Welcome to

Hope Valley Wine Appreciation Circle

History

Hope Valley Wine circle was formed in 1973 by a group of Hope Valley wine enthusiasts and so we will celebrate its 40th birthday in 2013.  Membership numbers of between 20 and 30 have been maintained over the years. New members are always welcome, just come along to a meeting or contact carol.cotton@sheffcol.ac.uk.    Meetings are held on the third Monday of the month at the Moore Memorial Hall in Bamford and usually start at 8:00pm.

Aims and objectives

• To foster good fellowship amongst wine lovers and wine makers.

• To keep alive the traditions of wine making and brewing.

• To exchange ideas for the mutual improvement of home made wines and beers.

• To study the showing and judging of wines and beers and to introduce members to these skills.

Bottles of homemade wine and beer are usually handed in at the Moore Memorial Hall on the morning or early afternoon of the Wine Festival.  Members can hand in their own entries or ask a fellow member to do so.  Members are asked to return any throphies on the morning of the Festival.  The judges and stewards are usually announced prior to the Wine Festival, and the judging takes place in the afternoon.
Evening meetings

Meetings usually include some entertainment from for example a guest speaker.  The evening is rounded off with a supper provided by the members.

Annual Competition

The Wine Festival is held on a Saturday usually in November each year.   The ten classes are:

• Social for the Ken Shuttleworth Trophy
• Dry White for the Rev and Mrs C M Roberts Trophy
• Dry Red for the Brian Fearn Trophy
• Dessert for the Jack Wilson Trophy
• Country Wine for the Marina and Eric Lee Trophy
• Sweet White for the Robert Peel Trophy
• Sweet Red for the Andrew Loughlin Trophy
• Rosé for the Emma Cup
• Beer for the Eric Bloxham Trophy
• Fortified Wine for the Sheffield Cup

Members may enter up to TWO bottles in each class.  The fee is currently 25p per bottle.

Rules for Competitions

          2.3 The label and its position shall be as for wine.

These are made by the normal process of fermentation whose alcoholic strength is further increased by the addition of ethyl alcohol.  The latter should be in the form of an unflavoured spirit such as Polish Spirit or Vodka, so that the original flavour of the wine is not masked by the flavour of the sprit. In winemaking, fortification is most often used in the simulation of vermouths and other herb aperitifs, sherries and ports.  The principles and procedures involved in judging fortified wines are the same as those for unfortified wines.  Particular care must be taken while assessing the flavour of a fortified wine to note whether the alcoholic strength is in balance.  Two common faults with homemade fortified wines are (a) an unpleasant burning harshness in the mouth and (b) the predominance of the flavour of the fortifying spirit.

It is expected that the prize winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) will be sampled by members during the Wine Festival.

The wine which will score the most points is one which is stable, well-balanced in all aspects, brilliantly clear, with a good colour (in the case of a red wine) and with a suitable bouquet and flavour.  On a standard marking sheet, the maximum of 50 marks is divided up as follows.

Presentation = 2 Deduct 1 mark for a dirty cork or a dirty bottle.

Clarity = 4 Deduct 1 or 2 marks for ‘floaters’ or a precipitate or sediment. Award up to 3 points for a well cleared wine.  Award 4 points for a really brilliant wine.

Colour = 4

Bouquet = 10 This should be vinous or fruity, or a mixture of both. It should not be too powerful.

Taste = 30 Marks should be deducted for acetification, metallic flavour, excessive sulphite, infection, mustiness of lack of vinousity.

         Unless otherwise stated, meetings are held in the Moore Memorial Hall starting at 8:00pm.