The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ve always liked the Swedes.  To clarify, all the Swedes we have met have come across as humble, fair, honest, creative, calm, open-minded and non-judgemental – thoroughly nice people generally speaking and let’s face it, everyone loves an IKEA hot dog.

But now, a well trusted Swedish friend has stolen my childhood:

“We continue to rapidly transform our product offer, which means not only moving towards full electrification, but also shifting to new platforms and technologies across all our cars. We will naturally need to evolve and consolidate our line-up as we prioritise fully electric cars and make this technological transition.

As a result, we have removed further models from the UK line-up. These include the S60, V60 and V90.  Demand for our existing SUV line-up continues to grow, while interest in our forthcoming fully electric EX30 and EX90 models is strong.  The vast majority of our customers opt for an SUV. The XC40, XC60 and XC90 all sit in the top three positions in their respective segments when it comes to UK sales. 

Meanwhile, appetite for our saloon and estate models has fallen to very low levels in the UK, which has led to our decision to remove these models from sale in the UK.”

To be fair, current President and CEO, Jim Rowan, was born in the Sweden’s southernmost city, Glasgow, so perhaps he has different character traits to other swedes but notwithstanding this, Volvo, what have you done? 

GUU 560W was the first Volvo that arrived in front of my parent’s house in August 1980.  A bright white estate car, far more luxurious than the beige Austin Maxi it was replacing and the first time I’d ever seen my Mum look happy with the car she was driving.  It took me to school, took us all to Wales on numerous occasions and went to Sainsbury’s quite a lot. About 7 years later it got replaced by another 240, this time in dark blue/green – never buy a white car if you live in the country was the lesson learnt, and so we proceeded for the next few years.

Following Mum’s advice, E521 WKJ, a burgundy Volvo 360 was my first car.  Often found galloping up and down the M4 in pursuit of some sort of university education or at other times plummeting down the M5 in pursuit of a pasty, some scrumpy and some waves – this was always far more comfortable than if we’d gone in Martin’s orange Ford Fiesta!

And now, M735 LDU, the car that delivers all of our wines to your front doors, a Volvo 740 estate, dark blue/green again, born in 1995, London resident since 2012.  Sadiq has ensured ULEZ means we have to say farewell at the end of the month and Volvo have now ensured that we won’t be able to replace it!

“appetite for our saloon and estate models has fallen to very low levels in the UK, which has led to our decision to remove these models from sale in the UK” – fair enough but they must be hoping that the UK appetite for Polestar saloon cars, the high performance electric car manufacturer they bought in 2015, doesn’t suffer the same fate.

However, before we march on IKEA and boycott Tetra Pak (difficult), we should perhaps be more Swedish in our reaction and just be grateful for all the good times that we have had – as the owner of the Volvo 240 that has completed over 828,000 miles put it in The Sunday Times article last weekend – “I prefer the feel of driving a car rather than the car driving you”.

Well said and Valete all you Volvo estates…

Elsewhere, life goes on as normal.  Lee Anderson, everyone’s favourite menu planner, has now decided to diversify into travel advice regarding accommodation in the floating prison barge in Dorset.  As Wayne commented in our email on 7^th April:

‘Having recently completed a major refurbishment programme, Bibby Stockholm can accommodate up to 222 guests in high quality en suite bedrooms alongside a range of modern facilities over three decks (www.bibbymarine.com/bibby-stockholm -Stockholm-Factsheet.pdf)

So is capacity 506 or 222?  There seems to be some serious discrepancy, are we trying to get 506 men into 222 beds?  Pretty sure that there aren’t too many UK prison cells with more than 2.279279 people inside?

Happily though, Alex Chalk, Justice Secretary was leapt to Lee’s defence: “Lee Anderson expresses the righteous indignation of the British people. Yes, he does it in salty terms, that’s his style’ but his indignation is well placed.”

Oh, ok, that’s alright then, if you don’t like something, get salty….

I think I need a drink, so let’s open some wine:

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – £21.99

This my wife’s favourite wine when I’m paying for it.  Greywacke was created in 2009 by Kevin Judd, the person responsible for the ground-breaking early wines produced in Marlborough.  The name ‘Greywacke’ was adopted by Kevin for his first Marlborough vineyard, located in Rapaura, in recognition of the prevalence of rounded greywacke river stones in the vineyard’s soils.

So far as the actual wine is concerned, Kevin describes it thus: “Aromas of cassis and passionfruit are first to emerge, with guava, crisp pear and white peach adding a delicious fruit salad intricacy. On the palate, it’s generous yet refreshing, with ripe pineapple and a lime sherbet zing, layered with elderflower and hints of citrus blossom. A classic example of Greywacke’s interpretation of the famous Marlborough style – ripe, textural and scrumptious – with the volume turned well down.”

Bodegas Resalte de Penafiel Lecco Crianza 2019 – £19.29

We’ve always enjoyed the wines from Ribera del Duero and, with the predicted weather, this could be the perfect red.  This is 100% Tempranillo from 30 year old vines 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, more than happy with that smorgasbord of barbecued deliciousness you are cooking this weekend!

