The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

A scene that might strike a chord with a few of you…

You wake up in the half light of the morning, the bed is warm, the room is cold and there is damp in the air.  Whilst defrosting your contact lenses, you open the curtains and gaze out onto a blanket of fog – no mountains to be seen.  As the aromas of coffee creep up the stairs you descend into the kitchen and are greeted loudly by loud people who are far too awake for this time of the morning, but you crack on, drink your coffee, make some packed lunches, eat a banana and go to get dressed.  Warm.

As you step out of the front door at half eight, cold mist catching in your throat, you know one thing – it’s going to be a good day, the fogs will clear as the sun burns them off, the mountains will re-appear and the skiing will be glorious…

But you’re not in the Alps, you’re in Wimbledon Park and the only thing the fog is hiding is the cars on the other side of the street.  Get the kids dressed and fed, wrap the packed lunches and then out of the door at half eight – as the mist catches your throat, you know one thing – you’re going running in this, who’s stupid idea was it to do the marathon, the weather has to be better than this in April….

Loving the marathon training, loving the damp mornings, loving the lycra, loving it all – and to make matters worse it is apparently frowned upon to carry a hipflask of sloe gin when doing training runs!

Post-run warm down

Having had the virtues of winter running extolled so positively I expect you all to don your Saucony’s tomorrow, hit the pavements and cover some serious terrain.  Afterwards, once you’ve showered, spread a feeling of smug over all those who haven’t exercised yet, eaten a fry up and read the paper you will be in need of a final post-run warm down – the walk to the wine shop seems just the ticket.

When you get here we can offer you a refresher of Champagne Beaumet 2004 (£35.99) followed up by a taste of Domaine Patrick Miolane Puligny Montrachet 2011 (£31.99).

As we are concentrating on France this week we thought we would open the Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire 2010 (£11.99) and follow this up with, from Listrac-Medoc, Chateau Fourcas Dupré 2001 (£26.49).

Oh go on, as it’s Christmas and you’ve all been for a run, how about we open a sweetie too: that’ll be the ‘No-name’ Sauternes 2010 (£25.00) – delicious, unctuous, mouth-wateringly more-ish and definitely not made by the most famous sweet wine producers in the world…

Keep the spirits up

We mustn’t let Wayne finish off this bottle of King’s Ginger by himself, not after last time, so do please come in and try the spirits we have open.  Don’t think of it as depriving him, think of it as helping him with his training.

So swing on by this weekend, mince pies will be available, the current favourite by a long chalk were the ones made by one of our Aussie customers last week, but this week we are likely to be trying out Waitrose, or perhaps Sainsbury’s, or perhaps both – in which case we definitely need to go for that run then!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

According to absolutely everybody with a vested interest, we now have only 18 shopping days until Christmas – no vested interests here, just thought you’d like to know!

By an astonishing coincidence during this period we will be open six days a week, Monday through Saturday until 8pm.  To keep us out of the pub we will also be open on the two Sunday’s surrounding Christmas between 12 – 3 for some gentle shopping and chat, should you so desire.

(‘Hit them early with the sales pitch’ the instructor said, ‘then soften it with a self-deprecating anecdote…’)

So we are now three years old.  Tuesday was the momentous day, celebrated, somewhat bizarrely in my household, by a feast of Haggis, neeps and tatties.  Talisker 10 year old as the gravy – top notch.  However, I digress.  It became apparent quite soon after we sent last week’s email that our my train of thought can drift perpendicular to the norm and sometimes clarification is needed, so here is my official statement:

Last Friday, 29^th November I commented on some items that had appeared in the news at a particular time and related them to the opening of our shop on the cold Friday that was 3^rd December 2010.  All the news articles were from that day – if I knew the Thunderball numbers before the draw has been done I would be in a very different place right now!  I know we weren’t playing Ashes cricket last week and that Gavin Henson isn’t currently on Strictly….

As a result I apologise to everyone that was misled – I am a bad, bad man.   A touch disappointing though that the news has changed so little in 3 years that it all the headlines still seems plausible…

(‘Now focus them back onto the here and now…’ interjected the instructor as the whole email started to ramble off track)

THIS WEEKEND

December is brilliant.  We get to open bottles that for the rest of the year we gaze longingly at and all with the purpose of finding ‘that’ wine for Christmas day.  As with most of what we do here, we don’t have a definitive, one word solution – just a whole bucket full of great ideas for what to drink on December 25^th. 

