The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It’s a funny old world; one or two people have mentioned to us that it is a bit on the warm side, weather-wise. We have even heard the word “Scorchio” uttered on several occasions.  Ten years ago, we were saying that it was “less than seven months to Christmas.  Not had a day this year nice enough to wear shorts for the duration.  Yet to sit outside the pub for longer than twenty minutes before admitting defeat.  That sun cream purchase seems a bit premature.  Watching cricket last Saturday wearing a beanie and two coats, sitting on the bonnet of the car to steal the engine warmth.”

It would appear the weather can be a movable feast and we have a tendency to grumble about it. Personally, I’m rather enjoying the sunshine and heat.

We spent much of yesterday trying to install a new credit card reader to our tilling system. The pictogram they sent us wasn’t a lot of help, it included two different leads only one of which we had. Then it turned out the option we used to connect it was all wrong, so we then had to get another lead and plug it in slightly differently. Finally, after around four hours of slightly blue language and irate calls to “HELP” desks, we got it working.

Frankly, I fail to understand what this obsession with continually changing connections to connect tech to other tech is all about, surely it’s just an upgrade and should be plug and play! I have a drawer full of unused brand new wires at home for connecting forgotten stuff to stuff, and it occurs to me what an incredible waste of resources that is. Imagine if every house had a drawer like that. Oh, wait a minute…

This week we saw a news headline that made us stop in our tracks: “Wine industry searches for answers as US alcohol sales slide”. We have no clue why the world may have hit the pause button on American booze. It couldn’t be that the President badmouthed Canadians resulting in US products being pulled from shelves? We’re sure it’s not the imposition of tariffs that turned people away and definitely not insulting a selection of world leaders or starting wars without a particular aim. No, we’re sure the blame, as ever, must lay elsewhere, ideas on a postcard please.  

IMPORTANT

NEXT FRIDAY, 5^TH JUNE, WE FIND OURSELVES IN A BIT OF A PICKLE AND AS A RESULT WE WILL NEED  TO CLOSE AT 4PM.

AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, WE’RE REALLY SORRY ABOUT THIS, LET’S MAKE THURSDAY THE NEW FRIDAY!

Tasting this weekend

Given the spell of weather we started off discussing, we’re going to open two Greek wines from the Lyrarakis Family winery in Crete.  “Lyrarakis” is the family name of brothers Manolis and Sotiris, who established the winery in 1966. Today, Lyrarakis Wines is run by the second-generation winemakers, supported by an extended family of skilled professionals. They transitioned to organic viticulture in 2020 and a significant percentage of their cooperating farmers managed to do the same. 

As part of a regenerative approach, they have stopped ploughing the ground and only use their own fertilizer made of organic waste from the kitchen, the winemaking process, and local olive oil mills. Adapting to climate change, they have also been moving to higher altitudes and changing the way the vines are trained.

We shall be opening…

In the white speedos – Lyrarakis Assyrtiko 2024 – £19.99 whose style focuses on pure varietal character, precision and supple texture. Grown at 580 metres altitude in the Vóila vineyard, there is a definite floral character, refreshing minerality and chalky texture to this delicious wine that marries well with all forms of seafood, as you might expect from a producer surrounded by sea!

In the red speedos – Lyrarakis Kotsifali 2022 – £19.99. Kotsifali is indisputably a classic of the vineyards of Crete offering spicy red fruits, an elegant mouthfeel and a piquant aftertaste that makes it a deliciously fresh drop, not too weighty and seriously good with lamb kleftiko or a bit of fried saganaki.

Lastly, the other thing we saw on our ten years ago missive was a Wall Street Journal article that suggested people are happy when they have a drink together.

We’ll drink to that!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Funny how the calendar works out sometimes, we’re about to have another Bank Holiday weekend when it’s not even 3 weeks since the last one finished and, potentially, we will have back-to-back scorchers too – vive le réchauffement planétaire!

In the turbulent world of Westminster, the Chancellor has announced a tax cut on family fun this summer of sun.   This will apply for children and family tickets for cinemas, theatres, exhibitions, concerts and shows whilst the reduced rate applies to admission tickets, including adults, for: amusement parks and fairs, including water parks and theme parks (excluding pay-per-ride attractions), circuses, adventure parks, including outdoor adventure centres, museums and similar cultural facilities, including planetariums, heritage sites, nature reserves and botanical gardens, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks and farm visitor attractions, soft play centres, indoor bounce parks and indoor play facilities, observation attractions, including viewing platforms, towers and observation wheels – something for everyone in there, providing it’s not raining.  Buses will be free for under 16’s and swimming pools will remain VAT free.  If you’re hungry, I suggest you order two plates of nuggets from the kid’s menu rather than one from the main listing, as this too will be VAT reduced.  It’s a long old list but is it enough – we’ll see, just as we’ll see which food and drink items make up the 100 to have agrifood tariffs suspended – hopefully alcoholic grape juice makes the cut!