“I said-a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop” words so memorably uttered by Wonder Mike (he’d like to say hello) on Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 release “Rapper’s Delight” that were, for most of us, the first encounter with a phenomenon that began in a block party in the Bronx with Kool Herc on 11^th August 1973.  A very happy 50^th birthday to hip-hop!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Shh, shh, it’s oh, so quiet, shh, shh, it’s oh, so still, shh, shh, you’re all alone, shh, shh, and so peaceful…

Betty Hutton first sang these bon mots in July 1951; Fröken Guðmundsdóttir repeated the sentiment in June 1995 whilst Wayne sings this to himself every day in August – it seems that the tranquillity of Arthur Road in the summer has been a globally acknowledged phenomenon for over 70 years – and this year is certainly no different.

Just so you know not to rush back too soon, Manuel has closed his D&S Tailors and Dry Cleaners for a well-deserved break from 31^st July until 29^th August; likewise, Lee and the gang at Saucer & Cup are closing from 14^th to 30^th August; Andrea and Sara at Whisk will be scooting back to the Bel Paese from 15^th to 26^th August whilst the crew at Arthur’s hung up their aprons on 29^th July until 20^th August.

Still, at least the Post Office now sells crisps; perhaps they could get a Gaggia…

Anyway, in the absence of too much action on the customer front, we have had plenty of time to keep up with the cricket, the Women’s World Cup football and the Netball World Cup.  We’ve watched more players going to the Saudi Pro League, we’ve watched a documentary about Mark Cavendish, we’ve watched rain fall, grass grow and paint dry. 

And then we’ve done this all over again the next day.

Outside of SW19, we’ve seen our prices rise, interest rates rise, we’ve seen our tee-total PM pretend to pour pints and we’ve seen Donald Trump issued with his THIRD indictment.  This means he has a full set – one relating to events before his presidency, one from after his time in office and now one from during his tenure – cup of tea, as the bingo callers would say.

From a work point of view, we’ve not worked too hard but we have re-designed our Monthly Case Club offering to fall in line with the new price hikes.  For those of you who haven’t come across our case club, it’s all really very simple.  Every month we select a mixed box containing six bottles of wine carefully chosen to tickle the life back into your taste buds.  There is an option of a £75 case or an £100 case and suffice to say, the discount on each case will always be greater than what we would offer instore.  We email you the tasting notes for each selection at the beginning of the month, you say ‘yes please, I’d like a case’ and we’ll drop them round.  You can say no at any point, you can also say ‘yes please I’ll take two!’

If you’d like to give it a go, just drop us a line and we’ll include you in next month’s mailing – we’ve attached notes for this month’s case to give you an idea what we’re talking about.

As it’s only Wayne and I tasting this weekend, we thought we’d treat ourselves to a couple of gems:

Kumeu River Ray’s Road Chardonnay 2020 – £27.99

Oak – 100% barrel fermentation in older French Oak and 100% malolactic fermentation with 11 months maturation in barrel.

A new wine in the line-up and it pleases me greatly to see that it comes from Hawke’s Bay.  I adore Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay and I can certainly see why these coolish climate kings have chosen to seek more fruit and also more challenges in this part of Kiwiland.  I love Rays road.  Classy, layered and complete this is a very different take on this grape from the remainder of the portfolio, given that the rest come from Kumeu (north of Auckland).  There is a distinct beginning, middle and end here, which is often a challenge in a new wine and particularly I love the acid line and elegance on the finish. 

18/20 – Matthew Jukes – 14 July 2021

Sokol Blosser Estate Pinot Noir 2020 – £36.49

The Sokol Blosser estate was founded by Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser in the Dundee Hills of Oregon about 30 miles south west of Portland in 1971.  Their first vintage was released in 1977 following 6 years renovating and improving the vineyards and cellar and the 85 hectares of vineyards are farmed organically with the insect population being kept in check by a resident flock of bluebirds! 

Having spent 16 months in French oak barrels the wine has a nose rich with mushroom, truffle, and forest floor, accompanied by black cherry, cranberry, and clove.  The palate reflects the cranberry, black cherry and truffle, but also introduces a dash of black pepper with medium tannins and acidity on the finish.

Sounds like we should get the big tasting glasses out….

Happy August everyone, enjoy your festivals, avoid forest fires and floods, eat food you wouldn’t normally try and do think of us weighing up whether to lunch on a Cheese & Onion sandwich from the Coop or a pack of Dextrosol from the chemist!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I’m sure that if you, like me, have been reading the press this week you are comforted by the news that there is no longer a war in Ukraine, there hasn’t been a coup in Niger and there is nothing to discuss about climate change. The only thing that really matters is Man Baby’s bank account. Seemingly closed after the accidental discovery that he no longer meets the requirements to hold a Child Trust Fund, Man Baby has had an absolute hissy fit. He screamed and screamed until he made himself sick (he can you know) and the fallout has been far and wide, featuring apologies, middle of the night resignations and a rather gleeful Man Baby screaming “ More, more!”

All this has been manna from heaven for our government of integrity, professionalism and accountability. It’s let them off the hook from rethinking a commitment to net zero, a simple inability to encourage anyone to build any houses, dodgy by-election results, and that opinion polls seem not to give them the upper hand.  Not to mention that Flitwick Town Council have written to Mad Nads asking her to vacate her seat immediately so they can get some actual representation.

