The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Some dates for your diary, past and future:

Sunday 31^st March – BST begins

Monday 1^st April – April Fool’s Day, all japes to be finished by midday (weather, take note)

Wednesday 10^th April – English Cricket Season starts (weather, as above)

Saturday 6^th April – Grand National, Colbert Station E/W

Monday 15^th April – schools go back, life returns to normal

Thursday 25^th April – Wine and Cheese Tasting, 8pm, 4 places left…

Wednesday 1^st May – 6 Week Wine Course commences, 8pm, spaces still available

Wednesday 4^th April 2012 – temp in London – 11c – fine

Monday 4^th April 2011 – temp in London – 12c – fine

Sunday 4^th April 2010 – temp in London –9c – chillier

Yesterday – 4c…

I think you all get the theme of this email.  It’s been snowing too much recently, it’s been too damn windy and frankly our small oil-fired radiator is having to work too hard.  If it wasn’t our own business we would take industrial action against our inhumane working conditions.  The Bordeaux we had on tasting last week became a study in tannins as the shop chilled down whilst the Eiswein was standing there in his shorts and flip-flops wandering what all the fuss was about.  Oh and I may well have started hallucinating…

In my list of dates above you may have noticed mention of the Wine School.  What with one thing and another we have failed to promote this as actively and incessantly as we usually do which is probably a relief in some ways but does mean that we have plenty of space left.

The 6 week adventure starts at 8pm on Wednesday 1^st May and continues on the 8^th, 15^th and 22^nd of the month.  We then take a week off for half term, and re-convene for the last two sessions that will take place on 5^th and 12^th June.

It’s a great experience, we limit the group to a maximum of 10, we taste about 60 wines over the duration of the course, we cover whites, reds, fizz, a bit of rose, a bit of sweet wine and some faulty wines.  We practice some blind tasting, we introduce you to the Noble Grape Varieties and a few less renowned, we feed you water biscuits and, if you’re lucky, breadsticks.

So for two hours each Wednesday you can escape the world and pretend that life is all about sensory pleasure and delicious wine.  All this for £150, who could ask for more?

Booking is easy – phone us (020 8944 5224), email us, pop by and sign up whilst tasting today’s tasting wines – all these methods work.  So join up today for a wine filled May! (sorry)

If you fancy a bit of a warm up prior to joining the course then for just £15 you can book a slot on our Cheese and Wine evening on Thursday 25^th April, 8pm.  Always popular, always well run, never chaotic – if you don’t believe me come and see for yourself!

Tasting this weekend

Wayne has been busy foraging around the Iberian Peninsula, but not in the bit that speaks Spanish but in the other bit that we have been trying to keep to ourselves.  Portugal has fantastic and beautifully approachable wines that suffer in the UK market purely because the grapes are hard to pronounce and for many years Mateus Rose was their most famous export.  Then Cliff Richard started making wine there, just outside Albufeira, which hardly enhanced its reputation, allegedly.

But now Wayne has been on the case and this weekend we will enjoy some of the fruits of his labours; I know little of these wines, so I’ll hand you over to our expert:

We’ll start off in the white corner with… Luis Pato Maria Gomes 2012, Bairrada, Portugal 12% – £11.19 Luis Pato is one of the wine trade’s treasures, outspoken, experimental and very talented. 2012 marked his 30^th vintage at the reins and he shows no signs of slowing down, having just made his first red wine from white grapes (don’t ask!). This wine is a fine example of his work, wonderfully fresh and aromatic in its grapey nose, then with a broad, smooth texture in the mouth with melony flavours and a beautifully pure finish.

Then we head off to the Alentejano region for a spot of red. This area is a hot bed of experimentation and they plant more well-known varieties as well as the unpronounceable ones. Our selection here is Ciconia, Alentejo, Portugal 13.5% £9.99 – which is a kind of stork that settles on the plains here. No stork in the wine though, it’s a blend of Touriga Nacional, Syrah and Aragonez. What does it taste like? Why not come in and try for yourself, we might even use your tasting note!

So that just about rounds it off for this week save for a few final observations.  We’ve just been reminded by one of you that Wales beat England in the Six Nations and why hadn’t we mentioned it in our email.  Now we have.

