The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Occasionally, in amongst the thinly veiled sales pitches, the feeble attempts at humour and the inept news round-ups, we turn our attention to two of our favourite topics: wine and weather.  As a result, this week’s missive has pretty much written itself since the two W’s have collided in a quite spectacular fashion of late, and not without a degree of collateral damage.  Let’s use France as our yardstick here:

http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20130808-france-finally-feeling-relief-after-month-stormy-weather

Please do read the article, but if you don’t have time here are the key points:

First the good news

·         a calmer weather system is expected in the second half of August

Now the other news

·         From 1 to 31 July, lightning struck France 527,496 times – a rate five times higher than last year.  On the 27th July a record 284,163 strikes of lightening were counted across the country

·         On Wednesday, 750 residents in the Loire region saw the roofs of their houses peeled off by heavy hail, while 23,000 homes were left without electricity in the Dordogne and Limousin departments

·         Last Friday night, in the area of Entre-Deux-Mers which produces much of the early drinking claret that we all enjoy (Chateau Deville anyone?), there was a quick 10 minute hailstorm.  The report from Bordeaux’s agricultural association, the FDSEA, estimated that up to 5,000 hectares of vines in the region have been wiped out in the storm, equivalent to 5% of Bordeaux’s annual production

·         The week before, gale force winds, heavy rain and hail stones the size of prunes wreaked havoc across vineyards in Bordeaux, Champagne and Cognac.  The storm damaged grapes at Château Lafite and uprooted its willow trees, while the roof of neighbouring Pauillac estate, Pichon Lalande, was significantly damaged.  Champagne also suffered, losing 300 hectares in the villages around Epernay and the Côtes de Blancs to the hail

·         And as we mentioned previously, a hail storm on Monday 17^th June caused widespread damage across much of the Loire communes Vouvray and Reugny.  Hail stones ‘as big as eggs’ were reported and around 1000ha across Vouvray were affected, just under half the 2,300ha appellation (thanks to The Drinks Business for this info)

So France is looking a bit buggered, pardon my French.  I don’t have weather reports for Spain and Italy, but after drought caused smaller production in 2012, they both need to avoid more bad luck.  California is picking early this year (10 days according to our sources) but this apparently is a positive thing although I’m sure we won’t see it reflected in their prices.  Australia’s harvest was the largest in 5 years though.  Guess what we’re all drinking next year…

Anyway, with the potential ruin of the 2013 vintage firmly in his sights, Wayne realised last week that it was time for us to diversify a bit.  So he bought a new fridge.  It is now happily ensconced at the front of the shop and has been unofficially named ‘The Beer Fridge’.  It has the same local beers as always, but now there are more of them cold.  And more cold cider.  And more chilled sweet wines/sherry/Madeira.  Even a couple of bottles of decent Burgundy are lounging around on the bottom shelf.  So more than a beer fridge really – come and have a look.

AOB

The wine course is filling up nicely, as are the two Wine and Cheese evenings, see attached for info on all of these.

#moutardroutard hits the road to Spain next week so unless you want my wife to win this bottle of Champagne on 1^st October, get snapping.  @parkvintners is our handle good buddy, what’s your twenty?

Weekend drinks will be served from 5pm today and all day tomorrow – as Moutard is travelling to Iberia we thought we would too – we’ll be showing Campos de Celtas 2011 Albariño (12.99) from Rias Baixas, Galicia and then we’ll hop over the border and taste a brand new red listing from the Douro – Doural Tinto (9.99) made from the grapes that go into Port, but in a dry style.

An email about the weather and our new fridge – they reckoned it couldn’t be done, what do they know!

All hail!

Dear Out of Office Reply,

We wondered if you might keep this handy in the Inbox for the person that normally sits in front of you.

I’m sure they’ll want to read this when they get back. I know they’ll have missed the delicious tasting at the weekend, but there is a chance that some of the other information will still be pertinent.

If you feel the need to share this email with covering desks please do go ahead, we’re always happy to be seen with new eyes.

News

Given the huge sums offered for Gareth Bale it would appear the silly season is well and truly upon us. Escaped chimpanzees have been lured back to their homes at Twycross Zoo with ice cream, and apparently the England team are ‘not thinking of a whitewash’ in the Ashes. What kind of motivation is that? Come on chaps get some ambition…

Park Vintners Wine School – term begins 18^th September at 8pm.

We still have a couple of places left if you’ve been promising yourself. We’ll give you no homework or exams. You’ll taste around 60 wines during the course of six weeks and we think it’ll be more fun than that woodwork course you were considering at evening classes. Full details attached.

