Lloyd's Insurance Under 35s Wine Tasting

It was fantastic to re-engage with our friends at the Lloyd's Marine and Energy Under 35s group last night for our latest wine tasting with them. Following the previous French and Spanish tastings, it was the turn of South African wines at the brilliant Balls Brothers venue in Minster Court. 

110 tasters were on show to work their way through our flight of wines, paired with fabulous canapés. 

This event had a few boxes to tick...

• Firstly, to introduce these up and coming Lloyd's insurance brokers to a variety of wines so they feel more comfortable with the wine list in hand when taking clients out for lunch. 
• To create a relaxed and informal environment so they can network amongst their peers.
• For everyone to have a very fun evening - because if you are learning whilst having fun - it is a win win! 

For the fizz reception, we tasted the Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rose NV. This went down a treat as everyone was enjoying this blend of Pinot Noir and Pinotage. Simonsig, a pioneering legacy - founded in Stellenbosch by Frans Malan, who produced South Africa’s first traditional bottle-fermented sparkling wine (Kaapse Vonkel, meaning "sparkle of the Cape") in 1971. A lovely start!

Next up from Cape Point, we served the crowd pleasing Cape Point Sauvignon Blanc 2024. Aged in steel tanks, this was clean and fresh with citrus notes, that everyone got on board with. For the tasters that typically do not order Sauv Blanc, they were pleasantly surprised with this wine. 

Our final white of the evening was a real treat. Scions of Sinai, Soutbosch Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch 2024. This was a wine that we expected to split the crowd - but interestingly it was some peoples wine of the night. Tropical zest and apricot on the nose - creamy on the palate. A really special Chenin Blanc - and a grape variety people will look out for next time they are out and about! 

Reds wines up next - and we started with Restless River, Pinot Noir 2024 from the Southern Cape. A cool-climate South African red wine with the class and elegance of Burgundy. At 13.5%, this wine was very popular indeed! 

Our final red in the open tasting was a return to the Scions of Sinai, this time with their Scions of Sinai Atlantikas Pinotage 2024. Pinotage being the signature grape variety of South Africa, this wine very elegant in style compared to most Pinotage. The is a concentration on freshness here, rather than heavy ripeness. The family's Pinotage vineyard is in fact planted just two miles from False Bay and stands as the closest Pinotage vineyard to the ocean in South Africa, which may contribute to this style. Very enjoyable indeed. 

We closed the tasting with our traditional Mystery Wine Competition. A wine served blind to the group out of decanter, with a multiple choice sheet where attendees had to choose the correct Region, Grape Variety, Vintage, Price and also which Wine Farm the wine came from. In a very competitive room, where 8 people managed to get 4 correct out of 5, we did in fact have someone that got the full house - congratulations to Lana who correctly worked out it was from Stellenbosch, it was Cabernet Sauvignon, it was a 2017 vintage, it was £38 and it was from the iconic Kanonkop estate! Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is certainly a little underrated, but for many, this was the wine of the evening! 

It was great to see everyone, and we look forward to opening some more bottles with this brilliant crowd. Possibly an Italian tasting up next!

Please do get in touch with charles.waud@waudwines.com if you are interested in hosting an event for your company. 

See you next time. 

Hosted by: Charles Waud, Edward Stevens and Rosie Wilson