The Taste Match
On Sunday 30th October, crowds packed into the Denbies Suite at the winery to blind taste wines, beers and gins from Surrey & Warwickshire. In all there were three rounds, each one moderated by Ian from Food Ideas.
Proceedings were kicked off by His Honour Christopher Crtichlow DL, High Sheriff of Surrey, who earlier in the weekend had described the taste match with his Warwickshire counterpart as far better than an old fashioned duel!
Guests tasted all the drinks blind, and after each tutored session were asked to hold a card aloft, red for drink A and green for drink B.
The first round was a solid win for Surrey, with four of the five winning drinks coming from the county. With expert description and discussion on the Warwickshire beverages High Sheriff of Warwickshire David Kelham took his team to victory in the second round with three of the five winning drinks coming from the county.
It all came down to the final round, Surrey took the first wine, with Denbies Flint Valley snatching victory from the Blabers Hill Wine Estate’s Solaris Dry White, surprisingly the award winning High Clandon Elizabethan Cuvee from Surrey lost out in the second round to the Warwickshire’s Blabers Hill, Hemlingford Sparkling. Surrey’s Crumbs Brewery Coffee Rye Porter had faired well all day and once again took victory over it’s Warwickshire counterpart. However Dorking Breweries Pilcrow Pale did not fair as well, loosing out by a couple of votes to Warwickshire’s Long Horn Ale from The Purity Brewing Company.
It was all down to the gins, having recently been awarded best Gin in the UK at the WSET Awards, Surrey’s Wessex Distillery did not disappoint, with a thrilling finish – winning the final round & sealing victory for Surrey.
In addition to the tasting sessions there was a producers market organised by Surrey Hills Enterprises featuring over 25 producers from the county as well as representation from Warwickshire.
The event raised £1,000’s for The High Sheriff Youth Awards, which supports organisations supporting young people across the county.
If you’d like to organise a Taste Match, get in touch with Ian, the format could work for a range of food and drink, perhaps pitching nations or regions against one another in a fun but competitive style.