Fellow Wine Lovers,
Sometimes we feel the need to huff, puff and shake our head a little at the world. Yesterday was one of those days, as we read that Liberal Democrat peer Lord Fox was in a spot of bother. It seems that he was busted for furloughing himself from his consultancy business, Vulpes Advisory, whilst at the same time claiming his daily £162 allowance for working from home as a peer in the House of Lords! He didn’t become a member of the Economic Affairs Committee for nothing, eh? He now intends to repay the full amount as soon as possible.
McDonalds opened a number of their drive-thrus this week and, by all accounts, the queues were visible from the International Space Station. Those workouts with Joe Wicks seem distant now as half the nation turns into the plant from Little Shop of Horrors!
Elsewhere, Woolacombe in Devon ground to a halt in absolute gridlock as numpties from all around the country parked on double yellow lines whilst they had a stroll on the beach and a ‘99’. If only somebody had looked up the tourist information centre whose website said: “We love welcoming visitors to Woolacombe & Mortehoe, however in these extenuating circumstances we are asking that you do not visit us at this time.”
Rosé, Pink, Blush?
We wanted to talk to you all about rosé. It seems you all have quite a thirst for it and, given the weather, we can’t say we’re surprised. We wanted to talk a little about why many people have started to refer to the wine as blush.
So, we wondered where and how it became so widespread, because you, the fine folk of Wimbledon Park, are not alone in the use of the term. Is it perhaps that Dulux produced a paint called Blush Pink that everyone started comparing the wine in their glass to? We can certainly rule out anything to do with when a person blushes, because in most instances that’s far too dark a colour for most people’s pink wine tastes. We wondered perhaps if it was with the rosato style of Pinot Grigio coming along as a product of marketing departments with big companies, desperate not to miss out on the growing popularity of rose in the early part of the 21st century.
And now the answer.
In 1978 Charles Kreck of Mill Creek Vineyards (and one of the pioneers of Cabernet Sauvignon in California) trademarked the word “Blush”. The name caught on as a marketing name for the peculiarly sweet style of rose from producers such as Sutter Home and Beringer. Its popularity peaked in the 1980’s and has been declining ever since. We can see from talking to our customers, friends and colleagues around the country that in 99.9% of cases this is absolutely NOT what you all mean. You all want something very pale and dry, generally the style championed by the winemakers of Provence, who have been specialising in this style of wine since Wayne’s sepia coloured childhood.
Our Rosés are what would generally be described as dry and pale, the Cuvée Jean Paul has a little more fruit, ideal with something a little spicy, the Aumerade is our best selling wine every year. Line them all up together and we have five different bottles, labels, colours and prices, hopefully something to suit everyone.
Borsao Rosado 2018 – £7.99
Cuvee JP Jean Paul Rosé 2019 – £8.49
Dom. Foncalieu Piquepoul Rosé 2019 – £13.69
Chateau de L’Aumerade Provence Rosé 2018 – £14.99
Ch. D’Esclans Whispering Angel Rosé 2019 – £22.99
And if you fancy adding a bit of sparkle:
Domaine Landreau Cremant De Loire Morin Rosé NV – £15.99
Hawkins Bros Rosé Reserve NV – £29.00
Delavenne Pere et Fils Grand Cru Brut Rosé NV – £45.00
Bank Holiday Monday
Yes it surprised us too, but we’ve double checked and triple checked and it’s definitely the case. As a result we won’t just be shut on Monday, we’ll be shut shut!
Back to our desks on Tuesday!
Would You Like A Delivery?
We might not have the robots and zero hours staff of Amazon, or the kind of warehousing efficiency technology and van fleets of Ocado. We also have no offshore accounts or tax efficient brass plates in Lichtenstein, Limassol or Luxembourg.
What we do have is an enormous Volvo 850 and a business account on the High Street. There’s space in the boot for your order (we can even fold the seats down if necessary!) and we’ll be leaving the shop about 4pm on the delivery run. Is there a box with your name on it?
- Drop us a line at shop@parkvintners.co.uk and give us an idea of what you desire – minimum order is six bottles
- The most helpful thing for us to know straight away is how many bottles you would like, an approximate cost and ideally what you like and definitely don’t like!
- The more information, you give us the quicker we can turn it round
- We’ll suggest ideas, send you the cost and payment details and deliver to your doorstep, all safely distanced
Whilst I know you are all missing our dulcet tones, we aren’t answering phone calls at the moment and, as a consequence, email is absolutely, 100%, the best way to place your order. We are dealing with them all in chronological order and will definitely get to you – there’s plenty of stock for everyone…. our pencils have been sharpened and hover poised over paper, so send us your orders and we’ll pack the boxes!