Apparently the Brits and Russians drink the most when flying – fairly sure David Boon might have something to say about that.  As would the chap who managed 4 quarter bottles of Champagne on the flight to Amsterdam.  As would Mike Tindall.  Oh hang about, the last two are English – point taken.

Jobs for the weekend: taste Portuguese wines, sign up for Wine Course, watch the Grand National.

Over and out.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

How…

• Much longer is this brilliant weather going to go on for?  I played golf last Sunday in the snow, the equivalent event last year was in shorts.
• On earth did we manage to draw the Test in New Zealand?
• Much longer are we going to bother having a national football team?
• Did Lewis Hamilton explain stopping in his old team’s pitstop to the people upstairs at Mercedes?
• Much good does David Milliband’s departure to New York do for the overall perception of the Labour party?
• Will they keep the pasties warm at Lower Sticker’s Annual Cornish Pasty competition (-6.7c today)?
• Much chocolate can two children eat on Sunday?  More than their mother?
• Many of you are still in the office?

Well now, it’s the longest free holiday of the year, ‘Evacuate London 2013’ is in full swing and we are on hand to fill your boots with fine wines to take the edge off the tailbacks and the tantrums that come as part of this exodus.  We will even have some wine open too, for the non-drivers.

For those of you not departing, here are our Easter opening hours:

Maundy Thursday       11am – 8pm

Good Friday                    11am – 3pm

Easter Saturday            10am – 8pm

Easter Sunday                CLOSED

Easter Monday               CLOSED

Tuesday                             Back to Normal, or as close as we ever manage…

So for those of you who are feeling thirsty, we will be opening the following:

Wairau River Pinot Gris 2010, Marlborough, New Zealand £14.99 – the nature of doing what we do often results in text messages from friends in various states of decay saying ‘do you sell so-and so?’, ‘this wine list is impenetrable, here’s a photo, tell me what to buy?’, ‘my mate works at this vineyard and reckons the wines are awesome’… This Pinot Gris falls into the last category.   I, in fact, have met the ‘mate’ in question, at an 18^th birthday party, in a pub, 20 odd years ago – not sure whether this is the best basis for buying the wine, but I digress.  We’ve all changed over the years and I now work in a small wine shop in Wimbledon, he is the Ops manager at a top Kiwi estate, and I now sell his wine.

And it is awesome.  A beautiful, ripe apple and blossom nose, a similar palate with a bit more weight and luscious fruit all capped off by an elegant, long finish.  As they say on the label ‘best savoured with spontaneity and deep belly laughs.’  Can’t remember the last time I read that on a French wine label.

‘Nez intense, arômes de fruits rouges, fine note boisée.  Bouche ronde et fruitée, finale persistente’  is in fact what it says on the next wine – Chateau La Rose du Pin 2009, Bordeaux, France £11.99 – bit of a treat for Wayne and I really this, 2009 Bordeaux, soft and approachable Merlot dominant blend, trust me, you won’t like it.

Speaking of things you won’t like, Hiedler Weissburgunder Eiswein 2007 , Kamptal, Austria £29.99 should probably be perched top of that list.  This doesn’t have a nose of tropical ripeness, the mouth is certainly not flooded with lush, beautifully rich, sweet fruits nor does it have any crisp clean acidity to finish it off.  Lousy, don’t bother.

Come and see us, taste some wine, discuss Easter eggs – it’s what we’re here for.

Happy holidays!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So it turns out budget day is a lot like Red Nose Day only without the jokes, charity, or record breaking sums.

Scientists at Duke University in North Carolina have discovered “that for women, poor sleep is strongly associated with high levels of psychological distress, and greater feelings of hostility, depression and anger. In contrast, these feelings were not associated with the same degree of sleep disruption in men.” So gentlemen, that breakfast in bed on a Saturday morning could tactically be a good idea…just saying…

Poor old Alex is beside himself with the sad news that Girls Aloud are calling it a day after all these years.

Finally, on a slightly more obscure tack, news reaches us that Jedi Knights could soon be making Scotland ‘their intergalactic wedding hub’ . 

