THE GRAPEVINE APRIL 2026
Dear SPWC Members
On behalf of the Committee, I should like to wish all members, their family and friends a very Happy and peaceful Easter. 
Whatever you’re doing, I hope it eggceeds your eggspectations. Let’s hope we get some decent warm sunshine over the holiday period, although I seem to recall that most Easters produce less than eggshilarating weather. May be this year will be an eggception.
Last Month’s Meeting
March’s presentation was a bitter sweet eggsperience, bearing in mind it was Carrie’s farewell appearance at SPWC. Nevertheless, she went out on a high and brought along her customary selection of eggsellent wines, all of which were well received by those who attended. Tracy has placed a full report of the evening elsewhere on the website, including details of all those wines. Suffice to say, we shall miss Carrie and Al but wish them every success in their new ventures.
This Month’s Meeting
On Thursday April 9th, we welcome a newcomer to the Wine Circle. Preet Sahota, founder and managing director of Edgmond Wines. The company works with a small number of eggciting winemakers and boutique family wineries from across South Africa and Preet’s theme for the evening is just that – “Boutique wines from South Africa”. I’m eggspecting another great evening.
Wine of the month – Passerine, Terre d’Abruzzo, Italy, 12% ABV
Kevin has hit on an Italian theme for the cellar wines this month so I thought it would be appropriate to choose an Italian wine as April’s wine of the month. We’ve all come to know what to eggspect from a pinot grigio but I suspect that most of us are less familiar with the passerina grape which is native to southern Italy. The passerina grape is named after the sparrow which, apparently, has a fondness for the grape – the sparrow also appears on the bottle’s label. The wine is produced by CITRA, one of Italy's leading wineries and among the most important in the region of Abruzzo. Founded in 1973, it combines the technology, control and skills of a large company with the traditional work of about 3,000 families of winegrowers. CITRA produced eggsclusive wines that are eggspertly created. With flavours of bright citrus fruit and white peach, it can be sipped on its own or served with grilled chicken or seafood. This wine is part of the Tesco finest range and is available for just £8.25 per bottle. Worth a try.
2026 Programme
Details of our 2026 programme have now been uploaded to the website. There are now just a couple of slots left to fill. You will recall that Carrie has long been eggstolling the virtues of the wines of the Mas family in France – particularly Paul and Jean Claude. Well, there is a good chance that at the end of the year we will have a visit from the latest of the Mas family, Chris, so watch this space. Eggciting news.
Coming Up
Tracy has uploaded to the website a number of events that have been arranged so please have a good look at those. You’ll also see that we have a date for our Christmas bash – a return visit to The Agra at Eden Park, back by popular demand after the great eggstravaganza we had there last year.
Did You Know?
Last year’s warm, dry summer, combined with an increasing number of vineyards, has led to English wine production having its second highest harvest on record after 2023. Some 16.5 million bottles were produced last year from, would you believe, a total of 1,158 vineyards across the country. Overall, the UK wine industry is valued at something around £14 billion, yet, despite that, production only accounts for around 0.05% of the total world output. Small steps but eggseptional progress.
Egg Hunt
The most observant amongst you will have noticed that this bumper Easter edition features an egg hunt. For a bit of fun, try to work out the eggsact number of eggs contained within this newsletter. Some are pictorial, others appear in writing.
That’s all for now, folks. We hope to see you all on the 9th.
Very best wishes,
Goff
1st April (!) 2026