One of my customers this week said it was almost treasonable not to drink a couple of bottles of Champagne whilst decorating the tree, another swore that his wait on Amazon was only made bearable by the presence of a bottle of claret, a third always stocks up on fancy spirits at this time of year since, for him, Christmas is all about cocktails.  We sent them all off into the night laden down with treats galore and now it’s your turn.

This weekend we’ll be tasting a little bit of Italy as we like Italy, just a little.

The white will be the ever popular Roberto Sarotto Gavi di Gavi Bric Sassi Della Maddalena 2012 – £12.99.  The Sarotto family has been making wine on this estate since the 1800’s but have only bottled their own wines since Roberto Sarotto graduated from winemaking school. The 50 year-old Cortese vines, grown at altitude in the Maddalena vineyard, deliver a crisp wine displaying ripe, rich white peach flavours, a stony minerality and a long fresh finish.  Delicious.

The red will be a new listing that we’ve had our eye on for a few months now: Antonio Vallana Gattinara 1998 – £33.99.  Excellent Nebbiolo from Piedmont does exist outside the words Barolo and Barbaresco and this one, with a decent number of years on the clock, has your name written all over it…

SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

Following on from a successful week out and about at a number of different schools I find myself surrounded by open bottles of spirits – just don’t ask.  Anyway here’s a quick list of what spirits we have right now, and what you can taste…

Bepi Tosolini Cividina Tipica Grappa £27.99       

Colazingari Sambuca Fina £22.99    

Saliza Amaretto Veneziano £25.99    

Limoncello £21.99            

Mamont Vodka £35.99 COME AND TASTE!

Zuidam Dutch Courage Dry Gin £33.99 COME AND TASTE!

Dodd’s Gin £37.50           

Cremorne Gentleman Badger’s Sloe Gin £24.49    

Doorly’s XO Barbados Rum £32.49  

Ardbeg Uigeadail £60.00         

Clynelish 1997 Coopers Choice Bottling £55.00    

Finlaggan Old Reserve Islay £29.99 COME AND TASTE!

Nikka from the Barrel £37.69  

Maxime Trijol VSOP Cognac Grande Champagne £48.00        

Chateau du Breuil VSOP Calvados £34.99  

Clos Martin Folle Blanche VSOP £34.59      

Romate Solera Reserva £21.49            

The King’s Ginger £22.99 COME AND TASTE!

Kingston Black Apple Aperitif £9.99 COME AND TASTE!

Angostura Aromatic Bitters £8.99    

Creme de Cassis Briottet 15% £13.99

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Here was the news:

·         Euromillions numbers: 8 19 28 32 46 – Star Balls 4 7 – no winners, €15,000,000 rollover…
·         Temperatures fall to -11C in parts of Somerset
·         Second Test in Adelaide, day 1:  Australia 245 (85.5 overs); England 1/0 (1 over).  England trail by 244 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
·         Bankia was formed as a result of the union of seven Spanish financial institutions, with major presence in their areas of influence
·         Megamind, Secretariat, Monsters – all released in UK cinemas (did we see these?)
·         Better Than Today by Kylie released (I know, me neither)

·         Some selected Mail online headlines:

Not bad for a 22-year-old: F1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Petra to buy £66m house

Jobless couple with six children demand bigger house (but say, ‘We’re not scroungers, honest!’)

Two to Tango-ed? Strictly’s fake tanned Gavin Henson and Katya Virshilas do after-hours quickstep to ITV movie party

Sixteen… or six? Justin Bieber draws on his face, plays with toys and throws a tantrum at restaurant

But whilst the world was going crazy in a flurry of Bieber-induced, non-lottery winning, freezing cold, divide-between-rich-and-poor emphasising, bad-movie-release mayhem, two brave souls were just about to turn the lights on in SW19…

… and they’ve being turning them back on most days for the past 3 years!  Yes indeed, next Tuesday, 3^rd December will be our third birthday.  If it was a wedding anniversary it would be our ‘leather’ one, but it’s not, so we won’t, much to everyone’s relief.

So yep, we’re still here – mind you so is Wine Rack – but we wouldn’t be if you hadn’t all kept on walking through our door, coming to our tastings, getting us to help out with your school events/weddings/balls/gallery openings and generally keeping us out of the house and usefully occupied six days a week.  So thank you, you know who you are!

However it’s not just the shop that is celebrating, Wayne also has a big birthday this year.  Not that sort of big birthday, it’s more to do with the fact that he’s had an awful lot of them already, the numbers are getting bigger and bigger and our insurance premium has rocketed to cover the potential fire damage from all the candles on his cake!

