by Greville Havenhand
The Crown and Greyhound, Dulwich Village
Dulwich is an area almost swamped with clubs, societies and interest groups. We not only have the Friends of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Dulwich Society with its many subsections, the Dulwich Players, sports clubs , painting groups, and social clubs but also what is probably the most active and well regarded wine tasting societies in the country – the Dulwich Wine Society (it even gets written up in French wine magazines.)
Founded in 1991, when a wine tasting evening class was closed down and its members decided to go it alone, it meets every Wednesday in term time. Now you may think that a wine society is full of wine snobs sniffing rare vintages and making pretentious comments, or guzzling the latest offering from the New World and aping Jilly Goolden with descriptions of sweaty saddles and Ugli fruit. Wrong!
Yes, there are some rare vintages tasted. Yes there are big, fruity New World blockbusters on show from time to time, but the members are a mixed bunch who, on the whole, favour a much more down to earth approach. There are some experts, with Wine and Spirit Education Trust qualifications, but there are also people who just like tasting and enjoying wine, and some complete novices who are keen to learn.
Based at “The Crown and Greyhound” the society meets on Wednesday evenings, with an average attendance of more than thirty. Its tutored tastings are given by a variety of speakers, ranging from Masters of Wine such as Jasper Morris, Jane Hunt and Derek Smedley to writers like John Radford and Tim Atkin.
Sommeliers give insights into restaurant wine lists. The wine trade is also well represented with the major chains and leading independents presenting themed tastings from their lists. Winemakers such as Javier Hidalgo of Sherry fame, Mac Forbes from Australia and Stephen Maurice of Domaine du Prieuré (one of the foremost young winemakers in Burgundy.) Members too give tastings. Around the New Year there is a dinner and just after Easter for the last ten years there has been a vineyard tour in Europe.
Led by the founding chairman, Ian Reynolds, the society has built up a considerable reputation in wine tasting circles – with some members regularly giving tastings to other societies, judging in the International Wine Challenge and acting as wine consultants – but that should not put off the novice.
This autumn they will be tasting wines from, among other areas, Italy, Spain, the great Ridge wines from California and an unknown crop of wines that members have brought back from holiday.
I don’t know whether this can be counted as part of the Dulwich “cultural mix” but it certainly brings enjoyment to a lot of locals.
Photo: Thanks to Beatnic on Flickr (CCL)
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