As we read headlines of stepping back from net zero commitments placed next to pictures of wildfires in Rhodes, Sicily, Corfu and Croatia, we do find ourselves wondering what could happen if the party politics were removed from this. After all, Sadiq Khan seems to be taking a lot of flak for expanding ULEZ, an idea of Boris Johnson’s and imposed on TFL as part of the settlement negotiated by Grant Shapps. Removing the party politics from the conversation may just give us a bit of cleaner air to breathe, and perhaps a less toxic political environment.

Which would be nice.  

On the subject of hot spots and history, should you be avoiding the Mediterranean in your travels this summer but planning a visit to the tropical paradise of the Scilly Isles we have news…

An Iron Age grave discovered on Bryher in 1999 has finally had its mysteries solved by DNA testing. The grave contained a skeleton along with a sword and shield and also a brooch and a bronze mirror. The sword and mirror combination are a unique discovery in Western European Iron Age study whilst the DNA testing of the skeleton’s tooth enamel suggest the skeleton to be that of a woman. Historic England believe the mirror would have been used for signalling and that female involvement in raiding and other local warfare was more widespread than previously thought, laying the foundations for leaders like Boudica to happen. The sword and mirror are in the Isles of Scilly museum, should you be in the ‘hood.

After too many months of absence caused by a series of problems too dull to discuss here, we are chuffed to announce the return to the shop, to the fridge and to Friday Night Fizz, of Leveret IQ Brut NV (£16.99), our delicious traditional method sparkling wine from New Zealand. As a reminder, it’s a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier aged for 18 months on its lees.

We’ve also gone and bought another beer from the nice folk at By The Horns Brewery. Cherry Berry Sour (£4.25) is a kettle soured beer brewed with sloe berry and sour cherry puree before being dry hopped with a slug of Eureka hops. It’s a fruity drop and, for our palates, a bit less sour than you might think.

Tasting This Weekend

We thought we’d open the bowling with Lumari Lucido/Inzolia, Sicilia (£12.99) a lovely, modern easy drinking white. An aromatic and fresh wine with hints of nuts and citrus made from indigenous Sicilian varieties.

We’ll be rolling the red in from the Pavilion End with Lyrarakis Kotsifali, Crete (£13.99). Kotsifali is a grape variety indigenous to Crete and mostly grown in the Heraklion region. This one has spicy red fruit with hints of herbs and a palate of red cherry fruit balanced with fine tannins and a hint of that herby spice in the finish.

We can’t sign off this week without remembering Sinead O’Connor.

Revisit the album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” and raise a glass.

Sláinte!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Spain travel warning as Britons to face soaring temperatures in top hotspots – Daily Express 17^th July.** ^{(see footnote)}

Did you hear?  It’s summer in Europe and it’s hot.  Many, many UK column inches have been printed warning us if the dangers of going to Europe and meeting Cerberus or Charon – last year it was the ferry ports being overcrowded, this year it’s the weather; one is almost starting to feel like there is some sort of animosity between the UK and the mainland!

Glancing quickly at the Spanish and Italian press though, their coverage seems less meteorologically fixated.  La Nazione, in Florence, has a front page headline discussing a local restaurant no longer being allowed to put tables on the pavement, whilst El País is more concerned with power outages due to air conditioning usage, the 143,000 litres of olive oil being sold as Extra Virgen when it’s been mixed with lesser product (two headlines that appear every year, I think), and, of course, the upcoming general election on Sunday.

Not so many headlines about the weather.

However, this does lead us to a heartfelt plea from Wayne who, in case you don’t know, is not going on holiday until September and so will be chief helmsman from now and all through August.  It can get a bit lonely for him so, if you were to decide to avoid the Furnaces of Europe and indulge in a London staycation, he would be delighted to see you and have someone to talk to!  Plus, at the moment, he is juggling watching the Tour de France, The Ashes and the British Open if you’d care to join – not something you could necessarily do in Montalcino.

Plus we’ve got strikes a plenty coming up: the tubes, the railways and the buses are all out at some point in the next few weeks; the doctors are out now; the baggage handlers at Gatwick are also joining in the fun – it definitely feels more and more like you should stay put and drink wine with Wayne!

As we watched our Members of Parliament yesterday scuttle back to their constituencies for six weeks, we applaud Rishi the Reshuffler for keeping members of his Cabinet firmly on their toes.  Nothing quite like going off on holiday on a Thursday completely uncertain of what job you’ll be doing when you get back, if any – excellent people management, almost Machiavellian we’d say.  When you take into consideration the 3 by-elections scheduled for the last day of term plus the announcement, on Wednesday, of a new Tata Gigafactory to be built in Somerset, possibly just over the road from Somerton & Frome, you could be forgiven for raising a quizzical eyebrow whilst reaching for your copy of The Prince!

In our world of wine and associated drinking, all the press is talking about is the duty rise that we warned you about a couple of weeks back.  Further research on our part has revealed that wines over 14.5% will likely go up by £2 on the shelf, which, when we looked at our selection from the valleys of the Rhône, the Barossa and the ‘policella led us to a deep, long sigh.  None of this will happen until August though, so there’s another good reason for you to pop in sooner rather than later to buy wine from Wayne!