On the subject of weddings…

You’ve found a venue, started going to church intensively, invited a hundred fans, found a caterer who is not going to charge you more than Gordon does at Royal Hospital Road, agreed on a honeymoon that combines beach and culture (and a golf course?), got a wedding list at John Lewis, booked the fancy car, ordered button-holes, maybe even tried on a dress or two… but have you sorted out the drinks? 

And this is where we become your best chums ever.

A bit of email tennis confirming food choices, number of guests, pet hates etc and suddenly you are  standing in our shop living the adult version of ‘kiddie in a sweet shop’.  We pick out a couple of bottles of bubbly, two or three whites, a similar number of reds, and perhaps even a couple of sweet wines and you know what, let’s open them up and try them all!!   Genius, we should get married more often!?!

So if you are getting married, or you know someone who is, then come and talk to us and see if we can help.  Between us over the years, we have supplied the wine for dozens of weddings, so have a very clear idea of how the whole thing works – and you get a fab tasting to boot!

Tasting this weekend

This weekend we thought we’d start in the white corner with a wine from Germany. Riesling Trocken Reichsrat Von Buhl £14.99 is not one of your lederhosen wearing confected Liebfrau things that give us all the horrors. This is a grown up dry Riesling from Pfalz, where the Riesling has a little more weight, giving us a lively fleshiness to the palate.

In the red corner we’re going with Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon £11.99 a classic Californian Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. A medium-bodied with silky tannins and cinnamon tinged bramble fruit, but don’t take my word for it, taste it for yourself.

So there we have it, two wines for after the kids have been put to bed and the grown-ups can have a drink. Perfect for the “after eight thirty” club.

Nice weekend all,

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

 News

It’s been quite a week hasn’t it? Tough for Argentina, democratically losing the Falklands and your Archbishop in the same week has to be tough! On the bright side they gained a Pope so I guess that’s chalices of Malbec all round.

Sports

The cricket didn’t end as badly as feared and this week’s test has certainly got off to an interesting start. Arsenal demonstrated the perils of only showing up for the second half whilst Barcelona showed how to do it properly.

Horse Meet

Did anyone notice last week’s tip for the first race at Cheltenham (Champagne Fever) romped home at 5/1? We’re looking at Long Run in the Gold Cup if anybody is interested. Having written this last night we’ve now heard the Today show on Radio 4 tip it, so are a little less confident than we might have been. Go with your first instinct though!

Jokes

Red Nose Day all over your TV this evening so we’ll leave it to the experts.

 The Man Who Would Be King

A happy 80^th birthday to Michael Caine for yesterday, who once said “I am in so many movies that are on TV at 2:00 a.m. that people think I am dead.”

 Cheese

Next cheese and wine evening is Thursday 25^th April at 8pm with still a few places left come along and join the fun.

Wine School

We finished this term on Wednesday evening with a stunning selection of champagne and sparkling. The next term starts Wednesday May 1st and costs £150. If you would like to broaden your mind and palate buy tasting 60+ wines then sign up.

Californian Wine

A few of you have been asking us about Californian wine lately so we’ve been looking into it a bit more. Wayne was lucky enough to meet Russ Weis, General Manager at Silverado vineyards this week.

Silverado are situated, funnily enough, on the Silverado Trail directly across the road from Shafer Vineyards. Silverado were one of the first farms to plant Cabernet Sauvignon in the Stags Leap District, which is now synonymous with great quality Cabernet Sauvignon. Having tasted a few vintages on Tuesday it’s easy to see why, rich and elegant at the same time, the wine is a real treat.

As we write we are waiting for our delivery of 2008 Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon – £36.99, hopefully by the time you read this the man with the van will have been.

Wines this weekend

It being St. Patricks Day and all we thought we’d taste Martin Codax Albarino – £12.99 which clearly isn’t Guinness but is from Galicia, a part of Spain that has very strong Gaelic connections. Staying with Spanish thing we’ll go with El Bon Homme – £10.99 which is from Valencia with less of a Gaelic connection. That said we think St Patrick was probably a good bloke.

Early Close

This Friday and next we’ll be conducting tastings away from the shop so will close early at 7.30 pm. Now we know most of you have been through by then and are already tucking in but thought wise to let you know.

