The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well I have to say Alex called it well last week with England beating Wales in a very exciting match on Sunday. The Six nations looks too complicated to call for me, but if I understand it correctly, we need a baby to be born to a prop, an early sunrise in Rome, croissants for breakfast and then if all these stars align, there is an outside chance England may just win the Six Nations. I can’t believe I might have to cheer the French!

Alex’s tip for the Gold Cup cheated and ran in a different race, so that kind of blew our Cheltenham tip out of the water.

Elsewhere in the news the Bank of England’s very own George Clooney suggested that if Scotland gains independence then RBS will have to move to England – Royal Bank of Sunderland anybody? George Soros has warned that Europe could face 25 years of stagnating; having seen what stagnating can do to a pond I think we should try and stop that or else everything will be slimy and smell of eggs.

Wine News

Following on from the impressive list of new additions last week I’d just like to mention that Meerlust Red 2011 (£12.99) is back in stock.  The famed Stellenbosch estate didn’t make any Rubicon for this vintage so it is even tastier than ever! Also welcomed back to SW19 is the Aromo Viognier 2012 (£8.49) from Luis and the team in Maule Valley.

Marathon News (A calendar month to go!)

Mo Farah who, like Wayne, is making his full London Marathon debut in a month’s time, has returned from his altitude training in Iten, Kenya. He tweeted far too many pictures of sunshine whilst we were running in the rain. (Jose Mourinho style mindgames?)

Meanwhile our intrepid heroes are continuing their training plans apace. Both clocked up 30km runs last week, getting a bit of altitude in Richmond Park in Alex’s case, and over Herne Hill in Wayne’s. We’re a bit amazed at how hungry we get on occasion, and can both say with hand on heart that cold baths are an unpleasant experience.

The Children’s Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, multiple disabilities and complex health needs.

Wayne is running for these guys and spent a great day there recently seeing what fantastic work they are doing. There are about 70 children resident and they have great facilities, including a fabulous tree house with wheelchair ramp (the longest in Europe!) and tracking under the corridor that allows the children to program their wheelchairs to take them between classes.

If you’d like to know more about The Children’s Trust there is a programme on BBC1 this Sunday 16^th at 4.35pm, presented by Richard Hammond.

If you would be able to make a donation, and become a whisper of encouragement in our ears for 26.2 miles please go to

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/WayneAlexRunLondon

We, and more importantly the children, will be eternally grateful.

Tasting This Weekend

We’ll give air to a couple of those new arrivals from last week. How about Marktree Semillon/Sauvignon (£8.29) from Western Australia in the white department, and Three Peaks (£12.99) a delicious Côtes de Roussillon from Domaine Treloar, owned by  Jonathan and Rachel Hesford, our newest best chums in South West France.

And lastly…

From Drinks Business “Wine scientists in Australia are recreating the conditions of a bushfire to help determine the effects of smoke on wine production.”

Firstly, surely a clue is in the word smoke.

Secondly, given that at least 4 million hectares of land have been affected by bushfires since 2000 is there a need to recreate them!

A nice weekend everyone!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Going to cheat a bit this week by reviewing last week’s email and assessing the impact.

Weather

The weather seems to have listened to our demands, at least in the short term, and has voted to continue with sunshine over the weekend by all accounts.  No need to thank me.

Sport

We all lost our pound on Sunderland last weekend in the League Cup but for the first half it looked like we could be millionaires.  We have however invested another pound on Vino Griego at 100-1 in the Cheltenham Gold Cup next week – as you can imagine this selection wasn’t made looking at a form card.  Elsewhere we have beaten the great Danes at football, blown away the Windies in the cricket and look forward to harpooning some Wales on Sunday…

Music

Now That’s What I Call Music seems to have tweaked some interest amongst you last week.  One customer was disappointed to find us listening to the rugby on Saturday – he was keen to catch up on some Kajagoogoo – whilst Belinda Carlisle found herself quickly dumped into Room 101.  This week Cat Stevens seems to have gone down well on Tuesday and Astrud Gilberto made us all smile in the sunshine today.  Expression of the week: Wayne’s face when my daughter asked him to put on some One Direction, which was swiftly followed by mutterings of ‘we’re not running a democracy here, luv!’

