The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

To recap then:

Coldplay did not finish with Clocks.

Slovakia has gone home and, remarkably, it will be England to face Switzerland on Saturday.

Sir Mark Cavendish is, of course, the greatest Tour de France stage winner, having won majestically the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas stage on Wednesday, a day ahead of our schedule.

We saw Andy Murray and brother Jamie lose on Centre Court yesterday evening and not a dry eye could be found in the house! There’s still another chance though, as he is due to team up with Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles.

I think we all suspected hiring a helicopter to go strawberry picking would be a folly!

Quite some years ago the US had a chap called Richard Nixon as President. In a rather famous interview with David Frost in 1977, he said “Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.” On Monday this week the US Supreme Court appeared to pretty much enshrine that in law. It may come as a surprise but several of these judges were appointed by Trumpolina whilst he still had keys to the White House. No prizes for who might benefit from the decision.

We’ve also had the first debate between Biden and Trump for the November election. Neither covered themselves in glory but it seems falsehoods and lies trumped bewilderment in the eyes of the swing states. I don’t know why but that Chinese curse about living in interesting times keeps popping up in my head lately.

Closer to home, we hope you all remembered your ID, wondered on the policy implications of a bungee jump and actually got to cast your vote yesterday. Not all the results are in yet but we do appear to have lost that odious toad Rees-Mogg, swordsmith Penny Mordant and, of course, Lettuce Liz. Bungee jumps do appear to have helped the Lib Dem and we have a new PM in Sir Kier Starmer. We’re heading into a time of change, here’s hoping that it’s all for the better!

Biggest surprise of election day though is a knighthood for Chris Grayling, the only transport minister to have doored somebody with a ministerial car! That said Lord Grayling of Failing does have a certain je ne sais quoi.

There’s an enormous amount of sport on at the moment, we mentioned England facing Switzerland on Saturday (5pm!) but before we head there we’ll enjoy Spain and Germany facing off at 5pm and Portugal playing France at 8pm both on Friday. Whilst the later game on Saturday involves the Netherlands tackling Turkey.

Just across the way there’s some absolutely cracking tennis going on with seeds being cast aside, harsh schedules pitching British women numbers 1 and 2 against each other in a game that went to a thrilling tie break with Harriet Dart prevailing.

We’ve also got the Tour de France going on, the women’s Giro d’Italia starts on Sunday and the F1 Grand Prix circus has landed at Silverstone for the weekend. Unsurprisingly, Mr Verstappen is the bookies favourite but let’s see how the weekend plays out.

In wine news, Lidl has put out a red wine swirl ice cream, yes, ice cream. It looks like raspberry ripple gone rogue. We had just one question, why? In Gravesend, a teacher has been fired after being found sat in his car in the school car park drinking wine at lunch time. Even in the City a boozy lunch doesn’t float like it once did, clearly the message hasn’t got that far east yet!

Tasting This Weekend

We’ll start in Spain with J. Fernando Verdejo 2023 (£14.49) from Rueda. We were really rather chuffed to find a Rueda Verdejo at this price, usually they’re a few quid more expensive.  The family has had vineyards for three generations and now, having completed their new winery in 2017, they have produced a fabulously zesty quaffer.  A fabulous balance of fruit and herb notes and that lovely zesty finish will be pitch-perfect with a platter of Cantabrian anchovies.

We’ll then head to Marlborough, New Zealand for a snifter of Mahi Pinot Noir 2022 (£29). We’ve stocked wines from Brian on and off over the years but never had this one on the shelves. They always are looking for a decent texture in their wine and to achieve this grapes are always hand harvested, sorted and then fermented with wild yeast. Come along and see what you think!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well, by this time next week, we’ll know won’t we?

We’ll know if Coldplay have closed Glastonbury with Clocks, The Scientist or Yellow, all of which they have performed at least 5 times before at the festival.

We’ll know whether Slovakia will be facing Switzerland or Italy in the Euro 24 quarter finals.

We’ll know that Sir Mark Cavendish is the greatest Tour de France stage winner, having won majestically the Mâcon-Dijon stage on Thursday.

We’ll know what Andy Murray plans to do next, injury having forced his retirement in Round 1 of Wimbledon, if his 24/7 rehab manages to get him there.

We’ll also know whether it is cheaper to buy strawberries at the All England or to hire a helicopter down to Stonepitts Farm in Kent and PYO.

What we might know is whether Chapel Down is for sale or not, as it seeks to raise even more funds for expansion.  Via Seedrs they raised almost £4 million in 2014, just short of £2 million in 2015 to build a brewery, raised £18.5 million by issuing new shares in 2017 and almost £7 million in 2021, once again through Seedrs.  In the meantime they opened Gin Works at Kings Cross, a bar and restaurant that opened in 2019 and closed in February 2020, before COVID could take the blame. 

What I don’t know is how much longer they can keep doing this.

We’ll know that the Men’s T20 World Cup has no winner this year once the final falls foul of wild wet weather and the organisers, consistent with their policy throughout the competition, deem it impossible to postpone the game until the following day and proclaim a draw.

What we won’t know is who, between Farage and Sunak, won the race to Heathrow and the battle for seat 1a on the flight to the US.

We also won’t know who is going to form the coalition with Ed Davey whilst “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?” is still ringing in our ears….

But enough of all this for now.  I appreciate I might be a bit late to the party but there was a bit of disappointing news regarding Gerry’s, the legendary spirits shop on Old Compton Street.  It used to be that, if Gerry’s didn’t have it, it most likely didn’t exist, such was their portfolio.  However this all might change – they have been bought by Booker, which in turn is owned by Tesco and I think we all understand that their differing business models might not be very compatible.

