The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So, it appears that the email we sent last Friday might have caused a bit of a kafuffle. 

By completely failing to read the room, we wrote a sad note about a couple of very successful small businesses that were having to close down (which was at no point meant to be a warning about our own situation) and then to follow this up we were then closed on Friday evening which apparently sent out all the wrong sorts of messages regarding our imminent demise, which was not at all the message we were trying to send.  However, in an unwittingly masterful stroke of marketing, I then saw a number of customers in the farmers market on Saturday morning who, having forgiven me for being closed the previous evening, promised to come in and give us a hug and buy a bottle of wine.  There you go Mary Portas, that’s how to boost sales!

To quell other rumours circulating, Wayne has not left the building to ‘spend more time with his family’; he has just gone on holiday for a couple of weeks, with his wife.  So yes, he is actually spending more time with his family right now but not in the euphemistic way.  God, how did I make such a simple explanation so complicated?!

Anyway, what’s been going on since we last spoke?  Not a lot, if I continue to avoid Trump rants and ignore the USA, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, China, Mexico & Canada.  The sun has been shining most of the week and, by all accounts, this weekend could be the opening of the barbecue season as the mercury threatens to hit 16 degrees at 3pm on Sunday, all of which puts a smile on my face.  Another thing that made me smile wryly was a quick trawl through the archives – today in 2020 we were in the midst of an international loo roll crisis, little did we know what was to come next, which from memory was a long, hot summer and not much else.  And in the same week in 2019, Wayne had banned me from reading the news because ‘by all accounts it makes me ranty’.  That ban should probably still be in place.

I am still allowed to read news about the drinks business and one piece that caught my eye this week was the new crime against beer being committed by Molson Coors.  They have a long history of dulling our tastebuds via Carling, Coors and Pravha but perhaps one of their biggest sins has been the creation of Madrí – El Alma de Madrid, a lager that doesn’t exist in Spain, has no connection to Madrid and is brewed in Yorkshire, alongside the superstars mentioned above.  But now it gets worse.  They announced this week that they were launching a 0% ABV version – so we can now enjoy a ‘Spanish’ beer, not from Spain and now without any booze in it – not sure I can see the point!

To be honest, as often discussed in the shop, there are some decent alcohol free beers out there and probably the most popular is Guinness version.  Perhaps it’s because Guinness has such a unique flavour, perhaps it’s because the full fat version is only 4.2%, perhaps it’s to do with texture, who knows; I’m sure many of you will have a glass of the black stuff in your hands this weekend, so you can let me know.  Because, yes, the men’s 6 nations rolls back into town this weekend with England hosting the Italians on Sunday in a match that they need to win, in the French style, to stand any chance in the final weekend.  Of course, what happens in Dublin on Saturday has huge significance – given the inconsistent nature of French rugby at the moment, it should be amazing for the neutrals.  Meanwhile, Marcus Smith has been benched, something that would never have been considered 6 months ago – if his Cipriani-esque descent down the pecking order continues, at what point does he look at a couple of years playing in France to fill his coffers?  Generational talent, who needs it.

Enough of all that though, what about wine?  I went to a couple of tastings on Tuesday and have another to go to next Tuesday too – lots of interesting wines out there, lots of price increases, lots of alcohol reductions.  Some funky stuff from Austria raised my spirits and hopefully I can get some on the shelf soon.

More immediately, what shall I open this weekend?  Looking at recent and not so recent emails I notice that the two wines I have chosen haven’t been opened for far too long – that changes today.

Domaine Jouan Menetou Salon 2023 – £19.99.  Menetou-Salon is a small appellation of around 300 hectares right next to Sancerre to the south-west.  Here, the Sauvignon Blanc vines are planted on Kimmeridgian limestone soils, very similar to those of Chablis, and similar minerally notes can be detected in the wines.  It has always been the case you can find real gems that rival it’s more famous neighbour in the quality stakes.  This is a fine example of that: fresh and floral with aromas of citrus and blackcurrant leaves and elegant mineral tones with a long finish.

Glencairn Pinotage 2021 – £15.99 – This is made by Bruce Jack, one of South Africa wines larger than life characters.  My tasting note says Pinot Noir-like fruits, red cherry and strawberry on the nose, a fresh palate with ripe tannin and vanillin notes followed by strawberry all the through to the finish.  We’re having it with some barbecue, if the weather forecast holds firm!

Ok, that’s it from us for now – enjoy your weekend, enjoy the sunshine, ignore the news and see how much that makes you smile!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Before we go any further, a bit of admin to follow up the brief email we scrambled out mid-week.

Today, Friday 28^th February, we will be shutting at the earlier time of 5pm. 

