The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Please do accept our sincerest apologies for interrupting you on a, checks notes, Tuesday. We thought we’d take this opportunity to say thank you for all your support, jokes, insults, ideas and purchases over the last year.

We’d like to wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025.

Should supplies be running low, we’ll be back to normal hours from Saturday 4^th January at Noon. Our traditional January sale of six bottles for the price of five will start then too.

Happy New Year, Buon Anno, Bonne Année, Feliz año nuevo, Feliz ano novo, Athbhliain faoi mhaise, Blwyddyn newydd dda, Gelukkig nieuwjaar, Frohes Neues Jahr, καλή χρονιά, Wszystkiego najlepszego w Nowym Roku, Gott nytt år, Godt nytår, Onnellista uutta vuotta, Gleðilegt nýtt ár, з новим роком.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So, not long to go now, are you ready, because we are?

Tomorrow morning (Saturday), at exactly 9.21am, we will likely be found dancing a merry jig at the A303’s most famous landmark, Stonehenge, as we hope to catch a glimpse of the Sun’s rays through the stones, which are apparently perfectly positioned to align with the Sun’s path.  Yep, it’s the Winter Solstice, aka the Shortest Day, which I’m informed will last 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds – equivalent to the AA’s estimated journey time from the Solstice Services to Winterbourne Stoke this weekend…

After that, anyone got any plans for next week?  Having looked at sales figures for previous years, we’ve decided to make it a short one.  Noticing that the historic trend is zero business between 25^th and 29^th December, we have elected to only open on Monday and Tuesday next week and then re-open on 30^th December – we’ll see you then.

Our usual trawl through the newspapers has not gleaned much to report – Elon Musk met Nigel Farage at Mar-a-Lago and, by all accounts, waved his wallet at him which, as we all know, is Nigel’s favourite sort of wave.  Prince Andrew continues to charm us with his antics whilst in booze news, yet another research study, this time from the University of Barcelona and the Hospital Clínic Barcelona, has found that a small glass of wine is better for the heart than statins – heartening to see that, almost 50 years after the concept was first discussed, the Mediterranean Diet is still winning fans!

So, what small glass of wine are you drinking?  Here are some suggestions:

LARGER FORMATS, FOR LONGER LUNCHES…

MAGNUM

Lopez de Haro 2019/20 Crianza, Rioja – £30.00

Château de Paraza 2019, Minervois – £38.00

Meerlust Red 2015, Stellenbosch – £38.00

La Cote Sauvage Cairanne 2021, Rhone – £40.00

Saransot Dupré 2019/20, Listrac-Médoc – £46.00

Roda Sela 2022, Rioja – £52.00

The Chocolate Block 2021/23, Swartland – £55.00

Valenciso Reserva 2018, Rioja – £55.00

Meerlust Rubicon 2016, Stellenbosch – £80.00

JEROBOAM

The Chocolate Block 2023, Swartland – £130.00

You’re gonna need a bigger glass…

Now, with just over 100 hours until the big day, we intend to tantalise your tastebuds with a couple of open bottles this weekend, to pair with your festive feasting:

Cape Mentelle Chardonnay 2021 – £23.99.  Cape Mentelle is one of the founding wineries of Margaret River in Western Australia and helped to pioneer the region’s styles.  Aromas of lemon zest, white peach and floral notes run alongside mineral characteristics and a hint of saltiness.  Medium bodied on the palate, with a silky succulence showing honeysuckle and lemon pie fruit character. Beautiful purity with real elegance and a great all-rounder, from your smoked salmon sandwiches, via your devils on horseback through to the turkey with all its accoutrements!

Sticking with our friends in Australia, for the red we have Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2023 – £32.00.  This is our ‘go to’ Pinot Noir, should such a thing be possible.  Hailing from the famous and beautiful Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, this is slightly unfairly referred to as their entry level wine!  However, we fully believe that this has more sophistication and character in its little finger than a number of Pinot’s demanding far higher prices. Lovely ripe fruit on the attack with some gentle spice coming through towards the finish and a fabulously long and silky finish.  We find New World Pinot Noir to be a great match for Christmas Dinner as they tend to have a bit more body and fruit than their Old World counterparts.

We also have the Breitenbach Winery Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2018 – £33.00, which is a delightful sweetie with a wonderfully deep golden colour.  The aromas are very inviting with dense, complex apricot and orange marmalade fruit characters which are supported by an exotic, floral nose.  Mid-weight and finely honeyed with beautifully poised acidity and spice on the long balanced finish, this needs to be tasted…

Plus, the Foxdenton Estate Christmas Gin Liqueur – £25.00 is open, as are a number of our spirits.  Two that deserve a particular mention are the Ninebar Italian Espresso Coffee Liqueur – £26.00 that has 12 cups of espresso in each bottle which could be very useful post-Christmas luncheon and also our much loved Hepple Gin – £38.00 that has had a really rather spiffy re-brand!

That’s about it from us for now, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with the appropriate number of small glasses of wine!

