Chatterbox 0612 - Rotary Club of Belper

Not a Charter Night –
a Wine Tasting Evening!
Friday 25th May 2012
President Martin had decided to have a Charter
Night with a difference for his year in office and
after considering several options, including a Garden
Party and a Barn Dance, finally settled on a Wine
Tasting Evening. Provision had been made to cater
for about 70 in the Arkwright Suite but for
various reasons we finished up with some fifty
people, including a contingent from the local
U3A.
The evening was presented by Peter Clay, a
local publican with a remarkably deep knowledge
of wines and he passed on some of this knowledge
in a most interesting and informative manner.
He started with a lesson on actually tasting the wine,
how to hold the glass, looking at it, smelling it and finally
tasting it; the aim of the process appeared to be able to
intimidate the wine waiter and impress the rest of the
company. He pointed out there was a large glass on each
table for us to discard any remains before proceeding to the next wine; I did not
notice much use being made of them, most participants were quite prepared to
quaff the lot!
We progressed (staggered later in the evening) through a dozen different wines
- white, red, rosé, blush, sparkling - based on a number of grape varieties and from
various locations round the world. At various points in the proceedings, small
snacks were served in an attempt to counter the effects of the alcohol but the ratio
of food to liquor was not really sufficient and it was noticeable that inhibitions were
reduced as the evening progressed
A vote of thanks was made to Peter and special thanks to Hilary Surga and Alan
Widdowson for organising the evening. With the realisation that we had each
imbibed the equivalent of a bottle of strong wine, most guests had made the wise
decision to get home by taxi or train.
Photographs of the evening on page 10.
6
John Scotney