Dinner Xara Lodge on the 22nd of November 2022

Dear Qatra members,

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Attached please find the November Qatra wine tasting report.

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Daniel and Garreth gave us a most interesting tasting in November with the opportunity to compare four leading local Bordeaux type wines.

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I found the tasting interesting as it also showed the club’s tendency to prefer younger more robust wines and this trend has also appeared during past tastings where the older reds tended to receive a lower vote that than the younger (although also ready to drink) reds of similar type.

The vote was also more or less reflected in the consumption levels of the wines where the highest voted wine was the most consumed and the second highest voted one was the second most consumed even if this is far from scientific as a conclusion.

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My personal favourite of the evening matched that of the club but I then preferred the older wine as a very close second so my second highest vote went to the Grand Maitre.  The Antonio Manoel was relatively young so it was opened and double decanted two hours before serving, Dark ruby red in colour, on the nose I believe I recognised notes of Mediterranean herbs and of course lots of ripe dark berries, on the palate it was quite fruity with already relatively polished tannins and good length on the finish.  The Grand Maitre was for me typical of a good aged Right Bank Bordeaux with the complexity of age yet still displaying significant red fruit and some spice and also a slightly herbaceous note on the nose at the first whiff. 

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Cheers,

Iro