Fellow Wine Lovers,
Another week shudders to a halt and with it the 8th month of the year. Schools started going back yesterday, legs and feet that had been wearing shorts and flip flops all summer were cruelly coaxed into long trousers and new shoes whilst in some quarters the dawning realisation that the blazer was still at the dry cleaners made for some choice words in the early morning pandemonium….
And so, excepting a week long hiatus in late October, that’s them back on the treadmill until Friday 21st December – I know, how good is that, pretty much the rest of the year with them under someone else’s feet. Earnt it though, haven’t we!? Some households we know, who haven’t yet restarted, are now on day 57 of the holidays. To put that into perspective, how about we consider that for the summer term there were only 46 days of school for the children in question – now that’s a work/life balance we could all enjoy!
The bank holiday delivered everything it promised to, arguably to excess. Sunshine galore, record Rosé sales, random traffic jams and everyone pretended to be really pleased to be back at work on Tuesday. Whilst Wayne was dancing his dance in Notting Hill on Sunday, Ben Stokes was dancing down the wicket somehow salvaging the 3rd test and the series, for now at least. Last week we wrote: Cricket continues to delight and despair us – and also scare us just a little bit too….. Still, as we all know by now, anything can happen in Test cricket. And it did – even the non-cricket fans amongst us were glued to their seats, whooping with the rest of us – quite glad it’s a rest week this week! On the bike, we also suggested that Rigoberto Uran might be a potential winner of La Vuelta but, sadly, after yesterday’s horror crash, that will have to be another year.
And then our hearts lifted yesterday when we read this obviously misleading headline – New study has found that red wine could prevent obesity and lower cholesterol – but we were willing to be knowingly misled particularly if it meant more red wine.
Spoiler alert: it didn’t mean more red wine.
To cut the article down to a bite size morsel, researchers at King’s College have found that red wine is healthier for your gut than white wine, beer or spirits. It’s all to do with the polyphenols in the grape skins we’re told and the positive effect these can have on gut health. The obesity claim only really appeared in the headline; the only other real reference to it in the text was the fact that a 250ml glass of wine contains 228 calories, equivalent to a slice of cake but we’ll move on from that shall we. Anyway, apparently you only need to drink a glass of red once a fortnight for it to have a positive effect, so no, it didn’t mean more red wine and in fact a much more efficient route to gut health would be just to eat enough fruit….
In our communal, caring and sharing world that is our select readership, we often receive an email from one of you recommending an article that they think is of interest and suggest we put it in our Friday missisve. It is no doubt a testament to our poorly executed weekly roundup that rarely are these articles wine related and the one we were pointed towards yesterday certainly wasn’t, however it did make us smile.
It’s a story from the end of July relating to Proctor & Gamble’s $8 billion write-down on Gillette – and it’s all down to the hipsters! Apparently there is a shrinking market for blades and razors as relaxed social norms in developed markets means consumers shave less frequently – in the past 5 years, according to Euromonitor, the U.S. men’s market for shaving products has shrunk by over 11%, whilst net sales in the grooming business have declined in 11 out of the last 12 quarters. Who knew that Rag’n’Bone Man and Bradley Wiggins would bring down the brand who claimed to be the best a man can get?
In other news, we read an unfortunate tale but also a salutary reminder of the danger of unattended champagne bottles. Theo Campbell, a gentleman who once appeared on every teenager’s favourite programme, Love Island, lost his eye recently when a champagne cork flew into it at full throttle. This is actually far from a rare occurrence, there’s a very good reason why there’s a cage holding the cork in place since the pressure inside the bottle is roughly 90 psi, two or three times that of the tires on your car and the end of the cork is the same size as your eye socket… I know, ouch. So when you’re popping your corks for fizz Friday, pop a cork for Theo and use a towel!
Speaking of Friday drinks, we’ll have a some bottles open tonight and tomorrow as usual for your, and indeed our, delectation. We reckon it could be a warm one again so have erred on the side of sunshine drinking…
First up we’ll be opening the fizzy pink sensation that is Domaine du Landrau Cremant de Loire Rosé NV – £15.99. As we all know, but I’ll remind you, this is a blend of Grolleau and Cabernet Franc. Delicious, with a fine mousse, crisp fresh raspberry tinged fruit and a lovely mouthfeel, this is a perfect aperitif and awesome with an indulgent pile of smoked salmon!
In white we will open Le Véritable 2017 – £10.99. Nestling between Pau and Biarritz, in the southwest of France, we find this gem made from Gros Manseng, a local grape variety which loves the climate here in the Pyrenean foothills. Intense in the aroma department, with pear blossom, a touch of straw and ripe apple; the palate is crisp and fresh, with apple and pear fruit again and the slightest hint of apricot. A truly delicious apéritif white.
And the red, well this will also be from France this week – Domaine Fournillon Pinot Noir 2016 – £14.99. The hill of Epineuil is near Chablis, opposite Tonnerre, with soils the same Kimmeridgean and limestone mixture. The fruit aromas are cherry, strawberry and liquorice focused and are followed by a lovely fruit-driven fresh palate with fine tannins and a nice freshness of finish. We think it offers great value, if you can use that word in a Burgundian context! Alex wrote a tasting note of… ‘soft, nice fruit, no-brainer at this price’.
So that’s about it from us, no mention of politics this week – can’t be anything going on or did I miss something? Anyway, we’ll leave you with a paragraph lifted from the Drinks Business article published yesterday, called The Rise and Rise of Rosé – it’s the last statement (highlighted) that tickled us most:
Social media is awash with photos of millennials relaxing with glasses of pale rosé, having fun, often in the sun. Instagram is sometimes credited for the US boom in rosé. “Rosé has become the Champagne of millennials”, said anthropologist Richard Delerins at the 5th International Rosé Symposium (Rencontres Internationales du Rosé) in Marseille in January. “Rosé is more than a colour: it is a mode of self-expression that captures the moments of spontaneity and inner truth that are the values of millennials,” he said.
We’re still talking about a glass of wine, right?
And with that, we’re gone!