Fellow Wine Lovers,
It’s been another tumultuous week in what has already been a tumultuous year.
Whilst many of us still come to terms with the reality that Bowie, Rickman, Corbett or Prince will never entertain us again, there has now been even more salt thrown into a very wounded and cornered 2016, with the revelation that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are getting divorced.
It’s like a ‘where were you when Kennedy was shot?’ scenario, as all of us will have the time that we first read it on TMZ (7:28 AM PDT on 20/09/2016 or 3:28 PM London time, roughly) etched into our memories for all eternity. Sad days, I’m sure you’ll agree.
As so often happens with events of such magnitude, whilst the main news focuses around the principal protagonists and the world and his dog give ill-informed opinions about people they have never met, it is the rippling shockwaves that are fascinating to observe and less reported.
Here is a quick round up of events since Tuesday afternoon that have sent us reeling and definitely have only happened as a result of this split:
- Mary Berry quits The Great British Bake Off, citing loyalty as a key factor
- At Madison Square Garden, Adele performs ‘two hours of misery’ for ‘the elephant in the room’ which is not a terribly nice way to refer to your audience
- Mark Zuckerberg pledges $3 billion to cure everything, forever
- Majestic Wines issued a significant profit warning, possibly from nerves at the stack of magnums of Miraval Rose they still have to shift
- Lionel Messi suffers a ‘groin strain’ and needs at least three weeks to recover from everything that has happened
- Ditto Harry Kane, although he may need longer to get over it all
- MI6 to recruit 1,000 new staff – it seems Mr & Mrs Smith have left the building
- Fancy Bears release files stating they have no files relating to Mr Pitt using a TUE
- Donald Trump offends a vast number of people – although we’re not completely sure this has anything to do with Jolie-Pitt
- Park Vintners Sparkling Wine & Champagne Tasting on Thursday 1st December quickly sells out
- Ditto Wine & Cheese Tastings on Thursday 10th November/7th December
- Whisky tasting also gaining momentum
- The weather got colder and it got darker earlier…
So, now you know. On the upside, and Majestic can take succour from this too, we still have a little of the Miraval Côtes de Provence Rose 2015, retailing at £20.99. Not bad for a piece of history, the last vintage that Brad and Angelina crushed together!
Otherwise, little else to report.
However, we would love for you to give us your vote in the Time Out Love London Awards.
Last year, we were lucky enough to win as your favourite shop in Wimbledon. We’d really like to win again, so if we could persuade you to nominate us on this link we’d be really grateful.
http://www.timeout.com/london/lovelondonawards#/nominate/wimbledon/shops
As hinted at earlier, our tasting calendar is getting booked up, the list of upcoming events being:
Thursday 6th October at 8pm – £20 per person
WINE & CHEESE TASTING
Pretty self-explanatory, we think…
Thursday 10th November at 8pm – £20 per person
WINE & CHEESE TASTING
As above!
SOLD OUT
Wednesday 23rd November at 8pm – £20 per person
WHISKY MASTERCLASS
Our first ever whisky tasting. Ed will be the talent, taking us on a virtual tour of Scotland by the power of whisky!
I saw Ed yesterday, as he dropped off some Hibiki Harmony Japanese Whisky, and we firmed up a bit our selection for the night. Without giving too much away, we will have something from Arran, something Macallan, something from the lower Highlands, an Islay, and a couple of other things. It’s all about doing a bit of a tour of the regions and styles with a few different age statements in there. I have to say, when he left, I was a bit sad that I’ve got to wait until the end of November for this!
Thursday 1st December at 8pm – £30 per person
SPARKLING WINE & CHAMPAGNE TASTING
Bubbly on the first day of Christmas, that’s what my truelove should send to me, not some random partridge gift…
SOLD OUT
Wednesday 7th December at 8pm – £20 per person
CHRISTMAS WINE & CHEESE TASTING
We’ll be reviewing our year in cheese and wine and make a selection worthy of a Christmas cheeseboard. Will Stilton be there? Port? Stinking Bishop? Who knows…?
SOLD OUT
However, if your tasting needs are more immediate, why not come and taste the wines I’ve got open for tonight and tomorrow?
The white is going to be a wine that we sell over and over again but never seem to use on tastings. It’s our best selling white burgundy and we call it Macon Charnay Réserve Personnelle 2015, Burgundy, France – £11.99. Charnay is one of the smallest of the Macon Villages, also renowned as one of the best. This wine, made by Samantha Bailey, a British winemaker, has enticing orchard fruit aromas (nectarine or Cox’s apple maybe) and a ripe, textured and full citrusy palate with a lingering finish.
Representing red interests will be another top seller that rarely takes its cork out in the shop, The Crusher Pinot Noir 2014, Clarksburg, California, USA – £14.49
“Bone Crusher, spine crusher, ball crusher – I don’t care which part of my body it crushes but these are just the kind of wines we want at our show. The audience love them!”
Oz Clarke, Three Wine Men
Not sure how to follow that… this is definitely one of those wines everyone tells their friends to buy. We liked it when we bought it but it’s taken on a life of its own now!
And that’s it from us for this week. Come and taste some wine, taste a few spirits if you fancy, sign up for a tasting or just pop in for a chat about how your life will never be the same again, post-brangelina (with a small b now…)