So a double celebration this weekend.  Let’s make it a triple – we’re seeing the start of Advent on Sunday and as a consequence the Christmas lights are being turned on at Christ the King at 4pm on Saturday – as if you needed another excuse to visit Arthur Road.

Drinking

Because by now we all need one.  To celebrate all these birthdays we will have Morton Blanc de Blanc 2002 Methode Traditionelle (£19.99) on pour, and once your tastebuds have been suitably tantalised we can then offer you a taste of Jean-Baptiste Ponsot Rully 1er Cru Montpalais 2011 (£22.49) one of our favourite white burgundies and Vieux Chateau Gaubert 2005, Graves, Bordeaux (£23.49) a cracking claret from a cracking vintage, and soon to be available in magnums in time for Christmas.

As it’s his birthday, Wayne will be manning the spirits stand, where we have the Dutch Courage Gin (£33.99), the Mamont Vodka (£35.99) and the Finlaggan Whisky (£29.99) all open for tasting and spirited debate.  Whilst you’re chatting ask him about the King’s Ginger, our new Cremorne Gentleman Badger’s Wild Blackthorn Sloe Gin and all the other exciting spirits we have on the shelves.

Should you feel the need for some non-liquid refreshment at this point, if you just look to your left, towards the sparkling wine and beside the Meerlust Rubicon stack you might just glimpse our newest arrival: Biltong!!!  Available in 150g bags, for £5.50 a bag, this is the genuine article, made by genuine South Africans – and it’s made just down the road!  Flavours are Peri-Peri or Original, with the latter being extremely popular with the wines at our Bordeaux tasting last week.

Free Mince Pies should also be available throughout as we continue our very scientific research into the best ones for Christmas Day, come and help!

We’ll leave it there for now – no need to talk about cricket, football match fixing or Tottenham’s return to mediocrity, this is a time for celebration not a time for recrimination!

Looking forward to sharing a glass of bubbles with you all over the weekend and, as Wayne is fond of saying:

Bottoms up!!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week we find ourselves talking in American accents, wondering why a bay is named after pigs (do they like to swim, surf, sunbathe or fish?). We find ourselves ruminating on a time before even Wayne was born – back in those days the world was mostly in black and white, Presidents drove around in convertible cars and nobody had yet thought of dub-step.

50 years ago today John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Numerous conspiracy theories abound and even as recently as this year 59% of American’s think there is more to it than meets the eye. Writers Aldous Huxley and CS Lewis share JFK’s day of demise but seem to have had less column inches devoted to them. Additionally, the second Beatles album, “With the Beatles”, came out in the UK.

We’ve been rooting out our best Pumpkin Pie recipes and feeling thankful. Thankful, because we’re not turkeys, thankful that we’re not taking a flight in the US, but mostly thankful that we remembered our sweater. Thursday is Thanksgiving and Americans everywhere will be full of turkey, using the remote to turn the game up and the kids down, and desperately trying to duck out of doing the dishes!

Tasting This Weekend – We will open a pair of Cambria’s, from California, in honour of the above events (well, maybe not the Beatles album).

Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2007 (£22.99) – “Bright yellow. Complex aromas of musky pear skin, lees, iodine and oak spice. Deep but lively, offering moderately sweet orchard fruit flavors and a strong lashing of brown spices. A zesty mineral quality lingers on the long, spicy finish.” 89 points, Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar

Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009 (£24.99) – “Another lovely Julia’s Pinot from Cambria, at a fair price. With its light tannins and transparency, it’s definitely Pinot Noir, and the acidity testifies to a cool climate. You might even pick out the Santa Maria Valley from the crushed Indian spices. Subtle but intriguing cherry, cola and plum flavors round out the picture. Drink now-2015.” 92 points, Wine Enthusiast

Wine School – Once the palaver of Christmas, New Year’s Eve and January are out of the way we find ourselves in February, ready to face the year ahead.  What better way to kick it all off than by learning a bit more about what’s in your wine glass in the convivial surroundings of your local wine shop? 

Ok so a sun-drenched vineyard would be better, but we can’t offer that yet.  In the meantime our ever popular 6 week course starts on Wednesday 5^th February at 8pm and concludes on Wednesday 19^th March.  Those of you with keen observation skills will have already realised that this period is in fact 7 weeks – we are taking a week off for half term (19^th February) whilst Alex goes and hones his beach volleyball skills in Dubai…

Wine School Wednesday 5^th February – Wednesday 19^th March £150 per person.  We await your call, more details attached.