As some of you may be aware, in fact some of you may even benefit from this, every year we help with the Kings College Quiz Night.  By helping out, what we really mean is that we run the bars and sell wine to the local masterminds whilst providing a steady, overly confident stream of wrong answers to anyone who will listen…

Suffice to say, we apologise for any inconvenience this causes and we hope to remedy our absence by being here from noon on Saturday.

Admin done.

We’ll start with some quotes:

After more than 25 years in Wimbledon, we have made the heart wrenching decision to close…  We have loved serving you, creating many wonderful memories…  Thank you for being part of our amazing journey.

This was from the email sent out by The Lighthouse restaurant, on the Ridgeway, that closed its doors just over a week ago.

From our first shop on Northcote Road in 1991 to our Marylebone location and beyond, it has been an absolute joy to serve London’s wine lovers—whether in-store, online, or through our private client and En Primeur services…  Sadly, increasingly challenging trading conditions and the additional complexities of Brexit have made it impossible for us to continue… It has truly been an unforgettable journey.

Another journey almost over, as one of the ‘original’ independents, Philglas & Swiggot, announced that it would close its doors in two weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, reports from the hospitality industry show that year on year sales in January were down 1.3% compared to January 2024.  The comment from the consumer intelligence company providing these figures went:

…it shows many consumers remain hesitant about their spending, and while inflation has eased in some areas, business costs remain very high across the sector… energy price rises and the government’s planned changes to National Insurance thresholds and rates could hardly be coming at a worse time. Hospitality’s outlook is positive in the long run, but it deserves much better support than it is currently getting

Is there a point I’m trying to make here?  Probably.  I last went to The Lighthouse in July and had a wonderful evening remarking, as often one does, that we should go there more often and why hadn’t we been there for so long.  And now we can’t.  As the gym rats might say, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Regarding Philglas & Swiggot, if you lived in Southwest London in the 1990’s it was the destination for any interesting wine.  There was Vingt across the road for a few years, with the jeroboam of d’Yquem in the window (fake?) run by Attila, who eventually decided to deal solely with private clients and then there was Mike and Karen, on a one shop mission to gentrify Northcote Road.  The road in the late 90’s and early 00’s didn’t resemble the Nappy Valley it has now become but P & S could definitely lay claim to being the first movers to see it’s potential.  And now they’re closing, a sad end of an era….

So, go and give your local wine merchant a hug, even if he does decide to close at 5pm on a random Friday!

Elsewhere, I’m still serving the self-imposed ban on rattling on about the state of world politics and am even trying not to mention cycling too much.  In other sports, we have rediscovered our ability to lose to everyone in the cricket and, whilst we did manage a win against Scotland in the rugby, the real question is did we win or did Finn Russell lose?  Meanwhile, the our friends across the Severn Bridge have two things to celebrate tomorrow – the Feast of Saint David and a weekend without a 6 Nations defeat!

Back in our world of wine, it seems we’ve hit a bit of a low alcohol glitch.  We rang our alcohol free sparkling supplier to discover they have delisted Belle & Co Brut but have kept the sweeter, less appealing, Rosé whilst our alcohol free beer, Loah, when we contacted them told us that they hadn’t brewed any beer so far this year and were:

currently perfecting our recipes and aim to brew in early spring, we don’t have a set date yet but happy to keep you updated on when our new range will go live

Looks like we’ll all have to drink full-fat then for a bit then, sorry.  We do have an alcohol free red and white though, Contraseña, from Spain which ticks all the boxes…

However, this weekend (well Saturday mainly, sorry), we’ll be going full-fat, with a couple of old favourites from the USA, which is not a phrase that trips off the lips very often these days:

Vina Robles Viognier 2021 – £23.49 – this hails from Paso Robles in California, where the Pacific coastline unfolds into rugged ranch-lands and cowboy ambiance (and who doesn’t love a story with cowboy ambience?).  This Viognier is planted in the highest part of the Huerhuero Vineyard benefitting from the cooling afternoon pacific breeze.  Crisp and medium-bodied with peach and mandarin fruit with a long lively finish – really rather fabulous.

Vina Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 – £26.99 – ‘Black cherry, mocha and vanilla cream aromas make for a satisfyingly lush nose on this estate bottling. A firm structure frames a very pure palate of roasted red fruit, vanilla cookie and toasty oak flavors, as generous spices push into the finish’ – Matt Kettmann – Wine Enthusiast

So, I think that’s it from us, it’s March tomorrow, the sun is out today, I think we’re going to make it!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

There is a film, from the early 1980’s, called “The Gods Must Be Crazy”; it’s a slightly bonkers film that my wife is rather fond of. In essence, a pilot throws an empty Coca-Cola bottle out of his airplane window and it lands, unbroken, in front of the chief of a nomadic tribe in the Kalahari Desert. The chief believes it to be a gift from the gods and promptly picks it up. Throughout the film a series of chaotic mishaps befalls him, which quite possibly created the title. Spoiler alert- he ditches the bottle at the end of the film. That said, there was a sequel!

