Back in Business: Andy Robins Opens the New Season
Twelve weeks after we last met, WAG returned to L’Escut to open the new season. With a number of regulars up at the U3A Late Summer Party at the Jávea Golf Club, we had braced ourselves for a quieter room — but members kept arriving, and we eventually finished with a very respectable 33 people. We were also pleased to welcome three guests: Tanya Evans, as a guest of Pat Pearson, and Norman and Aleksandra Rath, as guests of Mac.
The Wines
Andy had kept his selection to himself until the day, and it was worth the wait. He gave an excellent presentation, while Pam gave him plenty of moral support from close quarters. The lineup was four wines — two whites and two reds — taking us across the Spanish heartland, out to Australia, and home again.
First up was Bomba Sauvignon Blanc from Castilla-La Mancha, the great central plateau that is Spain’s largest wine-growing region and a reliable source of good-value drinking. A crisp, easy opener, and a sensible way to ease back in after the summer.
The second white, Rejadorada Verdejo, came from Rueda in Castilla y León — the home of Verdejo, and the grape many of us will recognise from Spanish wine lists. Tasted alongside the Bomba, it made for a useful side-by-side of two of Spain’s most popular white styles.
Into the reds, and a detour to Australia with Jam Shed Shiraz. The name tells you most of what you need to know: ripe, soft and unashamedly fruit-forward, and a very different proposition from anything else on the table.
The finale brought us back to Spain with a Vino Tinto Gran Reserva. Gran Reserva is the top rung of Spain’s ageing classification — a minimum of five years before release, at least eighteen months of it in oak — and it made a fitting, rather grown-up close to the tasting, and a neat contrast with the Shiraz before it.
Birthdays, Raffle & Food
September gave us four birthdays, each celebrated in turn with a muffin, a candle and a round of Happy Birthday: Hilary Grove, Ally O’Brien, Norman Rath and Roger Large.
Four raffle bottles found new homes, and one old debt was settled: Pam collected a bottle owed from an earlier draw.
Elizabeth’s kitchen is back in business, and the food was outstanding as ever.
Mac closed with two items from the wider wine world. The good news: the 2025 Rioja vintage has been officially declared “Excellent”. The less good: Rioja sales fell by more than six percent in the first quarter, with UK sales down thirteen percent. We may not be able to put that right single-handed, but we are obliged to try.
A warm thank you to Andy for a thoroughly enjoyable selection and a first-rate start to the season, and to Pam for her unwavering support. Thank you, too, to all of you for being such good company after a long break.
Next meeting: Wednesday 21 October 2026. Christmas lunch: Wednesday 2 December 2026, Cala Brisa.
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