Meanwhile, as we learnt earlier this month, two pubs closed every day in the first quarter of 2026, with the ‘sheer weight’ of tax rises being chiefly to blame.

There must be happier things to report on though, perhaps sport will offer salvation?

Arsenal won the Premier League on Tuesday without kicking a ball, chapeau, they didn’t bottle it despite making every effort to do so.  On Wednesday, Aston Villa won in Europe, which guarantees them CL football next season and, if Liverpool win and they lose on Sunday, then we’ll have 6 teams in the top European competition!  Imagine then, if Palace were to win next week, we’ll have the best part of half the Premier League booking flights to cities they’ve never heard of come September.  Meanwhile, to add to Arsenal fans excitement, Tottenham lost to a team that has been unable to win in the league since March 4^th and now face a fraught Sunday afternoon that relies on Everton, Leeds and West Ham following the correct script… think I’ll watch the Vitality Blast instead.

In real sport, men on bikes are still ploughing their way around Italy, Jonas Vingegaard seems to be keeping his powder dry, happily coasting in second place, whilst the mischief makers amongst you have been querying whether a bike race without Tadej P is a bit like a tennis competition without Carlos A – not quite what the punters are paying for?  We have no comment.

Back in the shop, with a warm weekend in the offing, we thought we’d taste some rosé again this weekend.  Many of you enjoyed the Eden we showed a couple of weeks ago, so we thought we’d open its sister wine, Marie, today.

To remind you – Château Saint-Pierre Marie Rosé 2025 – £16.99 is named after the family matriarch and is made from a classic blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, grown on limestone and clay soils that help retain freshness and aromatic lift.  Floral and fruity, it’s packed with aromas of white peach, melon and blossom. Quite full in the mouth, with delicate raspberry notes and crisp minerality on the finish.

For the red, as I suspect the barbecue might be lit a couple of times, we’ll be opening a wine that will absolutely hit the spot.  Wines from the USA are currently a little less popular than they used to be (perhaps due to a certain ‘politician’, who knows?) anyway this wine was made in 2021, when Biden was on the throne, plus it was founded in the late 1990s by Swiss entrepreneur Hans Nef, so it’s all okay…

Vina Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 – £30 is mainly Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with a small addition of Petit Verdot.  The wine is aged for 20 months in a combination of French and American oak.  This gives us a rich and opulent wine, very balanced and reminiscent of the warm California sun!  Powerful aromas of dark fruits, cocoa, violet, coffee, and toasted oak lead to a full-bodied palate with ripe tannins – perfect with a rich barbecue!

That’s probably it from us, enjoy the weekend, we’ll be closed on Monday as it’s the Bank Holiday and back here, filled with all the vim and vigour available, on Tuesday.

À bientôt!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Welcome to Friday, how has your week been? We’ve been through sunshine, rain, thunder, hail – and that was just riding between Balham and here on Wednesday. Let’s not get too excited about blaming climate change though, since ancient times the period between 11^th -15^th May has been well known for its cold spells. The feast days of Saints Mamertus, Pancras, Servatius, Boniface, and Sophia, known as the Ice Saints, all fall in this period and this meteorological phenomenon is known to bring the last nightly frosts of spring, often damaging crops.

In China, Donald has been to check out a selection of ballrooms, beg Xi for some help with the mess he has got himself into in the Middle East, and to ask him to put the price of Chinese cars up because it’s making American cars look bad!

Over here, we have moved to that part of the political cycle where we take the lock off the revolving door and start spinning through contenders for the top job. The main thing to avoid on your CV is the name Kier Starmer.  Apparently, we’re not looking at a quick change candidate as PM but a discussion and an exchange of ideas. Now, call me old fashioned but I thought the entire problem was caused by a lack of ideas. Either way we suspect the Prince of Darkness will finish him off when the final documents are released next week.

We thought this government were elected specifically to move away from keep changing the mask on the dummy in No.10 but perhaps we read the wrong newspaper.

We wondered if we shouldn’t just launch a consultation to see if it can be proven that changing the PM every 20 months actually benefits the country or not? There are currently thousands of consultations running, each one using the time and expertise of a ridiculous number of civil servants and MPs. Is the best use of taxpayer’s funds? We’re going to launch a consultation into why we can’t have 25˚C sunny days from now until October with a rain every other night between 3.30 and 6.00am. Seriously though, don’t we elect politicians to get on and do things?

On that note, Reform Councillors in Doncaster have got right to the heart of the problem facing all their constituents suggesting that the council forms a panel to investigate UFO sighting over the skies of Doncaster. That’s taking border control further than anyone else.

Meanwhile, that no strings attached £5 million gift from a crypto billionaire to wee Nige is now being investigated. He claimed it was for his security, that same security that a lack of prevents him from holding constituency surgeries in Clacton. Then he claimed it was a reward for Brexit. Strangely, he paid £1.4 million in cash for a house shortly after receiving said no strings attached gift. I wonder if that’s a coincidence.

In sports news, the PGA Championship has started while the FA Cup sees Chelsea and Manchester City face off at Wembley with both hoping to rescue something from a troubling season. In real sports, the Giro d’Italia is providing its usual drama and excitement.