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this, other than the sense of chaos that pervades the film is what made me think of it. This week, we read of enormous sinkholes that appear to be trying to consume Godstone High Street, its houses and cars. A burst water main could be the culprit, apparently.  That very same day we discovered 2024 YR4 which is an asteroid of around 40-90 metres in size scheduled to hit the earth in December 2032. Thankfully, that’s not as big as the one that caused all the problems for the dinosaurs. Well that’s a relief!

Talking of chaos, much of it centred on Spacehopper 47, who, trying to achieve peace in Ukraine, has decided that President Zelenskyy is the dictator who started the war. Even a modestly successful comedian elected President should not have pointed out the one thing that nobody says aloud but everybody knows. He said that Spacehopper 47 was “Trapped in a disinformation bubble”, which rather upset the apple cart.

Still pushing for a Nobel Peace prize, the White House hosted Tiger Woods and a number of members of the PGA Tour along with members of the Saudi Public Investment fund to try and broker a peace deal between LIV and the PGA.

Meanwhile, Musk and his DOGE team have continued to fire government employees and remove funding from institutions without any wonder about the consequences. Seems the $36 billion that goes to Space-X hasn’t been cut yet, or even the alleged $10.7 million that Trump has spent on golf trips since his re-election!

Having touched upon golf and Russia, we find ourselves pondering the likely outcomes of Amazon assuming “creative control” of the James Bond franchise. Will Bond get around London in a transit van that stops every 10m blocking all traffic? Will those parcel boxes be renamed dead drops? Will Amazon sell you a pack of Penfold Hearts golf balls? Will they just suggest Spectre has been misunderstood? So many questions…

Talking of questions, Six Nations Rugby is back this week. Will Wales score any points against Ireland? Will Italy make France’s trip to Rome a miserable one? Will England finally wrestle the Calcutta Cup back from the Scots who’ve won it the last four times?

The real question is, what are we going to have in our glass whilst we ponder upon all of this?

France will be represented by Domaine de Vedilhan Viognier 2023 – £11.49.  This Languedoc estate, belonging to the Fayet family, is based in the village of Moussan, close to Narbonne. The property has a small brook running around the outskirts which provides natural irrigation to give much needed water. This gives the wines their freshness and appeal; keeping the vines cool in a very hot climate. A flirty Viognier: shimmering hay and peaches with a lush viscous texture give way to a sensual palate of roses, pineapples and mangoes. A delicious partner to Thai or fusion food.

At the other end, Italy will be represented by Urban Park Appassimento 2020 – £14.99 is from our chums at Montresor and is made from grapes dried for around 30 days before being made into wine. A mini Amarone, if you will. We’re quite excited about it, so come and tell us what you think. We’ve got a mushroom stroganoff against this one, how about you?

That’s all from us – Ireland, England and France all playing in the same shade this weekend, will it be a whitewash?!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

• Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me,
• Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be,
• A lovely day…

This week, all we need is love.  Not tainted love, because that would give love a bad name and would probably require a love resurrection, more the groovy kind of love that grows where my Rosemary goes, that you can’t hurry, that you can’t help falling in, that one love that will keep us together rather than tear us apart.  And once we have found love, what are we gonna to do with it?  Not that, thank you Mr Meatloaf, if we want to know what love is we’ll probably consult the Troggs rather than you or Ms Benatar…

February 14^th today, just in case you missed the hint – if necessary, we’ve got chilled Champagne ready to save your bacon!

Valentine’s Day serves as a bit of a watershed for us as it feels like we’ve got the grim dark days of January well behind us and, with half term also here, the sense that we’re moving towards brighter days – it’ll be March in two weeks’ time, which feels amazing!

We thought that by blockading news from the USA this week, we would avoid political muppetry and mistruth; however our Chancellor seems to have found herself in the hot-seat for all the wrong reasons.  The suggestion that, whilst at HBOS, she might have used her expenses inappropriately on dinners, events, taxis and gifts that led to an investigation cannot be a good look for the person in charge of the government’s current account.  With a sense of déjâ-vu, we also learn that perhaps her CV is not everything it purports to be, although I’m sure there are others in positions of power whose résumés wouldn’t bear too fine scrutiny.  However, since all this comes in the week after the Andrew Gwynne/Oliver Ryan WhatsApp scandal and hot on the heels of ‘voice-coachgate’, it does leave a bitter taste and confirms that the moral pedestal that Labour placed themselves upon when in opposition was really not where they belonged.

