The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Another week passes.

The schools are now out, Biden is soon to be out, the sun is in and out and many of you have gone out too – welcome to summer in SW19.

I think, in the past week, we have seen what happens when too much power is concentrated in too few hands.  Crowdstrike brought millions of lives to a standstill last Friday after a glitch meant “problematic content data” in a file went undetected.  Unsurprisingly, they acknowledged that they could prevent this recurring with better software testing and checks, including more scrutiny from developers.  Basically, if they didn’t cut a few corners then this probably wouldn’t happen again.

Now, according to their website, their customers include:

• 298 of the Fortune 500
• 538 of the Fortune 1000
• 8 out of the top 10 financial services firms
• 7 out of the top 10 manufacturers
• 8 out of the top 10 food & beverage companies
• 8 out of the top 10 auto companies
• 43 of the 50 U.S. states
• 6 out of the top 10 healthcare providers
• 8 out of the top 10 technology firms

This feels like a lot of important eggs in the same cybersecurity basket, just one clever hack away from being scrambled.

Still, at least they’ve got it all fixed before the Olympics start.  The Opening Ceremony takes place today (Friday) at 7.30pm (French time), which you would imagine would herald the start if a two week extravaganza of sporting excellence.  However, in a shift from what would seem logical, the games actually started on Wednesday, a world record was broken in the archery on Thursday (How can you have a new Olympic record when the Olympics hasn’t yet started?  Discuss.) and a large chunk of the Men’s Rugby Sevens has already taken place.

Andy Murray has announced that he won’t be playing singles in Paris and frankly we’re not sure why he was planning to anyway.  Currently ranked somewhere in the 120’s but, due to being a former grand-slam winner and Olympic gold-medallist, he was given the nod despite the fact that his Wimbledon campaign was a washout and he can barely move about the court – perhaps Nancy Pelosi should have a word….

Further to our regular reports on the English wine scene, it seems that Chapel Down is not going to be sold to Treasury Wine Estates, owners of Penfolds, Blossom Hill and 19 Crimes, amongst others.  However, Gusbourne Estate, the fabled sparkling wine producer from Kent, has announced that majority shareholder Lord Ashcroft of Belize is reviewing his options – we wonder, could it be that he wants to get his money out sharpish, now we have a Labour government?

Speaking of sparkling wine makers, LVMH, owner of Dom Pérignon, Krug, Möet and Ruinart to name just a few of their brands, have apparently invested £150 million in the Paris Olympics, so don’t expect champagne to get any cheaper in the near future.  Apparently Louis Vuitton has crafted the trunk being used to cart the Olympic torch around and also the trays to carry the medals for the victory ceremonies.  On top of that, Chaumet (another LVMH business) has designed all the medals, all of which include a piece of wrought iron nicked from the Eiffel Tower, which we think is quite a fun touch.

So, what shall we drink with all this Olympic action.  One of the trade rags ran the headline 10 French wines for the Paris Olympics Games which I hoped might be a cleverly crafted list of pun-heavy wines that might raise a smile in all of us, however it was none of this, just a random selection of cut-and-paste tasting notes with no real theme running through it and arguably some of the laziest journalism I’ve seen in a long time…

So, having gathered zero inspiration from there, we’ve just decided to open a couple of wines this weekend that we both like and haven’t had on tasting for a while, with not an Olympic theme in sight:

Follas Novas Albariño 2022 – £17.99 comes From Val do Salnés, one of the five distinct sub-regions of Rías Baixas and is the oldest, coolest and wettest part, whilst also being the birth place of Albariño sometime before the 12th century.  The vines for this wine are between 20 and 40 years old and vinified in a state of the art winery completed in 2005.  Fabulously clean and crisp with citrus and floral notes on the nose, tangy stone fruit on the palate and a lovely mineral laden finish.