#MoutardRoutard

Keep sending your pictures as you travel with a bottle of Moutard (a half or magnum works too!) Use the hashtag above, we are @parkvintners on twitter! There’s a prize to be had.

Cheese & Wine Tastings

Will be back post the summer, they are proving very popular so check that diary now and come and book your place. Start at 8pm 4 cheeses from our chums at Norbiton Cheese, 6 wines from our shelves. The cost is £15 and the next dates are…

Thursday 26^th September

Thursday 24^th October

Tasting This Weekend Those of you receiving this from your ‘Out of Office’ will have missed this bit.

We thought we’d throw caution to the wind this week and show a red and a white. I know that’s what we normally do, but we don’t normally chill the red.

So if you’d form an orderly queue at the tasting table for…

Manawa Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (£12.49) is made by the team at Seresin Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand.

Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire 2010 (£11.99) is from Domaine Faiveley in Burgundy. Nothing ordinary about it at all if I’m honest,

Pinot Noir + a splash of Gamay = big smile on face.

So thank you ‘Out of Office’ app for making sure this reaches its destination.

To the six real people reading who were too slow with the holiday forms I can offer a shrug of the shoulders, a cyber-hug, and an invitation to try something chilled at the tasting table.

 Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Babies get born, there’s an enormous fuss in the press, followed by a couple of rusks here and there, Lego, scooters and suddenly…

Schools out, summer’s here (?) and thoughts of escape weigh heavy.  But you’re not alone –UK residents made 55.5 million visits abroad in 2011.  So where did we go?  Using figures from the Office for National Statistics (2011), the list is not altogether surprising: Spain, France, Irish Republic, USA, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Netherlands and Turkey.  Add in a few other favourites: Great Britain, Egypt, Thailand, Australia and we have a nice mix of destinations. 

Fast forward to the escape itself, planned with near military precision, airport parking organised, flights booked, villa chosen, two weeks of sunshine, great food and fab local wine all beckon.  The first four should look after themselves, the food will be great, as much because someone else is cooking it as because it is all fresh and local, and the wine…. not so sure? 

The first approach would be to stick with what you recognise:  in Spain, drink Rioja; in France drink Bordeaux; in Egypt, drink beer.  As we said, thoroughly reasonable and safe.

Our approach would be to go native.  Local wines are always made with local specialities in mind and very often you can uncover some real gems that you wouldn’t normally consider in the UK.

So, taking our preferred holiday destinations into consideration, what would we recommend you give a go whilst on your travels?

SPAIN – a huge country with masses to offer beyond the realms of Rioja.  In whites, look out for Verdejo and Albariño.  Verdejo is a fantastic, slightly fruitier, alternative to Sauvignon Blanc.  Albariño from Galicia is arguably the best wine to go with seafood – ripe slightly tropical fruits, medium weight body and lovely crisp acidity.  In reds, I would thoroughly recommend old vine Garnacha, and for the Rioja fans, wines from Toro are made from the same grape but can carry a bit more punch.

FRANCE – Many, many wine choices here but for me pick of the bunch: from the far south, where the oyster beds are, Picpoul de Pinet has a lovely fresh but rounded lemon tang whilst Pinot Blanc from Alsace is very food friendly and a great switch for those Chardonnay lovers. In reds, Malbec, from Cahors, has a more savoury edge (and indeed blacker colour) than its contemporaries in Argentina and the reds (Gamay) from Beaujolais offer similar light red fruit characteristics to red Burgundy, but without the price tag.

IRELAND – er, Guinness…

USA – look outside of California, investigate the Pinot Noirs from Oregon and Washington state, and if you get the chance, ice-wine from Virginia.  All the states now produce some wine, so there is no excuse for not drinking local.

ITALY – like Spain and France, wine is produced throughout the country so local works well –Fiano for zesty fruit with a bit of minerality in Campania, Pecorino if you’re in Abruzzo and fancy a really local variety that again will keep the Chardonnay crew contented.  For reds, the rustic Cannonau (local name for Grenache) in Sardegna, Primitivo in Puglia.  Lagrein for a sort of Pinot Noir-a-like up in the Northeast, Barbera in the Northwest and Moscato just to cleanse your palate.

GERMANY – if you’ve not enjoyed a glass of Bernkastel Riesling Kabinett on a warm summers day you’ve missed a trick. Low in alcohol at around 9% with just a little sweetness for texture they are perfect afternoon wines. Further south walking in the Black Forest? Try a Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) or Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) from here.