Currently playing Bryter Layter by Nick Drake, in the hope that we might be…

International News

The Sherry tasting in May has now completely SOLD OUT.  This is as far as I’m going with international news, the situation in Ukraine not being something to be flippant about.

This week in brief

We have had an absolutely brilliant week this week.  Having been to all sorts of tastings over the last month or so, we have finally managed to get some of the wines we tried on the shelves and very excited about it we are too.  Now, I’m not going to write descriptions about each wine here but I will give you a list of all the new wines to whet your appetites:

Castanzu Vermentino 2012, Sardegna, Italy                £8.49

Centopassi Rosso 2012, Sicily, Italy  £12.99

Domaine Singla ‘La Crinyane’ 2009, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France             £23.99

False Bay Shiraz 2012, Western Cape, South Africa                £8.49

Gran Passione Rosso 2012, Veneto, Italy       £12.99

Johanneshof Reinisch St. Laurent 2011, Thermenregion, Austria                  £17.99

Le Ciel Vide 2011, Côtes du Roussillon, France          £10.49

Le Maudit 2011, Côtes du Roussillon, France              £15.99

Marktree Semillon/Sauvignon 2012, Western Australia       £8.29

Marktree Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, South Eastern Australia           £8.29

Motus 2011, Côtes du Roussillon, France       £16.99

Muscat de Rivesaltes 2011, France     £11.99

One Block Grenache 2011, Côtes Catalanes, France £11.99

Rio Cassero Brunello di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy  £29.49

Salcheto Chianti Colli Senese 2012, Tuscany, Italy   £11.49

Tamboerskloof Viognier 2013, Stellenbosch, South Africa £17.99

Three Peaks 2010, Côtes du Roussillon, France         £12.99

Tornai Zenit 2012, Somlo, Hungary  £10.59

Valenciso Blanco 2012, Rioja, Spain                £19.99

So there you have it, the fruits of our labours – our tongues went black and our teeth fell out but we were more than happy to do so to get these top drops in the shop!

As a consequence we will have a couple of bottles open today and tomorrow – I think we will carry on with our Italian theme from last week and try the Castanzu Vermentino 2012 and the Gran Passione Rosso 2012.  If all goes according to plan we might also have a bottle of the new vintage (2009) of the Tamboerskloof Syrah open, should anyone be interested.

Sunshine this weekend, rosé’s in the fridge ready, form an orderly queue…

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Can you remember where you were when you first saw it?

I was standing in the Old Deer Park last Sunday when I first glimpsed it; Wayne reckons he saw it outside the shop last Friday; Chris from down the road reckons he saw it in America last week but he can’t be sure; my wife claims that her mother saw it in Dorset about 12 days ago…

And it was beautiful; a giant orb of bright gold surrounded by miles and miles of deep blue sky – not something any of us have had much of recently and very welcome.  Daffodils have leapt out of their beds and are busy straightening themselves out for parade on Saturday and my sales of rosé wines have gone through the roof.

Weather

It’s March tomorrow, the first month of spring, the month where the clocks change to summer time, the month where we all come back to life – before we know it the cricket season will have started.  Well done chaps, we’ve made it.

Sport

Meanwhile from the sidelines this week we watched Man Utd romp to defeat in Europe on Tuesday proving that even with a player you consider to be worth £300,000 a week, goals don’t create themselves.  Saturday saw a fantastic game of rugby at Twickenham and this week we look forward to Sunderland trouncing Man City 3-0 in the League Cup.  Current odds on this are 150-1 whereas a city 3-0 win is only 7-1…. I prefer the idea of £150 pounds, so I know where my money is going!