Which brings us nicely onto wine. The Bordeaux En Primeur campaign seems to be drifting on, apparently without much enthusiasm; this week saw chat about vintage port but here in the shop saw us chatting about Tuscany as Alex has just spent a few days visiting some suppliers.

Tasting This Weekend

We’ll go with the Giro d’Italia’s drama this weekend, starting off in Piemonte for Folli e Benato Gavi 2025, Piemonte, Italy (£17.99). Folli & Benato are long-standing friends and colleagues for over 20 years.  Italian born and bred, they met whilst living in England, working in the drinks trade.  This wine comes from Cortese grapes grown on 30 year old vines that are fermented in stainless steel tanks and then aged on the lees for three months.  It’s delicious with a medium bodied palate with a mineral core and stone fruit notes and would be just the ticket with a creamy smoked salmon and pea pasta.

Then we’ll whizz down to Tuscany to where Alex has been hanging out for a few days and get a sample of Fattoria di Calappiano ‘Vinciano’ Chianti Riserva 2022, Tuscany, Italy (£22.49). Fattoria di Calappiano was founded by the Medici in the 1500’s but this wine is a little younger. Mostly Sangiovese with a splash of Canaiolo it has that lovely dark cherry fruit we’d all expect, fine tannins and herb and smoke notes adding complexity. Medium bodied with a juicy finish, Alex is going for a Bistecca alla Fiorentina as a partner, Wayne is suggesting a pork ragù (or wild boar if you can get some), what are you having with yours?

The cork recycling is taking off nicely, feel free to bring your natural corks and pop them in the receptacle.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Before we get started, an important piece of admin:

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, next Monday, 11^th May, the shop will be closed all day.  Hopefully this will not disrupt your week too much and we will be sure to be open as usual Tuesday onwards.  Thank you for your understanding.

I wonder, can you remember what you were doing on this day, 100 years ago?  I acknowledge that it’s a little while ago and many Hepple & Tonic’s have passed your lips since then, so here’s a few memory joggers: swashbuckling United Artists founder, Douglas Fairbank, was appearing in the premier of the first colour feature film, The Black Pirate; the Belgians amongst you will also recall that Prosper Poullet, your Prime Minister, announced his resignation; meanwhile, the mighty Wigan defeated Warrington 22–10 to win the Northern Rugby Football League championship and, in the midst of all this excitement, somewhere beneath the as yet undiscovered Heathrow flightpath, a truly remarkable event was taking place: a baby David Frederick Attenborough was being born, only the second of three male Attenborough to be born in captivity in this area!

There are many great quotes attributed to the century old Sir but one favourite is:

“Do we really require so many gardening programmes, makeover programmes or celebrity chefs?”  – having said this in May 2008, I suspect his mood hasn’t improved.

And one for Wayne: “If I can bicycle, I bicycle.” – chapeau, 100 times over!

Other world news seems to be following its familiar Groundhog Day pattern, so we’ll swerve that as a topic of conversation.  The local elections have also taken place but I’m fairly sure there is enough analysis going on already in articles written by people more qualified and more well-paid for their opinions… however, we would like to offer congratulations one of our customers who was successfully elected to the council, drinks all round!

In real sports, the Giro d’Italia starts today and for the first 3 days will be travelling around Bulgaria, of course.  In ball sports, Arsenal are in the Champions League Final, Aston Villa are in the Europa League Final and Crystal Palace are in the Conference League Final, which is an extraordinary achievement.  Meanwhile, in running sports, over 1.3 million runners applied for the London Marathon Ballot, a new record.  If you consider that, in 2014, 169,000 people applied and in 2003, 111,000 people then really it seems we’re turning into a nation of athletes!?

In wine news, we have a new celebrity rosé launch to celebrate… Jessica Ennis-Hill has launched a premium de-alcoholised Provence rosé, weighing in at mid-weight 7% ABV.  It’s called Seven Summers, a reference to the alcohol level and also supposedly to the fact that Jess competed in 7 events in the Heptathlon.  Feels a bit tenuous, it could just as easily relate to there being 7 days in a week, 7 seas, 7 deadly sins, 7 continents, 7 dwarves, 7 colours in the rainbow, 7 hills of Rome, 7 wonders of the world and Seven Samurai – whatever you fancy, it’s bound to be in a supermarket near you soon but not in Park Vintners, sorry.

Speaking of Rosé, the responsibility for the change to cooler weather can be blamed entirely on us, since one of our shipments of the pink wine landed in the shop this week.  We’ve listed two new wines from Château Saint-Pierre in Provence, so hopefully the sun returns soon.

The Saint-Pierre 50 hectare domaine is a family-owned estate near the village of Les Arcs, in the heart of Provence.  The château dates back to the 11th century but the current winemaking family, the Dou family, have built a reputation for crafting beautifully precise rosés with a focus on freshness, balance and expression of the Provençal terroir.  Key to the excellence of their wines is the respect they have for the land they are cultivating and as a consequence they have transitioned to organic farming, promoting a sustainable and soil-friendly approach with no use of chemical herbicides, carefully managed cover crops and selective harvesting.