In ‘better’ news, move over Kylie because Meghan Markle, TAFKADOS, is launching a rosé!  Apparently a keen pink drinker, she is also not averse to a Frosé, the delicious blend of strawberries, rosé wine and, of course, icing sugar, so we expect something sweet, and having sold out of our new Provence rosé, Chateau Paquette, last weekend, we figure that Meghan’s style may not be to your tastes!

This week we’re off the pink and back onto the white/red tasting combo.

The white is a new listing, Domaine Fournillon Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022 – £16.50.  It is likely that many of you will have come across this domaine before since we have been selling their Chablis and their Epineuil Pinot Noir for a number of years now and certainly the Chablis is our best-selling Burgundy.  Anyway, a few months back, Alex got the opportunity to try their entry level wines and this one really stood out.  From the 23 hectare family-run domaine situated in the small village of Bernouil, close to Chablis, this is lovely and crisp and clean, with gentle orchard fruit and hints of citrus.  Not as intense as the Chablis but a really nice introduction into the world of Fournillon.

As it looks like it’s going to be barbecue weather again this weekend, we thought we’d crack open something from Argentina.  Sottano Selección Blend 2020 – £19.99 is a blend of Malbec, Syrah and Cabernet Franc; dark in the glass as you’d expect and with lovely aromatic berry aromas with a hint of violets and wood smoke.  The palate is rich and layered with cassis and berry fruit notes, coffee and wood spice with a touch of black pepper to end on.  It works very well with rib-eye, should you need some inspo!

That’s probably it from us but we’ll leave you with a message from Katy Moon@Oog that Wayne found on Twitter yesterday, which made us smile:

Reasons to love Belgium #12546: They’re playing Last Christmas by Wham! on the radio on the 27th June.

Bless ‘em!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week, I’ve found myself watching the Newsnight and Sky News round-ups of the newspapers to try and get my head around this election business. I have learnt quite a lot from it. I have learnt that regardless of who you vote for taxes are unlikely to go down. And I have learnt that when Nigel Farage tweeted that Lettuce Liz and Kamakasi Kwarteng’s budget was the best Conservative budget since 1986, he actually liked it so much that Reform have included a similar unfunded amount of money in their manifesto.  

My biggest takeaway though, was that these programmes are very easy to nod off to. Given the content and time of the evening, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise but, if the angle of your head isn’t quite right, you can awake with a rather stiff neck. Now, I do have a solution for this. We could take Countryfile out of the earlier evening slot, shuffle everything along by that amount of time and then put Countryfile on after Newsnight. Surely, a programme with all those sheep and lambs is ideal for the countdown to bedtime so, if any of our readers at the BBC could put a word in, we’d appreciate it!

Talking of sheep, Rishi Sunak is so confident that the country is still with him that he and David Cameron were campaigning this week in a North Devon constituency with a large Conservative majority. The obligatory photoshoot was of trying to feed sheep that all turned and ran away from them. Just can’t catch a break, eh lads?

Following on from last week’s chat about the Gambling Commission looking into a Tory MP for placing a bet on the date of the election, it turns out that the Director of Campaigning, his wife, who is a Tory candidate, and a member of Sunak’s police protection are also being looked into. The policeman has been suspended and arrested. The politicos? Not so much…

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse Post Office, it turns out that they have published the names and addresses of 555 postmasters prosecuted during the Horizon scandal. Whilst the Post Office has, quite rightly, referred itself to the Information Commissioner, as I type this, it is yet to issue an apology. How are our institutions so riddled with such incompetence?

On a lighter note, England’s T20 World Cup defence finally got some oomph to it with a decent eight wicket win over the West Indies. Phil Salt was man of the match with an unbeaten 87, with some great willow slinging by Jonny Bristow too.

It seems Andy Murray has picked up an injury at Queens which might rule him out for Wimbledon. Let’s hope not, eh? Just 10 days to go, the action starts on the 1^st July.

In Olympics news, Katie Archibald has had a disaster, suffering a freak accident tripping over a step in her garden. She has managed to break her tibia, fibula and detached a ligament or two. She is now recovering from surgery and we wish her a speedy recovery. It’s unlikely she’ll manage to get up to race speed in the 35 days till the Olympics start in Paris so we’ll be adjusting our medal expectations down by at least a couple!

With just 8 days to go until the Tour de France has its first ever Grand Départ in Florence, we see that both Wout Van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard have been named in the Visma Lease a Bike team, seemingly recovered from their early season crashes. Should you be a person of leisure with some spare time and planning to watch a bit of a bike race I’d suggest stage 9. It starts and finishes in beautiful Troyes, the entertainment of Beefeater Bend is going to be there, and it’s in the champagne region. What’s not to like?

In wine news, chemists at the University of Cordoba have established that a liquid found in an urn, during the restoration of a house in Carmona, is a 2000 year old wine. It is the oldest liquid wine discovered and appears to be a white, sherry-like wine from the local area. The urn also contained the cremated bones of a man and a gold ring, so I’m not sure anyone will be rushing to taste it!

Shall we taste something a bit fresher this weekend?  As the sun is out, we thought we’d stick a pink in the fridge:

Château Paquette Côtes de Provence 2023 – £18.49 – so a few weeks back we have a routine meeting with a supplier to taste a few new wines.  One of them to be pulled out of the bag is this, a Provençal rosé that, frankly, we weren’t looking for.  Anyway, the cork gets pulled, we have a taste and decide that it is really rather good.  Lovely and crisp with bright fruit, a touch of herbiness and a long dry finish.  It turns out that the wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and a local variety, Tibouren, which is what brings the herbiness.  It also turns out this small estate in Fréjus was pointed out to our supplier by Elizabeth Gabay MW, who is the world’s foremost expert on rosé.  Probably you should try it….

