - small quantities and 'the pick of the bunch'! so to speak

Ok quick 20 mins .. AOTEA - On a quick unscrew of the bottle it smells a little musty, it tastes quite strong .. much stronger than the Seifried one we had just tried, think I prefer the last one best.

Heidi well done, you have achieved so much.. All the best for 2011. Thanks so much for letting us share this experience through Mumsnet. I will go now and enjoy the rest of the wine. Best wishes for the future x

Norky, winemakers do add SO2 to preserve the wine, but it usuall fades away after a few weeks. These are VERY fresh so may still have a whiff

Am tasting the Aotea as well, although am v didn't open it last night when we had garlic prawn pasta for dinner, as was v tempted at the time. Thought I should save it for tonight!
Have to say it's right up my street - crisp enough but with some fruity notes!
Cheers everyone!

Sold That sounds like a great deal. I usually pay more than that from the crappy wine from Co-op.

Is this the wine tasting chat or am i missing something

I've been an angel for a few years and not only do you get some great wines, often at special offer prices (cheaper if you buy on the vine too), but I tend to forget I'm putting money into the account. Then I run out of wine, go onto the site and always have enough for a case which comes the next day. I've had some of the best wines from Naked Wines. Oh yes and the cashback!

I like how the wine is pale - I'm funny about yellowy wines. I have nothing to back this up with.

It is very nice and crisp with an ever so slight fizz, I like and after half a glass I already feel a little woozy! I may have to have a tad bit more.

Our Aotea is very vibrant and pungent which is what we come to expect from NZ Sauvs. It opens up to give ripe tropical characters alongside the typical fresh nettle, dried herb notes. On the palate it is more minerally and tropical than those which you may come across from Marlborough. Needless to say this wine is made exclusively from Estate grown fruit.

Opening a bottle of Kimbao syrah - cabernet Franc.

Happens to me too DollyTwat!

I think this tastes quite unusual. Really tropical, though maybe I've identified that after reading the guava. It reminds me of Um Bongo!

Bonzo am liking the cat pee smell of this wine! I think it must be because I have cats

I'm sipping my wines slowly and swallowing them, having a bit of a sniff too.

Would I get a better taste if I sluped it or something?

I'm not going to spit it out whatever you say!