Château Saint-Pierre Marie Rosé 2025 – £16.99

Cuvée Marie is named after the family matriarch and is made from a classic blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, grown on limestone and clay soils that help retain freshness and aromatic lift.  Floral and fruity, it’s packed with aromas of white peach, melon and blossom. Quite full in the mouth, with delicate raspberry notes and crisp minerality on the finish.

Château Saint-Pierre Eden Rosé 2025 – £18.99

This one comes in a very distinctive ribbed bottle that certainly looks the part!  Pale peach in colour, the nose is perfumed and lively, showing distinctive aromas of marshmallow alongside bright, tangy fruit.  The palate is subtle and harmonious, with a clean, fruity attack and a fresh, balanced finish.  Fuller bodied and serious than the Marie, this is definitely competition for Château de L’Aumerade!

In fact, we’ll put the Eden on tasting this weekend, so you can see for yourselves and for the red we’ll open the recently returned Bodegas Resalte de Penafiel Lecco Crianza 2021 – £22.99.  This disappeared from our shelves almost two years ago when our supplier stopped importing it – so, as you can imagine, we were very excited when it turned up with another of our accounts!  Still 100% Tempranillo, still from 30-year-old vines, still aged for 14 months in a mix of 70% French and 30% American oak.  A complex and rich wine with a medium body, dark red fruit character, a touch of coffee and touches of spice into the long, lingering finish – welcome back, old friend!

And with that, we’ll leave you, with just one last update: for those who have been asking, the Hochar wine from Château Musar is now back in stock, form an orderly queue!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well, this week seems to have been about oil. The price of Brent Crude has topped the high from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. One of Russia’s main refineries on the Black Sea has been burning for most of the week, United Arab Emirates have withdrawn from OPEC, BP has made some profits and Trump has decided that the Strait of Hormuz blockade could last for months.

The other consequence of all this oil market disruption could quite possibly be the demise of LIV golf. The Saudi’s have withdrawn their funding from the end of the season and these correspondents are struggling to imagine who will step in to fund the billions of dollars budget. Brooks Koepka’s switch back to the PGA is starting to look quite astute now, isn’t it?

Back to oil, in proper sports the two teams with the most wins so far this year are UAE Team Emirates XRG with 23 by ten different riders and INEOS Grenadiers using eight riders to achieve 18 wins. INEOS Grenadiers have continued their policy of marginal gains, this week teaming up with Netcompany in a bid to enhance their performance using AI. They will now be Netcompany-INEOS Cycling Team but it’s unclear if they’ll be able to produce an authentic photo of your granny getting a saddler from Filippo Ganna.

Also this week, the King has been banqueting in a different neighbourhood, enjoying the hospitality of the White House and risking the embarrassment of Donald Trump dozing off in his Happy Meal. It certainly amused this observer that a direct descendant of George III stood on American soil reminding people of the needs for checks and balances on power.

Whilst we talk about checks on power, it would appear that big Nige received a ‘gift’ of £5 million, just before he decided to run for parliament. There is some furore about whether it was declared to the correct authorities but we couldn’t help but wonder if that is missing the point. This particular ‘gift’ brings this donor gentleman’s largesse up to something approaching £9 million. What does this Asia based billionaire want in return for his £9 million? If there really are people giving away millions of pounds, with no strings attached, we’ll happily put a suit on, spill beer down our tie and stand outside a pub in Downe on a Sunday afternoon. We might even visit Clacton.

In wine news, the M4 was closed for around six hours earlier this week, after an accident that saw cases of prosecco smashed across the carriageway. Those merger talks we mentioned between Pernod Ricard and Brown Forman the other week have been called off as apparently they were unable to agree on almost anything even on being based in Paris or Kentucky. That said, both companies remain fully focused on delivering sustainable long term value for stakeholders, which sounds just like why they said they would investigate a merger in the first place.

Monday Monday

We will be closed on Monday 4^th May for the Bank Holiday.

Unfortunately, we will also be closed on Monday 11^th May due to circumstances beyond our control.

Tasting This Weekend

We thought we’d show a couple of newbies off this weekend. Wearing the white jersey will be Campo Fiorito Chardonnay 2024 (£14.99). Hailing from a 5 hectare, north-east facing plot in the Monferrato hills of Piemonte that was planted in 1998. It’s a decent sort, crisp with stonefruit character, a touch of creamy oak and a lovely fresh zestiness to the finish. How about a crab and avocado salad as a partner?

With the red jersey we shall swan off to Margaret River whilst there’s still enough jet fuel. From there we will encounter Cape Mentelle Marri Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 (£20.49) named after the Marri tress that surround the vineyard protecting it from the winds. This is as good a Cabernet as we’ve come to expect from these folks with bright berry fruits, soft tannins a nice finish… come and tell us what you’ll pair it with.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Oh dear, oh Keir, oh dear, it’s lonely at the top isn’t it and the only way is down. 

