Wine without personality is not a place any of us want to be…

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We had a nice conversation with one of our customers yesterday. Now, I’m not pointing this out to imply that all the other conversations we have with customers are not nice, far from it. In fact, now that I’ve got my spade out and need to start digging frantically, I would submit that every conversation we have ever had with any of our customers has been a joy and a life enriching experience that leaves a trail of enlightenment in its wake….

So, I’ll start again. One of our customers, who is also in the business of buying and selling things, predominantly craft beers, made an observation yesterday that resonated. One of the absolute pleasures and strengths of running your own small, independent business is having the freedom to do what you want.

I don’t mean the kind of ‘do what you want’ that involves sloping off to the beach on sunny days and drinking fine wines off the top shelf, I, or rather he, mean(s) the freedom of choice. No one tells me who I have to buy wines from and, in much the same way, no one has to sell their wine to me; no one has a gun to their head.

The result of this freedom is that we don’t tend to have big brand wines or beers, we don’t sell Veuve, The Ned or Peroni and no one is making us. The freedom we have is to deal with people we like. There are not a lot of rock star wages in the wine trade at any level and as a result one of the main draws, beyond the obvious vinous pleasures, is the people that populate this grape fuelled industry. We love buying wine and beer from Phil and Clive and Jack and Walter and Mary and Frankie and Simon and Mark and, of course, Louisa. They are real people who come in and talk to us about what’s new, about sport, about politics, about each other’s families and, occasionally, about wine. We don’t spend the same fortunes with them as their other bigger clients but they never make us feel like that matters and, significantly, they always give us a fair price and are very transparent about price changes when they do have to happen.

Recently, some of our other suppliers have not been showing the same generosity of spirit and in fact have raised prices with no warning, have shown a distinct lack of desire to increase their business with us when we have tried, some we haven’t laid eyes upon in over a year and thus we are parting company with their products – how long until they notice, I wonder?

When we first opened we decided our strap line would be Wines with Personality, mainly because wine without personality is not a place any of us want to be. This belief in personality is why we still deal with the people we enjoy dealing with and why, hopefully, you all still enjoy dealing with us, or at least Wayne because he’s less grumpy!

Thank you Adam, for reminding us why we’re doing this thing and now, you’ll all be glad to hear, the rant is over!

When we haven’t been delisting lines we’ve been busy watching the roads melting. Extraordinary! We’ve all discussed the weather enough already I know and actually, I would be grateful if someone could tell my family and friends in Devon that I already know what beaches, blue sky and ice creams look like without need for constant daily, pictorial reminders. Likewise, you chaps at the BBC do not need to keep showing us pictures of different patches of dried grass around the country – I have a back garden, I can see for myself. Finally, do I really mind if we break the highest temperature recorded in the British Isles – I’m not sure I do, I fully suspect it’ll still be toasty and warm even if we don’t!

Elsewhere, whilst glued to the Tour de France, one of our number has been reminding us of the time he broke his knee when he fell off his bike and then proceeded to cycle home, a mile down the road. To put his heroics into context, Philippe Gilbert threw himself over a wall whilst descending during the Tour this week, scrambled back up onto the road, got back on his bike, cycled a further 60 kilometres to the stage finish and picked the prize for most aggressive rider of the day. He too fractured his knee. Wayne, Philippe, we salute you!

In Stratford, the ladies have been playing Hockey in the Vitality Women’s World Cup. England have drawn twice, which has an eerie sense of déjà vu, and play Ireland on Sunday, who currently top the group. I have to tell you this because it’s nigh on impossible to find out elsewhere unless you have BT Sport.

The politicos are all on holiday, which feels like a bit of a mickey take, given the amount of Brexit plates that are currently spinning but slowing down. If we end up in a monumental pickle in March, I imagine we’ll all look back fondly on the 10 week summer break our leaders enjoyed?

And so, as often happens, we turn to drink. This weekend, as it’s the end of the TdF, we’ll taste two wines of French provenance, one from the Loire and one from Roussillon.

Domaine Champalou Vouvray Sec 2016 – £17.99 Catherine and Didier started the Domaine in 1983 and have gone on to become one of the most acclaimed producers in Vouvray. This cuvée comes from 35 year old vines and is lovely and crisp, with apple fruit on the nose. Somewhat rounder and richer on the palate leading to a lovely crisp dry finish. It’s unusual for either of us to start a tasting note with ‘delicious’ but in this case, both of us did!

Three Peaks Domaine Treloar 2014 – £14.99 A very classy blend of Syrah (65%), Mourvèdre (25%) and Grenache (10%) from Englishman Jonathon Hesford’s Domaine Treloar. A rich and spicy blend that spent 12 months in French barriques and shows lovely crushed forest fruit character, a touch of earthy minerality and maybe even a hint of leather. Not too heavy but with enough crunch to remind you of what top quality southern French wine is all about.

Now that is probably it from us, apart from a few AOB’s.

Wine School sign up is gathering pace (starts Wednesday 10th October) details attached, don’t miss out. Also the Wine & Cheese and Argentine Tastings are filling up too, so yes, don’t miss out.

Finally, as has become our custom, Saturdays in August we will close at 7pm.

And with that I’m gone – enjoy your weekends and keep topped up on liquids with personality!

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