If you’d like us to conduct a tasting at your house you’ve just got to ask!

That’s it from us we’re going for a Long Run!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Guess what – food is bad for you again.  Even more disappointing is the fact that it’s not lentils and celery that are the culprits but beloved bacon, sausages and ham.  Not quite sure where this leaves the Italians though.

Venison

But if we’re not going to eat bacon butties anymore how about we start working through our mountain of muntjac?  Apparently we need to halve the deer population if we are to avoid the ugly prospect of Bambi fighting with Fantastic Mr Fox over the contents of your dustbin and the best solution is to eat the blighters.  This year a whole new culinary adventure has begun for us all with venison burgers and horse bacon – next up Hot Dogs and Kit Kats?

Beetroot

Berlusconi gets jail time and probably won’t even spend a night behind bars, our preparation for this summer’s Ashes continues as expected, Man U and their beetroot-hued manager exit Europe, and Wayne informs me that Justin Bieber managed to alienate his entire cashflow earlier this week by turning up to his concert 2 hours late, at which point all of his fans had to go to bed.  If you want more detailed coverage of the concert, please email Wayne directly…

Last week we celebrated being Welsh and I think that anyone who tasted the Cambria Chardonnay on Saturday will acknowledge that this Welsh named wine from California knocks a lot of Burgundy straight into touch.

Roast Potatoes

Continuing with weekly celebrations, this Sunday sees the annual ‘cook Mum lunch and buy her flowers’ event – Mothering Sunday. 

Now, we can’t recommend one wine more than another to celebrate Mum being marvellous but historically something with bubbles in always puts a smile on the old girls boat race.  With this in mind we will be opening Mayerling Cremant D’Alsace Rose Brut NV £15.49 this weekend.  Pale salmon in colour with lovely fresh, bright strawberry and cream soda character on the nose and on the palate we have the same fruit balanced by a beautifully clean and fresh finish.  If you feed Mum enough of this she might not notice the burnt roasties and soggy broccoli!

Alongside the fizziness we will be opening some samples we have been sent and asking you to help us make buying decisions – we have four wines from Rioja, one from Argentina and two from South Africa.  To prove that this process works, those of you that savoured the Argentine samples 2 weeks ago will be pleased to see that four of the six wines we tasted are already happily ensconced on our shelves.  Perhaps it may not look like it, but we do listen to you and value the feedback.

Wine

It’s the start of a new month which means that the March Wine Club cases have been selected and are ready to be delivered.  If you’re wondering what we’re talking about imagine a mixed case of 6 bottles costing you just £50 delivered to your front door by our smiling couriers.  Each month is a different selection, they come with tasting notes and food recommendations and seem to be extremely popular.  There is no tie in, if you would like it you pay for it and we deliver, if you don’t fancy it one month then we ignore the pay and deliver bit and wait until the next month. 

We also do a six bottle selection for £100 if you feel like something a little fancier.

Both selections are attached, drop us a line if you’re interested in signing up.

So that’ll be us for this week, we’ve got Champagne Fever in the 1.30 on Tuesday at Cheltenham for obvious reasons – any further tips gladly received!

Careful what you eat.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

I’ve never said this before but what a victorious week it’s been to be Welsh!

In the rugby, we (because we’re all Welsh today) thumped the Italians in their own backyard 26-9.

In football, the Swans crossed the border and trounced the extremely dangerous Bradford in the League Cup Final 5-0. 

Yesterday David Brailsford, honorary Welshman, fluent welsh speaker and the man behind all of Britain’s cycling success, became Sir Dave.

And today, we round it off by celebrating St. David’s Day, anniversary of his famous victory over the nine foot nutter, Goliath.  Okay not strictly true, but when you learn that St David (thank you Wiki) lived his life according to the following, you do start to wish that perhaps there was a little more stone-slinging about him:

The Monastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plough themselves without draught animals, must drink only water and eat only bread with salt and herbs, and spend the evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: even to say “my book” was considered an offence. He lived a simple life and practised asceticism, teaching his followers to refrain from eating meat and drinking beer.