Hesketh ‘Unfinished Business’ Pinot Noir 2022 – £16.99 – this is perfect summer drinking.  Made with fruit sourced from a selection of premium cool climate vineyards within the renowned Limestone Coast region in South Australia’s south-eastern corner, this is made in a way that allows the juicy intensity of this parcel of fruit to shine.  Light to medium bodied with luscious red fruits and juicy acidity pursued by plush tannins, this is an incredibly moreish wine that we expect to be rather tasty gently chilled in an ice bucket!

So that’s it from us, enjoy the sunshine!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Welcome back – hope you’ve all had a splendid week?

Personally, I’ve been on a bit of a digital detox.  A few days away from London, in the sunshine with a golf-bag on my back.  For a while I was able to forget about the absurdities at home and remember how monumentally bad I am at putting.  However a cold glass of white and a plate of Gambas al Pil-Pil helped ease that pain and so, the next day, we went again.  One of the characters on my trip is a long term resident of UAE; he is so used to living in a place where all political parties are banned that he has no need/facility to get agitated about the status quo, since there is nothing he can do – for a moment that felt quite utopian until I remembered the downsides of the police state…

Before I left and before Wayne wrote last week’s email, I watched the Have I Got News For You episode hosted by Victoria Coren-Mitchell.  At one point she clearly needed to vent her frustrations and, whilst I appreciate this quote is a few weeks old, it resonates still:

‘Why are they so bad at it?!…. One side is sending the guy to stand in the rain and at the Titanic.  The other side can’t even decide who their MPs are.  And these are all people who think they can run the health service.  It’s pitiful.’

Back in the days when we worked for Oddbins, about once a year we’d hear news that somewhere in the estate a manager, or more often an assistant-manager, had had a sudden rush of blood to the head and emptied the shop safe on a Sunday evening, grabbed a case of Vodka and a slab of beer before doing a runner.  The safe takings could be perhaps £5,000 and the booze would have just been drunk.   A few days later they’d be arrested, charged, lose their job of course and have a permanent scar on their CV.  Five grand does not set you up for life but a criminal record certainly slows you down.

As news comes in of an arrest as part of the investigation into PPE Medro, we mull over the fact that Michelle and Doug were a little more ambitious than those Oddbins staff…

And now we hear about Craig Williams. 

Most recently he was MP for Montgomeryshire and standing for re-election, having got 59% of the vote in 2019 and increased the Conservative majority.  Now, most of us hadn’t really heard of him until The Guardian discovered that he had placed a bet on there being a July election, just before Sunak announced exactly that.  He is now going to be talking to the Gambling Commission having placed £100 at 5/1 – a monkey does not set you up for life but a criminal record certainly slows you down!

As V C-M might say – why are they so bad at it?!

Wine news might offer some respite, perhaps?

A study, commissioned by the WSTA (Wine and Spirit Trade Association) and produced by Cebr, has found that we (you, me, my brother Jake, everybody) are contributing £76 billion to the UK economy.

Using data from 2022, this shows growth from less than £50 billion in the past five years but of course, there need to be some spoilers too.  By all accounts, the Institute for Alcohol Studies state that alcohol is ‘costing’ the UK economy £27bn a year however, the Institute for Economic Affairs’ head of lifestyle economics, counters that these figures do not include a full cost-benefit analysis of the alcohol trade.

Somehow, far beyond my GCSE maths, it could be thus deduced that the net-benefit to the UK economy of wine and spirits is £49bn.  Not entirely sure what all this means but, in the meantime, keep up the good work, you’re doing it for the economy!

To help with your continued contributions, we’ll be opening a couple of gems this weekend to tickle your taste buds.  There is no theme, just wines that we fancied a glass of and, given the meteorological uncertainty, definite all-rounders both of whom are in this month’s case club:

Lyrarakis Vóila Assyrtiko 2022 – £16.99.  Located in the mountainous commune of Alagni in Crete, Domaine Lyrarakis stays true to local winemaking traditions.  The domaine focuses on indigenous varieties, taking them from obscurity and driving them in a more modern direction, while still retaining a clear sense of place.  Its style focuses on pure varietal character, precision and supple texture.  The 2022 Assyrtiko is a delicious wine, grown at 580 metres’ altitude in the Voila 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!

Casa Silva Cool Coast Pinot Noir 2021 – £20.99.  Hailing from the coastal vineyards of the Colchagua Valley, this is a proper cool climate Pinot Noir.  It has a nose filled with red fruit notes, strawberries, raspberries and a subtle background note of cinnamon and spice from the French oak that it spent 12 months reposing in.  With a truly excellent length of finish this is a real pleasure to drink and would be spot on with some flash griddled lamb leg steaks and some greens.

Just for your guide, as we speak, Heraklion is 36˚celsius with a real feel of 40˚, whilst Colchagua is 10˚ with a real feel of 8˚ including drizzle – so stop moaning you lot!

The US Open, Euro 2024, and Father’s Day – none of these made the cut and featured in this email, suffice to say they’re all happening this weekend and should not be ignored!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So did you watch the ITV debate on Tuesday? I watched the programme, it made for some fairly awful television. The two men in suits evading the questions asked and talking over both each other, and the moderator.

As it later transpired  it turned out that Rishi Sunak was telling porkies about Labour’s tax plans being verified independently by the Treasury, the Treasury minister had already written to Labour warning them of this and yet still Ministers were wheeled out doubling down on the lies. The surprise in all this was that ‘Rishi tells lies’ actually made the front page!

It was so successfully received that the BBC are having it large tonight with seven, yes seven party representatives all debating in the studio whilst Mishal Hussein attempts to keep control. With such gripping TV could it be a quiet night in Tooting Market as we all stay home with gammon for tea?