PORTUGAL – massively underrated, and with so much more to offer than Mateus Rose and Cliff Richard’s Vida Nova.  Grape varieties are hard to pronounce and remember but for your fish course Alvarinho, for the same reasons we suggested Albariño from Spain, and in the reds, wines from the Dao take a lot of beating.

GREECE – there are some truly world-class wines coming out of Greece these days, the local wine is clean, fresh, and fruity too. If you’re on Santorini do try local speciality white Assyrtiko – Hatzidakis and Gaia are good producers.  In the north, near Thessaloniki, perhaps try the spicy reds from Naoussa.

NETHERLANDS –Genever really needs to be tasted, partly to show how different it is from Gin.

TURKEY – hmmmm…we’ve no experience, so you’re on your own here.

GB – plenty of people practice the staycation option, and why not.  Devon and Cornwall offer up an array of really great vineyards, personal favourites being Sharpham just outside Totnes and of course the fantastic success story that is Camel Valley.

EGYPT – as discussed before, beer here!

THAILAND – there are wines here – Monsoon Valley being the most famous, but they are made from international varieties and can sometimes suffer from the heat and humidity.

AUSTRALIA –seek out dry Riesling, a grape that has really thrived in the cooler parts of South Australia and makes for a fantastic aperitif.  In the red corner, you’ve not lived until you’ve given Sparkling Shiraz a go – a classic Aussie invention, Shiraz with bubbles serve it chilled with a barbecue or a full English if you’re feeling brave!

Tasting this weekend

So in the spirit of holiday beverages we’ll taste Beyra Branco (£10.99) from some of Portugal’s highest vineyards (700m), so far up the Douro they’re nearly in Spain!

On the reds we’ll be flying into Bari and heading out to taste Telero Negroamaro (£9.99), a velvety red, full of flavour and fantastic with tomato dishes!

That’s all folks!

Alex & Wayne

P.S. A version of this will appear as an article in Issue 43 of Essence magazine, July/August 2013.

http://www.essence-magazine.co.uk/

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Right, let’s start today with Ecclesiastes 1:9 from the King James Bible:

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

These thoughts are attributed to Solomon but a close elderly acquaintance was reflecting yesterday about how life today reminds him a lot of life in the 1970’s – nothing new under the sun.

–         –  How do you mean, Wayne? – I say

–         – Well, we’ve got the summer of ’76, the British Tennis Champion of ’77, and perhaps we have the Ashes winners of 78-79 (5-1 for all you young folk)?  Unfortunately the British Open was won by Americans for most of the decade, and Sir BW was the first Brit to top the podium in the Tour de France last year, but I think you get what I mean, Alex.

–          – But weren’t we in recession too, I remember talk of the three day week and the commercial power-cuts from my history lessons…

–          – Well, the recession was largely over by early 1976, and it was such a lovely summer to celebrate this, although of course the drought and crop failure in the late summer resulted in double digit percentage increases in food prices… but it was such a lovely summer!

And then he settled back into his deckchair to continue his thorough investigation of what goes on when one shuts one’s eyes on a sunny afternoon…

SO WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN GOING ON? 

We have doubled the size of our English Wine Range, listed a new beer and discovered that Wimbledon Park in the sunshine seems to have an unslakeable thirst for Rosé wine and white port!

NEW HALL VINEYARDS BACCHUS RESERVE 2012 (£12.79)

Ever since we listed Gusbourne Estate Blanc de Blancs 2008 (£31.99) as our home-grown sparkler from Kent (the Garden of England indeed) our Essex man has been chomping at the bit to get something listed from the land of his birth.  We shucked the oysters, tasted the Maldon Sea Salt, even stuck some Tiptree on our toast, but none of it seemed to fit the wine-shop image.  

Until now.  The vineyards of New Hall are located just outside of Purleigh, apparently if you go down the hill, the road bends round to your left and it’s just there on your right but I digress… these are some of the oldest plantings of Bacchus in the UK, certainly the largest (44,500 vines) and they provide grapes to a couple of well-known English Wineries that, frankly, are not very close to Essex.

Anyway, enough waffle.  The wine has a vinous, limey nose that leads you into a fruit focused medium dry palate with a reassuring zing on the finish.  Damn tasty and a refreshing change from Malibu and pineapple.