As a spoiler, here’s what he’ll have open this weekend:

New Hall Vineyards Bacchus 2021 – £16.99 (equivalent to 23p/ml) – The vineyards of New Hall, established in 1969, are located just outside of Purleigh, Essex and are home to some of the oldest plantings of Bacchus in the UK.  They certainly have the most – 44,500 vines – and supply grapes to a couple of well-known English Wineries that, frankly, are not very close to Essex.  The wine has a vinous, limey nose that leads you into a fruit focused medium dry palate with lovely hints of elderflower and a reassuring zing on the finish – all for a refreshingly low 11% abv!

A Los Viñateros Bravos Volcánico País 2021 – £17.49 (equivalent to £2.33/10cl) – from Itata in Chile, this is a bit of a favourite of ours.  Over the years we have tried our fair share of wines from the grape variety País and an awful lot of them have been a bit ordinary and we could easily understand why it was, for the most part, distilled into Pisco.  However, this is not like any of the others – really lifted aromatic fruit on the nose, fresh and juicy, almost spritzy even in the mouth and with really fine tannins.  A proper vin de soif that’d be perfect with some slow cooked pork on the barbecue and, again, a refreshingly low 12.5% abv.

And with that we’re done.  I’m off to watch the cricket, he’s off to watch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – neither of us have managed to get tickets to Barbie, yet….

¡Hasta la proxima!

Wayne & Alex

** We also have heard an interview with the BBC’s Vatican correspondent who was able to confirm that the Pope was indeed a Catholic, followed by an American expert on ursine biology who was able to confirm what bears do in the woods.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week we started off, as usual, with a Monday. There was no Tour de France as it was a rest day and the third match of The Ashes had ended with an England win, bringing the series to 2-1 in favour of the Aussies. The paperwork got done as usual and some orders were placed.  We discussed the fact that Boris Johnson had failed to hand over his ‘old’ phone by the deadline and now was technically in contempt of court. We wondered if anything would happen.  We looked at the tasting list for the tasting we’d attend in the morning and formulated a plan of action.

Tuesday, and we’re arriving in Camden at the appointed time, well Alex anyway, Wayne suffered overconfidence in the reliability of the Northern Line. We arrived at the tasting to discover that low attendee numbers meant the pressure was on for full feedback on all of the new prospects. Plan of action out of the window, we set about a mammoth tasting for the greater good. Some hours later we emerged with black teeth and sore gums to discover that Mrs Johnson, with impeccable timing, had announced the birth of their third child, Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson. We treated ourselves to a Pret sandwich and headed back to the shop.

Wednesday arrived on time, Wayne shirking any responsibility for anything by having a day off, Alex shifting a van full of wine around the shop- no gym for him that evening!  Meanwhile in the wider world, Mad Nads has been reported for WhatsApping a top civil servant trying to get on Lettuce Liz’s Honours List. That’s the same Mad Nads who hasn’t appeared in Parliament for over a year, though she has been able to write her newspaper column and host her TV show.  Clearly MP’s don’t have the same attendance rules they set for jobless claimants.

Thursday popped up in the correct position and it was Alex’s turn to swing the lead. Except that the lead was swapped for a golf stick and he had a lovely walk following a Penfold’s No 9 around a very manicured lawn with sand pits. It also turned out that Boris Johnson can’t remember the pin number for his old phone which is why it’s not been handed over. I would have thought that you could ask almost any tabloid journalist for that, or maybe  I would have tried 0000 or 1234 myself! The Tour de France went a bit berserk and I would be telling porkies if I said I actually understood what anybody’s tactics for the day were. To be honest, I’m exhausted, and I was just listening! The top three on Grand Classification remain the same at the end of it though, so we go again today up to Grand Colombier at 1501m – a mountain top finish following a 17.4km climb at an average of 7.1%.

You’ll recall our chum Tim was in exactly that position last week. Fortunately for him they are nearly at the end of their tour which will finish in Paris this weekend. Today is a flat day for them, but does follow back to back mountain days on Mont Blanc. The group together has raised nearly £1m now for Cure Leukaemia. If you’d like to help donate to Cure Leukaemia here is the link: Tim Goodman is fundraising for Cure Leukaemia (justgiving.com)

That brings us pretty much up to date, what with it being Friday. If we were to suggest tasting some wine, how would that appeal?

It’s Bastille Day today, so we’ve chosen a couple of wines from France. Waving the flag in the white corner will be Christian Bellang Bourgogne Sous Velle 2020 (£25.75). If you’re a fan of smart white Burgundy then this is for you. Made from grapes sourced in Meursault and aged for 10 months in barrels of 1 to 5 years old, it’s a lovely rich and complex wine which we found to be rather decent value for money.

Charging up the boulevard in the red jacket will be Domaine d’Escausses Cuvée Des Drilles 2020 (£14.99). This cheeky little number from Gaillac is a blend of two grape varieties, Duras (75%) with the rest comprised by Fer. A proper wine of the south west with bright peppery notes, hints of Seville orange, bitter cherry and a really appealing suppleness in the mouth. A real second glasser!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Greetings from the biggest and busiest carpark in south-west London.  If you can’t find a taxi near you it’s because they are all sitting on Arthur Road, shouting at each other and trying to squeeze through spaces made for a VW Polo and not for a Land Rover Defender, so, if you don’t mind, you’ll have to reverse…

Welcome to Wimbledon fortnight, come and smell the fumes.