Music

And in music news,  I have discovered that playing Now That’s What I Call Music 2 (26 March 1984 if you’re interested) on Spotify has a positive effect on my customers mood – who knew that (Feels like) Heaven by Fiction Factory would get so many feet tapping?  I will continue my experiments further this evening….

Regional headlines

So it’s the annual celebration of the death of pious Dave from the Valleys tomorrow and in the absence of Penderyn whisky or Brains beer, we are recommending consumption of either of our Cambria wines from California – it’s the closest we have to Welsh wine I’m afraid.  Cambria Chardonnay £22.99 – Cambria Pinot Noir £24.99.

International news

Wayne announced last week the fabulous Sherry evening we are having on the 1^st May.  Interest has been huge, so if you’re still humming and hawing now is the time to commit.  £20 per person, bring your own spaghetti western accent.

And finally…

For the first time in ages it seems, we are both in situ tomorrow.  Service will be fabulous, jokes will be free flowing, as will wine.  Not sure what I’m going to do whilst Wayne is doing all this, join in the wine tasting perhaps, maybe lean against the wall for a bit and then have a wander outside to see why there’s so much congestion….

Anyway the wines we are going to open up will be the new, 2012 vintage of the Morton Estate Chardonnay (£10.99) which seems a bit leaner and crisper than previous versions.  On the red side we have just listed Ripa delle Mandorle 2012 (£13.99) which is a delicious Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blend made by Tenuta Vicchiomaggio in Tuscany.  We loved it when we tried it a couple of weeks back and reckon it’ll be ripper with some steak (sorry)!

Back to work now, see you over the weekend for a glass of something tasty.

Over and out.

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As the sun sets on Curling’s place on national television for another four years, I’d like to congratulate Team GB on equalling our greatest haul of winter medals.

Returning to proper sports, it’s a sure sign that spring and sunshine must be on the way as the cycling season has started in earnest. Mark Cavendish is competing down in Portugal at the Volta ao Algarve, whilst Sir Bradley Wiggins is spinning his legs just across the border in Ruta Del Sol. Chris Froome meanwhile? Tour of Oman – these boys do like a spot of winter sun don’t they?

This evening we have Wales hosting the French in Cardiff with lots to prove after their pasting in Dublin, whilst tomorrow England will host Ireland hoping to avoid a similar fate.

David Bowie’s success at the Brits shows there’s life in the old Diamond Dog yet, and I think that his invitation for Scotland to stay with us probably just about rounded Alex Salmond’s week off!

The UK has become Ferrari’s biggest market in Europe with 677 cars sold. We’re looking in to the policy on a Saturday morning test drive; let’s see how many cases of wine we can get in one!

Wine News

Following on from our mention of Brangelina’s Provençal wine, news reaches us this week that Terminator & Avatar film director James Cameron has bought a wine estate in Canada’s Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.

Also, according to the D&D restaurant group, restaurants in Leeds sell more champagne than restaurants in London. Who says its grim up north?

Sherry Tasting

We’ve talked about Sherry with quite a number of you, discussed its rising popularity, the enormous number of Spanish bars and restaurants that have opened recently, and what lovely value for money it can be just for the sheer complexity of flavour you get.

You asked us if we’d do a tasting, we said “Um”, and then you begged us and we said “we’ll ask our chum Bea”. So that’s what we did.

This week we are proud to announce that we have managed to sync diaries and put a date in the calendar. Bea is very much our local expert, hailing from the heart of Sherry land, she also graduated top of the class in her Sherry Educator’s Course run by El Consejo Regulador in Jerez.

THURSDAY 1^st MAY at 8pm. Sherry Tasting here at the shop. Limited numbers as usual, you all know the drill. £20 per person, give us a call to book your place on 020 8944 5224

We’ll open some sherry, have Bea talk us through what’s in the glass, through in some tapas snacks and generally have a good time. Who knows, Alex might even show us his Flamenco dancing.

Wine School

Full details attached, but suffice to say starts on 23^rd April at 8pm sharp. Full details attached.

Tasting this weekend

This week we’re feeling all a bit Italian.