At least we all know Nigel Farage is a fibber, not sure he’s ever pretended not to be but where does that leave UK politics if he’s the most transparent player!?

In sport, Tottenham fans can finally celebrate a win!  Enfield Council has approved the football club’s plans to build floodlit all-weather pitches in Whitewebbs Park, taking a 25 year lease for 130 acres of the 240 acre park.  The council got £2 million for this (doesn’t seem much to us) and the irony that the sports grounds will be built on a former golf course should not be lost.

A sage did warn us that once the AELTC Wimbledon Park planning application was approved that it could open the floodgates for development on green belt land and well, look, here we go… What next, Heathrow runway expansion into Windsor Great Park?

Enough of all this, let’s talk drinks and drinking.  We’ve been here for 14 years now and have probably bored you to death with this fact too much already.  Over the years we have seen numerous comings and goings locally – Wine Rack closed and re-opened and closed again within 18 months of our arrival; The Sampler opened on Leopold Road and sadly didn’t last; cigar specialist, Friarwood, opened in the village, followed by the Jeroboam’s deli with Amathus, the spirits specialists, practically next door; last week we learnt that local brewer, By the Horns had gone into liquidation which is a huge blow especially when you consider they started at about the same time as us, made great beer and were running the Phoenix Pub at the AFC ground.  Many ups and downs, over the years.

However, yesterday we heard from a gentleman called James, who rang up out of the blue to tell us about his shop in Wimbledon Chase.  The Artisans Depot is on Merton Hall Road and has just recently changed ownership – they sell wine, beer, deli goods and snacks, have plans to open a wine bar and by all accounts are an asset to the neighbourhood.  We’ve obviously not had a chance to visit them ourselves but, admiring their chutzpah and ambition, we thought we’d give them a shout out!  If you visit, tell them we sent you and they’ll know their marketing worked.

Time for me to stop distracting myself/answering the phone and get on with choosing some wines for the tasting table today:

V Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – £12.99 seems very appropriate for Saint V’s day.   As you’d expect from Marlborough Savvy B, we have vibrant flavours and alluring aromas of zesty citrus and vivacious tropical fruits.  Superbly balanced by a delightful texture and minerality, apparently a good match to Walkers Sensations Roast Chicken and Thyme crisps, according to The Crisp Sommelier!

And for the red, Gran Passione Rosso 2022 – £16.89 seems pretty darnn obvious!  Made from 60% Merlot and 40% Corvina in the Veneto and made in the appassimento method to give us a rich luscious nose and palate full of sweet ripe dark cherry, plum, vanilla and spice.  The Crisp Sommelier recommends Popchips barbeque but in some parts that could be seen as a crime against wine!

That’s it from us for now, no Trump-watch this week, it’s all starting to feel a bit like shooting fish in a barrel to be honest and we like fish.   Ducks on the other hand…

How do you turn a duck into a soul singer?

Put it in the microwave until its bill withers

Mic drop.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

How nice to see some sunshine this week, eh?

The world still seems to be going full gas on the crazy front. There have been a lot of surprising bits of news this week, example being that Kier Starmer has a voice coach!  I didn’t see that one coming; you’ll be telling me next that Boris Johnson has an ethics adviser or Nigel Farage a personal trainer!

Space Hopper number 47’s latest idea is to turn the Gaza strip into ‘the Riviera of the Middle East’.  I thought that was Dubai’s position but perhaps he’s thinking more of a Varadero like experience with less Canadians?  Canada has, in the meantime, dodged tariffs by promising not to send across the border the things they already don’t send over the border.

The Mexicans have been even trickier, suggesting that it might help stop the cartels if the US helped stopped the flow of arms from the US.  Either way, tariffs postponed for now.

Meanwhile, in Pasadena, victims of the recent Eaton fire who lost their homes are being moved out of the Pasadena Convention Centre so that “America’s Got Talent” can begin filming.  The show must go on apparently, let’s hope they’re looking for some talented builders.

Apparently, Russian watchers are suggesting that the Russian censorship tsarina, Katya Mizulina, will soon unlock Twitter because: “There’s now far less destructive content and information censorship”.  Way to go Musk, that free speech thing is working out pretty well, eh?

Whilst on the subject of Russia, there are quite some fears surrounding the EU’s new EES (Entry/Exit System) system.  This is the much delayed system that will require non-EU residents to submit biometric data.  Atos, IBM and Italy’s Leonardo won the contract to build the system but, according to the FT, Atos used staff at its Moscow office to source some of the software – Atos Moscow opened in 2016 and operates under an FSB licence!

Talking of large scale data harvesting, it seems Musk’s DOGE group gained control of the US Treasuries payment systems.  No sensitive data on all taxpayers to be gained there, I’m sure. Anyway, after a couple of days it was announced they would only have ‘Read only’ access.  I’m sure two days with Admin status wasn’t long enough to learn anything useful, eh kids?

