GWO was invited by Jelena, sales advisor at Pegasus Wooburn Bales, the new retirement community in Wooburn Green, Bucks, and Phil Laybourne, a resident, to host a wine tasting. The event was held in the cosy, comfortable residents’ lounge on a rainy February afternoon.
The theme was “All things Spanish”, introducing the guests to some wines that they had not come across previously and changing some perceptions of Spanish wine. Several guests commented that their previous experience of wine from that area was rough red, served in chunky glass tumblers. That was true of much wine served to tourists in the 1970s in tourist spots along the coast.
Spain has the most vineyard surface area in the world, and is the 3rd largest producer of wine. As with the Portuguese, they used to keep much of the good stuff for themselves, but now we can all access some of the fabulous top quality wines available.
Our Pegasus Wooburn Bales tasting started with a nice fresh Cava, which many know is my favourite sparkling wine. This one, from Valencia, was nice and citrussy, and an ideal accompaniment to the delicious tapas that we served alongside it – Spanish Tortilla (omelette) and the salty Manchego cheese. We followed that with a surprise: a white rioja. Most of us think of red wine when thinking of Rioja. This white one was well received by our guests, who are in good company as wines from this Winery were served at the coronation of King Juan Carlos.
Our tapas platters had some fishy tapas, perfect with the Albariño from the North West coastal area of Spain, served next. This wine was the star of the show for some of our guests.
The red wines: a light Garnacha from the Aragon principality and a very delicious, classic Rioja Reserva from Logroño, were compared, and a lively discussion about alcohol levels ensued!
“ A fabulous event “, declared Jelena and Phil reported that many of the residents had commented that they had thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Several have also declared their interest in joining our wine tours in the future to visit the wineries whose wine we enjoyed.
Pegasus Homes have asked us to do more in the future at their various villages around the country. Chobham Surrey is next