We’ll start off in the Veneto with Tedeschi Soave Classico (£12.49) because it seems we haven’t had it in ages, and then to make a winning pair, how about a spot of Telero Negroamaro del Salento (£9.99) from the warm sunny south?

And lastly…Marathon Training

So far so good, we managed to actually run together last Sunday taking a trip from here up through Chelsea and round Kensington Gardens. Nice and sunny, the right speed and a nice change of scenery.

This week we’re both running the Richmond Deer Park Half Marathon on Sunday so give us a wave if you’re there, and don’t gloat too much if you zip past!

Have a great weekend!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As we all open cards, buy double priced roses, and wonder if heart shape chocolates were really the best idea; I would just mention that, along with Ambrose of Milan, St Valentine is the Patron Saint of Beekeepers. Does that mean a jar of honey may have been better than those chocs? For any late adopters we’re here till 8 and have some cold fizz in the fridge!

On the subject of cold, the Winter Olympics are progressing over in Sochi, Team GB are currently lying 23^rd in the medal table but have high hopes in both curling and tin tray skeleton with Lizzy Yarnold in the lead for the ladies and set to launch herself down the mountain at 90 mph later today. I remember having a go at that as a kid. Fearless, then mostly tired and wet, I was in so much trouble when I got home. The tray was never much good for teacups after that!

Elsewhere the Olympic legacy is alive and well with a large increase in both canoeing and windsurfing since Christmas.

 Wine News

The folks at Gusbourne Estate in Kent (we sell their delicious Gusbourne Estate Blanc de Blancs 2009 – £31.99) are featured in today’s Independent (page 47 I’m told) but I read it on their website.

Go and have a look.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/pick-of-the-bunch-sparkling-wines-from-kents-gusbourne-estates-are-winning-top-awards-9127110.html

What we did this week…

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed we have opened the shop a little tardily this week.  For this we can only apologise, due to a failure of competing suppliers to co-ordinate their diaries we have spent 3 consecutive days off at wine tastings, only making it back here at around 3 o’clock.

I can’t say it hasn’t been fun, or indeed difficult, in places, we’ve bumped into some friends, sniffed, slurped and spat all sorts of wines, a 1974 Colheita port was very tasty at one tasting, an Argentinian Pinot Noir pretty horrid at another, and it’s always a nice change to have a Pret sandwich instead of a Co-op one.

Keep your eyes peeled then folks new wines on the way.

Otherwise we did a couple of menu matching/tastings for people organising large events. So if you’re planning a ball, big party or wedding come and have a chat with us, we’ve done it before.

Wine & Cheese Tasting

When we announced the March date you all went a bit gaga and we sold out as quickly as Glastonbury. With that in mind the April date will be Thursday 24^th April, 8pm here at the shop bring your taste buds and we’ll sort out the Cheese n Wine. £20 per person.

Sherry Tasting

We’ve been asked repeatedly about organising one of these, so watch this space we’re talking to our chum Bea trying to co-ordinate a diary date for this.

Taste this Weekend

Alex has a hankering for some Chateau Paillas Cahors 2002 (£12.59) which is a fab vintage for Cahors so we’ll not deny him, and it’ll be offset by Vetiver Blanco 2011 (£10.79) our delicious white Rioja.

I think that’ll do from us this week, if you’re going out and about don’t forget your Pac-a-mac!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

You get the feeling that some of the headlines this week are not going to disappear in a hurry.