It’s the longest night coming up – we’re ready, are you?

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well I have to say, my bingo card has been rubbish this week. I certainly didn’t have Assad moving to Moscow, or Sir Mark Cavendish being snubbed by Sports Personality of the Year.

Nor was I expecting archaeologists to be excavating Father Christmas’ grave! Archaeologists excavating the St Nicholas Church in Antalya in Turkey have found a surprise limestone sarcophagus which they are hoping will shed more light on whether this is St Nicholas’ final resting place.

News of the week for us was that GP, Dr Zoe Williams, in collaboration with Warburtons, has come up with the perfect hangover cure. Surprisingly, it is a sandwich containing eggs, bacon and avocado. Whilst we hold the front page for this news, it seems this is the perfect the mix of protein, salts and sugars to set you up for the day. On page two we talk about our fears for the whereabouts of Glenn Miller!

In completely unrelated news, the comedy gold that is a Kemi Badenoch quote continued it’s fine run of form this week. In an interview with the Spectator she declared that she didn’t like moist bread and that “lunch is for wimps!” No way on earth did I have her down as being played by Michael Douglas in the biopic, but here we are back in 1987! I guess that’s the ghost of Christmas past.

Time Magazine’s man of the year, Trumpolina, was in Paris this past weekend for the opening of the rebuilt Notre Dame. Did you see his meeting with Macron? I’m not sure if that was a handshake or the start of an arm wrestle between two children who really should know better. I thought Brigitte Macron was going to take them both by the ear and told them to grow up! Is Trumpolina the ghost of Christmas present?

Meanwhile, FIFA have awarded the 2034 World Cup to sole bidder Saudi Arabia. Throughout its history, the World Cup has traditionally been held in June. In 2022 it was played Qatar who disrupted all the domestic competitions by having to play it in December because of the heat. Given the 42˚C daytime temperatures in June in Saudi Arabia, I think we may see more of that. They are building eleven new stadiums to host it, one of them in a city that doesn’t even exist yet. Determined to head off any criticisms of the hosts, FIFA showed a video that included the words “integrity” “human rights” and “transparency” all linked by arrows to reassure us doubters. Looking forward to it already! Perhaps this will be the ghost of Christmas future?

Are you going to kick Boxing Day off with an espresso martini? Let me tell you about Ninebar Espresso Liqueur (£26). Made by our talented chums at Distilleria Quaglia in Piemonte, this is the real deal. 100% Brazilian Arabica beans toasted gently over birch wood, the liqueur has 12 espressos in every bottle. It has enough sweetness to balance that coffee bitterness without being oversweet. The name? I think that may be the ideal pressure on a coffee machine to make the perfect espresso. You’ll have to ask Lee!

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS

We’ll be operating our normal hours from today until…

SUNDAY 22^nd DECEMBER:  12 NOON – 3PM

MONDAY 23^rd DECEMBER:  12 NOON – 7PM

TUESDAY 24^th DECEMBER:  12 NOON -4PM

WEDNESDAY 25^th DECEMBER – SUNDAY 29^th DECEMBER:  CLOSED

MONDAY 30^th DECEMBER:  12 NOON – 7PM

 TUESDAY 31^st DECEMBER:  12 NOON – 6PM

WEDNESDAY 1^st – FRIDAY 3^rd JANUARY:  CLOSED

SATURDAY 4^th JANUARY:  12 NOON – 7PM

Then we will go back to normal!

Tasting this Weekend

As has become our tradition, we will start with a white. Pieropan Soave La Rocca 2022 (£39) – “The only oak-inflected cuvee at the estate. Aged in 100% used tonneaux, both French and Slavonian. Superb aromas of pistachios, peaches and dried mangoes. Broad and expansive, yet funneled into a vortex of tension by freshness that sublimates any sense of obvious power. A wonderful expression of a warmer vintage that suits perfectly this compelling site.” 96/100 Ned Goodwin, JamesSuckling.com, April 2024

On the red front we’ll be getting our laughing gear around Tenute Sella ‘Orbello’ Nebbiolo 2023 (£23.99) – Tenute Sella is located at the foot of the Alps of Biella, in Northern Piedmont. Purchased in 1671 by Comino Sella, for 350 years the family-owned property has been cultivated by generations of the Sella family. Here in Alto-Piemonte, they craft beautiful, ethereal expressions of Nebbiolo-based wines. Come and sample, we think it is really rather tasty!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Fourteen, some facts:

1. The number of days in a fortnight
2. Silicon’s position in the Periodic Table
3. The number of lines in a Sonnet
4. Valentine’s Day
5. Double the RDA of Deadly Sins
6. Thierry Henry’s Arsenal shirt number
7. And Luka Modric’s number at Tottenham
8. The percentage ABV of Meerlust Rubicon 2018
9. And Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
10. Number of pounds in a stone
11. The number of countries that share a border with Russia
12. Maximum number of golf clubs allowed in your bag
13. The number of letters in North Macedonia
14. The number of years we have been selling wine on Arthur Road

Yes, another year older, another year wider having celebrated our 14^th on Tuesday – Wayne celebrated with a Brick Lane Ruby whilst Alex stood in the shop before drinking Champagne with his wife – happy birthday to us!

