Fellow Wine Lovers,
As a knock on effect of the Queen’s decision to prorogue, the Friday email will be suspended for the next 5 weeks – there will be no debate on this and Wayne has already left for Europe.
Actually no. That was a lie. Or was it? I’m not really sure what lying is now as the media seem to have a variety of definitions depending on political bent, the Scottish judges another definition, definitely not political, and your man Boris, well he has spent most of his career and personal life on the truth/lie fence. So I will take the advice Wayne left in his note for me before he left with his one way ticket to Greece and what looked like the contents of the safe – trust nobody, Alex….
Anyway, in a fit of preparedness I am one of the people who has actually read the Yellowhammer document and, greatly enlivened by that experience and in a boxset frame of mind, went on to read about Operation Brock (currently suspended) and am awaiting my clearance to read Operation Redfold. Having read the synopsis and seen the trailer, I do hope we avoid Redfold. Suffice to say, I am now an expert on base scenarios and remain unsurprised by the warnings that Yellowhammer contained since they are all topics that have been well discussed over time – slow border crossings, the new east Kent lorry park, delays, delays, delays – in truth, things that we are all very accustomed to dealing with!
But we’ve not left yet, the sun is shining and promises to do so over the weekend and the cricket no longer matters. We ventured up to the Oval on Tuesday for a wine tasting and the pitch looked in tip top condition and frankly would have been amazing as a grand finale but the cricket no longer matters. If we hadn’t concentrated on the World Cup, if Anderson hadn’t got injured, if Smith had stayed injured, if we’d been able to build unbeatable totals but no, Alex, the cricket no longer matters.
Because what matters now is the Rugby. Thus time next week the first game (Japan v Russia I believe) of the 2019 World Cup will be coming to a conclusion and the fun will have begun. Saturday will bring big victories for Fiji, Argentina and, for the first time ever, an incredible 0-0 tie in the last game of the day that sees both teams removed from the tournament…
Looking back, in 2011 we tipped France as potential finalists, in 2015 we thought England would beat Wales so frankly we are not really rugby tipsters. New Zealand maybe? There you go, that’s sunk their ship… and left it wide open for the surprise package of 2015 and the hospitable hosts – Japan, 80-1 to reach the final!
Before we get there though we must finish this week first and that always coincides with us opening a couple of bottles of wine. As a gentlemanly salute to the Aussies, we’ll be opening some of their fine wines today.
In the cricket whites we find Flametree Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2017 – £16.99, a cracking drop made by our chum Cliff Royle, we’ve not discussed cricket with Cliff, but do know that he makes awesome wines – this blend of 80% Sauvignon and 20% Semillon has cracking lychee, lime and stone fruit character and a real elegance to it.
And in the red lifeguard shorts Flametree Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2017 – £19.99, the first vintage in 2007 won the Jimmy Watson Trophy, and frankly the winery hasn’t looked back since! This is classically aromatic, showing cassis, violets and blackberry, balanced with notes of freshly dusted cocoa and dark chocolate; fresh in the mouth and, packed with dark fruits, bitter chocolate and subtle spicy French oak characters. Rumour has it there might be some barbecueing at the weekend. Brisket or burgers would be awesome!
Park Vintners Autumn Wine School is surreptitiously creeping up on us. Just about 3 weeks to go and there are a couple of places left if you fancy joining in the fun and improving your wine smarts!
6 Week Wine School – Wednesday 2nd October – Wednesday 13th November (half term 23rd October) – £150 per person
And with that we’re gone!
Yassas