The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

And so we start the long, slow walk to September.  Even if you don’t have school-age children, you could probably have guessed when the summer holidays started, as it neatly coincided with the need to carry an umbrella and put a sweater on!  Plus the streets are empty, parking is easy and we usually have a couple of dozen lime bikes parked outside the shop, waiting to be blown over or reversed in to….

We’re also a bit disappointed.  In a world where we desperately need to conserve our trees and green spaces, it looks increasingly likely we’ll be getting less as we look set to have 39 new tennis courts foisted onto the old golf course beside Home Park Road.  This comes hot on the heels of Tottenham Hotspur being given the green light to develop green belt land in Whitewebbs Park in Enfield (11 pitches and a clubhouse); ironically this site was also previously a golf course.  Mind you, West Ham have already developed on some green belt land in Romford, so it isn’t without precedent and no golf courses were involved.  Trees or sport, you can choose.  Oh, hang about, no you can’t…

Moving from planning but staying with sport, we find ourselves a bit more cheerful.  The England Women play Spain in the Euro finals on Sunday, a repeat of the World Cup final from 2 years ago and, providing we don’t go to penalties, I think we might just do it.  The cricket never fails to entertain this summer, the Lions tour to Australia is also looking positive whilst the cyclists are just a couple of days away from Paris but it does feel a bit like the procession has already started.

However, we can’t just watch sport and trawl planning applications; we do also need to do some selling and some planning.  We’ve not quite finalised our Christmas range yet but we have been looking at the months ahead with greater attention.   With this in mind, following the success of our Wine & Cheese evening in June, we’ve pencilled in some dates for the Autumn.  So, if you missed out on the fun, go and check your diary now to see if any (or all) of the following dates work for you:

• THURSDAY 2^nd OCTOBER – 7.30PM
• THURSDAY 6^TH NOVEMBER – 7.30PM
• THURSDAY 27^TH NOVEMBER – 7.30PM

We have a maximum of 12 people per tasting and a seat at the table costs £30, first come, first served.  You can reserve your place by giving us a call on 020 8944 5224 or just pop in and see us on Arthur Road.

Striking whilst the iron is hot, we might as well add that our annual Champagne & Sparkling Wine Tasting which will take place on

• THURSDAY 4^TH DECEMBER – 7.30PM

A seat for this costs £35, same rules as above!

However, if you want to taste some interesting wines before the end of summer, we’ll have a few bottles open this weekend that should tantalise your tasting buds.  As you are no doubt unaware, Friday 1^st August is ‘Celebrate Albariño Day’.  The Rías Baixas region specialises in Albariño, and is thus considered to be its true heartland, nestled up in the far north-western corner of Spain beside the wind-swept Atlantic coast.

There are 5 sub-regions within Rías Baixas with the most northern being Ribeira do Ulla.  Fully landlocked but dissected by the Ulla River, this is the newest sub-zone, registered in 2000 and is composed mostly of alluvial soil.  Located inland, just southeast of Santiago de Compostela, and east of Padrón, the town famous for its fried green peppers!

Next, we have Val do Salnés boasting the most coastline and is consequently the coolest and dampest of the regions.  It is known as the birthplace of the Albariño grape and is the original and oldest sub-zone with the most area under vine and the highest concentration of wineries. The soil is granitic and rocky with alluvial top-soil.

Soutomaior sits on the coast in the centre of the region and is the smallest zone, registered in 1996. Soils are light and sandy over granite bedrock.

Condado do Tea is named after the river Tea, a tributary of the Miño River.  Located inland in a fairly mountainous area, this is the second largest zone, with granite-slate and sedimentary soils.  Being inland, it is a warmer, drier area, with some very high temperatures possible in the summer.

Finally, we have O Rosal, lying along the Miño River where it joins the Atlantic Ocean.  It forms the border with Portugal and has granite bedrock with alluvial topsoil, with terraced vineyards along the sides of the river.

We have 3 Albariños in stock and we’ll be opening all of them this weekend because why wait until next Friday?

Arousana Follas Novas – £17.99 – from Val do Salnés, made using fruit from 30 year old vines.  White peach and orange blossom on the nose and a crisp, dry palate showing stone fruit and mineral characteristics.

Granbazan Etiqueta Ambar – £25.79 – also from Val do Salnés, just a kilometre away from the sea which gives it a salty minerality and a slightly tropical fruit character on the palate.