Talking of gammon, a drive to Clacton passes lots of pig farms. Attempting to become an MP for the 8^th time, Nigel Farage is standing as Clacton’s Reform candidate despite spending a week or more saying he had no interest. I suppose anyone can change their mind!

Whilst we like to gently poke fun at the state of politics, we are often grateful that we don’t have to write about it for a living. Not only are there people who report it much better than we do, but there luminaries who predict what happens 15 years ahead of time. Armando Iannucci this week tweeted:  “Those asking if ‘The Thick of It’ is writing this election may want to note that today’s Tory immigration plan -shunt it off to an independent body to decide, so ministers can avoid talking specifics in interviews- is the main plot of 2009’s special ‘The Rise of the Nutters.’”

Lastly for the UK Election news this week, I feel we should give props to those fundraisers at The Conservative Party for their 2024 General Election Souvenir Mugs. It’s a brave call to use: “Once they’re gone, they’re gone!” as your strapline.

Staying with election news, the world’s largest democracy, India, has returned no majority to Narendi Modi’s BJP party who fell well short of their target of 400 seats with just 240. They’ll now need the support of some of the opposition party to pass any laws. In one constituency in Mumbai 1.7 million voted and the winner had a majority of just one vote! Don’t tell me it doesn’t matter if you go to the polling station!

In South Africa, the ANC is also facing building a coalition having lost its majority with their share of the vote falling from 57.2% in 2019 to 40.2 % now.  The current plan is to form a government of national unity.

This weekend also sees voting across 27 countries in Europe for MEPs. Not you Farage.

Elsewhere, most of us have been commemorating the 80^th anniversary of D-Day invasion that started the end of World Wat II. Not you Rishi!  

There were still some veterans of that battle sprightly enough to make the journey and tell their stories. In a moving ceremony, there were many speeches, tears and music alongside flypasts and also a firework display. I’m not sure all the explosions of the fireworks whilst the centurions stood on Juno beach was necessarily the best idea, but as the saying goes:  “All’s well that ends well!”

According to Pete Brown’s book “Man Walks into a Pub” a West Midlands brewery managed to ship more than 2,000 barrels of beer across the English Channel to Normandy in June 1944, with each labelled with a message to the recipients: “A gift to our fighting forces from Mitchells and Butlers Limited, Birmingham. Best of luck. If this cask is returned we will refill it and send it back to you. Replace cork.”

Further afield, in China a hiker has discovered that China’s tallest waterfall, Yuntai Mountain Waterfall, seems to emerge from a pipe! The Yuntai Mountain Geopark explained that water is pumped during the dry season so that visitors always see the waterfall at its prettiest.

As the French Open races towards the Finals we know that Wimbledon is just over the horizon. Expect to see the cars doing their practice runs over the next week or two.

More pertinently you only have till the 8^th June to tell the GLA if you object to the AELTC’s plans to build over Wimbledon Park. You have probably seen their adverts on the tube claiming to be creating a new London park rather than building over most of a historic one.

Full details here: Tell the GLA You Object to AELTC’s Planning Application (savewimbledonpark.org)

The Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain started yesterday, Lotte Kopecky won the stage ahead of Leti Paternoster, with Pfeiffer Georgi and Lizzie Deignan coming in 3^rd and 4^th. Lizzie Deignan will start today in the Queen of the Mountains jersey.

In wine news, a heavy hail storm hit the Penedès region in Spain causing a lot of damage over some 1500 hectares of vines, whilst in the US Dolly Parton has released her first wine. Dolly Wines California Chardonnay 2023 is about to be released to consumers. Ideal for when you’ve finished the ‘9 to 5’.

Tasting This Weekend we’ll start in Costers del Segre with Mas Blanch I Jove Troballa 2022 (£19.49) – a great wine, 100% organic Garnacha Blanca with wild fermentation, aged for four months in concrete eggs.  A rich and fruity wine with a lovely mouthfeel that we think would be splendid with a rare tuna steak or perhaps a lightly spiced vegetable and coconut curry.

How about a trip to Piemonte for the red? Cantine Povero Cabanè Langhe Nebbiolo 2019(£14.99) – this is from grapes just outside of the designated zone for Barolo, the wrong side of the tracks if you like.  Usually the wines are 100% Nebbiolo but in this instance I am led to believe that there may be a smidge of Barbera in there plus a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon!  The nose is sweetly aromatic with an intense bouquet containing hints of roses, tobacco and spice.  On the palate we have more roses and red fruits and fresh tobacco leaf on the simply delicious finish.

Cheers!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Seems like weather forecasting has yet again proved itself to be a bit of a dark art and, in fact, Wayne’s cooking activities provide a more accurate guide to future meteorological activity.

We call him Weather Vane Wayne.

Having expected rain on Sunday and cloudiness on Monday, we actually ended up with two sunny weekend days (whilst Wayne was, for the most part, inside) and then, no sooner had he lit the coals on Monday than the heavens opened and his back garden became a lido with a barbecue shaped bird bath in the corner.

For guidance, he says he might put some lamb chops on the barbecue late Sunday afternoon, so make sure you’ve done all your chores before then or at the very least, take an umbrella…

So, as of yesterday, we have a dissolved parliament.  We are reliably informed by the website www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk that: ‘As of 10:00 on 30 May 2024, 134 MPs have announced that they will not stand again at the election on 4 July. MPs intending to stand again have until 4pm on 7 June to deliver their nomination papers and so it is likely that further announcements will follow in the coming days’

That’s an awful lot of leaving-do’s and cake.