Six Nations continues this weekend with Italy hosting Wales for the early game and England hosting France for the later game.  Scotland host Ireland for the Sunday game.  In a gift to commentators Borthwick has picked a couple of Smiths and in a surprise move France have included Jalibert at fly half.  It turned out the surprise was on me, as the spelling is different to that of the French cyclist who retired in 2002.

Meanwhile, in Greece, many residents of Santorini have been evacuated and a state of emergency declared as a series of earthquakes and tremors have been happening below the sea.  So far no damage has been reported on the island and around 11,000 of the population have left.  Scientists say the tremors are tectonic rather than volcanic.

I think its due time to move onto the public service part of this week’s missive.  Next Friday is Valentine’s Day.  You can’t say you didn’t know as we have given you exactly a weeks’ notice.

In 2023 we told you that according to BBC Good Food, these were the four most popular Valentine meals, based on what people searched for last year:

1. Steak with peppercorn sauce
2. Dauphinoise potatoes
3. Spaghetti carbonara
4. Beef Wellington

This year it would appear that Beef Wellington has been replaced by cupcakes.  Horses and courses I guess but I’m not sure a cupcake works for me.  An idea we did like the sound of was partnering Dauphinoise potatoes with some smoked haddock fillets for a kind of garlicky pimped fish pie.

With these facts in mind, we’ll open some wine.

White wine we will pull a cork on Christian Bellang’s delicious Bourgogne Sous Velle 2022 (£29.50), a rather splendid wine made from grapes grown below the village of Meursault and which we think will be rather tasty with that pimped dauphinoise fish pie.

Red wise, we’re taking an excursion to Bordeaux.  We’ll pull a cork on Chateau Saransot-Dupré 2016, Listrac Médoc (£23).  The estate has been owned by the Raymond family since 1756 and was declared the Best Cru Bourgeois Estate in 2017, the first Listrac estate to be awarded the honour.  It’s a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carménère and should be a great partner to the Steak with peppercorn sauce.

In the interest of completeness, it appears that chocolates and flowers are also popular!

Cheers!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Welcome to the after party, commonly known as February.  Chapeau to all of you for battling through January so intrepidly, at times it felt like the elements might be competing with each other to see which of them could break our spirit most spectacularly and the days spent unable to feel my fingers and toes will hopefully recede quickly into the horizon.

Also, chapeau to all of you that managed to fulfil your Dry January pledges, we salute your determination.  Chapeau too, to those of you who joined a gym, started doing yoga, bought some new running shoes, ditched Duolingo and adopted Babbel or any of the other positive steps we all take at the top of the year.

And a thank you to all of you who took advantage of our January Super Sale (ends today) which means that not only can we pay our VAT bill but we might even have some spare change for wages and future NI hikes – chapeau.

But enough about here, what’s been going on elsewhere?  Whilst the new POTUS seeks to start war/cause disruption/break the law/troll everyone on all fronts, including his own country (did he really ‘invade’ California to turn the taps back on?) we have our own shenanigans here to focus upon.  We won’t dwell on everything our Chancellor has suggested is going to happen but the overall feeling amongst those of you who have shared your opinions is that she must have found Theresa May’s Magic Money Tree because her ambitions for the country sound very, well, expensive.  If she has found that elusive tree, I imagine there are number of nurses and NHS staff who’d like to give it a shake before she ploughs cash into long term/slow dividend developments that may well turn out to be white elephants, again!

If you’re a sports fan then I suggest you stop supporting Spurs, except on Thursdays.  Just that really.  Our cycling correspondent has started to research VPN’s and fire-sticks having discovered his subscription to watch real sport has gone up from £6 to £30 a month.  I should perhaps have a whip-round for him because he’s quite upset… reminds me of when Sky first stole the cricket.

And it’s February 1^st tomorrow, time to get back on the horse and no better time to saddle up than the first full day of Six Nations action.  I fully acknowledge that Wales are in France this evening and whilst I’m as keen as you for a Welsh victory, I fear it may be buried under the aforementioned Magic Money Tree, alongside the England hopes.  The prospect of the boys in white going into week 3 of this competition in sixth position is very real, particularly after Wales snatch a last gasp draw at the Stadio Olimpico courtesy of a much disputed knock on…

Probably the biggest news this week in the drinks trade, aside from the much reviled duty change, was the statement from Berry Bros. & Rudd, the famous fancypants St James’ Merchant, saying they had “entered into a consultation process with colleagues across 30 roles”, due to tough market conditions.  “Extremely challenging global market conditions” and the recent increase in NI contributions were also cited.  Meanwhile, French behemoth Rémy Cointreau has confirmed that times are still difficult; alongside a decline in sales of Rémy Martin in China they stated that a “persistent lack of visibility on the timing of the recovery in the United States and worsening market conditions in China” is troubling especially when coupled with the threat of new tariffs from both these countries.

