Highlights of some of the Club's previous events are listed here and you can view forthcoming events by clicking here.  We'd love to publish your photos of these wonderful events - please send any images to robert.boutflower@tanners-wines.co.uk

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Spring Weekend to Carlisle

4th - 6th April 2025

This year's spring weekend was to the borders, staying at The Fleece at Ruleholme. Guests enjoyed visits to Lowther Castle, The Devil's Porridge Museum, Birdoswald Roman Fort and Lanercost Priory. Amongst the cultural trips we enjoyed dinners at the Fleece and Naworth Castle plus a visit to Annandale Distillery. A full report will be posted shortly. ​

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Zoom Christmas Wine Tasting

13th December 2024

It was good to see so many of you at the Zoom tasting in December – 52 of you, which was excellent. For a change, we started with an Australian bubbly, from Adelaide Hills, which was excellent value. We went on to compare two white wines (Tanners White Burgundy and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc) and two French reds (Chateau Argadens and Crozes-Hermitage). We finished by bringing back memories of the short tour to the Setúbal area of Portugal with a wonderful Moscatel. Being just before Christmas, we all thoroughly enjoyed the chat as well as the wine and are looking forward to repeating it in 2025!  All of the wines tasted are on the Featured Wines page.

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Short Tour to Lisbon

17th - 20th October 2024

A group of 30 enjoyed the Portuguese weather and visits to 5 wineries and a palace over three days. The visits were all to the Setúbal area on the south side of the River Tagus, so the journeys allowed the group to see both of the bridges as well as the beautiful Portuguese countryside. First stop was Palhoça, where the young winemaker is developing some excellent table wines to supplement his father’s and grandfather’s bag-in-a-box business. Next was Herade de Espirra, where the oenologist showed the group how she resurrects old vines and where the grapes are still crushed by foot. The tasting there was alongside a wonderful lunch of Portuguese dishes and the first Moscatel with the dessert. The last visit of the day was to Quinta do Piloto, where the group tried some wonderful table wines as well as two more Moscatels. 

 

The following day saw a visit to José Maria da Fonseca, a winery with an amazing history. The 18th century warehouse where their Moscatel is aged was originally a textile factory making uniforms for the British and Portuguese soldiers during the Peninsular War. After lunch the group had time to relax in a palace with large gardens that had belonged to the King and then an art gallery housed in a winery. The last tasting of the tour was at Bacalhȏa, where the group finished with the only Moscatel stocked by Tanners, and were very impressed. A full report can be found here.

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38th Annual Dinner in Belfast

24th June 2024

This was the fifth time we have dined at the Ulster Reform Club and once again we were not only bowled over by the quality of the food but were also blessed with warm, dry weather for our pre-prandial bubbly on the terrace. Each wine was introduced by a representative of Tanners.

The South African Journey’s End Brut Reserve helped everyone relax after a day of debating and got them into the right mood to dine and drink with friends.

The menu had a Northern Irish feel - Ewing’s cured salmon and tiger prawn was matched with a white Menetou-Salon from the Loire Valley; Shorthorn Beef Daube was accompanied by a 2015 Saint-Emilion grand cru. A classic Rioja Alta went superbly well with the cheeseboard, followed by an intensely perfumed Muscat with the lemon posset. To finish off the evening, a bottle of Churchill Graham Crusted Port was passed round the tables.

This year’s dinner was not as well attended as last-year’s record-breaking event in Liverpool, due to the travel involved in getting to Belfast. But it was a superb evening in convivial company nonetheless. Look out for details of next year’s dinner on this website shortly. It is likely to coincide with the BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting.

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Tour to Southern Rhone

12th - 19th May 2024

The tour kicked off in the Avignon city-centre 4* Hotel de l’Horloge, which was accommodation for the week, with introductions followed by a guided walking tour and meal at l’Epicerie.  Day One had half of the group participating in a cookery class, while the other half first visited the Cave de Cairanne for a tasting followed by a visit to the Domaine de l’Amandine winery in Séguret.  The group reunited for a wine tasting and lunch on the Domaine de l’Amandine estate and a further tour and tasting at Domaine la Collière in Rasteau filled the rest of the day.

 

The next day saw tours and tastings at Domaine le Clos des Cazaux in Vacqueras, Domaine du Cayron in Gigondas and Domaine des Bernadines in Beaumes de Venise.  Day Three gave guests the chance to explore Avignon at their own pace and  our own pace. The remaining days were less intensive, first with a tour, tasting and lunch at Domain Richaud in Cairanne, and a tour and tasting at Domaine Roger Perrin in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  

 

On the following day we visited the up-market Vieux Télégraphe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape for a tour and tasting followed by free time to explore the village. We then crossed to the river’s right bank to visit Domaine des Carabiniers in Lirac for a tour and extensive 15-wine tasting. Returning again to Châteauneuf-du-Pape for the whole of our final day we started in the Brotte Wine Museum with its well designed explanation of the Rhône wine region with a 5-wine tasting included.  We enjoyed a light lunch alongside a 10-wine tasting in Famille Gonnet’s shop before our last visit, to the Chocolaterie Castelain for tutored tastings of 2 wines with chocolates.  We rounded off our final evening together with included dinner in the Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Avenio.

 

A full report by Stephen Millar can be found here.

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Spring Weekend in Dartmouth

22nd - 24th March 2024

Our Spring Weekend this year was centred around the attractive maritime town of Dartmouth in Devon.  24 of us stayed in the luxury Dart Marina Hotel which is situated in a fabulous waterside position on the banks of the picturesque River Dart.

                                       

The tour started with a visit to Britannia Royal Naval College, where we had a fascinating tour of the home of Royal Navy officer training since 1863.  Saturday morning took us to the beautiful Calancombe Estate, an award winning Devon Vineyard, Winery and Distillery.  After a guided walk around the vineyards and a visit to the winery we lunched on a delicious platter of English cheeses and charcuterie accompanied by a wine flight … and gin!  As well as wine from their own grapes, the Estate make Dartmouth English Gin, cyder, cassis and apple brandy.  

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On both evenings we enjoyed fabulous 3-course dinners in the River Restaurant of the Dart Marina Hotel, which afforded stunning panoramic views across the River Dart.  Superbly well chosen wine pairings for both dinners were introduced by Robert Boutflower of Tanners of Shrewsbury.

 

Sunday morning saw us up bright and early to catch the ‘higher ferry’ across the River Dart and make our way to Sandridge Barton, the new home of the award winning Sharpham Wines.  The vineyard and winery has four decades of history of winemaking knowledge and experience and has the perfect climate and location for growing ripe grapes and producing a diverse range of English wines.  The sun shone brightly as we sampled their delicious sparkling wine, stood amongst the picturesque vines that sloped gently down to the River Dart.  We then visited Sandridge Barton’s new state-of-the-art winery where, of course, we had to taste more of their great wines before we sat down, finally, to a superb Sunday lunch.  What a way to end a wonderful weekend!

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