Beer is verboten, but clearly wine is fine in his eyes, so if you want to have something today to go with your leek and daffodil pie then might I suggest Cambria ‘Katherine’s Vineyard’ Chardonnay 2007 (£22.99) or Cambria ‘Julia’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir 2009 (£24.99).  Both come from Santa Maria Valley which is in Santa Barbara, California, both are extremely fine examples of top notch wine production and, of course most importantly, both are called Cambria.

Georgian Wines

Moving away from the valleys, many thanks to all of your who put your palates to the test with the two Georgian wines last weekend – for those of you that didn’t make it down you really don’t know what you missed out on.   Really.  However, despite all the helpful feedback, I have decided that we won’t be listing either of the wines now, or at any time in the foreseeable future.  I know, disappointing….

This weekend

There’s an old, and frankly little used, wine trade adage that states ‘Whilst Wayne is away, Alex will always put a posh bottle on tasting’.  In honour of such a tradition, and indeed to honour the valley dwellers, I shall be opening the Cambria Chardonnay this weekend.  To complement it on the red side, I will open the Espiritu de Argentina Shiraz 2011 (£9.99) that hails from Mendoza, Argentina (another country with welsh influences).  Argentina is commonly associated with Malbec so I thought a Shiraz would make a nice change, and, if we ignore the fact that we had some Argentine samples open last weekend, we haven’t formally tasted anything from here for almost a year!

Birthday

As you are all no doubt aware, it is my daughter’s birthday today.  You must be aware because it seems that every conversation for the last week has revolved around this, every person she has seen has been reminded and heavily laden hints have been dropped regarding preferred gifts.  Being are resilient/bad father I have failed to provide her with

a)      A present

b)      A party

c)       Any excuse

The trouble is she doesn’t drink wine and I don’t sell birthday cards, but do rest assured she will get everything she deserves!

So if you happen to bump into a little girl with an ‘I am 7’ badge on in the Pig & Whistle tonight, do me a favour – buy her a pint or better still, a hamster!

That’s all from me, Iechyd da – as my mate Morgan would say, look forward to seeing you all for a drop of Cambria Chardy.

Alex (& away Wayne)

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Step aside Ms Harry, sit down Sharkey, Peel – there’s a new game in town…

So, fresh back from a late night out carousing in the West End with newly crowned global legends One Direction, Wayne was barely able to contain his enthusiasm for their new medley arrangement of ‘One Way or Another’ and ‘Teenage Kicks’: 

Alex, you have to realise that all the raw power and energy that the Undertones and Blondie brought to their performances has been smoothed off and replaced with a lovely, squeaky clean feel, overladen with saccharine smiles and tightly choreographed dance routines…

Elsewhere, it’s not been the best week:  the voice of Roobarb and the housewives favourite Richard Briers passed on; the Pistorius case seems to be getting darker and foggier with each passing day; Arsenal continue their rich vein of form; Parisse being banned cannot bode well for Italy; and it’s still pigging cold!

However let’s try and focus on the positives: if you’re planning on flying to Madeira this weekend then the daily temperatures seem to be between 16 -18 degrees Celsius; the days are getting longer; it’s nearly March; there’s going to be a variety of wine open for tasting this weekend…

Wines we already stock:

It’s been absolutely ages since we tasted a Riesling so we thought we’d stick the Cave de Hunawihr Reserve 2011 (£12.99) on the table this weekend.  Nicely aromatic, with classic notes of lime and grapefruit interwoven with floral, jasmine character and perhaps a hint of kerosene too?  Dry, medium bodied, lively, zesty and very versatile – if it was human it would be the life and soul of the party yet as a wine, it often remains a wallflower.

It’s been absolutely ages since we tasted a Carmenère, so we thought we’d continue the theme of welcoming back old friends.  De Martino Reserva ‘Legado’ 2010 (£12.49) is the choice here – rich plum fruit, a bit of tannic structure and a good length finish riddled with spice and warmth.  If it was human… oh stop it…

Wines we don’t stock, but are thinking about stocking and thought a few of you might be interested in trying them before we buy them so that you can then give us appropriate feedback:

The thing is we need help.  Our knowledge of Georgian wine is at best patchy and full of holes (no comparisons with the Arsenal defence necessary here Alex) but we thought perhaps if we all tried them together we might come to some sort of group decision.

