The Les Caves autumn trade tasting will take place in the Hellenic Centre on Paddington Street in Marylebone on Monday 23rd September 2019.
Entitled, ‘Drinking Outside The Box’, it will once again be one of our tastings with a difference, an attempt to refresh wine categorisation and allow the opportunity to make people think a tad more laterally when they are tasting wines rather than asking themselves “is this wine typical of the grape variety” or “is it a good example of a wine that such-and-such particular region”. Categories may revolve around sensation/impression, others focus on terroir or soil type; there will be other sections that categorise wines in alternative ways. The main idea is to allow tasters to compare and contrast, to understand wine not in the vague global sense of perceived typicity, but to examine the juxtapositions within the local category. Or, to put it another way, rather than making wine fit our simplistic categorisation, we are trying to be more provocative and, promote, dare one say, an intuitive tasting approach, which will make tasters interrogate the way they think and feel about wine.
Categories may revolve around sensation/impression, others focus on terroir or soil type; there will be other sections that categorise wines in alternative ways.
It is a tasting to promote diversity. To instigate an understanding that wines speak differently on different soils, that grape variety is only part of the story. That a winemaking method such as skin maceration for white grape varieties, may yield a very wide spectrum of aromas, flavours and wine styles. For all the sheer variety on how, the message is a simple one. We will be opening wines that we ourselves would love to bring to a party, or to drink for ourselves.
For a further analysis of the rationale behind the tasting, check out this piece written last year.
This year a line-up of around 180 wines will feature key kegs with John, our keg man on hand to offer advice on tap; a good selection of buck-banging organic wines; classic wines with a twist; a section of new arrivals – being new agencies and fresh vintages; a small selection of older vintage wines; a focus on Pinot Noir from around the world; various categories showcasing different soils and climates and then a further division of wines by style, including amber wines, oxidative and flor wines, a selection of bubbles, and wines mellowing in carafes.
Further details of the tasting will be found in forthcoming newsletters and posted on social media. Stay tuned!