As you’ve no doubt read, perhaps even experienced, the security at the All England has been ramped up this year, seemingly inspired by the actions of the Just Stop Oil activists at other events.  The arrival of the updated Public Order Act 2023 in May this year added the ‘Offence of being equipped for locking-on’ to an already long list of offences we can commit unknowingly.  According to our correspondent on the inside, every morning at 5.45am when he arrives to start work for the day, on his bike, he has to explain why he has a lock ‘hidden’ in his bag.  We have now suggested he places his D-lock inside a 1,000 piece Centre Court View Jigsaw Puzzle box (£22, no longer for sale on site) as these seem to sail through security uncontested.

Otherwise, the tennis championships seem to be following their usual course.  A couple of upsets; Venus failed to turn back time but gave us all hope; some plucky Brits got plucked in the first round, and the rain teemed down on some other plucky Brits sitting on Henman Hill, getting their 15 minutes of fame at the end of the BBC evening news.  Having watched Novax play yesterday, we did wonder if it would be far more sporting if he wasn’t allowed to join in until the second Wednesday, just to give some of the others a chance?

Outside of SW19, in Leeds we have a couple of dozen men in white pyjamas throwing a little red ball at each other at sometimes at speeds of over 95mph whilst in the south of France we have a bunch of jokers dressed up in multi-coloured lycra onesies piling up and down hills on their very expensive pushbikes, sometimes at speeds of over 100km/h!  All of these sporting spectacles are hugely entertaining, it’s just a shame that everything is on at the same time!

You will recall that our chum Tim is riding the Tour de France to raise money for Cure Leukaemia. They are riding a week ahead of the professionals, so today are tackling Stage 13: Châtillon-Sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier, an 138km mountain stage whilst the professionals ride stage 7 an almost pancake flat stage to Bordeaux that may see Mark Cavendish break a record.

To donate to Cure Leukaemia here is the link: Tim Goodman is fundraising for Cure Leukaemia (justgiving.com)

Westminster will not be providing the fodder for our moans this week, at least not directly.  When I mentioned car fumes earlier, it reminded me that local boy and London Mayor incumbent, Sadiq Khan, has made the 29^th August (Tuesday) the day that ULEZ spreads over the whole of London.  For those who exist outside the London bubble, what this means is that from this date onwards petrol cars registered before 2005 and diesel cars registered before September 2015 will have to pay £12.50 every day they are driven.  Sadly what this will mean for us is that our longest serving member of staff, the Volvo will be retiring.  Years of good service will perhaps be rewarded with a happy relocation to the Cornish sunshine – I don’t believe Lower Sticker will be inside the zone in the very near future…

But before we get to that end of August, we have some unfortunate news coming our way on August 1^st (Tuesday, again). 

As I’m sure not a single one of you will remember, the Chancellor’s Budget on 15th March announced changes to alcohol duty.  Duty will now be calculated on a new ABV-based system and, simultaneously, will be subject to a 10.1% RPI-linked increase.  In simple terms, this means that wines of different ABV will pay different amounts of duty, except for wines of 11.5%-14.5% ABV that for now will pay the same duty as a 12.5% ABV wine until 1st February 2025, when it will become more complicated.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  I won’t bore you with any further technical details; suffice to say, in shop terms, what will happen is

• every bottle of wine will go up by £1
• every bottle of Port will go up by  £2

I know, miserable.

On the upside, this doesn’t happen until the end of the month and we can still fill the Volvo’s gigantic boot up to the roof for another 50 days – so, anyone need a top up?

If I can’t tempt you to stock up, hopefully I might be able to tempt you at least to taste the wine I have open this weekend?  We are going to open a couple of Italians today because we haven’t had either of these for a while.

For the white, we have Produttori Del Gavi ‘Gavi Mille 951’ 2022 – £17.99.  Made at their winery overlooking the historic Gavi fortress, this cooperative has been making wine for over 65 years.  Aromas of pear peach, apricot and yellow plum greet us on the nose whilst on the palate we have the same fruit characters with hints of almond in the background.  Dry, light and moreish, ideal on a warm summer evening.

The red hails from far further south, Puglia, and is Tufarello Nero di Troia 2019 – £14.99.  Nero di Troia is the grape here and the name attests to its Greek influences – it is said to take its name from the nearby town of Troia, named by the Greek invader Diomedes.  The wine saw a limited amount of oak treatment to soften the natural grape tannins and is deep red in colour with purple hues.  There is a good depth of sour cherry and blueberry fruit on the palate, with supple tannins, good acid and length.  A good all-rounder as they say…

That’s it from us, enjoy your weekend and make good use of all that charcoal!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So, that was a fun weekend.  Waking up on Saturday morning to the news that Yevgeny Prigozhin was marching on Moscow gave us a feeling that we could be witnessing a significant historical event.

