Year 30 In The HMWS

The second half of Year 29 of the HMWS has been plagued by the C-19 Pandemic. Tastings, Lunches and Tours had to be cancelled. Only Wine Offers and publications have survived. The Society’s Year 30 commenced on 1st September. All 78 current members had their membership renewed and payment of the annual subscription was not required. It is hoped that conditions in the country would continue to improve and the Society will be able restart wine events in the near future.

Comments

“Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Wine Society. Thank you for all the wonderful tastings, the unforgettable wine tours, for all the happy memories, and the friendships made along the way.” – Jane Greenwood (Leeds)

“I look forward, for one, to the time we can meet and enjoy not only the monthly tasting but also the incomparable Wine Tours we have been privileged to go on.” – Tony Stanier (Wakefield)

Donations

Donations to the HMWS funds were received from 32 Members:

Gail Bent
Anita Blow
Rob & Pauline Buckley
Dr. & Mrs. Stephen Cameron
Alan Chapman
Dr.& Mrs. Richard Chave-Cox
David & Tricia Durrant
Dr. & Mrs. Ivan Hanney
Prof. & Mrs. Charles Joslin
Tony Lee & Renna Benson
Douglas & Gloria McFarlane
Gwynneth & Rhiannon Owen
Simon & Sue Pratt
Drs. David & Sylvia Scullion
John & Pat Shore
Drs. Alisdair & Elma Stewart
Jane Trewhella
Les & Mandy Wilson

September 2020

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Membership is 78 including 19 Life Members. Donations were received from 13 members
Wine Offers: Three Wine Offers were made – Hunter’s, Ehrmanns and Champagne Beaumont des Crayeres. 25 cases of Hunter’s wines were bought, the Ehrmanns offer failed and the champagne offer ends this weekend. Wines bought by 5 members are currently stored by the Society awaiting collection
The Blog: There were 1854 views by 515 visitors from 43 countries. The Top Three were UK, US and Portugal
Accounts: The opening balance was £148.94. Total inflows were £2004.20 (Donations £702.62, Wine sales £1301.78). Outflows were £1417.77 (Wine £1346.28, Admin. costs £71.49). The closing balance is £735.57

October 2020

Membership is unchanged at 78 including 19 Life Members. Donations were received from 2 members
Wine Offers: 9 offers were made including 5 Online Auctions
Wine Deliveries: 6 cases of Champagne, 1 case of Vergelegen, 2 cases of Vilafonte, 7 cases of Warwick, 15 cases of Cordillera and 1 case of Torres Purgatori were delivered
The Blog: There were 2499 views by 584 visitors. The top three countries were UK, USA and Portugal. One blog post was published
Accounts: Opening balance was £735.57. Inflows were £584.04 (Donations £30, Wine £554.04). Outflows were £300.91 (Wine £274.50, Admin. costs £26.41). Closing balance was £1018.70

November 2020

Membership is 79 including 19 Life Members. Dr. Andrew Cobb, introduced by Dr. Abdullah Kraam, joined the Society on the 29th
Wine Offers were Torres Spain, Hugel, Premium Sherry, William Fevre Chablis and Bouchard Pere et Fils Burgundy. Some Hunter’s wines were re-ordered
The Blog: There were 2285 views by 753 visitors from 33 countries. The top three countries were UK, US and Portugal. Most viewed titles were Hedonist, Home page/archives and 2020 Wine Offers
Accounts: The opening balance was £1018.70. Inflows were £3043.76 (wine). Out flows were £3045.10 (wine £3019.10, admin. costs £25.40). The closing balance is £1052.36

December 2020

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Wine Offers: Port, Madeira, Hugel Gewurtztraminer, Janneau Armagnac and Premium Wines of Yalumba
The Blog: There were 2416 views by 626 visitors
Accounts: The opening balance was £1087.36. Inflows were £1430.30. Expenses were £1860.68. The closing balance was £656.98. Members Credit Account holds £2397.28