And Wetherspoon’s have put drinks up by 15p and meal deals up by 30p (according to The Sun).

However, our Balham correspondent was out and about last night and visited his local, The Firefly.  They were celebrating 20 years in business and he got persuaded in for a drink as he’s very supportive of local business plus the sun was over the yard arm.  Furthermore, they were selling drinks at 2004 prices.  Pints of Paulaner, Firefly Pilsner and Firefly Pale Ale were all £2.50 and a pint of Darkstar Hophead for £2.00… time to fire up the DeLorean, Marty!

But back to the now.  We celebrated Burns Night last Saturday with our wine choices and foolishly overlooked Chinese New Year which took place mid-week – so some wines to match a banquet should be on the tasting table we thought!

Mountford Liaison Riesling – £19.49 -The grapes for this gem were grown on the deep gravels of the Waipara Valley, New Zealand and were hand selected and chilled over night before being whole bunch pressed.  It has a little residual sugar making it off-dry with flavours of citrus zest and fresh limes making it perfect for spicy food and Asian cuisine.

Juliénas-Chaintré Beaujolais Villages ‘Cuvée Six’ – £13.99

There’s been a quiet revolution going on in Beaujolais with some of the smartest burgundy winemakers buying up parcels of land, co-operatives merging, and a quality revamp too.  This wine is from the villages of Jullié and Emeringes and is grown on the sandy granitic soils that produce the best Gamay.  Tender, round and fruity, as you’d expect from a pure expression of the grape variety and very more-ish!

So that’s it, tastebuds tantalised.

As a final note, as happened this week, we’ll be opening a little later on Tuesday 4^th February as we are at yet another tasting – we’ll be back by 4pm, hopefully earlier, so see you then!

Ah, February, we’ve been expecting you…

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So, here we are, the USA has again been tangoed and the space hopper that was President 45 is now President 47 and, to quote the News Agents, ‘the velociraptors now know how to open the gates.’ Did you see any of the inauguration? I tried to avoid as much as I could but still managed to see much more than I would have liked. Some of it was like a rogue’s gallery; we had the Tech Bros lurking like second rate Batman villains alongside Lettuce Liz, Suella Braverman, Aaron Banks, Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage. Could nobody manage a zap-biff-pow? Sixties kids shows aside, it seemed to me that Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment might even prohibit him being President but I’m guessing smarter folk than I have managed a legal work around.

Talking of work arounds, as promised, he signed loads of executive orders, avoiding any actual law-making but making him look very busy with books, pens and clever stuff.  Those executive orders range from bad to just terrible and there are even accusations from lawyers that some are so error strewn that they may have been written by AI!

The wall is going back up, the drug cartels have been declared terrorists and yet Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road, the drug world’s dark web Amazon if you will, has been pardoned. On the subject of pardon’s, many of the people behind the January 6^th invasion of the Capitol building have been pardoned, which rather suggests that treason is acceptable in some way or other. How long before the Secret Service is replaced by the Proud Boys we wonder? It’ll end up like the Rolling Stones experience in Altamont I suspect, albeit with less Sympathy for the Devil and more street fighting, man.

Whilst the Statue of Liberty is busy packing her bags to head off ‘home’ to France, Trump has also suggested that Vlad Putin heads homeward with his guns and North Korean soldiers and leave Ukraine alone. If that happens that actually would be at least something good to come out of all the chaos.

Saturday sees us celebrating the Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-Race and the poet that wrote the address. Yes, 25^th January has arrived with undue haste and Burns Night is upon us. Over the years, Trump has made much of his Scottish heritage through his mother, who was born on the Isle of Lewis. Sadly, since 1971, he has not been able to celebrate properly because haggis has been banned by the US authorities, depriving Trump and 27 million or so Scottish Americans of their rightful heritage. Whilst we are somewhat surprised that a repeal of this wasn’t in the pile of executive orders signed, we may have good news. Macsween’s are developing a ‘compliant’ haggis so they can reach that untapped market by substituting the sheep lung for sheep heart. That’s going to give the Donald a change from his cheeseburgers!

Whilst we’re on the subject of haggis, we naturally were looking at a wine match that we might not have thought of and naturally had a chat with you friend and mine, Google. They have an AI search now which suggested a selection of red wines much the same as we had thought of but then ended with: “You can also try a sweet dessert wine like Sauternes to cut through the fat of the haggis”. Clearly, I don’t want to incur the wrath of Hal, Grok or whatever the AI is called, but Sauternes, really? Just no!