A march on Moscow has been attempted before of course.  Napoleon’s Grande Armée took 82 days to reach its gates, whilst Operation Barbarossa took the Nazi’s 6 months before they even got a glimpse of the Kremlin.  Both of these attacks on resulted in failure for the French and Germans, many lives were lost, in no small part due to the horrifically hostile weather conditions.  Prigozhin, in blazing sunshine and temperatures reaching the early 30’s, took a mere 24 hours to give up the ghost and skedaddle off to a comfy dacha in the Belarus countryside.  They don’t make putsch’s like they used to, however, I’m sure this is not the end of this since, as the old adage goes, it’s never a good idea to poke the (Russian) bear…

Meanwhile, Rishi went on record yesterday, after the Court of Appeal decision: “The policy of this government is very simple, it is this country – and your government – who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs.”

I’m sure the Rwandan government could say the same thing.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees piped up: “We continue to urge the government of the United Kingdom to instead pursue other measures, including cooperation with the UK’s European neighbours and fair and fast asylum procedures, that would be more humane, efficient, and cost-effective” 

But the last word should got to Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, founder and chair of the Development and Liberty for All (DALFA-Umurinzi) political party: “If Rwanda is to welcome all its citizens back inside its borders, end the violence in Rwanda and the DRC, and truly emerge as a stable, democratic country that can welcome asylum seekers from around the world, the government needs to tackle the core issues that lead Rwandans to flee and refuse to return home”

Hmm, who to believe….

Away from murky political practices, I am told by our cycling expert that the 110^th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday, in Spain.  In fact it doesn’t get to France until Monday, which looks like a tough day to me.  Stage 14 finds us in Morzine, where I imagine there will still be no snow and it all finishes in Paris, of course, on 23^rd July.  For deeper insight, do please ask my colleague.

I also hear rumours that there might be some tennis due to start nearby but will confirm as and when I know more….

The cricket was a trifle tedious and no-ball laden on Wednesday but the arrival at Lords on Thursday of two of our special correspondents, festooned in red, clearly worked in England’s favour as we managed to get into bat before lunch.  Communication deteriorated mid-afternoon and the last we heard from our men on the ground was at tea, when they wired us a message ‘wine beginning to take hold’ which felt like the St Johns Wood version of: “I am just going outside and may be some time”.

And wine has taken hold here – we’ve been shopping and have debuted some new South African beauties….

Stellenbosch Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2021 (£14.99) – a rich and velvety Chenin from the Helderberg part of Stellenbosch.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Stellenbosch Vineyards Pinotage 2021 (£14.99) – From bush-vines all around 30 years old and a really good example with loads of cherry and plum fruit character.                     

Angus Paul Transient Lands Pinotage 2021 (£22.99) – We loved this, sourced from three plots across the Western Cape.  Summer pudding and bramble fruit lead onto a smooth mineral finish.                                                                                                       

Beau Constantia Lucca 2018 (£27.69) – Winemaker Megan van der Merwe described this vintage as a real pleasure to work with whilst we found it a real pleasure to drink!                                                                                                   

De Toren Z 2017 (£40.00) – We’ve made no secret of our admiration for the wines from De Toren over the years, this is the Merlot dominant one, plummy and delicious.      

De Toren Fusion V 2017 (£46.00) – De Toren’s flagship wine, a Cabernet dominant Bordeaux blend.  Delicious already with polished, fine grain tannins framing the cherry and blueberry fruit and a layered creamy finish.

To celebrate our successful purchases we’ll be opening the Stellenbosch Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2021 and the Angus Paul Transient Lands Pinotage 2021 tonight and tomorrow, so come, have a taste and let us know what you think.

And with that, like a cream tea in the Edrich Stand, we are scone!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Another week saturated with great news from all sides, as seems to be the new normal.

The Mirror got the ball rolling last weekend by ‘discovering’ that video of Dad dancing at CCHQ during lockdown.  Quite where this video has been up until now is anyone’s guess but it is quite astonishing that it has stayed hidden – still at least it stokes the flames beneath the gigantic cauldron containing the mangled carcass of Boris Johnson’s political career.

I know I risk being cancelled by someone for that last statement.  If I was called Clive and worked for the BBC I would be relieved of my current duties for displaying anti-Tory bias.  However, I think most of us would agree that Mr Myrie wasn’t showing anti-Tory bias, if anything he simply showed anti-Boris tendencies and let’s be fair, nothing he said was slander.

In other parts of SW1, David Cameron, the man in the shadows, had a bit of a turbulent time at the Covid-19 inquiry.  For those of you that don’t remember, Dave was PM from 2010-2016 and was very keen on austerity.  Coincidentally, in the six years leading up to 2020 the value of UK pandemic stockpile fell by 40%; in monetary terms £325m of the health department’s emergency stockpile (including PPE) was lost – not surprised people are a little miffed with DC and that’s before we raise a glass (half-empty) to him today whilst celebrating the 7^th anniversary of the United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum.

Cheers…

Elsewhere, the sea is getting warmer; core inflation is at a 30 year high; the base rate is now 5% – last seen in 2008; Elon Musk has challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight and we can no longer listen to Meghan and Harry on Spotify – genuinely, I wish none of this was true, apart from the last bit!