ROCKY HEAD BREWERY ZEN 4.8% (£3.85)

Our local superstar micro-brewery has released its next edition.  Many of you have listened patiently when we have promised that a slightly lower alcohol pale ale was in the offing.  Well, the wait is over and it’s here now.  Beautifully refreshing with a citric hoppiness (new word) and extraordinarily gluggable (next new word).  Buy it, drink it, buy some more, trust me, I’m in sales.

KROHN DRY WHITE PORT (£12.99)

We’ve had it in stock for ages but it seems to have caught on in recent weeks.  Chilled from the fridge, hi-ball glass filled half and half with tonic water, add a twist of lemon sit in the back garden, rehydrate.

BOTHAM MERRILL WILLIS SHIRAZ 2008 MAGNUM (£34)

We managed to get half a dozen of these splendid fellows, equivalent to two bottles or, as Sir Ian might say, lunch.

WINE SCHOOL 18^TH SEPTEMBER – 23^RD OCTOBER

The last of the local schools break up next Wednesday and everybody hightails it out of Dodge.  Before you pack the speedos, why not sign up for our 6 week wine course, give yourself something to look forward to in the autumn. 

6 weeks, around 60 wines, all the major grapes covered, food matching tips, corked and faulty wines, sweet wines, fizz, fun, informal, educational, Wayne’s jokes – all these and more will appear over the duration of the course, all for £150 per person.  We limit the class to a maximum of 10 people, so do be sure not to miss out on this opportunity to polish up your tasting skills and wine knowledge before the Christmas party season!

020 8944 5224, shop@parkvintners.co.uk, 126 Arthur Road – phone us, email us, visit us and we’ll reserve your spot.

#moutardroutard

…is the tag for anyone taking photos of Moutard on the road, as mentioned in last week’s email.

So far we have Kew and Westward Ho!, we were hoping for the Tour de France, still hoping for Lords and rumours have it that we may be receiving some photos from Belgium in due course.  So if you’re drinking Moutard on a plane going to Spain, with your mates in the States, or in the park after dark, take a snapshot, twitter it to @parkvintners and you’ll be in the draw for a bottle of Moutard on 1^st October.

TASTING TONIGHT & TOMORROW

We’ll open the new white from Essex for sure, and for those eating cumin spiced lamb kofta’s off the coals, we’ll try the Barton Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (£12.49) from Walker Bay, South Africa.

So, nothing new under the sun, but you know what, if the sun keeps on shining that’s good enough for us!

Over and out.

Alex & Wayne

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Sifting through this week’s news reminds us the world is a funny old place. We’ve got governments in disarray, getting a pay rise, and submarine bases costing zillions if Scotland gets independence. Then we have Government contractors under investigation for fraud, protesters scaling the shard, a chance to buy a share in Postman Pat and Popocatepetl, Mexico’s most famous volcano, getting uppity again.

The Ashes

I’m not sure there has been much press coverage, but the eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted there is some cricket happening. It seems since 1882 England and Australia have periodically held cricket matches contesting a small terracotta urn.  This year sees five matches and the first match is ‘in play’.

We thought we’d get in on the action as well.

Botham Merrill Willis – Ian Botham and Bob Willis are two of the biggest names in the modern era of world cricket. Geoff Merrill’s reputation on the international wine stage is equally impressive. A mutual passion for their respective professions, cricket and wine, drew them together during the English tour of Australia in 1978. Since then a lasting friendship has developed over many bottles opened and balls bowled. Winemaker Geoff Merrill has an enviable record as a winemaker and show judge spanning some 25 years in Australia, South Africa, The United Kingdom, Italy, USA and New Zealand.

The wines are all released with a bit of bottle age, bringing a rounded, food friendly nature.

2008 Chardonnay (McLaren Vale) – Lively citrus and melon fruits, subtle touch of oak and a crisp finish.

2008 Shiraz (McLaren Vale) – Classic blackberry and spice notes you’d expect from here, along with leather and aniseed notes.

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (McLaren Vale/Coonawarra) – Medium-bodied with dark fruits, a touch of menthol, and a touch of that olivey earthiness that Coonawarra brings.

We have all three wines in stock priced at £16.99 each.

ASHES SPECIAL: mix any six Botham Merrill Willis wines for £90.

If that wasn’t exciting enough buy 12 bottles and we’ll give you a free bottle of 2007 Chardonnay signed by Bob Willis (whilst stocks last obviously!). This wine commemorates the 25^th Anniversary of Beefy’s first Charity Walk.

Votes

Thanks to all of you who have.