Slice of History – Way back in the summer when the sun was shining and we were still in short trousers, we received an email containing Christmas gift ideas. We immediately poo-pooed the idea and got an ice-cream. Randomly we then went back to said email and replied to it, promptly forgetting all about it until yesterday.

We are now the proud owners of wooden boxed mini verticals of Meerlust Rubicon. For a mere £90 you can have one too!

Boy, are they lovely! Handcrafted wood boxes (dovetail joints, sliding lid, the whole caboodle!) containing a bottle each of:

Meerlust Rubicon 2004 “Concentrated and grippy, with dark, roasted plum, black licorice, charcoal, mesquite and bittersweet cocoa notes. Traditional in vein, with an iron- and earth-filled finish that should soften nicely with cellaring. (90 points)” Wine Spectator – James Molesworth – September 30, 2008

Meerlust Rubicon 2006 “Ripe and dense, but sleek and focused, with a lovely core of mulled black currant, warm fig paste and tobacco, laced with mouthwatering dark olive and iron notes that help the finish stretch out nicely. Has solid grip in reserve, too. (90 Points) ”  Wine Spectator – James Molesworth – November 15, 2010

Meerlust Rubicon 2007 “One of the best vintages of Rubicon to date, and for the price it’s a fantastic value that’s great for building up your cellar. Right now, the wine is still young and tight, with firm, gripping tannins that need some time to mellow. Fortunately, there’s a great concentrated black-fruit core and enough acidity alongside the tannins to support long-term aging. Spicy and earthy, with accents of black tea, cedar and crushed violets. 92 Points” Wine Enthusiast – Lauren Buzzeo – May 2012

That’s enough from us for this week, if you’re going out in an open top car, wear a vest!

Wayne & Alex

PS Cricket, what cricket?

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It has taken a few weeks but I have finally managed to wrestle The Weekly Wine from Alex. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the kind tips, words of encouragement, expressions of incredulity, and general support that you all expressed when Alex begged help to find me a spot in the London Marathon.

Thanks to your efforts and suggestions I’m in! I have secured a gold bond place with The Children’s Trust, who are Britain’s leading charity for children with brain injury. Training has started in earnest and we will give you regular updates on our progress, or not depending how interesting we can make it. Thus far we have both run a bit, my new trainers already have 350km on the clock and Alex is at the trainer shop this morning!

My wife has already decided that she has become a running widow! She was less keen on joining the Sunday runs, but any of you can join in the fun should you like, just get in touch and we’ll arrange some training runs in January!

Corporate Gifts

I know that Guy Fawkes is still warm, and there maybe a few pieces of Jalebi or Kaju Katli left over from Diwali, but time waits for no-one. This is an unapologetic seasonal sales pitch.

We received an order this week from a corporate client ordering some wine for their staff for Christmas. Now if that wasn’t you, but it was something you were thinking about, just think of this as a nudge. We can deliver locally for you, use couriers for further afield, we can even send a magnum! In the past we have gift packed Claret and Chablis, sent mixed cases to Essex, Kent and Northumberland, not to mention Cognac to Bermondsey!

Come in, tell us what you’d like and we’ll sort it out for you. Being earlier gives us more opportunity to help and more opportunity to order extra stock as required. We’re much less crowded than Fortnum & Mason, but possibly less good on the oysters for lunch afterwards!

Dinner Party?

We matched some wines to a dinner party menu for a client this week. We can do the same for you just bring us (or email) your menu and we’ll put together wines to partner your meal and even deliver them. Sadly Alex has declined all opportunities to do the dishes, but we’ll keep asking him! Why not start off with a glass of Ruinart?

Bordeaux Tasting

A big thanks to all who enjoyed our Bordeaux tasting last night, our chum Jeremy did us proud. All the wines were showing well, but I particularly enjoyed the Ch. Faizeau 05 Montagne St Emilion (£25.99) that has opened up a lot since last time I tried it.

Tasting This Weekend

Well following on from a successful Bordeaux tasting last night we thought we’d just bat on in the same vein. Chateau Fourcas Dupré 04, Listrac Medoc (£21.49) would be a good place to start. Some of you may remember Jane Macquitty gave it a rave review in The Times earlier in the year. We’ll also roll out Chateau Thieuley 2006, AC Bordeaux (£15.49). Then we’ll just spoil you with Chateau Cameron 2007, Sauternes (£11.49).

Have a great weekend all!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well, well, well – it seems we’re all going to get the sack.