So now we seek better news.  The start of The Ashes had something for everyone, including rain and a full house on the 5^th day, the Aussies shaded it with a proper captain’s innings from Pat Cummins.  Truly, if the next four Tests are as exciting we are in for a fabulous summer.  KC3 got his first winner at Royal Ascot yesterday with Desert Hero whilst Wayne has been doing a different sort of riding, out on his bike most days and not yet been caught for doing over 20mph in Richmond Park!  The oversized Discovery’s and Defender’s are back on the local roads which means the tennis must just around the corner and on Wednesday we celebrated the longest day – winter is coming…

Our teenage correspondent in Somerset informs us that she has been banned from visiting Glastonbury whilst other people from her school are actually performing there – look out for The Entitled Sons we’re told, 4 lads (and their Dad) who just happen to call Sarah Beeny ‘mum’.

Should teenage bands not be your thing, the Glastonbury Channel will be live from Friday 23 – Sunday 25 June on BBC iPlayer so if it’s Arctic Monkeys, Blondie, Guns N’ Roses, Rick Astley, Barrington Levy, Candi Staton or even big Reg Dwight, there’ll be something for you here.

When speaking of Zummerzet, it’s hard not to think of alcoholic apple refreshment.  In perhaps the clumsiest segue ever performed in this column, we thought it might be time to talk about our cider from Brittany, which seems to have suddenly become a bit famous.

On 16^th June, Charlie Teasdale wrote an article, in Esquire magazine no less, headlined Juicy Gossip: Why Breton Cider Will Be the Drink of the Summer.

I won’t reprint the whole article here because that would be theft but I will share this excerpt:

Until now, Breton cider has been somewhat overlooked, existing as the order of a learned-few – a discerning people who want the Gallic elegance of a bottle of wine and the stoic charm of a beer, for the price of a Zone 1 Guinness. But momentum is slowly building… this, I suggest, could be our Breton summer.

We, and a fair number of you, can now pat ourselves on the back for being amongst the learnèd, discerning few and it now seems fair for us to share our wisdom with the rest of the class.

The cidre that Charlie is discussing is indeed our Kerisac Cidre Breton – £6.00 (1 litre).

Originally founded in the Isac Valley in Guenrouet by Edmond Guillet in 1920, it now belongs to the Agrial cooperative; however the commercial department is run by Laurent Guillet, great-grandson of Edmond, thus the 4^th generation of the family to be involved.  They work with 50 apple producers in the region and have a truly excellent product that is full of Gallic character.   A golden pour with a gentle fizz, a nose and mouthful packed with sweet, juicy apples that then lead into a rounded, dry finish.

As it’s going to be warm this weekend, we’ll have the cidre open for tasting and you can all see what all the fuss is about.  Alongside this we’ll have a lightly chilled red from Germany to try:

Hanewald-Schwerdt Spätburgunder 2019 – £16.99 -Pinot Noir from Germany doesn’t appear on everyone’s radar very often but it should!  Bright strawberry and cherry notes lead the way with some delicious savoury character and good minerality.  Intense and medium bodied this is designed to be drunk easily (hooray) and can be enjoyed on its own (hooray again) but if you don’t subscribe to the ‘eating is cheating’ mantra, then it would be very happy with a smoked duck salad!

That’s it from us, have a wonderful weekend and keep your chin up!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So, we have the report from the Commons Privileges Committee and, as suspected, it’s not a great read if your name is Boris Johnson. We suspect that’s why he spat the dummy last week but, in our heart of hearts, we all knew, didn’t we?

Here at Park Vintners we are very heartened to discover there are one or two people in the Palace of Westminster who have the spine to display some integrity in public life and to defend what little is left of our democracy.

But let’s cut to the chase, what could we do in 90 days?

First up, we’ll be ditching our security detail and heading off to Perugia. Our friend’s Daddy has a lovely castle nearby and throws the most amazing weekend parties. He always has great wine, banging music and canapes to die for. We won’t mention the blondes, as Silvio can’t be there.

Then we’ll borrow Bamfies jet and fly over to the States. Do you have any idea what they pay for someone to bumble along with notes from the back of an envelope after dinner? They even give you a free feed too!

Bank balance restored, maybe Mustique on the way back, it’s always good to break a journey with a beach, and we really like this one. Rossy always lends us his house and the gin cupboard is always well stocked; Wilf even has his own armbands for the pool.

Then back to Italy, it’ll be time for another party and I’ve had a break on the passport stamps. That ninety day visa thing really is bothersome, who negotiated that?

That Michel Barnier thinks he’s the big joker. He sent me a link to an article “Here Are 6 Things You Can Do In 90 Days To Get Your Life Together”, it’s full of woke nonsense like helping people and paying off your debts. Doesn’t he know I had it oven ready and rolled out a vaccine?

I’m going to pop in and see Jacob in Somerset, he’s dull and rather smarmy but Nanny’s trifle is off the scale! Might see if Pater is at the farm whilst I’m down there but I suspect he’s off in Greece sulking about the ermine.

Mad-Nads finally saw some sense and realised that by not resigning as an MP she can get two salaries for the same work. Must phone her and ask for Lady Dorries or is it too soon do you think?

Amazing how much can be fitted into 90 days, Phileas Fogg made it around the world in less time. Mind you, Carrie is no Passepartout!

Tasting This Weekend

Given the forecast, we’ll go with something pink in the white corner.

Our parcel of Rosé de Béarn 2022 (£10.99) has arrived. From the foothills of the Pyrénées, this blend of Cabernet Franc and Tannat is really rather scrummy. Pale in the glass, dry with wild strawberry and raspberry notes – bang on with a barbecue, a picnic or just in the garden with some neighbours over the fence!

