Fellow Wine Lovers,
Well, that didn’t take long. Shorts and sunglasses off, sou’westers on, September starts with a splash! By all accounts, it may cheer up this weekend but next week looks like the start of something different – Autumn. So, this could be the last barbecue weekend for a while, or this could be the weekend that you clean the barbecue in preparation for hibernation – imagine the delight when you open it up next April and it’s gleamingly clean rather than covered with white mould and dead snails… yep, I think we all know that’s not going to happen!
Anyway, welcome back, bienvenido, bienvenue, välkomna. Since you’ve been gone, we’ve welcomed two new businesses to the street and lost one too. The Felt bakery opened its doors in late July and seems to have quickly garnered local support. Not long after this opening we saw the closure of Wimbledon Tapas, which will be much missed. After many chaotic years under the previous management, they really seemed to be doing good business now, with the evening suntrap a popular destination. However, the apparent allure of life in Liverpool resulted in an upping of sticks but the good news is that they were immediately replaced by Bengal Bistro, adding some spice to our lives. Currently they are operating as a BYOB, so, you know, if you fancy a bit of Riesling with your samosa, perhaps we can help. Finally, whilst on a field trip to the Pig & Whistle, we noticed that A1 Cars has a new neighbour – Sakura Sushi House, which seems to have some lovely clean white tiles in the kitchen however, beyond that, we cannot comment.
Politicians are also back from their summer recess, at a canter, almost as if they never left. I mean, they are all off again for conference season at the end of next week, so they need to start fast. The Chancellor, having put us all through months of uncertainty last year between the election and her budget on 30 October, has decided to inflict similar misery upon us once again this year. The Budget will take place on 26th November, just in time to put a massive dampener on many people’s favourite time of year (no Alex, not the Ashes, the other thing). There is a whiff of sadism about this, keeping us all on tenterhooks whilst drip-feeding potential proposed measures and stimulating unease. For a guide, last year September and October were dreadful for business; no one was sure what was going to happen so were nervous to commit to long term plans and thus loathe to spend money in case they spent it in the wrong direction – not the best look for the party of business and growth. Fortunately for Keir and Rachel, Angela has charged in to hog the headlines and deflect from economy chat. Did she evade or did she avoid? Her finances appear far too complicated for 2 vintners to pick through because if the 3 ‘professionals’ she consulted couldn’t get it right what chance Wayne & Alex? Equally, if you can’t trust the pros, where do you turn?!
Over the water, it’s been a mixed week for the POTUS. The highlight for him must have been reading online that he was dead. He was able to confirm that, in actual fact, he wasn’t and thus proved to us all that a lot of things that you read on the internet and social media aren’t necessarily true – who knew! However, his joie de vivre was promptly chastened, as the aforementioned internet became flooded with photos of the Putin-Xi-Modi love-in; don’t they know he’s the most important man in the world? How dare Narendra laugh in the face of tariffs and cuddle up to Vlad, it’s almost as if they don’t take the POTUS seriously!
In other news, the bruises on Donald Trump’s hands definitely come from too much flesh pressing and glad handing and definitely not chronic venous insufficiency, FAKE NEWS, FAKE NEWS, FAKE NEWS!
Wayne has been watching cycling this week, which may not come as a surprise. He’s not been watching the Tour of Britain though, which is Geraint Thomas’s swansong ride, finishing in Cardiff on Sunday. The fact that this stage starts at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales could mean there isn’t a dry eye in the house and we can surely expect some pearls of wisdom from the great man at the finish line – buy some tissues. Alex has been watching the rugby world cup, even persuading his daughter to watch some of the Australia v USA match which was an absolute belter. Talking rugby, it looks like the red trouser/Quba jacket brigade will now be supping Nyetimber at the Twickenham Autumn internationals rather than Bollinger – we imagine the Sussex fizz producers must have come in with one hell of an offer to see off the mighty Champagne house – either way it’s quite a serious changing of the guard! Cricket is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment, however the golf will soon get exciting, as the Ryder Cup looms on the horizon and the captain’s picks have been finalised.
With our admin hats on, we can now confirm that we have 4 seats left at the table for our Wine & Cheese evening on Thursday 2nd October. If you fancy joining us, the evening starts at 7.30pm and costs £30 per person, payable in advance. On a different note, we’ll be opening later on Monday, as the wine tasting season has started again – over the next few weeks we’ll be finalising our wines for December festive fun, so do bear with us.
Speaking of tasting, what’s on show this weekend? A couple of easy drinkers from Italy to toast Giorgio sound good to us…
The white will be Zagare Vermentino 2024 – £10.99 from Sicily. We regularly get asked for wines from Italy’s Islands and Vermentino particularly. We’d been looking for one that put a bit of a smile on our faces for a while when we came across this one from the west coast of Sicily, named after the blossom of the lemon tree. Lightly floral on the nose, with crisp appley fruit and a lively citrus freshness in the glass that hints at lemon marmalade and has some nice weight and texture in the finish.
For the red, we’ll go a bit further north: Calappiano Chianti 2023 – £12.99. With a fascinating history, dating back to Medici Florence in the 1500’s, the Fattoria di Calappiano as we know it today is made up of 200 hectares of vines, planted alongside the olive groves and woodlands. We are huge fans of this wine; it is velvety smooth, yet light with some smoky earth aromas and plenty of black fruits on the palate. Perfect on its own, with a Bolognese, or just a pizza!
So, that’s it from us, check your diaries for the wine tasting and don’t come knocking too early on Monday!