There will be a meeting in the New Hall at 7pm on Monday 7th June to discuss the formation of a new Winchelsea Wine Society

It was as much as a year ago that a proposal for a new Winchelsea Wine Society was suggested and publicised in the parish magazine. It was of course all put on hold as the pandemic continued.

We are now proposing to start off again and we are planning a first discussion on Monday 7th June at 6pm in the New Hall. We hope as many as possible who expressed interest last year can attend, so that we can work out how to move to a next stage. Any other residents with an interest are also welcome. We don’t expect large numbers and we will of course respect Covid guidelines.

This will be an open and informal discussion about what we should do. However, to recap, what the small initial group of us were thinking last summer was that:

– the society/club would not be focused only on ‘fine wines’ and would be open to all levels of interest in wine

– there would be a local identity in what the society does, including with a nod to the history of the town as one of the major wine importing ports in England (yes, it was 700 years ago, but of course much of the historic legacy is still “standing”) and with an interest in the growing number of local vineyards, wine makers and associated trades

– we would hope to consider, in good course, a modest wine festival in the town together with local vineyards and traders and linked to the work of existing societies

And also of course we will be considering all the usual activities such as holding tastings and discussions and other club events.

If you remain interested but are unable to attend there will still be opportunities to contribute – and please let me know anyway if you have any comments at this stage

Brian Leonard

brianleonard779@gmail.com