Klinker Brick Winery Brickmason 2018 – £18.99 is a blend of 80% Zinfandel, 10% Syrah and 5% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah.  All of the vines were planted before 1989, so produce less fruit with greater intensity.  Thus we have bright red fruits, a touch of juicy blueberry too, lovely freshness of finish and a little tannic grip that gives it great balance – a barbecue shoo-in, should there be a break in the clouds…

That’s it from us, enjoy your holidays and see you in September….

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We had the King’s Speech this week. Judging by its measured tone and relatively sensible content, we may have our work cut out mocking this lot, for the first couple of months anyway!

I do have questions though. What’s happened to Rishi Sunak? His measured and statesman-like speech could have been made by a completely different person. Is he a replicant?

Lettuce Liz made a complaint. She didn’t like her budget being attributed to her, claiming that was a political statement. Given how keen she is to keep her name in the spotlight, I was surprised she asked for it to be removed from the document but removed it has been. In the meantime, she described the King’s Speech as containing “Stalinist” house building targets. She is currently attending the Republican Convention in Milwaukee.

Also at the Republican Convention is Boris Johnson. He made an opening day speech to a room full of empty chairs. Nigel Farage is there too, the voters of Clacton clearly have very wide ranging demands of their MP.

Elsewhere at the convention, Trumpolina announced a man with initials for a name as his running mate.  JD Vance used to claim he was a ‘never Trump’ man. The junior senator from Ohio has also gained the endorsement of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Despite this, as well as backing Trump, JD yesterday quoted Nixon: “Professors are the enemy…” As if this wasn’t mad enough, I saw pictures of the audience at the convention all cosplaying by wearing ear patches. It really would be quite funny if it wasn’t quite so serious.

Talking of serious, the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio Two yesterday morning had a lady who makes political predictions based on how asparagus falls. No really. Her prediction is that the next President of the US will be a woman. She said it keeps coming up that way and she has dropped the asparagus a number of times with the same result.

Meanwhile, sports fans will no doubt have spotted England batting first at Trent Bridge and that we’re into the second day of the British Open at Troon. Whilst I write this, there seem to be quite a few scores with a plus in front of them. For this non-golfer, it seems a bit strange. Alex, however, mentioned something about wind and umbrellas. In real sports, the Tour de France is drawing to a close in the Alps. Today we’ll be heading to the highest rideable road in Europe at 2800m, before finishing on Sunday with tough Individual Time Trial between Monaco and Nice. It really has been quite the ride!

Meanwhile in wine news, Pernod Ricard has sold its Australian, New Zealand and Spanish wine portfolio to Australia’s Accolade Wines but kept the French, Argentinian and Chinese wines in their portfolio. So that’s Jacob’s Creek back with the Aussies, just where it belongs!

Tasting This Weekend

We’ve heard it might be warm and sunny so we’re putting Domaine Lafran-Veyrolles Bandol Rosé 2023 (£23.99) in the fridge for the chilled corner. One of the top estates in Bandol, this 10 hectare estate is cooking on gas. Excellent drop and we’d urge you to come and taste.

The red corner will be populated by Fleurie Cuvée Sept 2022 (£15.99) which will be really rather wonderful with pork shoulder you’ve just decided to barbecue. A juicy red, with lovely cherry fruits and just a touch of fine tannins to keep it honest.

Enjoy the sunshine – it’s here for a good time, not a long time!

Fellow Wine Lovers, 

The cars on Arthur Road go toot-toot-toot, toot-toot-toot, toot-toot-toot; the cars on Arthur Road go toot-toot-toot, all day long… 

Whilst Wimbledon tennis continues to wage war with the weather, the good motorists of Arthur Road continue to get their fits & giggles by creating gridlock and then berating each other for being unable to reverse/drive forward/use their mirrors/read the road signs/know the width of their vehicles.  In fairness, it’s not local traffic, it’s Wimbledon Tennis Land Rovers vs Mitcham Plumbers and, suffice to say, it has made more exciting viewing than some of the televised sports we’ve seen of late! 