Of course, we’re referring to his beloved Arsenal here but perhaps sport imitates life and vice versa.  In a vague attempt to extend this metaphor and twist the knife further in Tottenham fans wounds we scouted around for celebrity supporters of the relegated club – David Lammy and Iain Duncan Smith were considered possibilities as were Linda Lusardi and Sid Owen but once we discovered that Mr Incredible, the Headingley Hero, Benjamin Andrew Stokes is a fan, we realised that maybe sport could imitate sport.  All Tottenham need to do is mimic Stokesy’s greatest ever innings against Australia in 2019, rather than slavishly following the 2025 Ashes playbook, and if they do, they might just stay top flight.  Then we woke up to the sound of breaking metaphors.

As you can perhaps tell, we’ve had a decent amount of time on our hands this week.  Monday found Wayne in Arthur Road alone as Alex had been sent to Walthamstow to pretend to be a wine expert for the day – it would seem he can get away with this charade in E17 far more convincingly than in SW19, probably due to the beard – and was returned, later that evening, in one piece with 100 wines tasted and less tooth enamel than he had started the day with.  Tuesday was the first day of Tube strikes, which basically stalls much of our business, so plenty of gazing out of the window at an empty street whilst discussing the limited merits of Northeasterly winds.  Wednesday was hump day, the sun was out and the wind was up, much like Tuesday, just spelt differently.  Yesterday, Thursday was Tube strike day 2 and felt like Tuesday, except without the bitter wind.  And now it’s Friday, what an exciting week we have had!

Wednesday, in fact, had a bit more about it than I initially let on, because Wednesday saw the arrival of a new bin… but not just any bin, let me assure you. 

APCOR (the Portuguese Cork Association) provided us with this receptacle as a tool to encourage cork recycling because, they reminded me, cork is 100% natural, renewable, reusable and recyclable, harvested without harming the cork oak, which regenerates naturally.  Thanks to its lightweight, elastic and impermeable structure, cork remains durable and versatile even after use, meaning it can be recycled and transformed into new products.  However, lots of corks just get thrown away, which is a wasted resource, hence The UK Cork Harvest was born.  This is a London-wide initiative, focused in Independent Wine Merchants and one that we thought worth giving a go.  We are told that, once collected, the corks will be directed into recycling and reuse pathways, where they can be processed and transformed into new products.  Obviously, for this to have any chance of success, we need your corks – the bin is massive, it’s by the door, so you don’t even have to say hello to us if you don’t want to!

As mentioned, we’ve had some time on our hands, so were delighted to come across guinndex.co.uk which is a must-see website tracking the price of a pint of Guinness across the UK – if you have reservations about the point of AI, this is the website that will convince you!

In other booze news, we had a quick squizz at a Trends Report from NIQ that gives a snapshot of the top booze brands in the supermarkets and their ilk.  Things we picked out were: Yellowtail is the best-selling wine brand but the chicken wine brand, La Vieille Ferme, comes in second, with a value increase of 48.2% (Yellowtail was -4.75); Smirnoff was the best-selling spirits brand, worth almost double the second placed Baileys; finally, the world of RTD’s (Ready to Drink) is no longer dominated by Gordons & Tonic or Smirnoff Ice as the new kid on the block, BuzzBallz Cocktails, showed year on year growth of 2372%, or, in real terms, a increase of over £22 million from £929,591 to £22,979,120… and they tell us the kids aren’t drinking!

We won’t be opening any chicken wine on the tasting table this weekend, nor any Yellowtail, but we will be tipping our hats to St George, who had his day yesterday.

Casa de Vilacetinho Vinho Verde 2024 – £11.49 – Founded in 1790, these chaps are one of the oldest producers of Vinho Verde.  Avesso, Arinto, Azal and Loureiro are the grapes, grown on south facing granite slopes.  The wine is crisp and dry with lively, zingy, zesty citrus notes and a light spritz.  Perfect as an apéritif, with a picnic, or just as a sundowner in Durnsford Rec and, at only 11% alcohol, you can happily reach for that second glass!  St George has been a patron saint of Portugal since the 14^th century.

In Bulgaria, St. George is the patron saint of shepherds, farmers, and the army and he is celebrated on May 6^th with a public holiday.  In anticipation of this, we will open Domaine Bessa Valley Enira 2019 – £21.99 which is a blend of 42% Merlot, 36% Syrah, 12% Petit Verdot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 12 months in French Oak.   Lots of plum and forest fruits, a touch of cocoa and lovely silky tannins which makes sense when you learn that the estate is in the Count Stephan von Neipperg stable, owner of Canon La Gaffelière, Clos de L’Oratoire, La Mondotte and d’Aiguilhe in Bordeaux!