San Salvador de Soutomaior Noelia Bebelia – £26.99 – as you can possibly guess, this hails from Soutomaior and the producers, Simon and Noelia have 7 acres perched on mountainous riverbanks and aim to make very terroir focused wines.  Richer, with concentrated fruit character whilst not forgetting the signature crisp minerality and a lovely long finish.

And, to keep Mike happy, we’ll also open a red.  We’ll stay with Spain and head directly east from Pontevedra for about 600km until we reach Haro, Rioja.  Palacio del Camino Real Reserva – £15.99 is a traditional style Reserva Rioja with plenty of black fruit flavours and spicy, rich oak notes as you would expect.  The palate is medium-bodied with a real fruit driven flavour.  Plums, red and black fruit and soft vanilla notes shine here and lead onto a long, structured finish.

So pop by, buy a ticket for a tasting, taste some Spanish stunners and raise a glass to Ozzy and Hulk.

Say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It’s been all excitement this week in UK politics. Sir Kier suspended four MP’s for making Rachel Reeves cry and then went on to sign an agreement with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. It’s going to make train travel and school trips easier, not to mention increasing co-operation on scientific research, security and defence.  At the next election 16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote, or at least those with ID will.

Meanwhile, in Somerset, Big Carl, the world’s largest crane, has raised the 245 tonne dome onto Hinkley –C second reactor. With the lid on, they can now get on with fitting it out. In my head I had visions of Dumbo being delivered by the stork!

Across the pond, Tango Tariffmeister has been getting involved in everything. Everything, that is, except releasing the Epstein report, although, in typical TACO mode, he now seems to be backing their exposure. He is also encouraging the replacement of corn syrup in Coca-Cola whilst also threatening to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, happily forgetful that it was him who appointed JP in the first place.

He clearly felt his contributions to Chelsea winning the Club World Cup were worthy of staying front and centre for the celebrations and photographs. We wondered if there was a photograph of John Terry in a crowd that might be photo-shopped in to replace Tango for the Chelsea publicity because he’ll definitely have his kit on. The video evidence of Tango pocketing a FIFA medal, are, of course, fake news.

Meanwhile, in France, cyclists have been doing their thing in the Tour de France. We’re up to day 12 and all the favourites are still involved, Oscar Onley has been the surprise, at least for this correspondent. Only his second Tour and he’s up there mixing it with the favourites. Cycling really is have a rather special moment.

There is also some Golf Open thingy happening in Royal Portrush where, suprisingly, it’s raining.

In these quieter weeks over summer we often ruminate upon what might have happened to customers that we haven’t seen for a while.  Sometimes we know they’ve given up drinking; sometimes they’ve moved to Chislehurst, Dubai or the other side of Southfields; often times we expect they have just got sick of our inept service and annoying small talk.  Occasionally, though, you get a nice surprise when you open your (online) newspaper to be greeted by the cheery physog of one of your regulars, happily handing out bidons to riders in the Tour de France – chapeau sir, hope you enjoyed yourself!  Then, whilst watching the Test Match on Saturday afternoon, we captured the profile of another customer, full-screen on Sky TV, doing his best Jimmy Hill impersonation – he told us he’d moved to York but I’m sure the cricket was in St Johns Wood!  So, be warned, if you’re off anywhere exciting, we’ll know….

Tasting this Weekend

We’ll start in Spain with J. Fernando Verdejo 2024 (£15.99) 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 move onto Southern Italy for Cantine Pirovano Beatrice Nero di Troia 2024, (£13.49) Beginning in 1850 with an Osteria serving Southern Italian wines, the Pirovano family business has developed into an Italy-wide producer and bottler of wines. This deep purple coloured red is made using 100% Nero Di Troia grapes from their sun-drenched vineyards. The nose is full of summer berries, blackberry, black currant and even a hint of strawberry jam. On the palate the wine is sumptuously smooth, juicy with ripe berry fruit and very well balanced.

Cheers!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

 “It’s really a very simple story. A rich private tennis club is looking to make itself even richer by tripling in size, at devastating cost to the local environment and community.”  Andy Hamilton, keeping it simple.