Paul Downton’s removal of Kevin Pieterson from the England setup could well define his time as managing director of England Cricket – not sure anyone has ever made quite such a bold move on their first day in the job and it makes you wonder what he got up to on days two, three and four…

The weather, the sea, railways losing their footing, trees toppling, Somerset sinking – none of that’s changing in a hurry…

Winter Olympics has started, coverage is laughable compared to the Summer version, and if you’re very lucky you might just catch some snippets on the BBC…

Michael Laudrup gets his P45 and doesn’t really know why – I’m sure if he goes onto twitter there are plenty of trolls who could tell him…

From The Drinks Business: The first tranche of the 200,000-bottle production of Château Miraval 2013 is expected to go on sale at 9am (French time) Friday morning via the estate’s website, where those signed up to the waiting list will be given access to a six-bottle case.  For those of you who don’t know, this is a Rosé wine, sold on allocation – just happens to be owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie…

So anyway, yesterday we had a right treat – we went off to The London Distillery Company for a tour and an immersion in the world of small-production Gin and Whisky.  It’s located in an old dairy behind Ransome’s Dock near to Battersea Park.  I think we mentioned them before Christmas when we first listed the Gin but for anyone who missed it, here’s a reminder:

It is a little known fact that the inception of TLDC started long before Darren and Nick Taylor met in 2011, or when Andrew joined the Team in 2012. Really, the history of the company stretches all the way back to 1807, when a serial entrepreneur by the name of Ralph Dodd sent a prospectus to potential investors outlining his plans for a new distillery. Having grown tired of the pernicious quality of spirits being retailed at the time, establishing such a company, in his mind, was a necessity, a virtue and “a national good”.

The London Distillery Company as Ralph Dodd dreamt it over two hundred years ago was never fully realised. But his vision, to provide the British public with Genuine British Spirits of the best quality and without any adulteration, is a noble one that we at TLDC continue to champion today.

Yes indeed, here in south west London, on the wrong side of the river for many, we have our very own distillery.  The Whisky is still very much in its infancy but the Gin is definitely fully grown up.  Andrew MacLeod Smith, the head distiller gave us an hour and a half of his time, talked us through the botanicals (and why they chose particular ones), the process, the problems and pitfalls, and of course the success.  It was a fascinating experience, he is a superb advocate of his product and the location of the distillery is the stuff of fairytales (to my mind at least) – it’s a distillery, next door to a pub, next door to a pop-up ‘Street Kitchen’ and then across the courtyard (via the Table Tennis tables) you have McGuigan’s Gym – owned by Shane son of Barry, who was in attendance.  Brilliant, when can I move in!

All good things come to an end and we returned to Wimbledon Park, the whiff of juniper still strong in our noses, thoroughly enthused by what three people can achieve through dollops of hard work and buckets of self belief (and a helpful splash of crowd funding!)

The Gin is open here on our spirits tray, so if you want to taste what all the fuss is about then just say the word.  Dodd’s Gin (49.9%) – £37.50.

Don’t fret though, I haven’t forgotten, we are a wine shop and thus, of wine we must talk!  Everybody should be back on the wine boat now but if you feel unsure about where to recommence your wine odyssey then why not come and taste what we have open this weekend:

Reichsrat Von Buhl Riesling Trocken 2012 £13.99 – this is a rip-roaring world class Riesling.  Dry, with peachy aromas, a hint of flinty minerality yet still fleshy on the palate.  Really long, vibrant finish with a mere hint of grapefruit – brilliant.

Maison des Bulliats Regnie 2012 – £10.99 – We’ve been buying this wine for a few years now and it just seems to get better and better!  Soft fruit tannins, great structure and a great length.  Fred and Helen, who own the vineyard, live in Southfields so we’re keeping it local, sort of!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I’ll start off by congratulating the English Cricket Team for retaining the Ashes.  Well done ladies perhaps you could offer coaching to your male counterparts!

Elsewhere the Six Nations starts this weekend with England away to France (17.00) and Wales hosting Italy in the early game (14.30) on Saturday, and Ireland hosting Scotland on Sunday with a 15.00 kick off.

It seems the army have been sent in to sort out the flooding on the Somerset Levels. I’m not sure that I think it’s wise myself, the news brought thoughts of King Cnut to mind!

Meanwhile, Mo Farah twitted a picture of his training run in sun drenched Iten (Kenya’s running capital!). Alex and I are wrapping up and running locally, none of this warm weather pampering the professionals get!