Apparently the Alcohol Health Network is pushing for employers to be allowed to test their staff for ‘misuse of alcohol’ in order to decrease the amount of working days lost to hangovers and hospital visits.  A thoroughly laudable concept with the nation’s health put very much to the forefront and improved productivity as its goal.

However, we are clearly a touch biased but this proposal seems to be doomed from the outset.

The sticking point is the word ‘staff’.  When I used to work in Wine Bars it was never the secretaries or the post room workers that would be in for a glass of sherry at 10.30am or who would be ordering another bottle of wine at 3.30pm having been in for lunch at noon.  Nor was it the trainees who, when out with their boss, would be ordering rounds of Champagne for everyone, upon losing a game of spoof.  I’m in no way chastising these activities but if you want to drug test your staff it has to be lead from the front – and frankly I cannot see that happening.

Celebrate the completion of a deal with a pint of Champagne or a cup of Costa – what do you think!?

Plus the old adage that you’d rather get paid to have a hangover than wallow in your misery at home still holds true.  So nice idea, but for now (and here Wayne breathes a sigh of relief) we won’t be instituting any such policy chez PV!

THE CHECKLIST – DONE’S AND TO DO’S

·         Put the clocks back an hour – DONE

·         Paint children luminous green, send them out onto the streets to forage for sugar coated sustenance, carve pumpkins – DONE

·         Beat the Aussies at Twickenham in a scrappy mess of a game (but the score is what will be remembered!) – DONE

·         Profess outrage at the fact that Hugo Lloris was allowed to play on with concussion, whilst ignoring the fact that such things have been going on in American Football and Rugby for years – DONE

·         Wrap up warm, re-mortgage the house, pay to stand in a field for an hour, say ‘ooh!’ and ‘aah!’ repeatedly, reflect on why a hot dog is really called a hot dog, marvel at the value of dodgems for a fiver… – DONE

·         Look at flights to the sun for early January – DONE

·         Stow away shorts and suncream, defrost sweaters, gloves, scarves etc – DONE

TO DO

·         Remembrance Sunday

·         Buy last two tickets for Bordeaux Tasting

·         Thanksgiving

·         Christmas Lights turning on

·         Christmas

·         NYE

·         2013 – DONE

BORDEAUX TASTING THURSDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 8PM – £15 PER PERSON

As mentioned late last week we have had two places come free on our tasting next week with our pal Jeremy.  Keen interest has been shown but thus far no commitment.  To add a little extra incentive, here is a list of the wines that we will be tasting:

·         Glass of fizz to start with (Champagne rather than Cremant de Bordeaux methinks)

·         Château Thieuley Blanc 2012 – AC Bordeaux

·         Château Fourcas Dupré 2001 – Listrac-Médoc

·         Château Fourcas Dupré 2004 – Listrac-Médoc

·         Château Thieuley Rouge 2006 – AC Bordeaux

·         Château Lanessan 1996 – Haut-Médoc

·         Château Faizeau 2005 – Montagne-St-Émilion

·         Château Croix de Gay 2009 – Pomerol

·         Something sweet – TBC

Seems a bit of a no-brainer to me….

I’VE BEEN KILLING TIME…

… waiting for a delivery which is now here, hence the tardiness of this email.

This delivery contained some new listings which I wanted to tell you about, notably:

Dom Ruinart 2002, Dom Perignon 2004, Krug Grande Cuvée Half bottles, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Ruinart Rosé, Ruinart Brut, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Cheval des Andes 2008 and Numanthia 2009.

As they are new listings and we want everyone to give them a try, Ruinart’s Rose, Blanc de Blancs and Brut have had a meeting and have decided to sell themselves  for £5 less than their normal shelf price until Christmas for a single bottle (usual 6 for 5 deal applies for bulk).  Bless them.

All bottles are clambering onto the shelves as I write, so will be ready to greet you later on.

TASTING THIS WEEKEND

Greywacke Sauvignon 2013 (£16.99) has just arrived from NZ so we’ll open a bottle of that for everyone’s delectation, including our own since we’ve not tasted it yet!  Whilst we’re in the southern hemisphere, and perhaps sensible given the rugby fixture tomorrow, we’ll open Chakana Malbec 2013 (£10.89) from Mendoza, Argentina, a wine we have just re-listed and one that appears in this month’s Park Vintners Wine Club case.  Two wines from 2013, very exciting!

But whatever you do this weekend, particularly Sunday, please do take a moment to stop what you’re doing, charge your glass in remembrance and raise a toast to Absent Friends.