Although, wait a minute, what’s this?  We thought that, post-election, our lighter political entertainment this week would be limited to watching PM Starmer wandering around with a football in his hand reminding everyone that he’s a lifelong support of the other North London club, whilst hoping to tap into the Euro Final excitement and show he’s properly down with the kids.   

However, the Conservatives had other plans.  Never shy of a headline, prize-fighters Kemi and Suella have really hit the big time this week, with verbal fisticuffs, talk of taking responsibility for the election failure, a suggestion that one of them was having a nervous breakdown and generally tasteless trolling in the full media glare.  Jerry Springer could have had a field day whilst, in the background, someone gently recited The Scorpion and The Frog. 

My, my, how we’ll miss them! 

Not to be out done across the pond, the 81 year old leader of the free world and the man with the nuclear button has proved his suitability for the job.  To prove George Clooney, Stephen King and Michael Moore right, but not meaning to, he not only got President Zelensky confused with the Putin but also referred to Kamala Harris as Vice-President Trump. 

The convicted felon will win again if this goes on much longer…. 

Back to here for now, we seem to have become good at sport again!  I mean, we’re still not really 2^nd week candidates in the, tennis and, since Cav’s epic win the cycling hasn’t really been troubled by anyone carrying a Union Jack but you know, in the cricket and the football, we’re doing alright! 

It all feels a bit 1996/1997 – are we about to witness Cool Britannia 2.0?  Watch this space… 

In the world of booze, we discover that during the Euros we have spent more time and money in the pub than usual and that bears are still rushing off into the forest, Kleenex in paw.  By all accounts, if the sun shines, people drink more rosé and in the depths of winter a hearty red is often desirable.  Do we think some of these researchers are getting money for old rope?  Or are the biggest charlatans those characters at the Met Office who can incessantly mis-forecast our weather but will always get paid… sometimes I think there are easier ways to earn a living than selling wine (but not many!). 

And then we hear, from Wine GB, that there are now 1,030 vineyards in the UK (mainly England and Wales, I think).  

So, in 2004, Seyval Blanc was the most grown grape variety (a hybrid variety suited to cooler climates), followed by Reichensteiner (a crossing of Müller-Thurgau and Madeline Angevine – which isn’t necessarily a good thing), Müller-Thurgau (of Liebfraumilch fame) and Bacchus (light, elderflowery, delicate and actually not bad). 

Nowadays, it’s a very different story – Bacchus has 8% of the total vineyard space, Seyval Blanc 3% and Reichensteiner just 2% – now the big players are Chardonnay with 32%, Pinot Noir with 27% and Pinot Meunier with 9%, the famous grapes of Champagne.  They say don’t put all your eggs in one basket but why would anyone listen to that – 76% of wine produced in the UK from 2023 will be sparkling – that’s an awful lot of competition…. 

Speaking of competition, we’ve got a game on this Sunday and so for tasting this weekend we’ll put England vs Spain on the counter.   

Since Kane & Co have been playing champagne football all tournament, we thought we’d open Rathfinny Classic Cuvée Brut 2019 – £33.00.  Hailing from East Sussex, about 4 miles from Seaford, in Alfriston, east of Newhaven, this estate was established in 2010 by husband and wife team, Mark and Sarah Driver.   

The first 50 acres of vines were planted in 2012 and they eventually expect to have 350 acres under vines, predominantly Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier (of course) as well as a small amount of Pinot Gris.  Consequently, the blend is 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier and they say it spends 36 months in bottle before release – in fact the stock we have now was disgorged in January this year, which puts it closer to 48 months on the lees, which can only make it more delicious! 

For the red, we’ll be visiting the most famous Spanish region, Rioja.   

Bodegas Roda Sela 2021 – £24.99 – class, elegance and a source of constant pleasure – this could be the Spanish team in a glass… made with fruit from bush vines of between 15 and 30 years old where yields are kept low to encourage a concentration of intense aromas and depth of flavour complexity on the palate.  The blend is 87% Tempranillo, 7% Graciano and 6% Garnacha and spends 12 months aging in 100% semi-new French oak. A nose bursting with aromas of cherries, redcurrants and blackberries lead onto an elegant palate with lively, fresh red cherry flavours.  A suitable drink with which to drown ones sorrows… 

And that’s a wrap.  We hear the that The Burnley Express has left the station for one last time and we salute him, even if he did celebrate retirement with a can of Guinness Draught 0.0%… 

Cheers! 

