Cornford Lane Wine Society
....a membership with a difference!
Cornford Lane Wine Society is made up of professionals from all walks of life, who share wine as a congregation point for discussion, education, food choices and gatherings.
Meet the Team
The society is run by its founding committee — four friends who met over a glass and never quite stopped.
Founding Member
Daniel Meijles
DipWSET, FWS, SWS
An academic by trade who specialises in the heart and vascular system, but with a passion for wine and all things wine related. Whether it be from understanding the components that make up the wines we drink to appreciating the finer details of variety differences and why wines pair so amazingly with food, he has an approach for all occasions and people. At CLWS we pride ourselves on providing an environment for all to enjoy, being a focal point for meeting individuals with shared wine interests and occasions to crack open a bottle, or two.
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Founding Member
Nick Ryan
WSET (Lvl 3)
Former High Street Banker who is fascinated with all things related to wine - loves the search for those unusual / hard to find wines or grape varieties - especially enjoys meeting like minded people for discussion and social gatherings.
Founding Member
Lydie Dirrenberger
WSET (Lvl 3), FWS, SWS
Lydie is originally from Nîmes (France), she has always been surrounded by vines and wine in her life. She shares her passion by hosting wine tastings for team buildings, corporate or private events . Lydie has been continually seeking to extend her wine knowledge by studying wine and visiting vineyards around the world to find “pépites” bottles. Being sensitive to the environment, she naturally tends to prefer organic and biodynamic wines.
Founding Member
Anna Midcalf
DipWSET, FWS, SWS
Anna is an enthusiastic Wine Educator and passionate about all things wine, she finds great joy in enlightening and helping others to discover their own wine preferences enabling them to increase their enjoyment of both wine and food.
Anna is an Ambassador for Gusbourne, tutors for Kent Wine School and hosts private and corporate events.
The Process
Wondering how Cornford Lane Wine Society works? Once your application has been submitted and approved by the Society's Management Committee, you will receive your Membership pack. The pack will include your Member's Number and will enable event booking and full access to the Societies site.
Gallery of Society Activity
Books & Other Interesting Links
(for hyperlinks click picture or 'sometime' the title if underlined)
Books
Savoie, Bugey and beyond with local food and travel tips
Wine Tales from The Golden State....
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Chateau Musar is a cult wine and has many fans around the world
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A truly great wine adventure story
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Explores how this wine has been made by the same family since 1930
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Beautifully photographed by Lucy Pope, capturing the splendour of the Beka'a Valley
Takes you on a historic journey to discover Barolo and Barbaresco, two of Italy's most fascinating and storied wines. In this title, profiles of key Barolo and Barbaresco villages include stories of the families, wine producers, and the personalities that have shaped the area and its wines.
Jura Wine: With Local Food and Travel Tips
- Wink Lorch
The award-winning book that uncovers the secrets of the fascinating wines of the gorgeous Jura region in eastern France
Brunello di Montalcino: Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy's Greatest Wines
- Kerin O'Keefe
For fans of Italian wine, few names command the level of respect accorded to Brunello di Montalcino. This title provides Brunello's complicated history, from its rapid rise to the negative and positive effects of the 2008 grape-blending scandal dubbed Brunellogate.
Jane has used her extensive knowledge of Bordeaux, alongside newly commissioned research, to delve into the region’s wines and winemakers. You’ll discover underrated properties, learn why particular wines taste as they do and much more. It’s an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the world’s most famous wine region.
Inside Burgundy
(2nd Edition)
- by Jasper Morris MW
This second edition spans 800 pages, with expanded coverage of over 1,200 vineyards, 300 wine villages and 700 domaines. It offers detailed insider knowledge on the places and people that make Burgundy such a special winemaking region.
Jasper gives particular attention to Burgundy’s more affordable regions: Chablis, the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and Nuits, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais.
This clear and concise primer provides detailed coverage of all the major wine styles and regions, together with introductory notes on the history of wine, viticulture, winemaking, and blind tasting. It seeks throughout to examine in what ways a particular wine is unique and different from other, similar wines.
For example, why and in what ways is Pauillac, in Bordeaux, different from Pomerol, also in Bordeaux? Why and in what ways is Mosel Riesling different from Riesling from the Rheingau, or the Nahe, or Alsace, Austria, or Australia?
Restaurants; Wine Bars & Cellars
Les Caves de Pyrene is an importer, agent, distributor and retailer of wines from around the world. We believe in promoting ‘natural’ wines
Noble Rot
Magazine & Restaurants
Noble Rot started out as a magazine about wine, food and the creative arts in 2013, before opening restaurants in Bloomsbury in 2015 and Soho in 2020.
Le Cercle Des Aromes
5 Place Joan of Arc
Colmar, France
+33 (0)9 86 57 05 46
Le Cercle des Arômes, your wine bar in Colmar, wine-bar, weinbar... More than 200 Crus by the glass, the specialist in Alsace wines and local treasures!