That’s it from us, instructions for this weekend: if you’re running the marathon, godspeed, it looks like it might be warm, so take a drink… special mention goes to one of you who considered the perfect taper for this weekend to be the Boston Marathon last weekend!  Other than that, enjoy the sunshine, stay out of the wind, don’t buy a Buzzballz and do bring us your corks!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I’m sure we’ve all read how reasonably priced the game tickets for the World Cup are, perhaps some of us have actually topped up the mortgage and applied for some. This week the news reached us that the normally $12.90 New Jersey Transit to Metlife Stadium will cost $100 for journeys during the FIFA Fan Fleecing Festival whilst in Boston, the Massachusetts transit authority has raised the bus price to Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium from $20 to $90. Given that on normal match days these transit systems already carry stadium filling crowds, we couldn’t help but wonder what extra services are being offered for the extra fee. Would there be full trolley service, a full selection of fine wines, maybe a meatball sub? Answers on a postcard…

We’ve been listening to a few political podcasts lately, in a vain bid to try and understand what’s afoot in the world. I don’t know about you but we couldn’t help but notice that Overton Windows are getting a lot of bang for their buck in the mentions! Other than that, we don’t feel we’ve learnt a lot other than that our world is mostly run by slightly crazy people!

Amazon MGM were talking this week at trade show CinemaCon. For a company that four years ago spent the best part of £7 billion to buy the rights to the world’s most famous movie franchise, they seemed quite reluctant to address the elephant in the room. Five years ago, Agent 007 was dying from poisoning on a small island hit by a missile strike and we’re desperate to find out how he wriggled out of that one but given they are asking for more time, clearly they don’t know how he wriggled out of it either! In short, we still have no idea who the new Bond is. We’re willing to wager it is neither of us, though we did wonder if Peter Mandelson might get the job as the baddie.

We’ve read a few articles this week that felt almost like April Fool stories. It started off with the Cancer Researcher trialling beer made with vaccinated yeast that triggers antibodies that may protect against bladder cancer. Then we moved swiftly on to footwear, as we discovered that footwear brand Allbirds plans to pivot from making sustainable comfortable footwear to ‘AI compute infrastructure’ and will also change its name to NewBird AI. This news sent the share price up 580%, which to us sounded a bit like a mania. We are changing our names to NewAlex AI and NewWayne AI in a bandwagon jumping hope to improve our fortunes quicker than a lottery ticket. For the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of transparency NewWayne AI is in no way connected with any company that manufactures petrol pumps.

In wine news, both Symington and Kopke have announced 2024 to be a declared vintage for port this week whilst in Bordeaux we start the ‘En Primeur’ campaign of one of the smallest vintages since the early 1990’s. The quality is apparently rather good but we would suggest caution and a ‘buyer beware’ approach as prices over the last five vintages have fallen from their release price by an average of around 15%. You may well get a cheaper opportunity once the wine is bottled.

We’ve got some new white wines in this week. Bischöfliche Weinguter Dom Riesling 2022 (£18.99) is a rather tasty off-dry style from Trier on the Mosel; De Jardins Gascogne 2024 (£12.99) is a medium-bodied, crisp, dry white from the talented Plaimont Co-operative in the south west of France.

We also welcomed onto our shelves Rippa Dorii Verdejo 2024 – £15.99 whichis a splendid example from Rueda an is organic to boot!  In fact, why don’t we open it this weekend so that you can all have a taste.  Its stablemate, Rippa Dorii Crianza 2022 – £17.99 is made 100% Tinta del Pais (Tempranillo) grapes from a number of different plots near Fuentecén, at 900m altitude in Ribera del Duero.  On the nose we have aromas of bramble fruit, vanilla, nutmeg and sweet spice whilst the palate is rich and complex with blueberry and blackberry fruit, ripe tannins and good length – lip-smackingly good.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well, Wednesday was nice, wasn’t it, and we know this thanks to The Daily Express who, for the first time this year, was able to use some of their favourite headlines: Met Office maps show 25 areas hotter than Ibiza as 26C scorcher hits Wednesday – full list (Tuesday 07/04/26) followed by Met Office names 33 hottest UK areas over next 3 days as 26C ‘mini heatwave’ hits (Wednesday 08/04/26) – Ibiza must be so embarrassed.  The Daily Mirror, not wishing to be outdone, told us: Met Office declares hottest day of year – but maps reveal snow just hours away – surprisingly, no comparisons with Ibiza here…

Given this coverage, it appears that Wednesday was a day without much noteworthy news from anywhere else experiencing high temperatures, like the middle east, for example.

In fairness, whilst we mock, there was a small patch in the back of our minds that went to bed on Tuesday night wondering if Trump was going to go nuclear.  The man who has been “blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!”, has promised that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” and has requested that they “Open the *$!?/#@ Strait, you crazy ba234rds, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”  Thankfully, the POTUS is a stable, reflective and moderate sort of chap, so a ceasefire was always part of his great masterplan.

So that’s the Straits of Hormuz re-opened, business as usual, time to move on, nothing to see here, to the victor the spoils, time to invade Greenland…

Back here in the UK, we’re coming to the end of another 4-day week and, when you have some nice weather in the middle of it, it’s easy to get distracted from the day-to-day stuff, which often means big events go unreported or at least get buried behind more pressing meteorological headlines. 

