Dear SPWC Members
Well, that’s another year done and dusted. Can you believe it’s a quarter of a century since we welcomed in the new millennium? A friend has just posted a short video of a group of us celebrating the arrival of the year 2000 and it was very nostalgic. I had hair, can you believe? I hope you all watched the fireworks from central London last night/this morning. You have to say they were as spectacular as ever. Spare a thought for all those north of the border whose celebrations were cancelled because of the pesky weather. Whatever you were up to yesterday, I hope you had a great time and behalf of the committee, may I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Last Month’s Meeting
At our Christmas charity event we once again broke our record for the amount of money we raised. In all we collected a whopping £637.80 which has been donated to the Shirley Neighbourhood Care scheme and the money has already been put to good use. There should be an article in the SPAN magazine about this in due course. Suffice to say, everyone should be proud of our achievements on the evening and we thank you all for your generosity in contributing so much. Of course, a significant amount of hard work ensured the success of the evening so particular thanks are due to Tracy, Sue, Kevin, Phil, Julie, Barbara, Martyn and Heather for their tremendous work and to everyone else who helped to make this a great evening.
This Month’s Meeting
We have some good news and some not so good news about January’s presentation. First, the good news is that we have been able to secure the services of one of SPWC’s favourite presenters in Marein Overbeeke of Laithwaites, so we will definitely be in for a highly entertaining evening and the wines are sure to be good. On the down side, this will be Marein’s swansong because he is shortly moving up north. Let’s give him an appropriate send off with a good turnout.
Wine of the Month – Meophams Union Red, England 2022, 11.5%
We all know that England has been producing some award-winning sparkling, white and rose wines for a while now but a decent English red has been much more difficult to find. At the end of November, a group of us visited Rochester Christmas market where we found a stall being run by Meophams vineyard based, oddly enough, in Meopham in Kent. We tried several of their home-produced wines, among them this red blend which isn’t half bad. A mixture of pinot noir (38%), regent (32%), triomphe (15%) and Leon Millot (15%), the wine has been aged in oak barrels for nine months. The result is a vibrant and smooth red wine, deep ruby red in colour which is full of aromas of blackberries and cherries. It has subtle hints of spice and smokiness, a taste of rich bramble fruit with dark roasted coffee which leads to a velvety mouthfeel, silky soft tannins, plummy fruits and a hint of warming oak on the finish. This particular wine matches well with boeuf bourguignon, hearty stews and even pork belly. It’s currently on sale for £14.50, although you can purchase it as part of a package with Meophams Serenity Rose and their Ridge Lane white blend for a total of £40.
Meophams is a relatively new vineyard – established in 1991 - but we were impressed by the quality of their produce and came away with several bottles. They currently have around 25 acres of vines and grow 10 different varieties of grapes, including those above plus chardonnay, pinot gris, bacchus, rondo, reichensteiner and madeleine Angevine. We’re hoping to arrange a day out for SPWC members to visit the vineyard in the summer so watch this space. It’s easy to reach from Bromley South by direct train and Meophams can arrange transport from Meopham station to the vineyard where we can undertake one of their wine tours with tastings to follow.
Wine of the Month, Meophams Union Red
Pub of the Month
I’m not sure whether any of you have tried any of the suggestions for restaurant of the month but I’m running out of fresh ideas for decent places to eat so I thought I would change tack and try looking for a nice boozer instead. I was going to call this section “Wetherspoons of the Month” – who doesn’t love a ‘Spoons? – but thought perhaps we should widen things a bit because other pub chains are available apparently. So, if you have a favourite snug, be it your local or somewhere further afield, that you would be happy to recommend to fellow members, then please let me know.
South Bank Winter Fair
On December 14th, a group of 16 of us enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon strolling along the South Bank even though we didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts due to an incident on the line between Hayes and Charing Cross which necessitated a diversion to Bromley South and travel via Victoria. In all honesty, the South Bank winter fair was a trifle disappointing but we more than made up for that by reverting to Doggetts pub. After a visit to Borough Market, which was heaving but had some great stuff, we moved on to Cote at Hays Galleria for an early dinner. We were looked after really well and the food was very good. All in all, a most enjoyable afternoon.
Christmas Meal
I’m sure that everyone who attended our Christmas dinner at Tugra on December 17th (a grand total of 38 in all) will agree that it was a really lovely evening – great food (even if there was too much of it!), great ambience in our own downstairs room, very good service and top-class music, thanks to our excellent DJ, Kevin. I think at one time everyone was up and dancing which was a fantastic achievement. Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a super time.
Future Events 2025
We are still working to put together a programme for 2025, both for our monthly meetings and also for additional social events and hope to be able to give you all more details in February’s newsletter. February’s meeting will be taken up, as usual, by our AGM, followed by a presentation from the committee. Speakers for subsequent months will be announced soon. On the social side, we will be arranging Sunday lunch in either late February or early March and this will in all likelihood take place at The British Queen in Locks Bottom. I’ve already mentioned the possibility of a trip to Meophams and we hope also to arrange a trip to Rochester Christmas Market for late November/early December. We have other plans in the pipeline too and they will be revealed as we move forward.
Very best wishes and Happy New Year,
Goff
1st January 2025