Sunday, May 14, 2006

Witney Wine Fair Pt.6

And so it ends with some lovely sweet wines - which with exception of the white port (which I'm not a big fan of anyway) I'd seriously consider having in the house for the next opportunity to drink! Starting with Margan Botrytis Semillon 2005 from Australia, this ticks every necessary box, brilliantly sweet, superb fruit flavours, and enough acidity to balance them out as well as the typical botrytis flavours - well made and quite lovely and all for £10.99 a half bottle. Brown Brothers Moscato 2005 was a surprise for me, basically this is like slightly alcoholic Shloer at just 5% alcohol I'd call this a breakfast wine if ever there was one - and with the Summer apon us and "hopefully" some sunny afternoons ahead then this is ideal to drink, sweet, fruity, refreshing and not so alcoholic that the sun/wine combination will leave you indoors by 5 o'clock with a steaming headache! Woodstock Botrytis Sweet White 2003 was perhaps not as good at the Margan, but it is just £7.99 a price at which one could drink 4 bottles for every 3 of the Margan I'd be hard pressed to make a choice - given I don't drink a great deal of stickies I'd probably stick with the Margan but only just, both are very worthy wines and it might be a fool who tried to tell other people to buy one not the other without finding out what people like in the first place.
Worthy of mention are the few spirits I tried, Snow Queen Vodka from Kazakstan (£27.99 - expensive but very very goood, Connemara Peated Single Malt (£23.95) from Ireland I thought (at the end of the evening!) was really very nice indeed but top honours go to the first gin I've actually liked - Martin Miller's Gin is aparently made with water from glaciers - though I don't think that was what made is so nice - rather it was probably down to using less Juniper than many brand for a more delicate flavour - but at £22.95 it isn't the cheapesst gin out there!

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