If you haven’t (assuming we’ve not upset you in some way) PLEASE DO IT NOW the voting closes today.

http://www.timeandleisure.co.uk/food-and-drink-awards/2279-best-wine-retailer.html

Memory

News reaches (via Forbes magazine and one of our eagle eyed spies!) that Champagne that is made with red grapes can help improve your memory. Luckily Moutard Grand Cuvée (£26.99) is made of Pinot Noir. If you can remember where we are form an orderly queue.

Tasting This Weekend

The sun is shining, tans are getting topped up, the plants on the patio are thirsty, not to mention us wine drinkers so we thought we’d charge your glasses this weekend with the BMW wines. 

All three will be open from this evening and will hopefully stay in bat until the close of play tomorrow. If they get run-out, we can offer tots of our Zuidam Gin and Finlaggan Whisky should there be a need for some nerve steadying, harder liquor!

TWITTER

Some of you do it, some of you don’t, which is fine.  For those who do, here’s a bit of fun.  Whilst Alex was dossing down in Kew Gardens last night he tweeted this: https://twitter.com/ParkVintners/status/355412361064116224

Which got us to thinking… the best photo we see of a bottle of Moutard in an unusual place, on Twitter, by the 1^st October 2013 will earn you a bottle of Moutard Champagne.  I’m sure there are technical/legal details I need to add here, but suffice to say

·         our decision is final,

·         bribery is thoroughly appreciated but will not sway the judges,

·         it’s all just a bit of fun!

Follow us on Twitter @parkvintners to see what it’s all about.

Wayne is cycling to Brighton in the dark tonight, for fun apparently, so I suggest you all stick to the pavements if you’re out and about after 11pm, we don’t want any broken legs now do we!!

Over bowled.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

A week to play havoc with the collective blood pressure! Military coup in Egypt, the King abdicating in Belgium, Andy Murray fancying a couple of extra sets on Centre Court and a man dressed as Superman stopping a shoplifter in Sheffield (Man of Steel in Steel City anyone?).

There’s also been a dropped O’Driscoll, allegations of electoral wrongdoing in Falkirk and David Cameron flipping burgers at the 10 Downing Street BBQ. Whilst, in sports the Americans do, Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut has broken his own world record by eating 69 Hot Dogs in their buns in 10 minutes.

Most importantly what a thrilling opening week we’ve had at the 100^th Tour de France, a team coach stuck under the finish gantry, spectators in the way of sprinters, crashes and their survivors battling on despite a fractured pelvis not to mention Manx Missile Mark Cavendish.  It’s been that exciting that even the Daily Mail has commented!

Mothers Ruin

You’ve all been asking us and we’re happy to announce that Zuidam Dutch Courage Gin (£33.99) is back in stock. G & T ‘tastic is what it is….

Even better, for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure we have a bottle open here so you can taste it if you wish!

Last Chance Saloon – Time & Leisure Food and Drink Awards 2013

The voting for this ends on next Friday, July 12^th. Thanks to all of you who have voted for us already, but for those of you who, like Wayne, prefer to do things near a deadline we would urge you to do it now. If you think we’re your favourite local wine retailer (and we sincerely hope we are) just click on the link below, select our name from the drop down list and Bob’s your uncle!

http://www.timeandleisure.co.uk/food-and-drink-awards/2279-best-wine-retailer.html

You can also text Time03703 to 81400 which will cost you 50p plus your standard network rate.

You know how much Alex and I love a certificate and we would dearly love to retain last year’s title. So if you can find time in your busy schedule (I’m on bended knee as I write this) we’d be made up if you could vote for us!

Tasting This Weekend

Staying with the idea that we open something really nice when Wayne’s not around we’ll kick off in the white corner with Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc 2010, Nuiton Beaunoy (£15.69).

In the red corner we shall have Shrinking Violet Shiraz/Viognier (£10.99) which is from the approximate area of today’s stage of the Tour and is going to work very nicely with all the barbecues that will happen this weekend.

And Finally

A happy birthday to all celebrating their birthdays today, you know who you are!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Mowing my way through Wimbledon Village this week, avoiding Evian flags and observing that tennis fans, like football fans, dress up in the relevant expensive sporting garb to go and watch their heroes (and that they all seem to have permatans), I happened across a new opening and, disappointingly, a new closure. 

