It was most enjoyable! Tim proved to be everything I expected and more - he was thoroughly knowledgeable of the wines and their grape regions, food pairings and is a fantastic speaker - kept us in stitches with his anecdotal stories. I spoke to him briefly and he is a warm, engaging person who puts you at ease. Enough idol adulation!
The wines themselves were a mix for me - keep in mind these are commercial equivalents, as best they can find.
The Pacifica was very good - I expected it to be like the Pacific Quartet but it was more crisp for an off dry wine - probably the Sauv Blanc coming through early. A very nice wine.
The Gruner Vetliner was praised by Tim as the best seafood wine on the planet; I found it okay, softer and more complex than the Pacifica, but not overly spectacular to me.
The Primitivo was a bit disappointing to me - I have not made one before and expected something a little more bold, I guess.
The Shiraz Viognier was surprising - the nose was very floral ( clearly violets, as claimed) and kind of off putting for a red - the Shiraz part was very fruity but I couldn't get past the violets!!
Now the Douro Tinto was the one I was looking for and was not disappointed - it was a powerful, deep red and had a good long finish - loved it!
Please note that I do not know to properly taste, evaluate or describe wines so this just represents my take on them.
The only downside to the whole evening was that my wife didn't come with me so I had to limit myself to only a couple of samplings - of the wine - the food samples were fair game!
If you get the opportunity to go to one of these with Tim, don't miss it.