Finally, the hot wine news this week is that China has overtaken France as the biggest market for red wine with 1.8 billion bottles sold in 2013. Having mulled over those sales figures we think they’re not to be sniffed at!

Wine School

We sold out the February Course and the next course will start 23^rd April 2014. Again we’ll skip a week for half term, full details attached.

Cheese and Wine Tasting

We have been nagged, quite frankly, because we haven’t given you all the cheese and wine dates. So we will kick off the Cheese and Wine sessions on Thursday 20^th March at 8pm sharp here at the shop. All the usual rules apply: limited numbers, cheese by Norbiton, wine by us and comments by you. £20 per person, book your place now on 020 8944 5224 as usual.

Tasting this Weekend?

Oh yes please! I’ve had enough of the dryathlon, I fancy a fun-filled February, and I’m sick of seeing the Riedel glasses sulking at the back of the cupboard. What are you showing us?

This week we’ll tantalise your taste buds with a couple of newbies.

Casa Azul Chardonnay 2013 (£8.49) hails from Chile’s Central Valley, whilst Post Tree Pinotage 2011 (£9.69) rocked up from South Africa’s Riebeek Valley.

That’ll do for this week, have a great weekend folks!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Three weeks ago we were dancing around the living room belting out

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min’? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o’ auld lang syne?

…or in fact we were trying to sing this, but in fact were shouting unintelligible faux-Scottish words which only became clear for the chorus bits before disappearing back to mumbled gobbledygook. 

Then Jools’ Hootenanny was put on and more fake Scottish accents were adopted for all The Proclaimers oeuvre – is it significant that we know more of the words to Letter From America than Auld Lang Syne? –  then suddenly it was 3am, it was January 2014, and I felt like I had walked 500 miles (could I walk 500 more? Maybe)

Anyway, this is all a longwinded way of showing that January belongs to Rabbie Burns, the man voted Greatest Ever Scot in 2009.  So we start the month with Auld Lang Syne, we then have a few quiet weeks respite before the big day, January 25^th, Burns Night.  Scots and non-Scots alike, all around the world will be tucking into haggis, neeps and tatties tomorrow evening.  Bagpipes will be squawked, sporrans will be worn; cheeky girls will ask if it’s true what a Scotsman keeps under his kilt; cock-a-leekie, whisky and smoked salmon will be in abundance and then the Haggis will arrive and some poor soul will struggle to their feet and try to recite the following:

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin’-race!  Aboon them a’ ye tak yer place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace

Address to a Haggis – a Robert Burns masterpiece and totally appropriate on what would have been his 255^th birthday.

As you can tell I have indulged in a fair bit of internet research about the great man and have come up with a short checklist of key Burns facts, should the dinner conversation dry up:

• ·         Burns more public statues around the world than any other writer.  Only Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus have more statues (not including religious figures)

•  ·         Auld Lang Syne is one of the three most popular songs in the English language – Happy Birthday and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow being the other two

•  ·         He was a philanderer.  In fact he probably designed the blueprint – take a look:

1785     Father for the first time, to Elizabeth, born to maidservant Elizabeth Paton

1786    Enters into ‘a form of wedlock’ with Jean Armour

1786    Father to twins Robert and Jean Burns, born to Jean Armour

1787     Father to a child, born to Edinburgh servant girl May Cameron

1788    Father to twin daughters, born to Jean

1788    Father to Robert, born to Edinburgh serving maid Jenny Clow

1789    Father to Francis Wallace Burns, born to Jean

1791     Father to Elizabeth (‘Betty’), born to barmaid Anna Park

1791     Father to William Nicol Burns, born to Jean

1792     Father to Elizabeth Riddell Burns, born to Jean

1794    Father to James Glencairn Burns, born to Jean

1796    Father to Maxwell Burns, born to Jean on the day of the poet’s funeral

• ·         He was bound to win Greatest Ever Scot since most of the voters were related to him… ok, I made this up but it might seem plausible after the third dram…

So there you go, a potted guide to Mr Burns – hopefully more diverting than discussion of Justin Bieber’s drink-driving antics, Man United’s scrappy defeat to Sunderland or the Dutch research that claims central heating makes you fat.