It has been a while coming, but following the successful ‘Citizens for Cookware March & Coffee Morning’ in 2011 that resulted in Le Creuset opening up, I have great pleasure in confirming that we now have the Prince Global Sports Flagship Tennis Store just opened up, providing you with a whole range of merchandise, racquets and balls… er… providing they are made by Prince.  Every day the Village seems to become more and more about choice.  Perhaps we should have opened a specialist Ernst & Julio Gallo store – oh hang about…

Jokes aside, I was saddened to see that Butcher & Grill has decided enough is enough and has returned to Battersea.  For those who don’t know the place, it hadn’t been in Wimbledon forever but it had been there long enough to be a definite part of the furniture, just over the road from the Rose and Crown and Hemingways.  Specialising in steak and meat (really Alex, with a name like that?) it predated many of the current crop of burnt meat specialists and was, on the occasions I went there, a decent night out and very popular.  The story they tell is that the rent was finally becoming too much, even for a busy restaurant. Now it’s gone, a few days before the start of the Tennis, which is a sure sign that, even with the huge sales spike they would get from the fortnight, it was still not enough to persuade them to stay put.

I must say at this point that this is the story I have been told, if anyone knows a different version I am happy to be corrected and will put the correction in next week’s email.

It just reinforces the fact that being an Independent doesn’t seem to be getting any easier – and every day the Village seems to become more and more about choice.

Happy days are here again

Wayne is off this weekend ‘seeing friends’, and by a truly startling coincidence the Tour de France starts on Saturday – I suspect his wife thinks he is coming to work and I suspect that the friends he is seeing have names like Alberto, Froomey, Cadel and Cav….

And there’s other sport too – Round 2 of the Welsh Lions vs Australia on Saturday morning – and knowing that you can never right the Aussies off, plus the fact that they should have won last week and then neatly finished off with their ability to get away with stamping on people’s heads – it should be a belter!

Oh, and there’s tennis. As I write (Thursday) an astonishing 64 brave men and women are still putting their lives on the line in the singles draw, down from the original 256.  The ‘dangerous’ grass – grass being an unpleasant necessity at this famous grass court championship – has turned the event into a bloodbath.  Of the 173 singles matches played thus far, a mere 162 of them have finished normally whilst the far higher figure of 8 walkovers and 3 retirements is surely the one that we should all be focusing on. 

Come on, Andy.

Diary dates

It’s the end of June and very soon a huge number of you will be relocating to sunnier climes for the summer.  Before you go we thought we’d give you something to look forward to after the boys of summer are gone:

WINE SCHOOL – yes it’s back for those of you who wish to find out more about what’s in your glass and what Wayne really thinks about Pinotage.  Commences Wednesday 18^th September for six consecutive weeks, wrapping on Wednesday 23^rd October.  It all takes place here in the shop, starts at 8pm and you’ll be free to go somewhere between 9.30 and 10 pm.  £150 per person, numbers limited to 10 people, and payment confirms your place.  We’ve attached the flier to this email but please don’t hesitate to ask us for more info.

WINE & CHEESE – just two dates so far: Thursday 26^th September and Thursday 24^th October – both start at 8pm and again, we have attached the flier.

OTHER TASTINGS – we’ve left November clear at the moment, but we are hoping to do 3 or 4 events during the month, we’re just formulating a plan….

THREE WINE MEN – One of our suppliers (who sells us the Botham Merrill Willis wines) has been kind to us, the result being we have been given two complimentary tickets to the Three Wine Men event next weekend at Lords (6th/7th July) – Saturday options being 11-3 or 4-7.30 or Sunday 12-4. First respondent gets their name on the door.

Tasting this weekend

… because after an email this long, we all need a drink!

It’s summer party season, so we thought we’d crack open a couple of perennial classics – our Val de Loire Sauvignon and the Maison de Bulliats Regnie from Beaujolais, plus we’ve got a couple of samples to try too, so swing on by and we’ll shoot the breeze about tennis/cycling/rugby/cricket/cookware, whatever you fancy!

If you don’t like the weather blame the combined forces of Wimbledon and Glastonbury and remember – drinking wine may not be the answer but it helps you forget the question!

Alex & Wayne

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Lulling them into a false sense of security

The Lions lose their last warm up game, the English cricketers lose to Sri Lanka but proceed to the finals of the Champions Trophy, Andy Murray ‘couldn’t even walk up stairs’ a few weeks ago but now wins Queens, and Justin Rose, well let’s just say that missing the cut in his first 21 professional appearances probably makes him King Lull.

Rain, Rain, go away!

