Fellow Wine Lovers,
Less than a week to go, who will be in the hot-seat come Friday the 13th?
Will it be Graham Hadley, the Independent candidate and the man behind the Mary Queen of Scots whisky we sell?
Will it be Stephen Hammond, our Conservative incumbent for the last 14 years and ex-National League hockey player?
Or perhaps we will see Paul Kohler, of the Liberal Democrats/Unite to Remain side of business, living up to the promise they were showing in mid-November when they trailed the Tories by 2 points, or has Jo Swinson damaged the brand too much?
Or will Jackie Schneider, for Labour, become the first female Wimbledon MP?
Or perhaps this new local super hero is Sarge? No! Or Rosemary the telephone operator? No way man! Perhaps then, Henry the mild mannered janitor?
So far as Park Vintners is concerned, we would quite happily see Penrod Pooch elected if it could guarantee that everyone carries on buying champagne and Christmas drinks rather than booking a one way ticket out of here!
Elsewhere in the world of politics the world’s most sensitive bully, Mr Trump, got a bat up his nightdress when other world leaders were seen talking about him ‘behind his back’. Let’s be honest, Donald, you love it that people are talking about you, it empowers you and massages your fragile ego. Plus, they were talking about you being 45 minutes late having called an impromptu press conference – if you hadn’t done this there would have been no gossiping! The final touch for us though was the fact that the Conservatives were noticeably delighted that DT cancelled his next ‘meet the press’, so concerned were they that he might damage Mr Johnson’s election campaign – a ringing endorsement of how they really view the POTUS….
Less than a week to go, who will be in the hot-seat come Friday the 20th?
We will be. The last Friday before Christmas, we fully expect the grill to be turned up to max as we begin the final buying weekend and with it the start of the exodus, which this year we feel could be spread over 4 days, especially if you’re travelling on South Western trains! Anyway, the point to all this is that if you know you want by some treats for Christmas, you don’t necessarily need to wait until that weekend – we’ve got a lot of stock in here already, our Christmas cases will be ready from Monday and, frankly, right now we have more stock and more time to ensure you get exactly what you would like – which can’t be guaranteed in two weeks’ time.
Some of you have already started shopping, and we appreciate that. We’ve already had enquiries as to whether we sell mini bottles of Babycham, Buckfast Tonic Wine and various super-sweet, super-confected spirits – we’re sending all these enquiries up to the shops in the village, through sheer devilment!
And no, funnily enough, we don’t sell wine in cans, despite the fact that a recent survey in the US by WiC Research revealed that 37.2% of participants said they preferred rosé wine from a can, compared to 31.4% who said the bottled version tasted better! All those years of drinking cans of coke have obviously taken their toll….
In sport we saw the Mourinho spell come unbound in Manchester – he must have been spewing, no matter what he claims otherwise, although when he wins the Champions League with his third different club we may well eat our chapéus! In cricket we watched as England brought village cricket to the international stage, helped massively by Joe Denly, with crowds to match those seen at Hadlow on a good day. We also lost, suddenly for us, Bob Willis on Tuesday, a local resident and perhaps most famouls captain of England during the 1981 Ashes victory. RIP, sir.
Christmas
For a variety of reasons, Christmas doesn’t ever really start until this weekend here at Park Vintners. We held the last two tastings of the year this week and until they are out of the way we can’t really decorate, as we have to move stock around all the time. But now that’s done and we can steam towards the 25th. This weekend sees Alex at the Wimbledon High School Christmas Fair on Saturday and the Wimbledon Park Primary School event on Sunday. He’s being a bit imprecise over the timings but I do know they both take place over lunchtime, should you be interested in visiting either.
Monday will see us decorating the windows, buying new lights no doubt and generally filling up the shelves and floor with the good stuff. As mentioned above, we will also be launching our Christmas selections, which will be three different 6 bottle selections – one mixed selection for £60, one mixed selection for £100 and a Red Bordeaux selection for £115 (£120 with a gift box). Notes attached…
Tasting this weekend
As I don’t pretend to have any control over Alex once he is off-site, I can imagine he will be tasting Champagne, a red, a white, a sweetie and undoubtedly an array of spirits…. Here in the shop though I do know that we will be opening a fizz, a red, a white and hopefully a port!
We both have the same ‘go to’ Fizz Friday bottle of bubbles which is the Leveret IQ Brut NV – £15.99 – This is champagne in all but name really, being a blend of the usual suspects, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay but grown instead in New Zealand. Crisp and dry with a fine mousse, it’s exactly the sort of bubbly for any occasion, birthdays, christenings, weddings, parties or just Friday night fish and chips!
A new white in the stable is the Domaine Jouan Menetou Salon 2018 – £15.99 which we are very pleased with. This is the fourth generation of the family to run this estate and experience certainly shows. This has the quality and elegance of a Sancerre but without the price tag. A fabulous all-rounder – did I mention that we are very pleased with it?
In the red, we will open another old favourite – Lopez de Haro Gran Reserva 2010 – £21.00. After conducting extensive tastings, our in-house team (Alex and I, sacrificing ourselves again!) decided this silky little should be our main GR Rioja. A blend of Tempranillo and Graciano aged for 30 months in oak barrels, it has complex berry, coffee and vanilla notes and a lovely velvety finish.
Now the port should be a bit of a treat….Taylors 1985 – £85 part of the last shipment from Taylors cellars, where there is no more left so when it’s gone…we’ve put it in the eto so it lasts long enough for you all to have a taste before Wayne guzzles the lot!
Here’s what Will Lyons of the Sunday Times had to say about it in 2015… “This vintage port, described as the Latour of Portugal, is just starting to reach its drinking window. Mid ruby in colour, it has an evocative fragrance of wood smoke, cassis and spice. Soft and silky in the mouth, nevertheless once swallowed it has a powerful kick and leaves a sensation on the tongue of tingling freshness.”
And with that we’re gone. Do come see us at the Shop, at Wimbledon High or Wimbledon Park Primary!