By Harry Mottram: It was a birthday treat from my son Ashley who invited me along to SWIG (Shipham Wine Intoxicated Group) – maybe Investigating Group – at Shipham Village Hall on Friday night. The evening’s theme were wines found on travels and holidays and each of the nine were introduced with notes from the person who had discovered the vintage whilst on motoring holidays both here or abroad. Here being a local supermarket. Organised by a group of residents whose motivations are to bring people in the village together for a sociable evening – and to appreciate the fruits of the grape – and dare I say it – share gossip and news.
There were nine vintages to sample with a sparkling wine, white wines, reds and finally dessert wines. Thankfully the glasses were small by pub standards so by the end of the evening I estimated we would have drunk four large glasses of wine over two hours – so I was only mildly tipsy as I tried to find my way back along the footpath to my son’s house where Linda (who doesn’t drink wine) was babysitting our grandchildren.
I was on a table with a convivial crowd of drunks – sorry I meant wine connoisseurs – Ashley of course and his wife Jenny, then there was Lisa, Adam, Vicky, Paul, Dave, Tara and Sam – plus Chris who introduced the evening and some of the wines. To help digest the wine there were plates of cheese and biscuits – which helped to cleanse the palate between tastings – or so I believe – or make for an extra supper on top of the wine.
Chris introduced the first wine – a Chapel Down sparkling wine blend of Bacchus and Chardonnay (£16 a bottle) from Kent – proving as the Romans knew that the garden of England is equal to the wine growing areas of the Champagne region of France – in part due to the hot summer but also the dry chalk soil. It was in my opinion the best wine of the night for its elderflower bouquet and bright tropical fruit notes – I’m already slipping into the jargon. He next introduced a Portuguese wine from Vinho Verde of the Alvarinho grape (£14 a bottle) – much stronger in taste and a single grape wine from the family owned vineyard at Felgueiras.
Next up was Lisa who spoke about an Australian Chardonnay from Western Australia called Vasse Felix Filius (£16 a bottle) which had a touch of acidity and apparently goes well with seared scallops – I just wish I’d brought my prawn cocktail flavoured crisps to see if they also went well with the wine. I’ve always associated Chardonnay with Bridget Jones – as I’m a bit of a failed ‘trying to lose weight and be good’ person – she’s someone who I identify with and thus I like all very cheap Chardonnays.
Ashley said he was no good at public speaking but when he introduced the Savoie Blanc (£5.50 a bottle) from France he was a natural. An amusing story, a joke or two, reference to writing the notes with ChatGPT and he had the audience laughing – although they may have been drunk by then. This was much to my taste as a wine – and the low price certainly helped to make it a favourite.
By now the wines were beginning to become harder to differentiate as instead of a sniff, a swig and a spit we were all swigging them down – thus failing the first rule of wine tasting which is not to get tipsy. Chris introduced the first of the reds – a Tuscan wine from Terre More (£16 a bottle) with a ABV of 12.5% making it one of the strongest of the evening. Australian visitor to Shipham Rob introduced penfolds Koonunga Shiraz Cabernet (£17 a bottle) although his talk was more like an advert for the Australian Tourist Board – but entertaining nevertheless. The final note he said was it goes well with fine beef from the village shop at Hansfords – note for the locals – and anyone in search of a Sunday roast idea.
Ashley introduced another red wine – this time from France – a Gamay grape from the Chautagne area of Savoie – and a budget friendly £6.50 a bottle. We next moved onto the dessert or sweet wines. Chris who was doing a great job as master of ceremonies and also exuding an air of respectability and order to the evening whose volume had risen a decibel or five in volume as each wine was poured. He introduced a Hungarian wine from Tokaji at £16 a bottle. His wife Lisa then introduced the final wine from Australia – a wine from the Semillon grape (£14 a bottle) which completed the evening. By now every wine had become something of a blur. A nice blur, but a blur.
I’m not sure if I learnt too much about wine but it was a very sociable night – and I am now up to speed on all the gossip in Shipham – all the usual stuff about who drives too fast in the village, what planning developments should or should not go ahead and what’s happening to the closed Miners Arms. The wines were all far more superior to the plonk I normally buy – basically whatever is the cheapest on the shelf at the Axbridge Co-op – which made me think I need to be a little more discerning in future and read the labels instead of only the price.
Shipham Village Hall can be booked. See https://www.shiphamhall.co.uk/
For more on the village see https://www.shiphamparishcouncil.gov.uk/our-community/community-groups/
The Alternative Correspondent is written and edited by Harry Mottram of Axbridge in Somerset
For more visit: www.harrymottram.co.uk or follow him on Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and God knows where else!
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