Annual Davy's Summer Wine Tasting

This year was my third attendance at the Davy's Summer Wine Tasting in Greenwich. Each year I have been here in the UK, I have attended this tasting with friends, and it is always a fantastic event. Held at the Davy's Cellars in Greenwich, the tasting venue has switched between the Davy's warehouse and the cellars themselves. This year, I enjoyed the cellar setting, with more ambiance and fun corridors to walk down to discover new wines.


As I normally do, I started out with sparkling wines and whites at about 10:45am, making my way onto the reds around 12 in time for our 1pm lunch reservations. The sparklings that stood out to me where the all of Lallier Champanges, the Prosecco, and the Laurent-Perrier Brut and Ultra Brut. The Lallier Brut Millesime Grand Cru 200 (£35.95) was outstanding, managing to exude toast without being very full bodied. The Lallier 1er Cru Rose Champagne Brut was also absolutely delicious, and at £29 a more reasonablel value.

Of the whites, my favourite stand bys of Sancerre (Blanc Cuvee Les Moulins Bales Leon Vatan 2007 and Rose Les Villots Leon Vatan 2006, both at £12.50) and Pouilly Fume (Domaine du Bouchot 2007, £12.50) stood out. The best value white was by far the Davy's White No 1. At £5.50 a bottle, it is a nice, dry, quaffable wine.

By the time I reached the reds, I was only interested in something that would really take my breath away, and I found it in the Chateau Gigognan Vigne du Prieure Cotes du Rhone 2005. Let's just say it takes like a Chateauneuf du Pape, but at £13, it is well below the typical CdP price point. This one is well worth buying by the case for Rhone style red wine lovers. There were also some good value Chilean reds, but to be honest, there are always good value Chilean reds around.

As always, an enjoyable, intimate and successful event. Well done Davy's!