Deal Wine Society
Our Regular Speakers
We are fortunate to be able to draw upon the expert knowledge and various presenting styles of our regular speakers who are:
David Simms of Walking, Food & Wine , wines from the Terra Alta area of Spain
David runs part self-guided hiking holidays in stunningly beautiful countryside, in the Priorat, La Emporda and Galicia regions of Spain. Participants stay in boutique hotels/guest houses along the way, eating at good local restaurants and visiting quality wine cellars. A wine lovers ideal holiday!!
PIERRE MANSOUR is a buyer with the WINE SOCIETY, says:
"The Society was the first company in the UK to import
Chateau Musar; we'd been working with them since the late 1960s. Musar is rich in character and personality, and one of the most natural-tasting wines the world has to offer. But I've still got friends and family in Lebanon, and because of that, I do get to hear about new wines and wineries in the country."
NOBLE ROT WINES
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Charlie Blightman was head sommelier at Noble Rot wine bar and restaurant in Bloomsbury, he has worked in hospitality for two decades. Formerly buying the wine for Hawksmoor Spitalfields, Blightman was introduced to Mark Andrew MW and was part of the original Noble Rot team when it launched in 2015. He currently divides his time between his roles as head sommelier for the restaurant and as sales manager for Noble Rot’s sister wine import company called Keeling Andrew. He will be showing us a selection of wines he curates.
Barnsole is a boutique Kent vineyard and winery, and a handful of passionate wine makers who strive to produce premium quality Kentish sparkling wines.
Our vineyard is one of the oldest vineyards in Kent, situated between the historic city of Canterbury and the delightful Cinque Port town of Sandwich. This is fertile land that has been farmed since ancient times. The loam soil over Thanet Sand regularly offers-up relics, such as Napoleonic buttons, musket balls and the odd clay pipe that was discarded by a farm hand long ago.
Barnsole’s situation delivers the perfect geology and climate to produce the high quality grapes that make our award winning English wines. We diligently nurture our vines throughout the growing season, listening carefully to what the vineyard tells us. Only when we have heard its whisper can we harness the goodness of each wondrous season.
We sell English sparkling and English still wines directly to the public from the winery door.
The Boursot family has been involved continuously with wine on both sides of the English Channel since the mid-17th century. Continuing in his family's tradition of wine, Guy Boursot worked for 17 years for Berry Bros & Rudd Ltd in London, both buying and selling wines but left them in order to rekindle his family's old wine business of A. Boursot & Co. which he then ran for 11 years.
Guy is a wine writer, lecturer, consultant, wine merchant and vineyard tour operator - and building on his solid and trustworthy reputation, he opened his own wine shop in northern France in 2006.
"Boursot's Wine Collection" is in an attractive 250 year old listed building in the pretty and historic town of Ardres, just 15 minutes south of Calais. Here you can be assured of receiving good, sensible advice and you can taste the wines before you decide.
All wines are personally selected by Guy Boursot to offer great quality for the price. Prices start from 4,40€ / £3.70 and of course offer you the huge savings obtained by buying and collecting in France. Assuming your purchases are for personal consumption you can take or receive these without paying any additional taxes across the EU.
Paola Tich of Vindinista has just moved to Deal having sold her award-winning, independent neighbourhood wine shop and bar in west London. After a career first as a news journalist (including Sky, GMTV, BBC local and independent radio), and then in corporate communications for global companies, she took some WSET exams, started a blog and - finally - her own wine business, called Vindinista. It won Decanter's Best London Neighbourhood Wine Shop in 2021, and was recently awarded number 38 in trade magazine Harpers top 50 UK independents (there are almost 1,000). She sold Vindinista in January so she could move to the sea. One of the aspects Paola loves most is introducing people to new grapes and regions, and finding alternatives to the classics.
JAMES BERCOVICI : I discovered wine whilst I was making what was supposed to be a last grand tour of Europe before settling down to a career in law. The old VW camper van inevitably kept breaking down and I found myself with time on my hands in the Loire, Bordeaux and, especially, the Rhône. There were only so many rivers to jump into to cool down in that hot summer so I started tasting wine - real wine, not the stuff I had been buying in the supermarkets. I returned to England knowing I would never practise law.
The Big Red Wine Company followed very soon after.
WICKHAM WINES English wine retailers
England has been recognised as one of the best sparkling wine producers in the world for several years now. The changing climate means grapes which would have struggled previously now ripen to perfection in Southern England. With a geology like that of Champagne it's no surprise English winemakers have been making a splash on the international stage.
Alongside this explosion in English Sparkling wine has been a quieter improvement in the quality of English still wines made from Bacchus, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.