As a committed Burgundophile I have dreamed of one day being invited to join the ‘Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin’. It is a place where the crème de la crème of wine makers, merchants and writers come together to share the finest and rarest wines of Burgundy – and perhaps the world’s most illustrious drinking club.

I say perhaps, because there is a now a rival to this 200 year old club of wine geeks. After a number of unofficial soirées at various locations around London, I can now report on the first official meeting of the ‘Confrérie des Chaussettes du Vins’ (Brotherhood of the Wine Socks).

It is difficult work finding a BYO restaurant in London that serves wine friendly food, but Thomas booked a table for us at a Maida Vale Italian eatery called Daniella’s Lounge – lovely pasta and, more importantly, they have no problem with us arriving clutching bottles for an evening of blind tasting.

Without further ado we ordered some Bruscheta and Thomas poured the first wine. Mid-yellow in colour, the nose was full of citrus, smoke and nuts with a gentle oxidative note in the background. Now im not claiming to be the greatest blind taster in the world (or even the room), but I was on to this straight away. White Rioja is one of those styles that sticks in the mind and I came out with my verdict early, placing the vintage somewhere in the late ‘90s.

Matt, who had arrived late and not been privy to my musings, decided on Priorat while the other guesses focused on the Rhône. Neither were bad shouts, but the sock came off and a 1981 Vina Tondonia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva was revealed. Despite getting the wine right, I was astonished that the vintage was ’81 as the wine was so vibrant and youthful that I felt it had years left in the tank. I really enjoyed this and with the right food it would be a revelation, but some of the group were not quite as enthusiastic – “Sharp, light and slightly astringent. Interesting but not sure I like this” was Thomas’s verdict, which was a shame really considering that he brought it!

Next it was Matt’s turn to do the pouring. This was another interesting white, but the nose was so tight that it was difficult to discern much early on. The palate was silky with a vaguely exotic backdrop of white flowers and spices, but to be honest I was flummoxed. Part of me was saying white Burgundy, but it certainly wasn’t textbook – I settled for an unconventional Côte d’Or white from the late ‘90s, although im not quite sure exactly what I was thinking of.

The others were a bit better than me, but there was a lot of umming and ahhing over Puligny or Northern Rhône. The minerality, poise and underlying tension hinted at it being a serious wine, but all of us were surprised to see a 1992 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru ‘Clavoillon’ revealed. Once we knew what it was it all became clear (of course) but over the next couple of hours this wine really revealed its true colours. As room temperature approached the nose exploded into a cacophony of orange peel, white flowers and toast spread with butter and honey. Ally got petals, peaches and pineapple and noted how the development with temperature was unbelievable. Matt, who has had this wine many times, described it as “A good case for mature white burgundy and for decanting to room temp”. The entire confrérie was in agreement.

As soon as Ben had poured the next wine I got vinous déjà-vous, as the nose was pungent with vegetal funk. Cabbage, mushrooms and an afterthought of dark berry fruit. The others felt it was fruitier than I did – all I could smell was stewed vegetables. In retrospect I can’t believe I didn’t get this, but as the sock came off and a 1990 Château de la Roche aux Moins Anjou stood before us we couldn’t believe that no one had guessed Cabernet Franc.

This was a fascinating wine from a great vintage and my first opportunity to taste Nicolas Joly’s red wine. I say fascinating rather than delicious because while it was certainly interesting, im not sure I would ever drink a whole bottle out of choice.

Ally had not taken part in any of the previous meetings and as a result he was sockless – not a problem however as he had craftily wrapped the next bottle in tissue paper and poured everyone a glass without compromising the identity.

Glasses were lifted to noses in unison and everyone realised immediately that we were dealing with red Burgundy (about time!). I already knew what I was drinking, but Thomas, Matt and Ben were all correct in presuming that it was from the Côte de Nuits. Thomas (fellow Burgundy geek that he is) began whittling it down to vintage by discounting ’96/’99 (not enough tannin), ’93 (not enough acidity) or ’91, ’92, ’94 (the wine was in too good shape). He plumped for ’90 or ’95 but was surprised to learn that it was 1997 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru ‘Vaucrains’. Not that we were surprised at drinking a delicious Henri Gouges wine, just that ’97 is a vintage that has never really excited – and yet this Gouges was generous, silky and still youthful. Lots of concentration, fruit and primary pinot character. Matt likened it to a compost heap in August, still fresh and green (or perhaps that should be red) at the moment but promising to get dirtier, earthier and mushroomier as time goes by. Ally felt that it needed at least another couple of years to begin showing its true potential.

Now it was my turn, so with sock encased wine in hand I poured the final samples of the night. I had a feeling that the group would struggle with my choice and I was proved right.

Funnily enough, everybody was quite sure of many things that is definitely wasn’t. Too robust for Burgundy, too dry for Rhône, not dark enough for Cabernet, too good to be anything obscure. Ally picked out the tar and cherries, but couldn’t nail the wine. Ben, Matt and Thomas all plumped for Pinot Noir – perhaps a hot Burgundy vintage or a quality New-World effort? None of the above im afraid. 1997 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco ‘Santo Stefano’ it was and the group was in agreement that it was a fantastic effort by the ‘Professor of Nebbiolo’.

We were all really impressed with this, as I always am when drinking Giacosa’s wines. The man is truly a winemaking genius. Soft but structure and atrong. Supple, elegant, layered, complex. Full of fruit but not at all one dimensional. Still time to develop with this wine and I made sure I bought another bottle as soon as I got to work so that I can taste it again 3 or 4 years from now and see where it has gone.

And that was that. A wonderful evening of great wine and wine geekery that proved how bad we all are at blind tasting! Clearly more practice required…….