Whilst talking foodstuffs it appears that Kemi Badenoch would like Lettuce Liz to shut up. We’re with you on this one Kemi!

So, we’re going to suggest we taste some wine this weekend that will be very tasty should you be enjoying an evening with a wee haggis beastie.

We’ll open the bidding with a glass of Troballa Garnatxa Blanca 2022 (£19.99), Costers del Segre, Spain which is just the right sort of weight and fruitiness to hang in there with the richness of a haggis if necessary, and will be an absolute wow with the Cullen skink starter, the right kettle of fish if you will!

Following on with the red waistcoat will be Le Voisin D’En Face Syrah (£16.49), Ardeche, France which is absolutely the right balance of fruit and juiciness to tame the wee beasty.

That’s it from us – we’ll be a bit late opening up on Tuesday 28th as we have yet another tasting to go to but we will be back before most of you realise we’re gone!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ve had an exciting week, travelling on the tube all the way to Camden to spend the day tasting a selection of potential new wines, some new vintage Burgundy and even a few spirits. There’ll be a few new things along the way in due course and we’ll be able to replace some of the Burgundy that you all drank over the tail end of last year.

In Parliament, it seems to have been similarly exciting with Tulip Siddiq resigning after becoming embroiled in her Aunt’s Bangladesh corruption scandal which is hardly a good look for the Corruption Minister. Also in Parliament, Met Police are investigating allegations of the drink spiking of a parliamentary researcher in the Strangers Bar on 7^th January. There are definitely some wrong’uns in politics, aren’t there?

Over the pond, we only have a few days to go before the installation of Trump 2.0. This new version has enjoyed a large upgrade of the surrounding tech but sadly no change has been made in integrity, truth or morality. He seems to have spent a large part of the last week badmouthing the firefighters trying to keep Los Angeles from burning to the ground. He might do well to consider a quote from a very old children’s programme: “I can’t think what Trumpton would do without its Fire Brigade”. Hardly a great way to start but I guess they knew what they were getting when they voted for him.

Back to wine though. Tasting a broad selection of wines side by side from the same villages and vintage is always a nice indicator of where we think the vintage is going. For 2023 Burgundy, we tasted in the region of 75 wines, a mixture of both reds and whites. We found the whites a little on the rich and fruity side and, unusually for us, found we preferred the reds. Wayne was also lucky enough to taste an alcohol free rosé from Provence however, judging by the look on his face, it’s not something that we’ll be budgeting for this summer!

Which bring us on to our world beating January Sale. It might be the best sale we’ve ever done, it’s a beautiful sale and from our standpoint, certainly has the same mechanic as our previous sales.

It’s quite simple: come to the shop, choose six bottles of wine and we’ll give you a discount of 16.66%. That’s the mathematical equivalent (to two decimal places) of paying for only five bottles. The wine doesn’t even have to be all the same, you can choose six entirely different bottles and we’ll still give you a discount. A mixable six for five!

So, step right up, form an orderly queue and feel free to ask questions.

Talking of forming an orderly queue, this weekend we’ll open some tariff beating wines. We’ll start off in the white corner with De Loach Russian River Chardonnay (£30.99) from the cool climate of Russian River this is a cracking Californian white wine with tropical and citrus character and a lovely touch of vanilla spice.

The red corner is a populated this week by a rather delicious Lalande de Pomerol that is Fleur de Bouard (£39). From the same folks that make Chateau d’Angelus this is a medium to full bodied red with a lovely voluptuous palate and dark cherry and berry fruit notes, polished silky tannins and a touch of mocha spice to finish.

To end with a smile, Donald Trump once stated: “I judge people based on their capability, honesty, and merit.”

Fellow Wine Lovers,

• Babe, I love you so, I want you to know…
• That I’m gonna miss your love, the minute you walk out that door
• So please don’t go – don’t go – don’t go away
• Please don’t go – don’t go – I’m begging you to stay

Wise words, written by KC & the Sunshine Band in 1979, covered by KWS in 1992 and sung by wine merchants all over the country this week, these are sentiments that straddle the generations.  Welcome to January 2025.

A quick admin note though, before we get stuck in – as often happens in January, there are tastings galore.  As a result, we will be closed all day on Tuesday 14^th January to attend some important ones – apologies, we will be open on Monday and Wednesday onwards…

Back to it now.

And it’s been a brutal start to the year.  The Trump caravan has wobbled into town and the attendant nuttiness has perhaps set a benchmark for the months to come.  If a man can actively suggest that Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal should now be part of the USA then I fear we can project what his thoughts might be regarding Ukraine becoming part of Russia.  Meanwhile his current crush, Mr Musk, famous for dabbling in marijuana and ketamine, has clearly had his doors of perception opened so wide that he has time travelled more than 10 years back in time and has concluded that an individual, whose career has focused on fighting for women and victims of sexual violence, is in fact a witch and should be in prison.  Welcome to January 2025.