Thus, whilst breakfasting the other day, Wayne abruptly looked up from his copy of The Thunderer, simultaneously dropping his marmalade toast whilst splurting a mouthful of coffee over Alex’s hidden copy of Viz… ‘what the devil is this wickedness?’, he exclaimed, thrusting the freshly pressed broadsheet beneath his companion’s conk, who adjusted his glasses and proceeded to read the headline out loud: ‘Gentleman’s Relish fans hope for pot luck as production stopped’.  And he went on: “While we recognise that this Victorian relish has a niche and loyal following, it sadly does not have wider commercial appeal and, despite our best efforts, retailer distribution has dwindled. With Gentleman’s Relish no longer commercially viable and unable to secure a buyer for the brand, we regrettably stopped production earlier this year.”  Almost 200 years of Patum Peperium’s anchovy-based fun gone, just like that, without a word of goodbye… Marmite, you’ve got some big boots to fill!

Having recovered from this upset, the day continued without too much further ado.

Following on from the excitements of the Boat Race and Manchester City’s march towards the domestic treble this weekend sees us watching the Augusta Masters with one eye (Marco Penge e/w 80-1; Keegan Bradley e/w 150-1 10 places) with the other glancing towards the Grand National (Oscars Brother 14-1 e/w; Mr Vango 66-1 e/w).  The Women’s Six Nations will also gather our attention – hopefully England can do better here than the men did early this year.

And now to wine… this weekend we’ll be opening an old favourite and a new wine that Wayne discovered at a recent tasting.

Macia Batle Margalida Llompart 2023 – £26.49 – Bodegas Macià Batle has been making wines in Mallorca since 1856.  This one is a blend of Prensal Blanc, a local variety, and Chardonnay.  It is an almost translucent yellow colour with greenish reflections, with an intense bouquet of tropical fruit, peach, grapefruit, apple and fennel.  The palate is satisfying with ripe peach flavours and a creamy fleshiness that hangs around nicely!

The red is from Côtes Catalanes, right down near Perpignan.  Famille Lafage Côté Sud 2023 – £17.49 is a Grenache-Syrah blend from old vines grown in the foothills of the Pyrenees.  Open, lively black fruit, a toasted herby note with a touch of pepper and hint of spice.  Lovely and juicy in the mouth, a wine that you’ll quickly be pouring a second glass of and exactly what we like about reds from this neck of the woods… would it work with Scotch Woodcock?

Anyway, pop by and have a taste, have a chat and have a lovely weekend!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I was wondering whether to just start with hello ‘Out of Office’ reply but figured that, if we’re working, at least a couple of you may well be doing the same. To the rest of you, we’d like to say hello to Paris, Cardiff, Berlin, Salcombe, Totnes and Puerto Mogan – I’m sure there are some we’ve missed, so apologies. I will be visiting Earlsfield, Woolwich, Tooting and Streatham to catch up with a selection of chums, so safe travels to all!

We feel an honourable mention should go out to Tesco in Kirkwall, Orkney. Instead of ordering 380 kg of bananas they ordered 380 wholesale boxes, which is 38,000 bananas or about 7 tons! I guess if you pay peanuts you end up with bananas. To be fair to Tesco, all the excess has been shared out amongst the community’s schools on Orkney and neighbouring islands. It must be an Easter thing; two years ago, a shop on the nearby island of Sanday ordered 80 cases of Easter eggs instead of 80 eggs, an overstock of 640 chocolate treats! I can empathise since I’m not immune to pressing the wrong button myself and have been known to order the wrong wine before now.

Moving swiftly on, news reached us that NASA launched Artemis II last night. It is a manned test trip to the moon, doing just the one lap. I hope somebody has warned the Clangers, they’ll say they come in peace but it’ll turn out to be a quick in and out for the Soup Dragon’s resources. The last manned moon mission was in December 1972, much the same vintage as Wayne’s cultural reference.

On the booze news front, we hear that Pernod-Ricard and Brown-Forman are exploring the possibility of a merger. In a world shaken up by silly tariffs and a slower global market, the stock markets seemed to like the idea, with the prices of both companies rising on the news. Both companies still have large family shareholdings with the Ricard family on one hand and the Brown family on the other, which could seriously complicate matters. Would Jack Daniels and Jamieson make suitable stable fellows? We’ll keep you posted.

Easter Weekend

Today 02^nd April – Noon – 7PM

Good Friday 03^rd April – Noon – 5PM

Saturday 04^th April – Noon – 5PM

Easter Sunday 05^th April – CLOSED

Easter Monday 06^th April – CLOSED

Tuesday 07^th April – As you were – Noon – 7pm!

Tasting This Weekend

Given the time of year, we thought we’d select a red that might be quite tasty with a spot of roast lamb. We figured that the Greeks know a thing or two about roast lamb and, as luck would have it, we just happen to have a new Greek red arriving. We shall open a bottle of Voltes Red 2024 (£17.99) from our chums at Monemvasia Winery.