Casa Silva Cool Coast Pinot Noir 2021 (£18.99) Hailing from the coastal vineyards of the Colchagua Valley, this is a proper cool climate Pinot Noir with a nose filled with red fruit notes, strawberries, raspberries and a subtle background note of cinnamon and spice from the French oak it spent 12 months reposing in.  An excellent length of finish and a real pleasure to drink – lamb leg steaks on the barbecue should be perfect.

With that we’re off, but not before wishing Mr Johnson a very Happy Birthday for Monday, AKA the 3^rd anniversary of ‘ambush by cake’ and the beginning of the end!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I’ll be honest; I’m not sure what to write about today.

Having been hiding in the southern parts of Devon and Spain for the last couple of weeks, away from the news and scandals of British life, I feel strangely refreshed and happily uninformed – an unexpected digital detox and one I would thoroughly recommend.  I also quickly realised that I wasn’t really missing Rishi, Suella, Boris and the gang, in spite of all the joy they bring, because greater joy can be found in a fine platter of chuletitas, a glass of Ribera del Duero and a couple of old friends – who knew?

I fully expect to be fully jaded by Monday but, for now, I’ll happily bathe in the afterglow.

So, what to talk about?  It has come to our attention that this Saturday, 10^th June, is World Gin Day.  We assume this is an actual thing having only read it on social media because all of our Gin suppliers have been curiously quiet about it – perhaps every day for them is world gin day.  Certainly I have a number of close acquaintances for whom World I’m-Not-Having-A- Gin-Today Day would be a just once a year occurrence.

Anyway, I’ve found the website and here is what they have to say:

World Gin Day: 10 June 2023

A global celebration of all things gin, held on the second Saturday in June

Organised by everyone’s favourite gin swigging primate: Gin Monkey, the idea is simple: get people together all around the world and raise a glass to the brilliant spirit that is GIN. Whether it’s in a cocktail, a G&T or neat as part of a tasting, let’s celebrate this wonderful juniper-laced spirit in all of its glory!

Discover what’s on in your area by searching for the #WorldGinDay hashtag across social media!

Seems to me to be quite a simple yet effective celebration, so let’s do it… we always have gin open to taste, so what better way to spend 10 minutes on a Saturday afternoon.  The current selection is:

Eclectic Gin

Made for the buying group we are a part of, so only available in about 50 shops

• Original Blend 40% – £37
• The Spice Blend 45% – £39

Hepple Gin 45% – £38

Made by our good friend Walter up in the Northumberland National Park and our #1 best seller

Procera Blue Dot Gin 44% – £85

Made in Nairobi with botanicals sourced from across Africa, including Juniper Procera that only grows in the highlands of Kenya and Ethiopia.

Renegade Gin 42% – £38

Made in Battersea by our local Aussie distiller, Braden, who also makes the now infamous Chilli Bacon Vodka!

So, come and have a taste!

I imagine that for most of you The Portman Group will have little significance.  However for us in the booze business it is a well-regarded social responsibility body and regulator for alcohol labelling, packaging and promotion in the UK.  They have many guidelines and rules one of which is:

Appeal to Under 18s Rule 3.2(h) A drink, its packaging or promotion should not have a particular appeal to under-18s

So when we read the following, we thought of this rule:

‘Freixenet launches sparkling rosé ice pops in time for the summer.  The new 5% ABV frozen popsicles, produced with rosé wine to recreate the light and fruity characteristics of Freixenet Italian Sparkling Rosé’

What on earth could go wrong, when has a child ever asked for a Calippo on a hot day?!

In sport, we’re getting a sneak preview of how the Australian cricketers are shaping up prior to the start of The Ashes and the news from The Oval is a bit scary.  Football sees The Thames Ironworks FC travelling to Europe on Thursday nights next season, whilst Pep needs to stop overthinking things before tomorrow, as City bid to become the second club in Manchester to do the treble.   Speaking of middle eastern sportswashing investment, golf has rolled over in a way previously unimaginable and now has a newly created PGA/LIV Golf entity whose new chairman is Yasir Al-Rumayyan.  A quick search tells me he:

• is a key advisor to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia
• was appointed to lead Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund (PIF) in 2015, a fund that has become an increasingly powerful force in the sports world in recent years
• is chairman of the board for oil giant Saudi Aramco
• holds board positions with Uber and SoftBank
• is chairman of Newcastle United
• has played a key role in luring Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to Saudi Arabia’s domestic league

No conflict of interests whatsoever.

And now to this week’s tasting wines: the white will be orange and the red will be chilled…

Cramele Recas Solara Orange Wine – £13.99 – This estate is owned by Englishman Philip Cox and his Romanian 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.

Beaujolais Villages ‘Cuvée Six’ 2021 – £11.99 – hailing from the villages of Jullié and Emeringes, and grown on the sandy granitic soils that produce the best Gamay, this is tender, round and fruity as you’d expect from a pure expression of the grape variety. Awesome lightly chilled with a plate of charcuterie on a sunny weekend!

That’s it from us as we wave goodbye to the tall and tan and young and lovely girl from Ipanema as she goes walking off into the sunset….