In the first half of August we organised 7 tastings in 6 stores and hosted 101 guests. The masterclass tasting featuring Polish wine in Katowice drew considerable interest. In Gdańsk, the tasting included a quiz and a vote for the favourite wine.

Languedoc and Alto Adige: Arrogant Frog and Erste+Neue

At the M&P Gdańsk Rajska store, where Thursday tastings are hosted by Michał Kucharczyk, a new element appeared: a quiz on the wines being tasted and a vote for the favourite wine. To start with, we prepared a quiz about Arrogant Frog wines – a Languedoc brand whose name is a tongue-in-cheek joke about the stereotype of the French. The idea caught on, the wines received good scores, and the atmosphere of the meeting was pleasant and relaxed. Labels with the distinctive frog are easy to remember, but it is the contents of the bottles that will stay in the participants' memory for a long time.

A week later it was the turn of Alto Adige and wines from Erste+Neue – a cooperative from Caldaro which, founded in 1900, was the first in the town (hence “erste” in its name). On a very warm day, a cross-section of white wines worked perfectly: it was pleasant, fun and full of good wine. The quiz and the vote were once again a hit. “It will be hard to give it up now,” the store team admits.

Polish wine: masterclass with Winnica Pałac Mała Wieś

After two Warsaw stores, the masterclass tasting with Winnica Pałac Mała Wieś reached the M&P Katowice Raciborska store – and gathered as many as 28 guests. In a friendly atmosphere, the most frequent questions concerned the production process, the idea behind the vineyard and the day-to-day work there. It is a young vineyard near Grójec which, alongside classic varieties such as riesling and pinot gris, grows varieties resistant to fungal diseases: solaris, johanniter and muscaris. Guests were most taken with the muscaris, the sparkling Vicu Medusa and the orange wine.

Argentina: El Esteco and Zuccardi

At the M&P Kraków Mogilska store, Filip Szumiec paired two Argentinian producers: El Esteco from Salta and Zuccardi from Mendoza. The glasses held, among others, chardonnay, torrontés and malbecs from both wineries, and comparing them proved extremely interesting. At the M&P Fabryka Norblina store in Warsaw we also explored El Esteco wines – and once again they delighted our guests.

Portugal: Quinta da Alorna

At the M&P Gdynia Orłowo store, Daniel Koziatek presented Portuguese wines from Quinta da Alorna – an estate in the Tejo region whose history dates back to 1723. All of them were well received, and the biggest surprise turned out to be two sweet wines: the late-harvest Colheita Tardia and the fortified Abafado.

Barossa straight from the barrel

At the M&P Wielicka store in Warsaw we tasted, by the barrel, wines from Château Tanunda from Australia's Barossa: riesling, chardonnay and shiraz.

Curious about what we are preparing next? You will find the upcoming dates in our events calendar.

See you in our stores.