Tom Creer on Understanding Wine

    At our Meeting today we had the pleasure of having Tom Creer to speak to us on Understanding Wine .   Tom is the leader of a Wine Appreciation Course with the local U3A.

    In his opening remarks he emphasised that wine is there to be enjoyed, and that it is our Tongues which detect the flavours and so enable us to select the one to our liking.   He then went on to detail the wine growing areas in France renowned for their production of good quality wines, namely the regions of the Loire, Provence and the southern Mediterranean, weather being the critical factor in producing a good palatable wine.   It was his experience that in the South of France wines were somewhat cheaper.   As a point of interest he mentioned that in Roman times wine was supplied and marketed through Hull and continued, at least up to the Cromwell period.

    It was interesting to hear his comment that it is necessary to spend in excess of £8 to obtain a reasonably good wine, and that a bottle of wine costing £5,  incurred a cost of £4.50 for bottling, labelling and packaging, leaving 50 pence for the cost of the wine.   Gives room for thought!

    He then referred to other countries throughout  the world involved in wine production, and their growing conditions suitable for its production.

The Club then expressed their appreciation for Tom's thought provoking talk.