Of the 134 MP’s not returning, 82 started out as Conservatives, 36 Labour, 9 SNP, 3 Sinn Féin, 2 PC, 1 Green and 1 DUP.  In percentage terms, that translates to 100% of Green’s leaving town, 50% of PC, 42% of Sinn Féin, 22% of Tories, 18% of SNP, 18% of Labour and 12.5% of DUP.  Clearly the Lib Dems are doing something right as no-one is stepping down and none of them ended up on the naughty step/independent.

Interestingly, none of the main party leaders in the 2019 election are still in charge which only goes to emphasise the capricious nature of UK politics today.

Elsewhere, the Donald has been Tangoed but I think we should all wait until July 11^th before we get too excited….

But we move on and away from politics, for now, to discover that we were right all along. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has released a report revealing that 70% of beer and wine served in UK pubs and bars is short-measured and that when beer was short, it was typically 4% less than a full pint, while wine was usually 5% below the standard 175ml glass.  Not sure we’re going to pop down to The Wandle and read them the Weights and Measures Act but it’s nice to know we weren’t always imagining things…

As a follow up, another CTSI survey gauging opinion on the inclusion of the beer head in the pint measure was divided.  35% believe the head should not be included and 23% think it should be – which means that 42% of people abstained/are incapable of deciding between 2 polar opposite choices/don’t give a toss, which could also end up being true on July 4^th.

You heard it here first.

Sport and booze collided somewhat unpleasantly earlier in the week when the French Open organisers had to ban drinking in the stands – raucous behaviour and spitting were the complaints from players – I wonder if the AELTC and Pimm’s are feeling a little nervous?

Last week I mentioned some new wines on the shelves, so I thought I might introduce some of them today.

Earlier this year, whilst driving through France, Alex and his wife ended up in the delightful city of Reims, in the heart of Champagne.  Being ‘in the trade’, Alex has been lucky enough to visit the city a number of times, usually on someone else’s dollar, however his wife has not been quite so fortunate.  Alex was excited by the prospect of finally seeing the Cathedral without scaffolding up the façade whilst his wife seemed more invigorated by the prospect of formation champagne drinking.  So they came to a compromise: a quick spin around the outside of their Notre-Dame and then off to the restaurant they’d had recommended by the lady whose house they were staying in.

Café du Palais is in the heart of the city, opposite the courthouse (hence the name) and it was suggested as having the both the best Croque-Monsieur’s and best champagne list in town.  Win, win, what’s not to like.  So they ate and drank and, as luck would have it, got into long conversation with the owner about champagne, of course.  Now this man is connected.  He had just had lunch that day with Garance from Thiénot and was going for dinner the following night with someone from Billecart-Salmon, from memory.  Anyway, after a cellar tour, a couple more glasses and perhaps some of their famous tarte tatin, they wended their way, with the abiding memory that the wines from De Saint-Gall were ones to definitely look out for.

Fast forward a few months and Alex discovers that one importer in the UK has these wines, so he made contact.

We’ve started at the top, no messing about but a GC B de B from a cracker of a vintage, how could we resist?

De Saint-Gall Orpale Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru 2012 – £125

I’ll endeavour to be a little less lyrical about the rest of the wines otherwise we’ll be here until close…

WHITES

Guillaman Colombard-Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Gascogne, France – £11.99 – a zippily fresh drop with grapefruit and passion fruit character on the nose and a rounded palate showing those same fruits.

J Fernando Verdejo 2023, Rueda, Spain – £14.49 – lovely and tangy and fresh with a drop of minerality in its midst to add a bit of texture

Westcott Estate Chardonnay 2021, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Canada – £29.99 – just wow.  Our first venture into Canada for over 10 years, this is awesome – like a burgundy but at the richer end with great poise

ORANGE

Bel A Ciao Vin Orange 2022, Vin Atlantique, France – £16.99 – it’s organic and it’s orange, how on message are we?  A blend of mostly Semillon with a splash each of Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, it has tangerine and wild flower aromas leading to more tropical but still citrusy notes on the palate with a lightly spiced lemon note to finish, definitely worth a try!

ROSÉ

Château Paquette 2023, Côtes de Provence, France – £18.49 – a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and a local variety Tibouren, which is what brings the garriguey herbiness.  It transpires that this small estate in Fréjus was recommended to our supplier by Elizabeth Gabay MW, the world’s foremost expert on rosé!

RED

Le Voisin d’En Face Syrah 2023, IGP Ardèche, France – £16.49 – northern Rhône but you know, not named as such.  Beautiful nose, hint of spice and a rich, fruitful palate – more approachable in its youth than any of its posher peers would be.

Klinker Brick Winery Brickmason 2018, Lodi, USA – £18.99 -a blend of 80% Zinfandel, 10% Syrah and 5% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah.  Bright red fruits, a touch of juicy blueberry too, lovely freshness of finish and a little tannic grip give it great balance – a barbecue shoo-in.

Château d’Anielle 2015, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, France – £27.99 – I know, who’s buying claret in June?  Well, if you got caught in the monsoon yesterday afternoon, perhaps it wold be you!  We often find a lot of good Bordeaux in the summer months and this is one we’ve had our eye on for a while, keep it in mind!

We should probably let you get back to work now – we’ll be opening the Guillaman Colombard-Sauvignon Blanc and Le Voisin d’En Face Syrah tonight, so come and let us know what you think.

Finally, yes, we have read the article in The Guardian about Orange wine sales – we do have a few but aren’t planning on extending the range particularly.  Sherry, White Port, Madeira, Riesling, Torrontés, Rum, chilled reds – all are examples of what has been touted as the drinks of the summer in previous years, without actually ever getting close to toppling Rosé from its perch, just saying!

And with that, we’re taking our cynicism out for a drink, filled right to the top please…..

