A late summer wine-tasting social at The Palace, St. Annes-On-Sea, was the perfect way to bring in a new Masonic season for the brethren, families and friends of Lodge of Triumph No1061 in the South Fylde Group. The wine tasting was to be accompanied by a one course meal featuring the latest addition to the splendid Palace catering, Portuguese espetada, which are long stainless-steel skewers holding tender char-grilled chunks of steak, pork and chicken, alongside coleslaw, fries and mini corn cobs.
Harry Holt, the branch manager of Majestic Wines, Lytham, had kindly offered to attend the event to speak about four quite different wines prior to the guests sampling and enjoying numerous glasses of each wine. The wine pouring was undertaken by Harry, supported by Lodge of Triumph member Darren (Daz) Collins. During Harry’s presentations, guests were invited to ask questions pertinent to the topic, which certainly generated topical debate for example around the pros and cons of corks or screw tops.
The first bottle was called Graham Beck and it was very similar to a champagne, being a sparkling white wine from South Africa. Harry explained that this actual label is served as a Presidential wine within the White House and other U.S. establishments. The second label was an American Napa Valley Chardonnay called Hands of Time. Harry went into great detail about the Chardonnay grape and how it is a ‘blank canvas’ grape that wine experts can build upon and transform into a range of other wines.
At the mid-way stage of the evening, the well-prepared and presented food was served efficiently by Masonic Catering under the watchful eye of proprietors Lee and Janine Munro. At the appropriate moment, a lucky bottle draw was made and the winner was Gail Dawson, who was thrilled to secure the very nice bottle prize that had been kindly donated by Majestic Wines.
Following the espetada dining experience, a third wine was explained by Harry. This being a rose wine from the Provence area of France which had its roots in the mystical world of the Knights Templar. This particular Chateau Peyrassol vineyard started cultivating grapes at around 1204, over 800 years ago. Harry described how the grape skins are used to colour the wine and the length of time that elapses between the grape crushing/trodding and the skins being removed can determine whether the wine is a rose or develops towards being classed as a red. The maximum time for a rose wine to be in contact with the skins is approximately eight hours.
The last bottle of wine to be discussed and tasted was a deep red Valpolicella Ripasso from Italy. The Ripasso wine has clearly had the grape skins left in contact with the wine for some considerable time that enables the red/black fruits flavours to be experienced. Ripasso means ‘repeat’, so the skins are very valuable and can be used a number of times with different batches of wine. Towards the end of the event, a splendid raffle draw was made with the prizes being well spread across the five tables.
In his concluding remarks, Will Buchanan, WM of Lodge of Triumph, thanked the lodge social secretary Graham Smith and his wife Denise for organising the event so well, with almost £300 being raised for future distribution to Masonic and non-Masonic charities through the generosity of everyone who purchased raffle tickets and brought prizes. He congratulated Harry for his excellent presentation regarding the four wines and his general wine related knowledge which everyone found fascinating.
Will praised John and Pamela Nicholls for their continued work in making the social events at The Palace such a joy to attend. Will also thanked the caterers for providing such a different and enjoyable meal. His final remarks included thanking all in attendance for their support of the evening. He gave details of Lodge of Triumph’s Christmas meeting which will take place on Thursday 12 December at the Palace, which will feature the music of Chorley Silver Band.
Report and pictures by John Topping.