“The Voltes red is based on Agiorgitiko and Mavroudi – the same varieties George used to create Monemvasios, the winery’s flagship red, but rather than aiming for an ornate, oak-aged wine, Marialena and Anastasia wanted something young and fresh, opting for only a short maceration and vinification entirely in stainless steel.” JancisRobinson.com

Sporting the white bib and tucker will be Cave de Hunawihr Reserve Pinot Gris 2024 – £19.99

Grapes for this wine are from 30-year-old vines, grown on the south-facing slopes, at around 280m above sea level.  The wine is quite full-bodied with enticing peach and pear aromas whilst the palate is packed with stone fruits, as the nose suggested, a touch of spice and a lovely viscosity before the long, fresh, fruit-driven finish.  The perfect partner should curry be on the menu….

With that we’re off, a Happy Easter to all!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Oh, where to start?  How about talking about the weather, the richest seam of conversation available to dwellers of this fair isle.  It may be bright outside now but it won’t be later – welcome to Shivery Spring 2026, the sequel to Waterlogged Winter.  Wayne went off to play golf on Wednesday, wrapped up warm and ready for what the world could throw at him, or so he thought – 4 hours later he had experienced sunshine, thunder, rain, sunshine, sleet, sunshine, snow, grey clouds, sunshine and rain – most of which was on the front nine.  He has now declared that golf is no longer a hobby that he wants to have anything to do with and will be abandoning this ‘sport’ for others to ‘enjoy’ whilst he indulges in the pleasure of long-distance cycle rides coated in just a thin smear of Lycra and a triumphant smile because, apparently, this will be warmer!

Anyway, this is all just preamble before reminding you all that this Sunday, 29^th March, is the chronometric start of summer.  This means the clocks will leap forward by one hour at 1am in the morning, giving us all less time in bed but increasing our chances of sitting in the garden beyond 7pm.  We will then have 210 days of unbroken, wall-to-wall sunbeams until the 25^th October, when we’ll have to put long trousers back on and mothball the sun loungers – sounds good?

However, we still have a couple more days of winter to get through, so don’t get too enthusiastic.  Having said that, the number of people lighting barbecues last weekend slightly beggared belief and Rosé sales tripled what they had been the week before, which goes to show we should never underestimate the British ability to pretend it’s summer!

The world of wine continues to revolve despite attempts from all sides to knock it off kilter.  Good news comes from Wine GB who released their 2025 harvest report which was filled with positivity – a 39% harvest increase from 2024, possibly resulting from it being the earliest and ripest grape harvest “ever seen” in the UK has led them to predict that there should be some exceptional wines available in the near future and decent volumes of them too – very exciting!  The bad news came from the UK’s biggest high street wine merchant, Fortress Investment Group, owner of 200 shops around the country and employer of over 1,000 people has put its business up for sale.  More commonly known as Majestic, FIG have owned the company since 2019 and their overriding objective is to protect and grow their investors’ capital – apparently they don’t view multi-site wine retail as offering sufficient capital growth which is probably something that Wine Rack, Unwins, Oddbins and Thresher could have told them years ago.

News has just reached us that duty on fuel has been halved, with the Government saying the move is designed to shield consumers and businesses from rising global costs amid fears of a wider cost of living impact.  The change in legislation comes as governments elsewhere respond to the economic impact of the ongoing conflict involving Iran: ‘it is essential that we don’t bury our heads in the sand and believe that we operate in a bubble’, said the minister announcing this wise decision.  Have no fear though, this news comes from Gibraltar, our fuel prices will remain reassuringly high for as long as this not-forever war goes on.

Before you ask, we know that Nottingham Forest and Manchester City both won at the weekend, no further discussion required.  Quins get the coach down to Bristol this weekend but will likely be thumbing a lift back given their season.  Meanwhile, in cricket news, we both met Sir Ian Botham on Tuesday and tasted his latest range of wines which were actually very good, possibly coming to our shelves soon if terms can be agreed.

In the absence of Booze by Botham, we’ll be openings Wines chosen by Wayne this weekend and he has selected thus:

Kloovenburg Chardonnay 2024 – £20.99 is a delicious barrel fermented Chardonnay from Swartland in South Africa.  Crisp, fresh and elegant, with grapefruit and lime citrus notes, a hint of something a tad more tropical and then a lovely creamy textured finish.  It’s not Burgundy but it could be a nice alternative and certainly more wallet friendly.

Fattoria di Calappiano Vinciano Chianti Riserva 2022 – £22.49 which comes from an estate dating back to Medici Florence. Today it has more than 200 hectares of vines planted alongside woodlands and olive groves situated in this natural heritage site.  Predominantly Sangiovese, this has an appealing aromatic bouquet of soft red fruits following on to a mouth-watering palate filled with redcurrants, cherries and plums and that spicy finish that is so often associated with Chianti Classico.

Wines will be open on both Friday and Saturday so do pop by and join us in our ongoing discussion of just how cold that wind is!