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Happy bank holiday weekend everybody, grab your brollies.  Wayne has been scouring the web for good news and can confirm a reasonable amount of consistency in the forecasting:

AccuWeather

• Saturday – increasing cloudiness, 21°
• Sunday – a shower in the area in the morning; otherwise, clouds giving way to some sun, 20°
• Monday – partly sunny, 18°

BBC

• Saturday – sunny intervals and light winds, 21°
• Sunday – light rain showers and a gentle breeze, 20°
• Monday – drizzle and a gentle breeze, 17°

Met Office

• Saturday – sunny, changing to cloudy in the afternoon, 21°
• Sunday – cloudy, changing to light showers by late morning, 20°
• Monday – sunny changing to cloudy by lunchtime, 18°

Weather.com

• Saturday – generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds, 21°
• Sunday – cloudy with occasional showers, 19°
• Monday – partly to mostly cloudy, 17°

If we all keep in mind that our resident Michael Fish is having a barbecue on Monday then I would suggest that you mow the lawn on Saturday and book cinema tickets for the rest of the break.

Speaking of brollies, there seems to be a shortage in Downing Street.  The forlorn footage of a drenched and solitary Prime Minister announcing the General Election on Wednesday was made more pitiful when we considered that he couldn’t find anyone prepared to hold an umbrella over him, not even Akshata?  I would imagine that someone threw in a towel as he went back inside though.

Elsewhere, we read on Wednesday that Cazoo, the online car retailer, had called in the administrators.  Never quite sure why you’d buy a car sight unseen but by all accounts this was a popular way of doing things during the covid years.  Anyway, they were valued at £5 billion in 2021 but apparently never made a profit.  Never made a profit?  In 2020 they made £99 million in losses; in 2021 they made £542 million in losses; in 2022 they made over £700 million in, you’ve guessed it, losses; in 2023 they sold a large chunk of debt for equity and in 2024 they fold.

Alex Chesterman, the founder, sold £100 million of shares in 2021, so he’s alright.

Thames Water has debts of over £15 billion, largely thanks to the previous owners taking too much money out of the business before selling it.  South West Water also has persistent pre-tax losses on one hand, whilst offering a a £127 million dividend to shareholders with the other, and poisoning the residents of Brixham with another.

Susan Davy, CEO of South West Water’s parent company, has yet to confirm whether she will be taking her bonus this year but she does know that she won’t have to explain the parasite outbreak to MP’s thanks to parliament being dissolved before she’s due to meet with them, so she’s alright.

Everyone’s favourite priest, Paula Vennells, earnt over £5 million in her time running things, very badly, at the Post Office, so she’s alright too.

It sometimes feels that being a debt averse independent wine retailer doesn’t reward success as much as other industries reward failure but then, neither of us went to business school so we don’t know what we don’t know!

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium takes delivery of its first (and probably last) pieces of silverware this weekend but obviously not for anything football related.  The Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals, for rugby union, are both taking place in north London and Tottenham are hosting.  With Gloucester being the only English team involved in this, we’ll all be donning Jonny May facemasks for one last time and hoping the cherry and whites have put behind them the 90-0 drubbing by Northampton 2 weeks ago!  Not even Spurs have lost that badly on this ground…

Wayne, throwing caution to the wind, has intimated that he feels there is a possibility that Tadej Pogacar might just have enough to win the Giro d’Italia.  Unless he falls off.  In which case, he will probably still go on and win it.  You heard it here first.  For other tips, he’s offering the prospect of the FA cup ending up in Manchester this weekend and the Champions League being decided on goals scored….

Not much booze news this week – we’ve got a few new wines in the pipeline but we can tell you more about those next time but in the meantime, what shall we taste this weekend?

We’ve decided to go a little esoteric today, so we will open a wine from Romania and a wine from Crete.

Cramele Recas Solara Orange – £14.99

This Romanian estate is owned by Englishman Philip Cox and his wife Elvira.  Their immaculate vineyards, in mountainous terrain, are a combination of evolved plantings from 1447 and much more recent plantings too.  A natural minimal intervention wine, it is made by leaving the grape skins and seeds in contact with the pressed juice, creating a deep orange-hued finish.  The wine ferments naturally without the addition of yeasts, sulphur or any other additions.  The nose exhibits quince, Poire William and a hint of vanilla.  A complex and structured palate, it is elegant with discreet fruit flavours of stone fruits, backed up with a complexity and long, balanced finish, incredibly fresh.

Domaine Lyrarakis Kotsifali 2021 – £16.99

Yep, it’s this super winery in Crete again – they make ideal wines for summer drinking we reckon, so let’s ignore the weather reports above and pretend it’s blazing sunshine out there!  One of the Queens of Cretan grape varieties, Kotsifali is indisputably a classic of the island, offering spicy red fruits, an elegant mouthfeel and a piquant aftertaste which makes it a deliciously fresh drop, not too weighty and seriously good with lamb kleftiko or a bit of fried saganaki.

That’s probably enough from me for now – as I write, 76 Tory MP’s have said they aren’t going to stand for re-election in July, 7 since Wednesday afternoon – really not sure Rishi has enough umbrellas for this deluge!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ll start off this week with an apology. We mentioned the sun in last week’s note and it promptly sent a few solar flares and a wonderful display of the aurora borealis before returning the rain to us. We’re keeping shtum this week.

We are approaching, albeit rather slowly, a General Election. We know this, not because Kier Starmer has set out some of the things they might like to do if elected (change the wallpaper?) but because yesterday, Rishi Sunak appeared on Loose Women and revealed that being on the programme was one of the most intimidating things he’s done. He also revealed that if he is not on the winning side and elected as PM, he will stay on as an MP. Still a bit of an assumption in that comment we thought but perhaps we should lobby for Janet Street-Porter to be on the Standards Committee?

