On Friday 27 August the Fairfield Wine Group held its first meeting after a long lockdown gap. As it happened, this coincided with the 9th anniversary of the group, which was formed in August 2012 – very shortly after Fairfield Community Hall opened. It was probably the first community activity in Fairfield, starting with 19 members (half of whom are still on our list now). Nearly 100 people been members at some time over the years, and even after our long hiatus we are still going strong with a healthy mailing list of around 50 names. 

This time, although it was a Bank Holiday weekend, which usually makes for a smaller gathering, 24 members were in attendance and we all had a very enjoyable evening tasting wines on a holiday-orientated theme: eight wines from eight different islands – England, New Zealand, Tasmania, Crete, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia and Madeira. We were fortunate that one of our members, Kate Evans, who works at the Wine Society in Stevenage, was able to select and present a range of interesting white, rose, red and fortified wines that most people attending had not tried before. 

Next month’s tasting will be a selection of wines from South Africa, chosen and presented by two members of the group.

We meet on the last Friday of every month in Fairfield Community Hall, starting at 8.15pm. Places must be booked as we have a limit of 30 people for each tasting and the wines need to be bought in advance. For further information please contact Rita Smith: smithrita@btinternet.com.