As has often happened over the last 14 years, the news has been thoroughly disheartening this week with nothing to smile about really.  The BBC is in the crosshairs, again, largely courtesy of that human minion, Gregg Wallace, but is still asking us to pay £5 more to watch their output, from April next year.  £174.50 is the new figure – £14.54/month which compares to Netflix at £10.99/month (ads free), Amazon Prime at £8.99/month with all the other benefits and Disney + at £8.99/month (ads free), just so you know.

Here in the shop, as I’m sure you’ve all witnessed, we’re far too busy and focused to watch the telly, particularly at this time of year.  We had our last instore tasting of the year on Wednesday, a fabulous fizz night, with Wayne’s favourite tipple, Jean Gimonnet Millesime 2004 Premier Cru – £83 the clear winner (and why not, a Blanc de Blancs with 20 years on its lees for less than a ton is not to be sniffed at) with the Cantina di Soliera Lambrusco di Sorbara NV – £12.99 running a close second, which goes to show that it’s not all about price.

So for us, it’s head down, full speed ahead for the next 19 days and with your help we should be pretty busy.  Further to a gentle promotion of our Christmas cases last week, they are starting to get a bit of traction:

The Christmas Day Selection (PORT) – £150 including gift box

• Lété-Vautrain 204 Brut NV, Charly-Sur-Marne, Champagne, France
• Domaine Langlois Clos Saint-Florent Saumur 2021, Loire, France
• Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, New Zealand
• Akarua ‘RUA’ Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022, Central Otago, New Zealand
• Tenuta Marsiliana ‘Birillo’ Costa Toscana Rosso 2020, Tuscany, Italy
• Butler Nephew & Co 10 Years Old Tawny, Portugal

The Christmas Day Selection (NO PORT) – £150 including gift box

• Lété-Vautrain 204 Brut NV, Charly-Sur-Marne, Champagne, France
• Domaine Langlois Clos Saint-Florent Saumur 2021, Loire, France
• Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, New Zealand
• Akarua ‘RUA’ Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022, Central Otago, New Zealand
• Tenuta Marsiliana ‘Birillo’ Costa Toscana Rosso 2020, Tuscany, Italy
• Valenciso Reserva 2018, Rioja, Spain

The Claret Selection – £140 including gift box

• Chateau Guilhem 2010, Fronsac
• Chapelle De Potensac 2016, Médoc
• Château Lucas 2016, Lussac Saint-Émilion
• Château Saransot-Dupré 2016, Listrac-Médoc
• Clos Albertus 2018, Saint-Georges Saint Émilion
• Gaia de Chateau Puybarbe 2019, Côtes de Bourg

The December Fine Festive Selection- £250 including gift box

• Louis Roederer Collection 244, Champagne, France
• Sancerre Le MD de Bourgeois 2020, Loire Valley, France
• Westcott Vineyards Estate Chardonnay 2021, Ontario, Canada
• Chateau de Valois 2018, Pomerol, France
• Mt Difficulty ‘Pipeclay Terrace’ Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017,
• Central Otago, New Zealand
• Travaglini Gattinara Tre Vigne 2019, Piemonte, Italy

Tastebuds tantalised.

We also see the return of the ever popular Foxdenton Estate Christmas Liqueur – £25.

Made with Winslow Plums and a blend of traditional Christmas spices including Ginger, Clove, Cinnamon, and Star Anise, our Christmas Liqueur is the ideal winter warmer.

All this needs is a mince pie and an open fire. However, it is equally at home in a glass of fizz making a rather fabulous festive cocktail – we’ve got a bottle open, come and have a taste.

However, before you taste the Liqueur, how about tasting the wines we’ve got open.

The white is more focused towards your Boxing Day ham or the December 27^th Turkey Madurai: Max Ferd. Richter ‘Zeppelin’ Riesling 2023 – £19.49.  Kingsley Amis once said ‘life is too short to learn about German wine labels’.  We agree to some degree but do not dismiss this wine.  Crisp, zesty apple and peach flavour with finely focused slate characteristics, typical for the vineyard.  In fact, wines from this vineyard were served in the luxurious restaurant of the Zeppelin airships in the 1920’s and 1930’s and have even been served at state functions at Buckingham Palace, which will serve as a good lunchtime conversation starter.

The red is one of our favourites from Ribera del Duero in Spain.  Bodegas La Horra Corimbo 2019 – £27.99 is rich, with spicy and savoury, game notes complimenting the forest fruit character.  On the palate the sweet ripe fruit has a lovely perfumed spice edge to the finish.  A bit fuller and rustic than a Rioja perhaps but not at all in a bad way!

That’s probably it from us, come in and have a taste, get yourselves out of the rain!