Camera fade to black.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As it’s half term, it’s a bit of a slow news week but here are four contrasting headlines that we saw in the trade press over the past few days:

World facing ‘deepest’ wine shortage in 40 years

‘Panic buying hits Arthur Road – barely a bottle left on the shelf’ admits puzzled wine shop owner Wayne Blomfield.

Not entirely true of course, but Morgan Stanley have reported that demand exceeded supply by a mere 300 million cases in 2012 and that, coupled with the smaller 2012 and 2013 vintages, could result in a bit of a supply issue.  More of us are drinking wine, less is available, prices will go up.

Hopefully this might see the demise of some of the bottom shelf, industrial producers – oh hang on, no such luck…

Yellow Tail celebrates one billion bottles

All you need to know about these wines:

·         The sweetened-up, Kangaroo labelled, jammy disgrace targeted at the Coca-Cola generation has produced its billionth bottle – made even more shocking by the fact the brand was only first produced in 2001

·         That’s at least 5 billion glasses of plonk

·         It retails at around $5 in the US

·         They have also created a $100 bottle to try and drag the brand out of the gutter – ??

·         Could any of this publicity puff be related to the hard fact that Casella Wines, the owners of Yellow Tail, this year posted a financial loss for the first time, suggesting consumers could be trading up or switching to other brands/rivals

·         Still not quite enough of a shortage of some wines it would seem…

Barrel of ‘Brangelina’ wine sells for €10k

Admittedly the money went to charity, but really, 10,000 euros?

Firefighters free puppy from wine rack

The shop over the road is likely to be re-inventing itself as a hair salon in the very near future, and when the staff heard their jobs were at risk they resorted to some extreme, hostage taking measures. 

However, once 999 had been called, the intervention of some brave fire-fighters ensured that the 10 week old Labrador puppy was released unharmed and the staff arrested.  Maybe.

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/10/firefighters-free-puppy-from-a-wine-rack/?article-source=newsletter&source=715&date=2013-10-30

Marathon update

He’s in.

We were truly overwhelmed by all the helpful suggestions we received for getting Wayne a place in the marathon.  Suffice to say he got on the blower straight away to all the relevant parties and eventually secured himself a number plus a hefty fundraising target. 

He’s happy to do anything to raise money as long as it’s mostly legal and he will still be able to run afterwards!

This weekend

We’ll both be here – the first time for a couple of weekends – and hopefully you’ll be here to, stocking up before all the wine runs out.  We’ll have bottles open – one old favourite and one new boy – both of whom have travelled from South Africa.

Barton Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2012 £9.79 from Walker Bay is silky smooth with apple and pear aromas, more pear and hints of citrus on the palate and a zingy, crisp finish.

Laibach Pinotage 2012 £15.69 from Stellenbosch is a bit of a rarity for us – a Pinotage that Wayne actually quite enjoys.  Not nearly as smoky/burnt-rubber/earthy as some can be, far more red fruit and, dare I say it, elegance – trust me, you should try it.

A.O.B

Still a couple of seats left at the table for our Sparkling and Champagne evening on Wednesday 27^th November – when I say a couple, I mean three but you get the gist – £25 per seat, cash is king.

It seems to be all about Aussie in sport at the moment – the Ashes is slowly creaking into life, we’re hosting them at Twickenham tomorrow and we’ve got the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 5^th November – should go off with a bang!

Anyway, hopefully see you all over the weekend to discuss strategy for dealing with this upcoming shortage!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So there’s been controversy in Germany as the USA has allegedly been spying on Mrs Merkel. Call me old fashioned but I grew up expecting that kind of thing to be happening in Berlin. Does nobody read John Le Carré anymore?

We’ve been up to our eyeballs in tastings these last few weeks and this week saw us finish term in our Wine School, next term starts late January, watch this space!

We also had a lovely group in for our Spanish Cheese & Wine Tasting. We chomped on fine cheeses from around Spain, partnered them with an eclectic selection of wines (also from Spain), pondered on the merits of wine, cheese and the universe and generally had a good time.

Forthcoming Tastings

We still some space left on the Champagne & Sparkling Tasting 27^th November 8pm at £25 per person.

Two places left on the Bordeaux Tasting with Jeremy which is the 14^th November at 8pm priced at £15 per person.

Christening…

I’m really not sure why I thought of this but should you be on the cusp (or indeed have been in St James’ this week) of becoming a godparent we have just the thing for you!

