Fellow Wine Lovers,
How have you all been faring this week? The sun’s been out and, whilst the tree blossom has looked lovely, it has made our eyes itch.
Medals
Alex has been exercising his palate judging in the first round of the International Wine Challenge. The report I had was that some were interesting, some not, and that 130 wines tasted blind is tiring and makes you want a beer.
Music
Elsewhere, we see Record Store day is almost upon us and Wayne noticed that Grace Jones Private Life 12” is getting a re-release. If you have a turntable, he recommends it for the terrific version of Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control” on the flipside. (errr, is this a wine newsletter?-Ed.)
Drinks
Thanks to all tasters for attending our ‘Pinot Round The World’ tasting last night. We think fun was had and the odd surprise discovery made – a burgundy producer making wine in Oregon beat all the ‘real’ Burgundies, according to our tasting panel, and a Pinot from Mornington Peninsula came second.
Politics
Despite having voted firmly against inclusion in the range many eons ago, Alex has had a bit of a conversion lately. Spotted leaving the building with a bottle of Portuguese wine under his arm, he strenuously denied it was a half-hearted attempt to join in with what everyone else on the team was drinking.
Sport
Wow, Barcelona… out! And Liverpool, doing another Istanbul….
Wine
In the wine world, the ‘En Primeur’ campaign for Bordeaux 2015 is about to kick off. It is, by all accounts, a great vintage; perhaps not as age-worthy as 2010 or 2005 but with the charm and elegance of 2000 or 1985. St. Emilion and Pomerol seem to have been particularly successful, with the southern Medoc showing a bit more power than the north, where they had a bit more rain to give some elegance. Given the public’s recent disenchantment with the entire process, it will be interesting to see how this year’s campaign plays out.
Tasting This Weekend
Given Alex’s recent conversion (though he’s not recanting any previous comments), we thought we’d put on the Luis Pato Maria Gomes 2014 (£11.99) in the white corner, representing Portugal.
Red-wise, we’ll be pouring a drop of the Calusari Pinot Noir (£8.69), from our chaps in Romania, the great value opener at last night’s shenanigans.
That’s all folks!