Due to an impending shortage of train drivers, the government is consulting on lowering the age at which one can become a locomotive operator. It could be that soon we’ll have 18 year old train drivers; we contacted a number of teenagers to gauge the interest in driving a train, but didn’t get much of a response past a cursory grunt.  In unrelated news, HSBC, KPMG and Deloitte have all had to withdraw job offers for foreign students due to visa rules changes.

In Devon, we saw South West Water issue a ‘boil water notice’ after many residents of Brixham reported an icky tummy and twenty two of them were found to be suffering from cryptosporidiosis, a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite. How many more gallons of sewage will be dumped in our rivers and lakes before we see cholera putting the NHS under pressure?

Moving onto sporting endeavours, we couldn’t help but notice it’s PGA Championship time again. Given the performance Rory put in last week, and the fact he plays so well when there is a bit of domestic stress, we think it could be his weekend.

In the Premiership, it’s all come down to the last game. To win the Premier League, Arsenal need to beat Everton at home, whilst hoping that West Ham win in Manchester, whilst Tottenham Hotspur need to draw at the minimum with Sheffield United to have any European travel next season. At this stage I fancy Alex’ chances more than Wayne’s.

Over in Italy we have some proper sport conducting itself rather excitingly around the country. Tadej Pogačar is still riding around dressed like the Pink Panther with a lead of over 2 minutes from Daniel Martinez and Geraint Thomas in second and third respectively. Today’s stage is a pan flat 179km stage that should end in a bunch sprint for the crazy guys, difficult to look past Jonathan Milan given his form so far, but surely Kaden Groves is due a win.

Tasting This Weekend

This week we’ll be visiting Niederösterreich in Austria, which is the home to Funkstille Grüner Veltliner 2023 (£14.49). It is a cracking example of Grüner Veltliner, rich with pear and melon fruit character and a fresh, zippy finish. The winery produces its own fertiliser from grape skins, manure and straw in a Biogas plant which also produces more than enough energy, along with some solar panels, to power the entire estate.

We’ll head further east for the red. Arriving in Bulgaria, we’ll head straight to the Bessa Valley to taste Domaine Bessa Valley Enira 2018 (£19.99). This is a recent discovery on one of those days we opened a bit late. It’s a blend of 66% Merlot, 20% Syrah and 14% Petit Verdot aged for 12 months in French Oak. In the glass, the wine has plum and forest fruits, a touch of cocoa and lovely silky tannins. After we’d put our double tick (our buy signal) in the tasting book we got chatting and discovered the estate is in Count Stephan von Neipperg stable. He also owns Canon La Gaffelière, Clos de L’Oratoire, La Mondotte and d’Aiguilhe in Bordeaux, several of which we have offered shelf space in the recent past. We’re pretty excited about it so do come and give it a go.

I’m off to cheer for West Ham!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As a gift to you, we’ve let the sun out, so I don’t want to hear any more moaning as it’s here all weekend and now is the time to start polishing your Rosé glasses…

We all voted for our favoured candidates last week and still ended up back where we started, with Sadiq keeping his Parker Knoll Statesman Como Leather Recliner at the head of the table with 11 of his party colleagues around him.  Reform gained a seat, the Conservatives lost a seat, Binface beat Britain First, the ULEZ vote proved to be less important than most candidates had hoped it might be and Siân Berry giving her seat to Zoë Garbett seems to have got a lot of people dangerously hot under the collar about nothing, frankly, since it was a London Wide Assembly seat where people had voted for a party not an individual…

Meanwhile, just short of 60% of voters were washing their hair, had a flat tyre, were double booked or just couldn’t be bothered to exercise their right.

But we move on.  Sleeper cells seemed to have been activated in Westminster when we watched with incredulity as Natalie Elphicke sashayed across the floor to Labour – it’s always the ones you least expect.  However, when she stated in 2023: “Don’t trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders” little did we know that she would be making her own brave journey!

Who’s next? Liz Truss?  J R-M?  Rishi?  Journalists everywhere are licking their lips….

Moving away from Westminster, we stumble into the world of classical music, not somewhere we know much about but we have heard of some of the big noises, including Beethoven.  It would seem that a couple of clever clogs from Harvard have been studying the big dog and, courtesy of The Drinks Business, we discover that, in the journal of Clinical Chemistry, the authors argued that “suggested primary sources of lead exposure include plumbed wine, dietary factors, and medical treatments”.

Plumbed wine?  Yep, it’s a new one for me too. 

Apparently, the plumbing of wine involves adding Lead to the liquid and certainly dates back to the Ancient Romans.  The rationale was that the Lead sweetened the drink, made the tannins less aggressive, helped to preserve it and made it look clearer in the glass – all of which can be seen as positives, why would we stop doing this?

Well, Alex, perhaps because it’s a devastating neurotoxin that can lead to irreversible brain damage, damage to your kidneys, your liver, your nervous system, seizures, unconsciousness and death.

And in Beethoven’s case, it ‘lead’ to his hearing loss…

Tough week to be a Spurs fan, a Quins fan or a Northampton fan – nuff said.

So, assuming that you took my advice at the top to polish your Rosé glasses, they should now be ready to fill – here’s what we can offer you:

• Cuvée Jean Paul (France) – £9.99
• Borsao Selección (Spain) – £10.99
• Barton Pinot Noir (South Africa) – £12.99
• Domaine Foncalieu Piquepoul (France) – £14.99
• Château de L’Aumerade Provence Cru Classé (France) – £19.99
• Domaine Lafran-Veyrolles Bandol (France) – £23.99

As it’s the weekend we will be opening some wines this evening and since I’ve just mentioned them, this week the white corner will be filled with a Rosé.