Georgia has been cultivating grapes since BC 6000 and as such is considered by many to be the birthplace and cradle of wine production, and we have a white and a red to show you.

The white is called Iago’s Wine Chardakhi 2009 (£16 ish) and is made from the local variety – Chinuri.  The wine is both fermented and aged in traditional amphora (Kvevri) from vines over 50 years old.  The back label tells us that it has hints of wild peppermint and wild pear – to find out more pop in and take a gulp.

The red is named Pheasants Tears 2009 (£16.50 ish) and is made from the Saperavi grape.  With our newly discovered knowledge I can confirm that this wine is also produced using Qvevri (spelt with a Q this time) and these vessels are lined with beeswax and buried in the earth, in the traditional method.  Pomegranate, almond and tannins are all mentioned in the flavour profile, so we’ll see.

They’re both fully organic and hairy toed, I reckon they’re going to be really exciting and certainly eye –opening, so try something different this weekend!

Having taken John Peel’s name in vein at the beginning it is probably only fair I give the last words, allegedly uttered after his fiftieth birthday:

Think my chances of making the Liverpool side are gone now.  Might still be able to get a game at one of those London clubs though…

Yours, ever so sincerely,

Alex & Wayne

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It’s all over, red rover.  Pink champagne waltzed out the door, as did Armagnac and, possibly significantly, but I’m not sure why, cider was also a popular tipple on Valentine’s Day.  Best joke of the day, which came courtesy of Twitter:

–          Men discover quality florist that also sells fuel and pasties.

As we stride boldly towards the 50^th day of 2013, it’s hard not to reflect on how much the world has changed over the last few years. 

We have papers filled with horsemeat, the only real conclusion being that it’s highly likely that most meat eaters will have ingested Shergar at some point; we have more pap-pictures of our future Queen in a state of undress; we have a retiring Pope; we have Paxman accused of bullying; and we have Oscar Pistorious – what strange times we do live in.

But here at PV our glass is always just over half full, so we embrace the fact that we might at some point have eaten a champion racehorse – how often can you say you’ve eaten a celebrity?

Speaking of glasses and their contents, this weekend we will taste a pair of wines that we have had on the shelves for ages, which we sell quite a lot of and yet strangely have never opened them on a weekend.  The two wines are from the same producer, Bergerie de la Bastide, which is in the Pays d’Oc region of France.  Great value (these are £7.49) and great tasting wines continue to pour from this area and hopefully you’ll agree. 

In the white the principle grape is Vermentino (30%) with the balance made up of Grenache Blanc, Sauvignon and Ugni Blanc.  There are dried herbs, white flowers, fennel, juniper, green olives and a nice tang of citrus on the finish to stop it running away with itself.

The red is 40% Grenache Noir, 30% Cinsault and 30% Merlot.  Loads of cranberries, redcurrants, and red cherries but reassuringly light, clean and fresh on the palate.  Exactly what you’d expect in your carafe at the bistro.

On a different note, we’ve just spent the whole of Thursday attempting to use our Microsoft Office 2010 which decided that our licence had been exceeded or something, so if anyone is an expert on the inner emotions of Microsoft software and has a good idea as to how we can seduce the system into working for us again, we’d love to hear from you!  Although, of course, if you’re getting this email it would imply we have cured the problem – perhaps.

That’s it from us – it’s half term next week, so the roads will be strangely quiet and the museums and cinemas will be teeming and more importantly we’ll be open every day offering our support and a safe haven on the journey back from the tube.

Toodle pip!

Alex & Wayne

Fellow Wine Lovers,

A quick scan of this week’s news reveals politicians engaged in more yah, boo, sucks behaviour with particular “told you so” directed at Michael Gove, a dysfunctional NHS due to continual meddling and a targets culture, and another drugs cheat scandal, this time in Australia. Oh and we’re descended from rodents…

In more local news, it is with a huge gladness in our hearts that we wish the Wombles a happy 40^th birthday this week. They have been providing service to the good folk of the area keeping Wimbledon Common ship shape and litter free since 1973. Thank you, and Happy Birthday.

