The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

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

We call him Weather Vane Wayne.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You heard it here first.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHITES

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

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

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

ORANGE

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

ROSÉ

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

RED

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fellow Wine Lovers,

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

AccuWeather

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

BBC

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

Met Office

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

Weather.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cramele Recas Solara Orange – £14.99

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

Domaine Lyrarakis Kotsifali 2021 – £16.99

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

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

Fellow Wine Lovers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tasting This Weekend

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

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

I’m off to cheer for West Ham!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Where to start this week…

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

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

Safe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

•           Add 50ml of Doppelgänger Aperitivo into a wine glass

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

•           Stir through

•           Garnish – Slice of Pink Grapefruit or orange

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

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

Following up swiftly in the red galoshes will be Glencairn Pinotage (£15.99) from Breedekloof in South Africa. My tasting note says Pinot Noir-like fruits, red cherry and strawberry on the nose, a fresh palate with ripe tannin and vanillin notes followed by strawberry all the through to the finish. Despite the weather, we’re planning to eat barbecue on Sunday and I don’t think this’ll be a bad partner (to the food not the weather!).

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

And with that we’re off!