Les Vignobles Foncalieu Piquepoul Rosé 2022 – £14.99 is from the Coteaux d’Ensérune which is in Languedoc, northeast of Beziers, towards Montpellier.  Piquepoul Noir is a relatively rare grape, and mostly fond in blends, notably the allowed blend for Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  The palest of pinks in colour, with a delicate nose of cherry blossom, strawberries and peaches whilst the palate is wonderfully fresh with summer berry flavours and notes of crushed raspberry and rose petals.  These fruity notes are balanced perfectly with a lively, citrus acidity leaving the palate refreshed.

In the red corner, it would seem daft to ignore a newly listed wine that is called ‘Friday’.

Viernes de Godelia Mencía 2021 – £18.49 – This wine comes from Bierzo in northwest Spain, an area where Mencía is top cat.  As the winery suggests, a really good way to discover Mencía is through this young and easy to drink red wine.  Made using fruit from their youngest vines and from different vineyards with different aspects this is a cracker with lovely crunchy fruit character, a light and fresh palate with no intrusive lumps of oak so popular in other parts of Spain.  Very summery, very Friday night!

And, of course, if you fancy something a bit different, we’ve also got the Doppelgänger open to taste…

So that’s it, pens down please, the suns out, today is POETS day and it’ll be raining next week so Carpe diem folks!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Where to start this week…

I hope you all went and exercised your democratic rights to vote. Personally, I feel I’m not able to complain if I haven’t voted and we all know I like to have a moan about how our tax is spent!

This week started with the government paying someone to get a flight to Rwanda. A free flight and £3000 in the pocket was enough to find a volunteer to go. To me this seemed so symptomatic of how this government has operated and the plan to bribe someone to get on a plane to prove a policy works is certainly getting to the less savoury parts of the barrel. In other, unrelated, news from Rwanda, the leader of the opposition has been banned standing in an election and also from leaving the country to visit her sick husband.

Safe.

We read this week about people leaving the country because of the closing of the non-doms tax loophole and apparently, the plans are to head to Monte Carlo or Dubai for better treatment. It seemed to us that if it’s the spending of the money they don’t like, Monte Carlo doesn’t come cheap. Perhaps it’s just the idea of paying tax? Wait till they hear of Brazil’s proposal that billionaires pay a 2% tax on their wealth – a French economist, Gabriel Zucman, has been tasked with preparing proposals for the July G20.

Over the pond, freedom of speech seems to be unavailable for many students with scenes similar to 1968 on campuses.

Trumpolina has been fined for repeatedly over exercising his mouth, despite warnings to the contrary from the judge. Now the judge has told him he may face jail if he doesn’t behave. I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out; I don’t think for a minute that the orange Teletubby will be able to keep quiet.

We found ourselves flicking through Rolling Stone this week, specifically their article on “The 250 Greatest Guitarists of all Time”. First off, we felt they hadn’t narrowed it down too much given the length of the article, but to be fair, it was including a wide selection of musical genres. What did surprise us was Duane Eddy only coming in at number 239 and George Harrison being above Eric Clapton at 31 and 35 respectively!

In booze news, Campari have completed the purchase of Courvoisier for around $1.2 billion. Smallest of the ‘big four’ cognac houses, Courvoisier was founded in Jarnac 1828 by Félix Courvoisier and Jules Gallois and soon became a favourite of Napoleon III. 

In other news, Moët & Chandon have an autonomous robot, YV01 to spray their vineyards. Next in line is an autonomous weeder that we’re assuming might be called YV02. It certainly doesn’t sound to me that they’ll be rushing down the organic route anytime soon.

We’ve read in several places this week that nearly the entire Manchester United squad will be up for sale this summer as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s changes all start to take effect. Erik ten Hag has, of course, denied this but some of those same reports might have suggested that Erik wouldn’t necessarily be in the loop. I think perhaps some of the football pages are as gossipy as some of our newspapers.

In real sports, the women’s peloton is racing around Spain at the moment in La Vuelta Femenina, whilst tomorrow marks the start of the Giro d’Italia 2024. Tadej Pogačar starts as favourite but let’s face it, anything can happen in those Italian mountains. Day two is a mountain top finish, which seems a bit early and possibly a bit mean on the part of the organisers until you look at the rest of the first week.

We’ve been chatting to Braden this week. You’ll recall he’s the clever chap that makes Renegade Gin and the Baller Chilli Bacon Vodka down in Battersea, We thought it was about time we gave his Doppelganger a bit of shelf space.

Doppelganger (£21.50) is an Italian style aperitivo with that classic bitter-sweet balance. Here it is achieved with citrus and hibiscus which make for perfect summer sipping – all we need now is some sunshine and those Café del Mar tunes. 

He’s suggesting this Pink Grapefruit Spritz or “Fire Citrus Spritz” as the perfect serve:

•           Add 50ml of Doppelgänger Aperitivo into a wine glass

•           Add ice and top with 75ml of Pink Grapefruit Soda

•           Stir through

•           Garnish – Slice of Pink Grapefruit or orange

And we’ve got a few bottles of pink grapefruit soda here that we can move your way should you fancy a crack!

On the table this weekend, we shall start off with Chateau de la Mirande Picpoul de Pinet (£14.99). The estate is just outside Castelnau-de-Guers, overlooking the Bassin de Thau and its oyster and mussel beds. Crisp and dry with citrus and stonefruit character, we think the zippy finish makes it ideal as a partner to most shellfish or maybe a traditional potato salad.

Following up swiftly in the red galoshes will be Glencairn Pinotage (£15.99) from Breedekloof in South Africa. 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. Despite the weather, we’re planning to eat barbecue on Sunday and I don’t think this’ll be a bad partner (to the food not the weather!).

As it’s the first of the May Bank Holidays this Monday we will be closed so that we can start our Morris dancing season.

And with that we’re off!