The board outside our shop says: one day it’s rain, one day it’s shine but everyday it’s wine… This might not be so true for the producers in Vouvray (Loire Valley, France) this year, who were bombarded with hail stones the size of golf balls early on Monday morning, which destroyed the vines at a delicate time in grape production.  The hail also destroyed roofs and dented cars, smashed windows etc so, all in all, a disaster.  If you enjoy your off-dry Chenin Blanc then I suggest you buy now rather than wait for anything from 2013.

Gandolfini

Never a huge fan of the Sopranos but it seems incredibly untimely that a man who only really hit the big time in his forties should not be able to reap the rewards very far into his fifties.  Carpe diem.

Any news?

Being in the habit of always starting a newspaper from the back, I feel ill-suited to make any pithy comment on current affairs.  However, when the P of the USA refers to the Jeffrey, creator of power ballad ‘On the wings of Love’, in place of our beloved Chancellor, George, much mirth ensues.  And to think our Second Lord of the Treasury was quoted, when questioned on adopting George as his nom de guerre in place of Gideon, as saying: Life was easier as a George; it was a straightforward name.  Until now!

Wine and Cheese

Another successful event last night, filled to the gills with fine wine and cheese.  The next one in July is sold out, and we’ll take a break over the summer, but come September we’ll be back in the dairy, separating our curds from our whey, ready for the new season of tastings – watch this space!

Weekend Wine Worship

As ever we will be opening a couple of bottles for you to sniff, swirl, sip, spit (the last one is entirely up to you!).  From the fridge, looking resplendent in his crisp white robes, we have Saint-Véran 2009 from Domaine Botti (14.99) a deeply satisfying white burgundy with ripe apple notes, a touch of minerality and a crisp clean finish.  Off the shelf, a cheeky red with a whiff of the Vatican about him, we have Cuvée Jean-Paul 2011 (7.29) a rouge from Vaucluse, in the southern Rhone – a classic Grenache-Syrah blend, very gluggable and delicious all the way to the bottom of the bottle!

That’s it from us and I’ll finish as I started.  It’s Wimbledon from Monday, a fortnight of campers in the park, visitors emerging from Wimbledon Park Tube to discover that Southfields would have been more convenient, and British tennis victories to be applauded.  If you need a drop of patriotic, celebratory bubbles then look no further than Gusbourne Estate Blanc de Blancs 2008 (31.99) a superb sparkler from Kent  that has just been quietly going about its business, making top-notch wines and winning awards, whilst other producers make a lot of noise and blather.  It’s all about the lulling…

Over and Out. 

“You can’t be serious, man. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! That ball was on the line! Chalk flew up! It was clearly in! You guys are the absolute pits of the world…”

32 years ago, wow!

Alex & Wayne

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Undoubtedly the most important news across the desk this week was that Mighty Boosh are to reform and play Festival Supreme at Santa Monica pier. Any chance of a London gig, guys?

We saw David Warner was fined A$11,500 for a breach of rule 6: Unbecoming Behaviour. We’re still trying to clarify if the breach was for being in a Walkabout at 2am, or slapping a man in a wig.

As Sport England reports a fall of 200,000 people participating in sport between April 2012-April 2013 and blames it on the cold weather, we couldn’t help wondering if there was any correlation with the Mintel report showing 55% growth in small cake sales over the last couple of years?

Father’s Day

Dad, Father, Pop, Old Man, whatever you call him, this Sunday is his day. The media might depict him as just reading the newspaper, being a bit useless and dancing badly at weddings but we all know different don’t we? So Father’s Day is this Sunday and with such short notice you need to get a present.

Now, we know we’ve tipped you off late and you hadn’t thought of a present but we can help. We know for a fact that Dads like a bottle of red, a couple of beers or a maybe even a single malt and also that bit of downtime to enjoy a glass.

Bottle of red we might suggest something like the richness of Valenciso Rioja Reserva 2006 (£23.99), maybe the suave elegance of organic Barolo Brezza 2005 (£29.99) or the Patagonian polish on Alpataco Malbec 2011 (£11.49).

Couple of beers could involve the world beating Sambrook’s Brewery Wandle Ale (£2.59), new local heroes Rocky Head Brewery’s Pale Ale (£3.25), or Savour Beer’s Progress Blond (£2.59) if he likes his beer with a modern British take on the Belgian style.

Single Malt is going to be Finlaggan Old Reserve (£29.99). Distilled on Islay by a secret distillery (we have our thoughts on whom), it won a gold medal in the International Wine & Spirits Competition and Jim Murray’s review described it as “BRILLIANT…simply awesome.” We don’t feel the need to add much.