January 2021

Wine Offers: There were 4 offers. Members took delivery of 266 bottles
The Blog: There were 2569 (↑) views by 565 (↓) visitors
Accounts: The opening balance was £656.98. Inflows were £522.86. Out flows were £244.93. Closing balance is £934.91. Members’ Credit Account holds £2477.88

February 2021

Wine Offers: There were two: 23 cases were ordered from the Fells February Offer and 7 cases from Top Wines Of Ken Forrester (Enotria) offer
Tours: Romania tour was postponed to May 2022 with ground agent’s and participants’ consent
The Blog: There were 1945 ( ↓) views from 445 (↓ ) visitors
Accounts: The opening balance was £934.91. Out goings were £670. 91, the main expense being accountancy fees. Inflows were £242.50. The Closing Balance was £506.50.

March 2021

Wine Offers: There were 6. The Society sourced 214 bottles of wine for members
The Blog: There were 2212 (↑) views by 507 (↑) visitors
Accounts: The opening balance was £506.50. Inflows were £1264.89. Expenses were £1321.74 – mainly for wines bought for members. The closing balance is £449.65

April 2021

Wine Offers: There were nine (↑) – 4 from Fells & 5 from Armit Wines. The Society sourced 29 cases (↓) of wine, 8 from Armit and 21 from Fells, for 15 members
The Blog: 2115 (↓) views by 413 (↓) international visitors were registered.
Accounts: The opening balance was £449.65. Inflows were £1886.67 – mainly payments for wines bought by members. Expenses were £2038.67 – mainly wines bought. The closing balance is £297.65

May 2021

Wine Offers: There were 8 (↓). The Society took delivery of 33 (↑) cases of wine on behalf of 14 (↓) members
The Blog: There were 2472 (↑) views by 451 (↑) visitors
Accounts: Opening balance was £297.65. Inflows were £2946.80 (wine). Expenses were £3154.24 (£3129.74 for wines bought and £24.50 admin. costs). Closing balance is £90.21. Members’ Credit Account holds £2299.26

June 2021

Membership: Dr. & Mrs. Tim Swanwick, introduced by Dr. David Scullion, joined the Society on the 1st bringing the membership up to 81
Wine: The Society sourced 15 cases of wine for members
Blog: There were 2224 views (↓) by 520 visitors (↑)
Accounts: Opening balance was £90.21. Inflows (wine) were £1830.16. Outflows were £1759.07 (Wine £1749.94, Admin. costs £9.13). Closing balance was £161.30. Members Credit Account holds £2528.83

July 2021

Membership: There are 81 members including 19 Life Members
Wine Events: Nil. Members views were sought re restarting wine tastings. 12 responded positively
Wine Offers: There were 13
Blog: There were 2164 views by 463 international visitors
Accounts: Opening balance was £161.30. Members paid in £4418.37 for wines sourced by the Society. Total expenses for the month were £4431.01 (Members’ wines cost £4404.66. Admin. costs for the month were £26.35 which included bank charges, printer ink, internet and blog storage fees.) Closing balance was £149.16

August 2021

Membership: There are 81 members including 19 Life Members. For the second year running, there were no compulsory subs. However, 18 Members donated a sum of £315 towards the running costs of the Society
Wine Events: There were no events. 32 Members (39.5% ) voted in favour of starting tastings in September. One voted against and 48 (59.3%) abstained. Mendel wines were purchased for a 30th September tasting/supper
Wine Offers: There were five – 6 Symington’s Douro DOC wines (no purchases), 4 Vergelegen Reserve Wines (4 cases purchased by HMWS), Finca Martelo 2015 (6 cases bought), La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 (no purchases), 8 Viticoltori De Concillis wines (no purchases) and 7 Yalumba Y Series wines (no purchases). In total, 10 cases were purchased
Blog: There were 2793 views by 502 visitors from 40 countries. 3 posts were published
Accounts: Opening balance was £149.16. Inflows were £3188.12 (Members’ donations £1359, wine £1829.12). Out flows were £1750.79 (Wine £1717.56, Admin. costs £33.23). The closing balance is £1586.49. Members’ Credit Account holds £2022.75