December 2021

Twenty-two members, most wearing Christmas themed items of clothing, attended our Christmas Party on the 14th December. Val Large, our chair, had laid down a challenge of a prize for the best-dressed table. 

Members had grouped themselves by table, and rose admirably to this challenge, with various themes, such as “Afternoon tea at the Ritz” and “Ten Green Bottles”, and all with copious Christmas decorations. Competition was fierce, all tables were very festive and imaginative, and a prize was awarded to the winning table. 

Mulled wine was available (thank you, Ian and Francis), and members had brought various savoury and sweet nibbles, including Val’s famous platted meatloaf. Many thanks go to Mary and Derek for an excellent raffle, and all who helped make the evening so much fun. It made up for our Christmas party in 2020 (held on Zoom).

We look forward to catching up with everyone at our New Year Dinner on the 11th January at the Haycutter, Hurst Green. Please contact Janet Bailey (822333) or Francis (822495) for further details.

November 2021 AGM Meeting

Our AGM on the 2nd November 2021 was held “live” in the Christ Church centre, due to the relaxation of Covid restrictions (unlike 2020).

Our Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer duly presented their reports and then we moved on to the Election of Officers and Committee. Most of the members of the Committee were prepared to stand for a further year as we had not had meetings until June, and the line-up is as follows:

Chairman : Val Large
Secretary : Janet Bailey
Treasurer : Graham Bailey
Committee : Heather Charman, Mary Freeman, Derek Freeman, & Kent Sandiford

The planned programme for 2022 was discussed and agreed, and highlights are likely to include: Members’ favourite wines in February, Skittles at the British Legion (Limpsfield) in March, Tipplers Stroll in June, outing in August, and wine-tasting in October. We concluded with some light-hearted games. The out-going secretary showed his Zumba moves unfortunately.

Isobel Taylor was made a life member of the club, for her services over the years, particularly for her sterling leadership as secretary and publicity officer during 2007-17.

The 2021 Christmas Party has been moved to 14th December, 8.00 pm, where we will be giving a prize for the best-dressed table. New members are welcome. Please contact Janet Bailey (Ph 822333) or me for further details.

October 2021 Meeting

Our October Meeting was a wine-tasting evening kindly organised by our Kiwi member, Francis, based on the theme New World vs Old World.

Sixteen members duly arrived armed with the all important nibbles, 2 wine glasses (for comparing wines), side plates for the nibbles and a pen for scoring each wine!

There were 9 wines for tasting – two white wines and the rest red. For the scoring of each wine, we had to guess the grape (3 points), the country/region (1 point) and the year it was made (1 point). So a total of 45 points was up for grabs. The grape varieties ranged from Grüner Veltliner, Grenache, Shiraz and Malbec and the countries/regions from New Zealand, France, Australia and Austria, to name but a few. However, after working our way through the 9 wines, the members’ favourite wine was a Grenache, bought by Francis from the Wine Museum at Chateauneuf de Pap in 2012 – a sweet dessert red. The top scorers of the evening were Graham and Caroline.

A big thank to Francis for choosing and bringing along the wines, which were purchased from Majestic Wines in Redhill and also to Mary and Derek for organising the raffle.

Our next meeting will be our AGM on the 2nd November.

September 2021 Meeting

Our September meeting saw us back in Christ Church Hall for our ‘Night at the Races’ – dog racing. Everyone was given a betting slip and £5,000 in ‘monopoly’ money. 

There were 8 races in total and we were able to own and/or train as many dogs as we wanted. However, only 1 person could own or train each dog, so you had to make your selection early to avoid disappointment. 

It cost £100 to own a dog and £50 to train and if they should come in either 1st or 2nd, as an Owner you win £200 and as a Trainer £100 – in addition to any monies that you had placed on the dog as a bet.

Betting slips were completed and handed in before each race and returned with winnings or not! At the end of the evening, Isobel and Pat were awarded the bottles of wine with winnings totalling £8,400 and £7,600 respectively, with the wooden spoon awarded to Chris, who finished the evening with £100.

A big thank you to Graham H, Caroline and Kent for organising a thoroughly enjoyable evening and to Mary and Derek for organising the raffle.

August 2021 Meeting

For our August outing, a sunny day dawned and 14 members and 2 guests made their way to the Farnham Sculpture Park at Churt, Surrey.

We all met up at the Bel and the Dragon Pub for coffee, which was conveniently situated right opposite the entrance to the Park. On entering the Park we made our way to the Reception where we were each given a map of the 10-acre site which showed various routes over a 2 mile woodland trail with exhibits displayed every few steps.

There was no set route and everyone was free to wander! The exhibits are all outdoors and most are available to buy, with prices ranging from less than £100 to £95,000.

After meandering among the exhibits for a couple of hours we then adjourned to the Bel and the Dragon for a very welcome lunch and some wine may have been consumed too!

A big thank you to Graham B for organising our visit.

July 2021 Meeting

On 6th July, fifteen members (including a new member) of the Nutfield Wine Club enjoyed the club’s summer party at the local venue of the South Nutfield Cricket Club (SNCC). 

There had been showers all day, but fortunately the rain held off for our party, although temperatures were a little cool. We have had very few meetings in the last year, so members were delighted to see each other in person, and not be pixillated (that’s not a euphemism). 

Members enjoyed catching up, having a range of liquid refreshments and supper, and taking part in a quiz.

Thanks to Jim Paulett and the SNCC for the venue, Heather for organising the event, to Mary and Derek for the raffle, and Graham H for doing a great job of running the quiz. For the record, the Fortified Team had a comfortable win over the Fizzy team.

June 2021 Meeting

Due to the easing of Covid restrictions, on the 1st June Members and Guests were able to take part in our Tipplers Stroll and the extra reward was a beautiful, sunny and warm evening. 

Granted, there was more tippling than strolling but it was good to be able to meet ‘face to face’ and catch up with one another. 

We started off in the delightful garden of David and Jemima, who provided a wonderful spread of savoury nibbles, wine and soft drinks. All too soon it was time to move on to our next garden. 

Luckily, this was a short stroll up the road to Caroline and Graham’s. Here we were greeted by a further selection of wines (some home-made) and nibbles, which included an amazing chocolate fountain!! 

An excellent evening was greatly enjoyed by all who attended and a huge thank you to David, Jemima, Caroline and Graham for their generous hospitality.

Our next outing is the Summer Party on Tuesday, 6th July starting 7.00pm at the South Nutfield Cricket Club in Mid Street.