Fellow Wine Lovers,
I’m not going to lie, we’re quite proud of ourselves today.
Yesterday, December 3rd, we at Park Vintners celebrated our 10th Birthday. Yea, I know right, a miracle! That means for the last decade, whilst we have slowly decayed (been waiting a long 10 years for that joke), you have all been helping us to survive, earn a crust and hopefully enjoy a glass of wine or two at our recommendation. So, thank you, thank you, thank you… the good news, we think, is that we have signed our lease for another 10 years, giving you all the opportunity to enjoy at least a couple more of our vinous offerings.
Reflecting on our opening in 2010, we recall that we had snow on the ground and that at points during that week the slope down to the roundabout on Arthur Road was more ski run than rat run. We remember the Porsche 911 that tried to summit this slope but only succeeded in drifting slowly back down the hill in a flurry of spinning wheels and impending doom. Happily, the tyres gripped and the car ground to a halt before it redecorated Arthur House.
With all this weather going on, we were very surprised that anyone ventured out to see us at 5pm on that cold Friday.
The most obvious no-show was the lady who had told us that we were evil for going into competition with Wine Rack and Coop because they had been there for ages and who were we to challenge them. Also, the chap who kindly told us, without actually crossing the shop threshold, that we were too expensive and how he would be gobsmacked if we survived – no, he didn’t come either. A couple of our suppliers turned up with bottles of Champagne; our wives turned up, with Pavlovian predictability, at the sound of popping corks; my children got busy decorating the window with dummy Christmas presents and then finally at 17.18 Wayne made our first sale. Given that we had set up as a Wine Merchant it feels only appropriate that the first money we took was for 4 bottles of Sambrook’s Wandle Ale!
But, as evidenced by our anniversary, things got better. Over the 10 years, flushed with getting the first key sale of our existence, Wayne has continued to thrive as #1 salesman, dominating turnover with a solid 58% of sales. Handily for Alex, we have a 50/50 business share… plus he also made the first sale yesterday, so the only way is up!
And now we land up here – 4th December 2020 in a very different world.
A world where the news of a vaccine has created universal celebration even though the majority of us won’t see it for months; a world where Brexit negotiations are still ongoing with less than a month until we leave or in fact 11 months since we should have left – why do I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach?; a world where we have been told to binge eat in order to be allowed to have a pint; a world where whilst Welsh pubs and restaurants are undergoing a new genre of Prohibition, travel restrictions between Wales and England have been eased, leading to the potential for cross-border drinking trips; a world where all shops are now allowed to open but all a bit too late for Debenhams (oldest retail chain in the UK), Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Evans, Bonmarche, Peacocks, Jaeger, Edinburgh Woollen Mill and T M Lewin to name just a few of this year’s retail casualties – what will we wear?
With all this in mind, we need to enjoy this Christmas season as much as we can under these restrictions because there might not be so much to celebrate in January! As many of you will be aware, we do a monthly case club and the December cases are always the most popular both as gifts and for personal use.
We have 3 main offerings this year and these will be ready to go by the middle of next week, a couple of wines have been a bit delayed but we thought we’d give you a quick preview of what we are offering:
£60 – 6 bottle Mixed Case
Fizz
Mansfield & Marsh NV, Hawkes Bay/Marlborough, New Zealand
Whites
Chatelain Desjacques Chardonnay 2017, Val de Loire, France
Deep Roots Riesling Trocken 2019, Rheinhessen, Germany
Reds
Barton Rouge 2015, Walker Bay, South Africa
Chateau de Paraza ‘Cuvée Spéciale’ 2017, Minervois, France
Sierra Grande Pinot Noir 2020, Central Valley, Chile
£100 – 6 bottle Mixed Case
Fizz
Hawkins Bros Brut Reserve, Surrey, England
Whites
Domaine Fournillon Chablis 2016, Burgundy, France
Wairau River Pinot Gris 2019, Marlborough, New Zealand
Reds
Principe Corsini Le Corti Chianti Classico 2018, Tuscany, Italy
Antoine de la Farge L’Enfant Rebelle Pinot Noir 2019, Loire, France
Bodegas Roda Sela 2016, Rioja, Spain
£100 – 6 bottle Mixed French Reds Case (includes gift box)
Antoine de la Farge L’Enfant Rebelle Pinot Noir 2019, Loire
Chateau Cardinal 2016, Montagne-St-Émilion, Bordeaux
Chateau Grandis 2010, Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux
Domaine Fournillon Pinot Noir 2018, Bourgogne Epineuil
Domaine Treloar ‘Le Secret’ 2013, Cotes du Roussillon
Le Seigneur du Raveil Vacqueyras 2016, Rhone
All the cases come with relevant tasting notes and offer a better discount than you would normally get off 6 bottles.
I fizz is more what you would like to put in your cup then we still have 6 for 5 on most of our Champagnes and sparklers and the very popular Lété-Vautrain Brut 204 NV – 3 for £75 deal also still stands!
So, I think that’s probably it for this week, Happy Birthday to us and to paraphrase Gavin Williamson, we’re still here whilst Wine Rack and co have gone, mainly thanks to you but also because we’re a much better shop than every single one of them!
Bottoms Up!