sugak 
Inundated with pressure, deadlines and sleep-deprivation, the upper school linguists had the pleasure of emersing themselves in European countries through the beauty of four wines last Wednesday evening. Two red and two white wines were on offer for the night. The first wine, a Rainer Wess, Gruner Veltliner, from 2020 in Austria was provided by Mr Brown, who said that the trick in gaining as many flavours as possible in the aroma of the wine was to gently swill the glass and then place your (hopefully clean) palm of your hand on the rim of the glass for a couple of seconds and then smell the plethora of tangs omitted from the glass. Once achieved, people thought it acidic and even ‘green pepper like’. Some even mentioned that it was, ‘better than school wine’. Mr Foulds’ approach, however, was to taste the wine first and then consider its flavours. His chosen white was Muga Blanco, a Rioja from 2020. Students found it drier, but mostly it was preferred to the introductory. Then came the reds. The first, Niellucciu from Terra Nostra in 2019, Corsica, was rather pungent, but delicious with a meal. The aromas contained elements of citrus, some even went as far as to say earthy, however that was not agreed upon by all.
After the excitement of the first red, our glasses had their final refill. The concluding wine – a Nero d’Avola from La Ferla from 2019 in Sicily – was again, particularly pungent yet sweet at the same time. It received a somewhat warm audience, perhaps the Rugby School linguists are too young to appreciate a decent red wine. Mr Foulds alerted us to the compound of tannin, which he stated can be good for you in small doses. It was announced the prices of each wine and it can be concluded that we simply cannot tell the difference between a bottle worth £7.99 versus £15.99. So, after a whirlwind of a night, it is safe to say that the dining room of Kilbracken was brimming with enthusiasm. Stuffed with alcohol and knowledge, the Rugby polyglots had nothing short of a great evening, which is all thanks to our resident sommeliers, Mr Brown, and Mr Foulds.