2011 Warre’s Vintage Port – £62 – “Sweet, warm and mellow, with fresh pure blackberry and black cherry fruit, yet fresh with amazing purity, concentration and depth. Seductive and compelling. Score: 94–96/100” Jamie Goode, wineanorak.com

Tasting This Weekend

As you may have gleaned from the intro we’re all about Spain this week. Alex has had chick peas for lunch, Wayne’s had chorizo with his scrambled eggs, and you folk are having Campos de Celtas 2011 Albariño (£12.99) in your white glass, Mentoste Rioja Reserva 2001 (£13.99) in your red glass, and for good measure we’ll open a sherry in the form of El Maestro Sierra’s Oloroso (£9.99 37.5cl) which is from a 15 year old Solera system.

A plea from Alex on behalf of Wayne…

Being consummately unprofessional as you know by now, we are adding a personal request into what should be a work email.  Sorry in advance, but hopefully one of you might be able to help.

We’re running the London Marathon next year.  Clearly the plea should be along the lines of ‘please take us out and shoot us now!’, but it’s not.

Alex has a place already, so is definitely running next April.  Wayne however, in spite of the fact that he has applied regularly over the years, currently has no place.  He hoped to run for the Stroke Association but they let him down earlier this week.  Another charity close to his mum in Essex also was unable to give him a place.

Right now he is happy to run and raise money for anyone who will have him since he is very keen to run next year because:

a)     He wants to do it whilst he believes he can still run that far

b)     He wants to do it before he’s old enough to be specially interviewed as ‘a plucky pensioner

c)      He wants to beat Alex, in public, on TV

d)     Once it’s done he doesn’t have to do it again so he can return to falling off his bike into puddles!

So if anyone has a pet charity, works for a charity, has a place they don’t want to use, has any sensible suggestions as to how he might get in then that would be really helpful and he will love you forever, or not if that’s what you’d prefer…

Frankly, the last thing either of us want to do is dress up as a pantomime horse and pretend to be just one runner, so please help us!!

Anyway I’ve taken up enough of your time now, please join us this evening or tomorrow for a scoop of wine and sherry, some Catalan almonds and some delicious habas fritas.

¡Adios y hasta mañana!

Juan y Alejandro

Fellow Wine Lovers,

First a word from Roy:

I would like to apologise if any offence has been caused by what I said at half-time.

There was absolutely no intention on my part to say anything inappropriate. I made this clear straight away to the ball in the dressing room.

I also spoke to the ball again on Wednesday.  Mr Ball has assured me and the FA (Football Association) he did not take any offence, and understood the point I was making in the manner I intended.

When I said that we should try and kick the ball, head the ball, strike it into the back of the net, put it in the corner, run off it, run with it, lob it, throw it, block it, stick it in the corner, attack it, possess it and take every opportunity to have a free kick I was speaking recklessly and without thought to the consequences of my words, the effect they could have on impressionable youngsters, or the possible long term effect they might have on Mr Ball and his family.

However, thanks to the tenacity of one of the people present at the team talk and the vigilance of the press, I now realise that my language was archaic, the remnant of a bygone era and to talk of Mr Ball in such language has no place in the modern game.

I apologise, will be seeking counselling for my behaviour and will endeavour to improve my repertoire of jokes.

Muppetry.

Banyuls

How did it get this close to Saturday before we realised it was Chocolate Week?  Could it be because…

·         Alex doesn’t eat Chocolate

·         Wayne only ever reads ‘proper’ news

·         our wives intake of the aforementioned product doesn’t seem to have spiked sufficiently for us to notice

Anyway, for all of you with fingers more on the pulse than us – who normally remain oblivious of its existence until it’s going at 160bpm, here is our absolute best recommendation for chocolate and wine:

Banyuls Rimage Clos de Paulilles 2011 (£13.99), made from Grenache Noir with a touch of Carignan, right down where France turns into Spain, this is a rare, red, fortified wine packed with ripe, red fruit spice, hints of mocha and nuts. The red fruit flavours of raspberries and plums marry beautifully with a chunk of bitter dark chocolate or perhaps even a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup!  Alex prefers it with a cup of strong black coffee if that seems more appealing…

Tastings

Here is a status update for those of you still flicking through you diaries:

Wine & Cheese Tasting (Spain) – Thursday 24^th October – 8pm – £15 each – SOLD OUT

Bordeaux Tasting – Thursday 14^th November – 8pm – £15 each – 3 spaces left

Sparkling Wine & Champagne Tasting – Wednesday 27^th November – 8pm – £25 each – 6 spaces left

Wine & Cheese Tasting (Christmas) – Thursday 28^th November – 8pm – £15 each – SOLD OUT

Sparkling Wine & Champagne Tasting – Thursday 5^th December – 8pm – £25 each – SOLD OUT

Le Weekend

Another week done, time for a drink. 