Anyway, let’s move on from that and ask, once again, the question: who briefs Donald Trump?  Because, frankly, it doesn’t seem like anyone holds that position.  I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now, in between watching Willy Wonka (64 years old, after lunch) snoozing at Wimbledon, however to catch up those of you who haven’t, Donald Trump welcomed the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal  to the White House on Wednesday.  Displaying even more ignorance (racism?) than usual, he patronised the Liberian President’s mastery of the English language; wisely, sensing a possible trap, because surely no-one can be that stupid and uninformed, President Boakai exercised masterful diplomacy by simply smiling and saying ‘yes sir’ whilst the orange fella opposite him jabbered on, digging a deeper hole…

Meanwhile, here in SW19 (official language: English), we’ve been swamped with sunshine, strawberries and a surfeit of sport.  Rosé and sparkling wine have been the drinks of choice although, for us on Wednesday evening, the refreshing tang of The Park Brewery Hope Mimosa Sour completely hit the bullseye.  A vibrant, fruit forward beer made using apricot and mango puree, it was bright, tangy, refreshing with a lovely sour finish and 440ml didn’t last five minutes!

Whilst on the subject of interesting drinks, we have a couple of new tipples to tempt you with.  After much discussion, we’ve decided  to get a few bottles of Rathfinny Rosé Brut 2019 – £42.00, buoyed by the success of their classic cuvée, we thought we’d tempt you with some pink.  Very pale in the glass and bone dry on the palate, this is just fabulous.  Ripe peach, red cherry and strawberry coulis notes with just a waft of pepper to finish.  Another stunning Sussex sparkler!

Closer to home we have an exciting new edition from Braden and the gang at Doghouse Distillery.  Always the innovators, they have just launched their first ever American style corn whisky, a batch of just 1,000 bottles.  In their words: “Debt Collector, inspired by deep south blues rock music, is an American style whisky made with a mash of corn, barley and rye.  It is fermented using a Kentucky Bourbon yeast and then matured in virgin American oak for 3 years and diluted to bottle at 50%.  It is the first ever American style corn whisky to be made in London and is an incredible tasting whisky.   On the nose it hits notes of crisp cherry, caramel and light vanilla.  Strong viscosity on the palate coupled with rich notes of vanilla, oak and caramel sweetness, plus a warming earthy spiciness.   Drink neat and enjoy this remarkably smooth finish with oak, light smoke and clean spice.”

Doghouse Distillery Debt Collector Whisky – £50.00

Anyway, as discussed above, the sun has been shining and promises to continue unabated whilst international sport is everywhere.  We have tennis; we have cricket; we have European football; we have rugby from all over the world; we’ve even got some cycling but all the while all we really want to do is go swimming…

And we’ve got barbecues going on and with this in mind, how about we open a couple of crowd pleasing bottles for you to taste tonight or tomorrow?  Good idea, let’s do it.

The Lions are in Australia, so we thought we’d open Pauletts Polish Hill River Aged Release Riesling 2018 – £21.99.  Polish Hill River is a sub-region of the Clare Valley and about a 90 minute drive from Adelaide.  We always love the Aged Release that the Paulett’s keep back for a few years in their cellar as it’s always crisp and dry with bags of citrus and minerals and a fab finish.  Good idea as your aperitif whilst the coals are getting glowing.

And since England are playing Argentina on Saturday evening, how about Sottano Selección Blend 2020 – £23.99 is a blend of Malbec, Syrah and Cabernet Franc; dark in the glass as you’d expect and with lovely aromatic berry aromas with a hint of violets and wood smoke.  The palate is rich and layered with cassis and berry fruit notes, coffee and wood spice with a touch of black pepper to end on.  It works very well with quick cooked skirt steak if you’re looking for a deliciously easy supper!

That’s it from us, I’ll be honest, it’s been a tough email to write this week – can we have a good news week nest week please?!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Double celebration day today – the Founding Fathers declared independence 249 years ago whilst, a mere 248 years later, Keir and the Gang won the general election, neither event coming as much of a surprise. 

So yes, a double celebration and a chance for us all to reflect on how well things are going on either side of the pond.  Here, we can celebrate the announcement of a 10 year plan for the NHS which sounds a lot like a return to the cottage hospitals of old; meanwhile, those lucky enough to live in the Land of the Free can celebrate the big bad wolf’s big beautiful bill.  This is the plan that, over 10 years, will add $3 trillion to the national deficit and cut $1 trillion from Medicaid – definitely need to be brave to call this place home.

Celebrating other achievements, Post Malone is 30 today, big beautiful Bill Withers would have been 87 and Greece’s victory over Portugal in the Euros is now old enough to buy a beer in America – all good dinner party conversation starters for Saturday evening, I think you’ll find.