Talking of local news…

Cheese and Wine Tastings – Dates for your Diary

We have updated our website with the new schedule. We will start at 8pm and the cost is still £15 per person. Numbers limited as usual.

Dates…

Thursday 7^th March

Thursday 25^th April

Thursday 23^rd May

Thursday 20^th June

Thursday 18^th July

Wine Club

We have quite a few members who like to take part in our monthly case club, getting a delivery of 6 bottles of deliciousness at the beginning of each month in exchange for either £50 or £100. For those of you interested but not partaking, we have attached this month’s selection.

Wine School

Wine School is in full flow, but several of you were unable to make this terms dates so we shall be running again starting on 1^st May. 6 weeks on Wednesdays with again a break for half term (29^th May). Full Details Attached. Dates 1^st May, 8^th May, 15^th May, 22^nd May, 5^th June, 12^th June.

The Feast of St. Valentine

Falls on Thursday 14^th February. Woe betide anyone who forgets. We have several get out of jail free cards including Champagne Moutard Rose (£27.99), Passion Has Red Lips Shiraz Cabernet (£16.29), The Chocolate Block (£22.99) and, of course, Banyuls Rimage Clos de Paulilles (£13.99) that’ll go nicely with that box of chocolates.

Wine in a Glass

At last we get to the bit you’re all interested in. Loitering on the tasting table for your delectation this week will be Passion Has Red Lips 2011 Shiraz Cabernet £16.29 and Borgo Selene Bianco £7.99.

Step on by and join in the fun…

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

A hearty welcome to February and a warm welcome back to the three of you who managed to stay off the grog for the whole of January. 

Now that all that January daftness is well behind us we can look forward to 28 days filled with rugby, half term skiing (we can all dream), St Valentine’s Day, Pancake day, Lent (no point in giving up booze again is there), and, news just in, International Condom Day on 14^th February – not sure if this is about using or abstaining, but anyway, always nice to know that all the good work is being recognised, internationally.

Oh and it’s Groundhog Day tomorrow, Oh and it’s Groundhog Day tomorrow, Oh and it’s Groun…,

 –          This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.

Keeping with the US and for those of you who like a bit of pub trivia: the Superbowl is on Sunday and the opposing head coaches (of the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers) are brothers John and Jim Harbaugh.  Yes, I know, fascinating.

Back on home turf we have the start of the Six Nations, the timings of which are:

Saturday Wales v Ireland 13:30 and England v Scotland 16:00      

Sunday Italy v France 15:00

The PV predictor says home wins all round, but do bear in mind that this is a wine shop talking – you wouldn’t ask Manu Tuilagi for his opinion on the 2011 Burgundy en primeur campaign now, would you?

With all this going on we fully expect to see no one between 4pm and 6pm, but fear not we will be here, manning the pumps.  Plus, we’ve got beer in the fridge: Rocky Head Pale Ale (£3.00) brewed locally by superstar winemaker Steve Daniel; almost as local, from Battersea, we have Sambrook’s Junction, Pale Ale and Porter (£2.59) although no Wandle unfortunately, it’s still not in the bottle, next week I’m told… and then from the North – Chalk Farm from memory – we have the delicious Camden Wheat Beer (£2.29) and the Camden Hells Lager (£1.99).

For those of you who prefer their relaxation to be more wine-bottle shaped, we have plenty of wine, too many to list here, but we will have a couple of bottles open for tasting.  To maintain rugby neutrality (ish), we’ll crack a couple of bottles from the home of the current World Champions, or, as some might put it, England’s most recent scalp.

Both wines are from the Morton Estate Hawke’s Bay vineyards – the Chardonnay 2010 is rich and toasty with peach and pear notes, buttered toast and a super citrus laden finish that nicely tidies up the fruit richness.  The red is The Mercure 2009 a Bordeaux style blend, Merlot dominant but including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec to give the wine some structure and complexity alongside the supple plumy fruit.  Add a touch of spice, some rounded, soft tannins and we’re really cooking!  Both wines are £10.99.

Well that’s it for this week, pop along, have a glass with us, celebrate Groundhog Day, and with this in mind, over to you, Bill Murray:

–          I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn’t I get that day over and over and over?

Over and out.