And it’s cold.  Whilst we live in a London bubble, even here we have seen the mercury touch below zero and rumour has it snowflakes have been spotted, sporadically.  Around the country the news is less appealing and doesn’t seem to be getting better.  Flooding in York, snow and ice chaos in Devon whilst Northumberland looks like a lunar landscape – welcome to January 2025.

Which all begs the obvious question, what on earth would possess anyone to welcome a ‘dry’ January?

Just to add to all this mirth, a quick look ahead to what is going to happen on February 1^st.  Currently, the duty on wines between 11.5% and 14.5% has been set at a standard rate.  However, in February, new duty rates will come in to force, meaning a rise in price on most wines, since the new rates will now be on a sliding scale with duty dependent on alcohol content – effectively every 0.1% ABV will be subject to a different tariff.  Thankfully, the ABV for most wine in the UK increases in 0.5% jumps, so that is a small mercy.  To cut to the chase, every wine over 12% will go up in price with the hardest hit being those at 14.5% where a bottle will immediately cost 65 pence more when we buy them! 

Perhaps it might be worth buying a few bottles before the end of the month which segues quite nicely into my next paragraph…

JANUARY SPECIAL OFFER – SIX BOTTLES FOR THE PRICE OF FIVE

Some of you may find this offer familiar, as indeed you should.  This is our annual kick-start the year/make money to pay the VAT bill/encourage people across the threshold strategy which we have done every year since 2011 – and it works for us and hopefully it works for you too!

16.666% OFF SIX BOTTLES is another way of putting it, for those that are good at mental arithmetic.

Either way, the offer goes on until 31^st January and applies to most of the wines in the shop – in fact, we’ve attached a current wine list, should you fancy a perusal.

Whilst we’re talking attachments, we’ve also attached the notes for this month’s WINE CLUB wines.  For those of you that don’t know, each month we select 6 wines for £75 and 6 wines for £100 that we think you might like.  The way the club works is simple – give us your email address and at the start of each month we’ll send you the notes and you can decide whether they tickle your fancy.  Should you be tickled, you just need to respond affirmatively and we’ll deliver them to you at a mutually convenient time.  There are no strings or fees, just the cost of the wines, so you can dip in and out at will.  It’s very simple, just let us know if you fancy joining in…

This month the £75 case includes:

• Cave de Turckheim Riesling 2021, Alsace, France
• De Wetshof Bon Vallon Chardonnay 2023, Robertson, South Africa
• Orovela Cuvée Chandrebi 2007, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia
• Cantine Povero Barbera D’Asti ‘Dianae’ 2023, Piemonte, Italy
• Famiglia Bianchi Malbec 2022, Mendoza, Argentina
• Palacio del Camino Real Reserva 2017, Rioja, Spain

Whilst the £100 case contains:

• Domaine Jouan Menetou Salon 2023, Loire, France
• Max Ferd. Richter ‘Zeppelin’ Riesling 2023, Mülheimer Sonnenlay, Mosel, Germany
• Meerlust Chardonnay 2023, Stellenbosch, South Africa
• Chateau de Paraza ‘Cuvée Spéciale’ 2020, Minervois, France
• Finca Bacara ‘Time Waits For No One’ 2022, Jumilla, Spain
• ‘La Côte Sauvage’ Cairanne 2021, Rhône, France

To whet your whistles, this weekend we’ll be opening the orange wine from Georgia – Orovela Cuvée Chandrebi 2007 – £12.99 and then for the red, a new listing,Famiglia Bianchi Malbec 2022 – £14.99 which seems appropriate for the current climate!

That’s it from us; we’ll leave you with these last words:

• Don’t you, forget about me
• As you walk on by, will you call my name?
• As you walk on by, will you call my name?
• When you walk away, or will you walk away?

Over and Out.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Please do accept our sincerest apologies for interrupting you on a, checks notes, Tuesday. We thought we’d take this opportunity to say thank you for all your support, jokes, insults, ideas and purchases over the last year.

We’d like to wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025.

Should supplies be running low, we’ll be back to normal hours from Saturday 4^th January at Noon. Our traditional January sale of six bottles for the price of five will start then too.

Happy New Year, Buon Anno, Bonne Année, Feliz año nuevo, Feliz ano novo, Athbhliain faoi mhaise, Blwyddyn newydd dda, Gelukkig nieuwjaar, Frohes Neues Jahr, καλή χρονιά, Wszystkiego najlepszego w Nowym Roku, Gott nytt år, Godt nytår, Onnellista uutta vuotta, Gleðilegt nýtt ár, з новим роком.