Anyway, enough chat about them, let’s get back to talking about us.  We had to use google this week to find an accurate definition for Gen Z, aka Zoomers.  We both had a wishy-washy idea of what it meant but then discovered that we had differing wishy-washy ideas, hence the library visit.  To remind you, Gen Z is the generation born between 1997 and 2012, so aged anywhere between 12 and 28, the youth of today, if you will.  Anyway, we had been led to believe that Gen Z was ‘abandoning alcohol’ and that this would have a serious knock on effect for the future of the drinks industry.  However, this week, up stepped the IWSR and Bevtrac consumer research.  Apparently, they tell us, ‘Gen Z is confounding conventional wisdom by reviving participation rates and consumption occasions.’  I read the whole article so you didn’t have to and learnt that, in 15 key markets surveyed, 73% said they’d had a drink in the last 6 months, up from 66% in 2023.  Plus, they’re drinking a broader variety of drinks, loving their spirits and going out a lot more than other generations, which is frankly as it should be and long may it continue; we just need more of them to get into wine and our future will be secure!

Not much else to report in the wine world though, so again, we move on.  Normally at this time of the year, Wayne is driving the narrative in these emails – ranting about the increased traffic resulting from the annual tennis competition taking place in the park and then typing excitedly about the start of the Tour de France.  He’s got the day off today, so it’s down to me to man the moans but happily he left me his notes.  In 2023 he fumed:

Greetings from the biggest and busiest carpark in south-west London.  If you can’t find a taxi near you it’s because they are all sitting on Arthur Road, shouting at each other and trying to squeeze through spaces made for a VW Polo and not for a Land Rover Defender, so, if you don’t mind, you’ll have to reverse… Welcome to Wimbledon fortnight, come and smell the fumes.

Whilst in 2018 he wrote, with bullet points:

• a notable increase in oversized SUV’s struggling to drive on their side of the road or through width restrictions or in fact anywhere that there are other vehicles
• perma-tanned, beautiful people wearing glistening tennis whites whilst schooning pints of Lanson in Hemmingway’s
• lots of eager emmets will soon be emerging blinkingly from the penumbra of Wimbledon Park tube station to discover that the All England is not bang outside or even that close and no, they haven’t bothered to put up any signposts to help
• the Pig & Whistle will become a drop-in centre for people camping in the park yearning electricity and cushioned seating
• the Co-op will run out of anything salad or strawberry related but will have a plenitude of swedes and turnips and other winter casserole ingredients
• we’ll all become tennis experts once more

And in 2017 he told us this:

You’ll have seen the Wimbledon branded cars driving around on their practice runs the last two weeks (I’m sure they used smaller cars in the past, maybe saving on hotel rooms?). This can of course mean only one thing: Wimbledon fortnight is upon us! The Co-op will have sold out of all useful lunch items for the next few weeks so Alex and I will be on the microwave stew or Uncle Ben’s rice packs.

So, in a nutshell, Wimbledon fortnight consistently rewards us with Co-Op food shortages, big cars and lost tourists – got to love the consistency!

Away from tennis, we’ve got the Women’s Euros just started, England playing on Saturday.  We’ve got Lions rugby down under, England in Argentina, Scotland in NZ and Wales in Japan.  We’ve got cricket going on in the Midlands and we’ve got cycling masochism in France, as mentioned above.  We’ll need a minimum of 3 screens I think, just to be on the safe side!

With fingers crossed for nicer weather than is currently forecast, we thought we’d open a couple of Iberian easy drinkers this weekend.  For the white, we have the dangerously drinkable Vilacetinho Vinho Verde 2024 – £10.99.  Founded in 1790, these chaps are one of the oldest producers of Vinho Verde in Portugal.  Avesso, Arinto, Azal and Loureiro are the grapes, grown on south facing granite slopes.  The wine is crisp and dry with lively, zingy, zesty citrus notes and a light spritz.  Perfect as an apéritif, with a picnic, or just as a sundowner on the Riviera and, at only 11% alcohol, you can happily reach for that second glass!

The red comes from eastern Spain Bodega Sierra Norte Ananto 2023 – £12.99.  The 67 hectare Finca Fuenteseca estate lies in Utiel-Requena, a high, rugged plateau, nearly 1,000 metres above sea level, just inland from Valencia.  The grapes used are 65% Bobal and 35% Tempranillo; Tempranillo you will know from Rioja, whilst Bobal is the local grape variety, representing 80% of red vines in the region.  The nose has complex aromas of dark fruits whilst the palate offers us ripe plum and bramble fruit with a juicy acidity nicely balanced by ripe, soft tannins.

Wayne insists that we leave the last words to a headline we read in cyclinguptodate.com on Wednesday: “To win the Tour, I have to be able to beat him” – Jonas Vingegaard is not looking for shortcuts to win Tour de France over Tadej Pogacar.

You heard it here first!