Fellow Wine Lovers,
Well, that was fun wasn’t it; anyone got a swimming pool we can borrow?
Having hoped to open up here with some lyrics from Billy Idol and his hot city nights it transpires that, on closer research, his song is about hanging out in New York and not actually a current weather report. Further research reveals that White Wedding is not a suitable song for that first dance; Rebel Yell is definitively not a study of the American Civil War whilst Dancing with Myself actually is about dancing with your own reflection. Thanks wiki. We also learnt that he was born in Stanmore, just round the corner from Alex’s grandmother’s flat and down the road from where Wayne parked up for the 1966 World Cup Final – too much information? Sorry.
Moving on, in the biggest shock of the year so far, that other platinum blonde, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson became our new PM. Nothing we can say will change this and I’m nervous. In our lifetimes Wayne and I have seen ten or perhaps eleven Prime ministers – an 11 year old schoolkid has already seen five and could even see a sixth before year end!
Anyway, Boris has picked his team and now they have all gone fishin’ until September, which will give them about 40 working days to exit Europe. Oh, and perhaps have an election too – more than enough time. Teresa was seen sipping a clear drink with a slice of lime in it at Lord’s yesterday; she looked remarkably relaxed, unshackled and about 10 years younger – easy lays the head that no longer wears the crown, to horrendously misquote the Bard.
She did witness a bit of a fight back by the England team though, including an extraordinary innings by a number 11 plus the traditional mid-order collapse. Good to see Roy in the runs, bit of a concern about Burns though, is the step up to Test a bit too big – Australia will be watching and learning. Wayne has been hard at work every morning this week in order to guarantee undisturbed viewing of the Tour de France in the afternoon although he has twice missed the finish due to well-timed customer interventions – how we laughed! Oh, and as for his persistent criticism of Quintana – well, yesterday left him lost for words.
Holidays are now in full swing and with them holiday havoc headlines. Threats of strikes on BA, trains having to drive more slowly due to the rails getting too hot and our Devon correspondent tells tale of hour long tailbacks down to Bantham – I’m sure the Gastrobus is doing roaring trade!
In our world of wine, Rosé is still ruling the roost. Prosecco seems to be slowing down, Crémant is speeding up whilst Gin is starting to plateau a bit. Beer seems to be growing again whilst red wines are stalling a bit – could this be the heat. In the real world, Fever Tree announced a slowdown in growth, blaming the weather as ever but perhaps this is another sign of a gin plateau? We’ll see…
And that’s about it for news really. Tasting season is over until September which, judging by the shop temperature this week can only be regarded as a good thing. Here are the Autumn dates, as a reminder for you whilst you read this by the pool:
Thursday 18th July at 8pm – WINE & CHEESE TASTING – £20
Thursday 12th September at 8pm – WINE & CHEESE TASTING – £20
Thursday 10th October at 8pm – WINE & CHEESE TASTING – £20
Thursday 17th October at 8pm –
DOMAINE TRELOAR WITH RACHEL TRELOAR – £20
Jonathan and Rachel Treloar own and run this small, highly-regarded vineyard and winery in the Roussillon, France’s most exciting wine region.
Thursday 7th November at 8pm – WINE & CHEESE TASTING – £20
Thursday 28th November at 8pm – WINE & CHEESE TASTING – £20
The greatest hits from all the tastings over 2019, just in time for Christmas!
Thursday 5th December at 8pm – CHRISTMAS BUBBLES TASTING – £30
Our annual journey through the world of fizz and Champagne – will the same people turn up this year we wonder!?!?
If anyone is still around we’ll also have wine open this weekend. We’ve restocked our Portuguese shelves this month and are very excited to get some old friends back on the shelves and open for tasting:
Adega Camolas Clô Branco 2018 – £9.99 from the Setubal peninsula this is an absolute charmer of a white. Fruity and aromatic, it’s a blend of Fernão Pires and Moscatel with a lovely dry finish and a real food all-rounder.
Vinha Paz 2015 – £18.99 from the Dão, this is a small property, owned by Antonio Canto Moniz, a surgeon by trade but whose family connections to winemaking in the Dão stretch back several generations; his grandfather was the first president of the Federation of Dão Winemakers. Henrique, Antonio’s youngest son, is currently the winemaker behind this gem and there is a real love affair with the land and special terroir of their vines. A rich spicy blend 50% Touriga Nacional, 30% Tinta Roriz, 15% Alfrocheiro, 5% Jaen, that spent 8 months in a mixture of French and American oak and is exactly what is great and exciting about wines from Portugal.
Summer Saturdays
As has become our custom, Saturdays in August we will close at 7pm, so that’s from next Saturday 3rd August.
That’s it from us – August is almost upon us, Alex is away from the middle of next week and so, for the next few weeks, as there’s nothing to lose and there’s nothing to prove, I’ll be dancing with myself! ]]3210@