Wimbledon High School Summer Fair – Sunday the 16th June

We’ll be there on Sunday 16^th June. It runs from 12-4 so if you’ve been really busy and not bought dad anything, bring him down to see us.

Tasting this Weekend

I spent Thursday afternoon thinking about what to taste at the weekend (a few of you passing by might have seen the chin stroking) and frankly struck out. Then over a bowl of blueberries this morning it struck me. When was the last time we recommended a wine to go with the Friday night takeaway?

Willowglen Gewürztraminer/Riesling 2011 (£9.29) is just such a wine. The Aussies love a bit of fusion cooking and have an array of wines to match. This one is crisp, a tiny bit floral but with some ripe fruit sweetness and a touch of spice. So if your supper involves the folks at Dragon King or Dalchini, swing by and try this on the way!

De Bortoli Vat 10 Pinot Noir (£11.99) is very much the thing in the red corner. Its silky red fruits and satisfying finish would be an ideal partner to a tandoori mixed grill or perhaps a shish kebab.

See you tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at the fair – busy weekend!

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Ok, so we wrote this on Thursday evening, before it wellied it down last night, but I think we’ll still run with it…

Sun’s out, everyone’s feeling a little bit fuzzy and relaxed…

Champagne Houses

We visited the pub on Wednesday night, as you do, for market research and to check the opening hours (all the way to the end) and as the night wore on, the conversation moved onto Champagne and its brands.  The next morning, as a follow up, we rooted around t’interweb to see if anything that we had told people last night was true.

And, for the most part, we had been truthful; we had just been too conservative with our figures.

The stats we uncovered are, I’m sure, widely available but our primary source was The Drinks Business, so we have gone with their research, lazy boys that we are.

Based on 2012 volume, the two largest houses are:

Moët & Chandon – 28,080,000 bottles

Veuve Clicquot – 17,688,000 bottles

And in 10^th position we have:

Perrier Jouët – 2, 953,596 bottles

So, the largest house produces almost 10 times as much fizz as the 10^th.  If we then consider that in 3^rd position we have the largest cooperative, Nicolas Feuillatte, producing 9,099,996 bottles – a third of M&C production – the figures get a bit more scary.

So what does this really tell us?  Firstly that, since Moët and Veuve are both owned by LVMH (that’s Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey FYI), then one company is responsible for producing an awful lot of bubbles.  It might also make one think of words such as factory, conveyor belt, bulk.  It certainly doesn’t elicit terms such as hand crafted, artisan, specialist, passion.

Moutard – c560,000 bottles

Chassenay d’Arce – c1,000,000 bottles

Both these stats are our own research (!) because neither house featured in the top ten and to be honest with you we’re as pleased as punch that this is the case.

Hand crafted, artisan, specialist, passion – lesson over.

Tall buildings

Petronas Towers, The Shard, The Gherkin, The Leaning Tower of Pisa – all these are names used in reference to our rather magnificent stack of Rosé.  It’s going to be hot all weekend, it’s been a while coming, so let’s all get tucked in.

Chateau de l’Aumerade Côtes de Provence Cru Classé 2012 – £12.99

Cuvée Jean-Paul Gascogne Rosé 2012 – £7.29

Borsao Garnacha Rosado 2011 – £6.99

Mayerling Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rosé NV – £15.49

Moutard Prestige Brut Rosé NV – £28.99

And if there are two of you, Moutard Prestige Brut Rosé NV Magnum – £58!

We’ve got about 180 bottles in all, so plenty to go round, and if you’re lucky Wayne might even offer you a tempting discount!

Windmills

It’s Windmill Market time again, down at St Mark’s Church Hall behind the library in Wimbledon, from 10 am until 2 pm on Saturday.  It’s a pound to get in, but we’ve got flyers that will get you in for free  should you so desire.  Alex will be down there with his stall and banter, Norbiton Cheese should be there too, who we buy our cheese from for our tastings, and a host of other local favourites.

Stables

Just a quick back pat for Wayne, who clearly has the connections down at the yard, as his tip for last week’s Derby romped home – Park Vintners’ very own John McCririck…

And to celebrate we’ll open a pair of Percheron at the tasting table this weekend as we think they’ll fit in nicely.  They’re both from the Western Cape in South Africa where they know a thing or two about cooking and drinking in the sunshine.

Percheron Old Vine Cinsault 2012 & Percheron Chenin Blanc/Viognier 2012 are both £8.19 come and have a taste!

Yardarm, sun, corkscrew, Rosé – do it!

Alex & Wayne