Haggis Wine

There’s a plethora of choices out there to match the beast.  MacSweens recommend a lighter Italian red but I think this year I’m going to opt for Doural Tinto 2011 – £9.99 from the Douro in Portugal, purely because I think the rustic ripe fruit character will be a fantastic foil for the light spice of the meat – if you want to try it for yourself I’m going to have it open for tasting this weekend alongside a bottle of white, yet to be selected.

A few years ago I had a go at making haggis myself – it was very tasty but it made the kitchen smell offal!!

I’m here all week…

Alex & Wayne

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I don’t know about you, but it seems like only yesterday I wrote to you all. I find time normally passes at a more sedate pace at this time of year, but this week has been fairly action packed.

We each spent a day at a seminar on South America that concentrated on Cabernet Sauvignon and its immediate family and provided us with the opportunity to taste some delicious and exciting wines (and a couple that weren’t!) from some new regions of Chile and Argentina with some European equivalents. Italian Carménère anybody? The panel consisted five top winemakers, a leading viticulturist and was chaired by award winning journalist and local boy Tim Atkin MW. We find that hearing it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, is always exciting, especially when it’s at the cutting edge like that.

We’ve done a fair few deliveries to members of the Park Vintners Wine Club this week too. This is where we deliver monthly a box of 6 or 12 bottles to your door. There is a six bottles for £50 or six bottles for £100 option, so if you like the sound of it drop us a line and we’ll sign you up. Details attached…

Wine School

Term starts 5^th Feb, classes held at 8pm here in the shop (where we’re surrounded by wine!) and over six weeks you’ll taste about 60 different wines with no exam at the end. Does that sound like fun? We thought so and have attached details for that too.

Sale

I would like to announce at this point that, as ever, everything is for SALE in our shop.

To sweeten it a little though, we continue to offer our January deal where all wine is ‘6 for 5’.  This is not a ‘cheapest item free of charge’ offer either – it is a straight 16.66% discount, for those interested in the maths. 

Wine Tasting This Weekend

Very much a “we will if you will” scenario through January, last week you all lacked application frankly, and Alex was left tasting on his own, so this week I expect a bit more effort please!

Have a great weekend!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

January has arrived in all its glory dragging with it a rash set of resolutions, a few people partaking in the dryathlon (not me guv!), another statement of support for Sam Allardyce, a transfer window and, of course, the start of our marathon training proper. It seems we are not alone, everywhere we run there are others and that certainly wasn’t the case two weeks ago!

So where do we start with the New Year? I think I’d like to start with looking for some new wines. We’ll be putting our palates through their paces over the next few weeks in the search for some freshness and excitement to keep your tastebuds tantalised and our shelves full of personality. We’ll both be brushing up on our knowledge as and when we get an opportunity too.

Wine School

This is what we get up to on a Wednesday evening.  We’ll be starting on the 5^th February at 8pm here in the store. We’ll pull some chairs round the table, open around 60 different wines over the course of 6 weeks taste and discuss them with you, show you maps, answer questions even discuss the merits of oak, bubbles and blending. Overall its lots of fun, we try to keep Wayne’s jokes to a minimum and we promise no exams. The cost to you is £150 and that covers everything.

January Sales

We can’t offer you the cheapest running shoes in Wimbledon, a half price pewter tankard or an app for your iPlod that’ll drain Somerset.

What we are offering is a cheeky six bottles for the price of five on all wines whilst stocks last. For the number crunchers amongst you that’s a healthy 16.66% off your favourite tasty morsels, so don’t be shy drop in and walk away with a boxful!

Finally…

This weekend sees the 60^th Anniversary of TV weather broadcasts. We have no idea if they are more accurate these days but we’ve certainly moved on from the hand drawn maps.

Have a great weekend and wave if you see either of us out running!