Fellow Wine Lovers,
And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all, the needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before
And so here we are again, back at the start of the song, or better put, at the start of the weekend – do the weeks seem to be passing at a reasonable lick right now because I’m sure it was Sunday afternoon just a moment ago. Anyway, I’m not going to argue, if it’s the weekend it means it’s wine o’clock and I’m happy to sing along to that. With temperatures in parts of Yorkshire and Cumbria hitting -4C on Thursday morning, I was a bit nervous to look at the forecast but actually it’s not too bad – sunshine, clouds and the temperature getting closer to 20c on Sunday – full steam ahead for barbecues and Rosé drinking then!
History
Last weekend, as we all know, was a back to front bank holiday. Friday saw most of SW19 sitting in their front gardens, sociably distancing and drinking bubbly from a flute or cider from a lemon, depending on their age. Driving round the grid, dropping off good cheer, there was a definite scent of positivity in the air; good humour with a sense of togetherness that made it feel as though perhaps, yes, we really can get through this current crisis but people, to do so, we really must stop listening to Vera Lynn and George Formby…
Politics
And then 7pm on Sunday happened, or didn’t really. Boris clenched his fists and waved his arms about whilst telling us all that Loose Lips sink Ships and that we should Dig for Victory. Ok, he didn’t’ say any of this but you always felt that he was but a tongue slip away from telling us to Keep Calm and Carry On. Oh, and stay alert… given the clarity of his message he could quite easily meant that he was going to go and stay in Alert, the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world (in Canada, just past Chequers). A previously clear message, now nicely muddied, quickly resulted in a couple of empty bottles of wine in our house!
Business
But carry on we do, for the time being still as a closed shop focused on doing deliveries. We have been asked by a few people when we are planning to open up again and the honest answer is that we don’t know.
There are only two of us here, one of whom was sent into self-isolation very early on and who happily has recovered and come out the other side, but what we learnt from those weeks was that it doesn’t take very much to knock the business sideways. We don’t have massive shop, it’s only 2.5 metres wide in fact, so it wouldn’t take too many bodies to make it full, especially if 2 of us are already in it. We have spent the last ten years encouraging people to come in, taste stuff, touch the bottles, read the tasting notes, shoot the breeze – it’s at the heart of what we do – but these things are currently strictly verboten, so we’re not sure what opening the doors would actually offer? Do we insist on gloves and masks? Do we buy industrial vats of hand disinfectant and make use of that a condition of entry? Do we invest heavily in Perspex and recreate the homely and welcoming atmosphere of the offies of our youth? Add to this that the inside of the shop looks like a bomb-hit warehouse; that we are still here 6 days a week putting together orders and then delivering them full time – might need to open the shop just to have a rest!
So, in a nutshell, we’re not sure…
Travel
Not happening. Locally we are told that it is our ‘civic duty’ to avoid public transport which is easy to say when you’re a minister with a chauffeured Jag parked outside. Internationally, also not happening. On Wednesday, Tui announced that it expects to accelerate its transformation plans to adapt to the current situation with the knock on effect that 8,000 staff will now be going on permanent holiday – so where did the 1.8 billion euro loan, effectively from the German government, disappear off to?
Music
You probably all know this already but Post Malone has launched a Provence Rosé. My son, who listens to Mr Post’s music was very much of the ‘so what’ opinion. I don’t knowingly listen to the Malone but am of a similar opinion…
Sport
Finally, we actually have some sport to report on. The Bundesliga returns this weekend, with Wayne’s team, Werder Bremen not actually playing until Monday when they host Bayer Leverkusen but, with both teams desperately needing the win from opposite ends of the table, it could be a cracker!
That’s it from us. The Volvo is parked outside, I checked the air pressure in the tyres yesterday and now it’s all ready for a full load of weekend wine – send us your orders!!
Have a great weekend, doubtless the next one will be along shortly!