Other Useful Items......
De Long's Wine Map Collection includes:
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Iberia (Spain & Portugal)
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Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, British Columbia)
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South America (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil)
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Durand removes the whole cork and content.
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Durand is an absolute must-have for anyone who likes to open and drink older wines.
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Eliminates unwanted results from broken corks, stoppers pushed into bottles or partially removed caps, leaving bits floating in wine.
Le Nez du Vin, 54 aromas, English booklet
Wine contains an astonishing number of aromas. Since our tongue can only distinguish between the four basic sensations: sweet, sour, salt and bitter, it is actually our nose that plays the decisive role in our sense of taste. Le Nez du Vin offers you a wonderful opportunity to train your olfactory abilities. The 54-vial set covers all the most common aromas found in wine. You can "inhale" the individual aromas and compare them directly to the wine you are tasting. Each essence comes with a card providing important information about its incidence in wine. With some practice, your sense of smell will be so keen that you will be able to identify the various aromas easily. You can order the set in German, French and/or English.
Fascinating Articles
"The Judgement of Paris"
The 1976 Paris Blind Tasting
The Paris Tasting of 1976 will forever be remembered as the landmark event that transformed the wine industry. At this legendary contest -- a blind tasting -- a panel of top French wine experts shocked the industry by choosing unknown California wines over France's best. The contest was re-run 10 years later nd then again 30 years in May 2006. present at the thrid tasting was Sir Peter Michael, who commissioned a fascinating painting by Gary Myatt,"After the Upset".
Click this link to find out a bit more - watch the youtube if you have the time
Method
Blind tasting was performed and the judges were asked to grade each wine out of 20 points. No specific grading framework was given, leaving the judges free to grade according to their own criteria.
Rankings of the wines preferred by individual judges were based on the grades they individually attributed.
An overall ranking of the wines preferred by the jury was also established in averaging the sum of each judge's individual grades (arithmetic mean). However, grades of Patricia Gallagher and Steven Spurrier were not taken into account, thus counting only grades of French judges.
More - Interesting Links...
"A warm welcome to Kent Wine School. We are a local, independent wine and spirits education company based in Tunbridge Wells.
Kent Wine School hosts regular wine tastings and courses for people who enjoy wine and want to learn more about it. We are the leading provider of WSET courses in Kent and an approved provider of Wine Scholar Guild courses.
Our wine courses and wine tastings focus on enjoying wine and learning more in a relaxed and informal setting, with friendly people and industry-leading tutors - no previous wine tasting experience is necessary!
We offer live wine tastings and courses at our wine school base at Hotel du Vin Tunbridge Wells and online tastings and courses from the comfort of your home. "
Kent Wine School
Wine Merchant & Wholesaler
"We are a well-established Wine Merchant based in the South East of England. We import and wholesale over 1000 different wines and work with a variety of suppliers from around the world, including small boutique wineries as well as larger producers.
Our service offers experience and efficiency from order to delivery. Whilst we are primarily a Wine Merchant to the hotel and restaurant trade, we also have a loyal network of private clients.
View our wine list, purchase a wine box from our online store or contact us via email or phone, should you have any questions"
Wineservice
"At 8Wines we have used our specialist knowledge to source a unique range of styles and flavours from across the globe. Rather than trying to stock every variety on the market, we offer a hand-picked collection that has something for everyone.
Browsing through our list, you’ll soon realise how much of a kick we get from delivering hard-to-find wines — from Napa Valley Cabernets to Syrahs from the Judean Hills. We’re especially proud of our premium US wines and the rest of our extensive and unique New World selection. Lovers of Italian wines will also find plenty to tempt their taste-buds — at extremely competitive prices.
When our founders first began sourcing delicious wines for their family and friends, they had no idea their venture would become a successful international business. We deliver all over Europe, and have been awarded Gold medals from Wine-Searcher five years in a row for our wine selection.
Customer service means everything to us, and we strive to deliver an exceptional experience for each client. Our friendly team are always on hand to provide advice, or assist with delivery queries via phone, 24-hour chat, or email. We warmly invite you to browse our selection, and if you have any suggestions for wines you’d like us to stock, feel free to let us know."
8 Wines.com
"We are a Bricks and Mortar Business in the Heart of Battersea in London.
That's 63 Broomwood Road SW11 6HU, just to let you know we have been retailing as North and South Wines for 10 years here, our combined wine retailing experience is over 50 years and we have a tiny team, who are passionate about service and of course wines and spirits."
North & South Wines
Independent Wine Merchant
"The Secret Cellar is a family-owned business with four fantastic shops, a bar, two websites, and a growing wholesale business - all run by a dedicated and passionate team. We pride ourselves on offering a personalised customer experience and delivering interesting and quality wines across all price points."
The Secret Cellar