We’ve been slumbering all week whilst you’ve all been hard at it, noses to the grindstone etc and now it’s time for us to stand up, stretch our legs and offer you some assistance.  Would you perhaps like a taste of wine whilst you peruse the shelves?  This week we have open a red and a white from the Pays d’Oc region of France – Bergerie de la Bastide (£7.89)

The white is Vermentino (30%) with the balance made up of Grenache Blanc, Sauvignon and Ugni Blanc.  Dried herbs, white flowers, fennel, juniper, green olives and a nice tang of citrus all make an appearance here, the citric finish tying it all in beautifully.

The red is a typical blend of the region – 40% Grenache Noir, 30% Cinsault and 30% Merlot. Cranberries, redcurrants and red cherries all make an appearance here but the fruit is reassuringly light, clean and fresh on the palate.  In France you’d drink 3 tumblers of this over lunch!

So here’s the plan – finish work, come and see us, taste wine, go home.  Saturday, buy chocolate at de Rosier, come and see us, taste wine, go home.  Sunday, well I suggest we chill on Sunday…

At soon or, as they say in France, à bientôt!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It’s been a whirlwind folks.

There’s the whirlwind of wine-tastings that have seen us up late on several consecutive evenings.

The whirlwind of cold air that brought sweaters out of wardrobes and blew our a-board over.

The whirlwind of press coverage & regulation, Nobel prizes, kidnapped Prime Ministers and Bridget Jones.

We’re here to tell tales of wine, not wind…

Wine News

We’ve spoken here several times about the difficult vintage being experienced across France, hail, late harvest etc. We have also spoken with several of you about this idea of importing grapes and making wine in SW6.

Well this week news reaches us that the chaps in SW6 have had to change some of their plans because the contracted grapes are not ripening. Plans for Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux have become plans for Barbera from Piemonte.

What we still don’t understand is why you have to ship the grapes to SW6; surely moving the winemaker those 1500km is easier from a quality control point of view?

We filled a few gaps at the posher end of Italy this week. From Alto Adige we have Cantina Terlan’s flagship white in Nova Domus 2011 (£36.99). We’ve been fans of Cantina Terlan for a long while and frankly can’t explain why it’s taken us this long to list one.

Then slip along the shelf to Veneto and check out Amarone Della Valpollicella Classico Le Salette 2009 (£34.99). Some of you know that I have form for Amarone, so it’ll come as no surprise to discover I made a beeline for this at a recent tasting. A real velvet glove of a wine, I’m currently examining various Heath Robinson solutions to smuggle some home without Mrs Wayne noticing!

Finally, just to tickle your cockles we bought a new sweetie. We’d been chatting about it with our chum Mark for a while, but just hadn’t managed to taste it till two weeks ago. Oh-My-Word…Tschida Sämling Trockenbeerenauslese 2007 (£40 37.5cl) is a mouthful in more than just name. Rich concentrated fruit, floral aromas, a lush persistent sweetness kept perfectly in line with crisp, pure acidity, bringing elegance and a finish that lasted for most of the tube journey back from Westminster. I, for one, can see why Hans Tschida has been name International Wine Challenge’s “Sweet Winemaker of the Year” for the last 4 years in a row.

Windmill Market

Alex will be manning our stall from 10-2pm at St Marks Church Hall for this year’s last Windmill Market. Stop by and say hi if you’re there, I’m sure he’ll offer you a taste of something!

New Champagne & Sparkling Tasting Date

Our Champagne & Sparkling tasting sold out very quickly, and several of you have asked if we’ll do another date. Having examined the diary 8pm on Wednesday 27^th November looks like a goer. Again it’ll be £25 per head so let us know if you’d like to attend.

Tasting this weekend

All this talk of new wine has got me going, we’ll taste a couple of newbies starting with Mezzogiorno Fiano 2012 (£8.69) a cracking mid-weight white from Puglia with nutty and limey citrus notes. Standing in the red corner will be Chateau Durandeau 2006 (£9.99) a lovely rounded Merlot dominant claret .

…and finally

We’ll be closing at 7.30 this evening as we’ll be conducting private off-site tasting, apologies.