Fellow Wine Lovers,
All varieties of hell are about to break loose, from all directions.
In no particular order: Wimbledon Park Primary School holidays start today, the Border Agency is going on strike on the eve of the Olympics, we’re about to thump the Saffa’s in the cricket and Bradley is owning the Maillot Jaune.
On the weather front, and I quote the BBC here, there is cause for cautious optimism as the predictions for next week seem to promise unsettled weather focused towards the North, which will result in drier, more settled conditions in the south with some brighter, warmer weather.
Looks like Lord Coe might just get away with it.
Perhaps the least astonishing news followed the investigation into the performance-enhancing claims of some popular sports products that found “a striking lack of evidence” to back them up.
A team at Oxford University examined 431 claims in 104 sport product adverts and found a “worrying” lack of high-quality research, calling for better studies to help inform consumers.
All this from the Oxford University Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine.
A specialist team from Park Vintners, investigating similar claims relating to wine, can confirm that a chilled glass of white wine enhances any sunny afternoon whilst a decent glass of red will always improve a steak.
Eat that, Nike…
Before you go…
Now I appreciate many of you will be escaping to distant beaches and far flung hotspots over the next six weeks but, before you go, can we just fast-forward to September.
After a couple of months of going home early on Wednesday evenings, Wayne and I have decided that watching CSI and getting an early night are massively over-rated.
So we will be re-starting our 6 week wine course in September, Wednesday September 19th to be exact.
A quick recap for those of you that haven’t had the pleasure:
This is a course that takes place over 6 consecutive weeks with the aim of demystifying the world of wine.
Pitched at the keen amateur, we spend week 1 learning the basics of wine tasting and appreciation, weeks 2-3 are spent investigating white grape varietals, weeks 4-5 we focus on the red grapes, and then for week 6 we concentrate on sparkling wines and Champagne.
Throw in a bit of sweet wine, some rose, a few wine faults, printed handouts and a minimum of 8 wines tasted each week and you have a fantastic little course. Well, we think so anyway…
Clearly we’re not organised enough to do follow up sheets at the end of the course, but, if we did, we hope they would say things like:
‘Awesome and eye opening’,
‘6 great weeks, I wish it had gone on longer’,
‘Fun and informative’
‘Wayne’s knowledge is encyclopaedic and his jokes are timeless!’
Perhaps.
Anyway, if this appeals to you, we have attached a sensible flier to this email with more accurate information – but in a nutshell it starts Wednesday 19th September for 6 weeks, it costs £150 per person. We take a maximum of 12 people per course and it’s fun, yet educational!
Pitch over.
Weekend Wine tasting.
We’re both here this weekend for the first time in a few weeks, and we’ve both had our eye on a couple of wines we want to taste together.
From Portugal, we’ll be quaffing a white, Afros Vinho Verde 2010 £13.89.
Now, both of us really enjoy Vinho Verde and this one has lovely green apple notes on the nose with hints of lees minerality, whilst on the palate we find delicious green fruits and a lovely long finish. It’s ‘in conversion’ to organic practices and frankly I’m thoroughly looking forward to it and am more than happy to taste it more than once over the weekend!
An old favourite on the red side, Maison des Bulliats Regnie 2010 £9.99.
The owners have a London base in Southfields, when they’re not crushing grapes or sticking on labels in Beaujolais, and we have been selling their delicious wine for about 5 years now. Classic Gamay fruit, soft tannins and good length, this was selected by Jancis Robinson as one of the best 2010 Beaujolais.
As an added treat, we have a sample of their 2011 vintage to try as well, so we can compare the vintage similarities and differences.
That’s it from HQ, not much else to report: check your diaries for the wine course and enjoy the sunshine!