Fellow Wine Lovers,

To recap then:

Coldplay did not finish with Clocks.

Slovakia has gone home and, remarkably, it will be England to face Switzerland on Saturday.

Sir Mark Cavendish is, of course, the greatest Tour de France stage winner, having won majestically the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas stage on Wednesday, a day ahead of our schedule.

We saw Andy Murray and brother Jamie lose on Centre Court yesterday evening and not a dry eye could be found in the house! There’s still another chance though, as he is due to team up with Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles.

I think we all suspected hiring a helicopter to go strawberry picking would be a folly!

Quite some years ago the US had a chap called Richard Nixon as President. In a rather famous interview with David Frost in 1977, he said “Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.” On Monday this week the US Supreme Court appeared to pretty much enshrine that in law. It may come as a surprise but several of these judges were appointed by Trumpolina whilst he still had keys to the White House. No prizes for who might benefit from the decision.

We’ve also had the first debate between Biden and Trump for the November election. Neither covered themselves in glory but it seems falsehoods and lies trumped bewilderment in the eyes of the swing states. I don’t know why but that Chinese curse about living in interesting times keeps popping up in my head lately.

Closer to home, we hope you all remembered your ID, wondered on the policy implications of a bungee jump and actually got to cast your vote yesterday. Not all the results are in yet but we do appear to have lost that odious toad Rees-Mogg, swordsmith Penny Mordant and, of course, Lettuce Liz. Bungee jumps do appear to have helped the Lib Dem and we have a new PM in Sir Kier Starmer. We’re heading into a time of change, here’s hoping that it’s all for the better!

Biggest surprise of election day though is a knighthood for Chris Grayling, the only transport minister to have doored somebody with a ministerial car! That said Lord Grayling of Failing does have a certain je ne sais quoi.

There’s an enormous amount of sport on at the moment, we mentioned England facing Switzerland on Saturday (5pm!) but before we head there we’ll enjoy Spain and Germany facing off at 5pm and Portugal playing France at 8pm both on Friday. Whilst the later game on Saturday involves the Netherlands tackling Turkey.

Just across the way there’s some absolutely cracking tennis going on with seeds being cast aside, harsh schedules pitching British women numbers 1 and 2 against each other in a game that went to a thrilling tie break with Harriet Dart prevailing.

We’ve also got the Tour de France going on, the women’s Giro d’Italia starts on Sunday and the F1 Grand Prix circus has landed at Silverstone for the weekend. Unsurprisingly, Mr Verstappen is the bookies favourite but let’s see how the weekend plays out.

In wine news, Lidl has put out a red wine swirl ice cream, yes, ice cream. It looks like raspberry ripple gone rogue. We had just one question, why? In Gravesend, a teacher has been fired after being found sat in his car in the school car park drinking wine at lunch time. Even in the City a boozy lunch doesn’t float like it once did, clearly the message hasn’t got that far east yet!

Tasting This Weekend

We’ll start in Spain with J. Fernando Verdejo 2023 (£14.49) from Rueda. We were really rather chuffed to find a Rueda Verdejo at this price, usually they’re a few quid more expensive.  The family has had vineyards for three generations and now, having completed their new winery in 2017, they have produced a fabulously zesty quaffer.  A fabulous balance of fruit and herb notes and that lovely zesty finish will be pitch-perfect with a platter of Cantabrian anchovies.

We’ll then head to Marlborough, New Zealand for a snifter of Mahi Pinot Noir 2022 (£29). We’ve stocked wines from Brian on and off over the years but never had this one on the shelves. They always are looking for a decent texture in their wine and to achieve this grapes are always hand harvested, sorted and then fermented with wild yeast. Come along and see what you think!