One of the founding members of the Tuesday Tipplers group, Terry Dunsworth, prepared a talk about German wines. This was the subject he presented on the very first meeting of the group in January 2004. On that occasion five wines were tasted, all white, ranging from £2.99 to £7.99 in price.

Unfortunately, just before the meeting was due to start, Shirley, Terry’s wife, had a nasty fall in the car park, and after extensive treatment outside was taken to hospital accompanied by Terry. Fortunately, Shirley is now making a good recovery.

The group leader then led the meeting, reading from Terry’s notes. The first wine was Vereingte Hospitien Weißburgunder Trocken Pinot Blanc. This white wine offered a smooth balanced finish that was both refreshing and satisfying, and praised by members of the group.

The second was Dr Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling. Although a well-established grape variety this wine was produced when the fermentation was stopped prematurely to retain residual sugar. This produced a rather sugary low strength wine, which wasn’t widely appreciated.

The third wine was Ernst Loosen Pinot Gris.  This wine was much better, with full fruity flavour balanced by a lively acidity.

Finally, a red wine, Louis Guntrum Pinot Noir, was a deep ruby colour, and which had a rich and vibrant taste, with flavours of black cherries and blackberries. This was given a good rating.

Because of the unfortunate events prior to the meeting the atmosphere at the beginning was subdued. But as the meeting progressed, and the wine flowed, conversations were struck up and a good evening was had by all.