Fellow Wine Lovers,
Frustratingly, when one scans the headlines, not a lot has changed since last week. We’re still waiting for the potentially underwhelming report from Sue Gray to land on our desk and as a result we’re still having to listen to Keir and co telling Big Dog to resign which they know he won’t do because that would be an admission of guilt. Rory Stewart, possibly not a lover of large canines, saw fit to add his two penneth to the debate:
“This is somebody who has obviously cheated on two wives, been fired from two jobs…. People have known that Boris Johnson lies for 30 years…. The question is do people want somebody who lies so consistently… Boris Johnson lies all the time, you can document hundreds of lies that he’s told…. I don’t think waiting for the Sue Gray report to find out whether he lies. He lies to his wife, his employers, his colleagues, Parliament…. Often he does it in different ways. He’s probably the best liar we’ve had as Prime Minister.”
Don’t beat about the bush Rory, tell us what you really think!
“This whole thing is total rhubarb.”
Thankfully Boris was able to clear things up.
Think what you will of the labradoodle, he does often have a decent turn of phrase. In fact, it feels as though the one report he has received is related to the poll taken by Perspectives Global, where 2,000 adults, aged between 18-50, were asked if they had ever used any of 50 old phrases that are dying out – these are all phrases that you could imagine Boris using…
To be Prime Minister you really need to know your onions or else you run the risk of dropping a clanger. However, as we can see throughout Boris’ career, he always starts as keen as mustard but this is just a flash in the pan as his constant refusal to toe the line results in it all going pear shaped and costing someone a bomb to get rid of him. The fact that he was able to continue as a journalist for so long takes the biscuit as he churned out a load of old codswallop on a weekly basis, seemingly incapable of putting a sock in it. In spite of the fact that he could not organise a p*** up in a brewery, he somehow became Foreign Secretary and, in this capacity, showed the whole world that he was a few sandwiches short of a picnic before becoming a fly in the ointment and resigning. Once Teresa May left Downing Street he saw this as an opportunity to become a legend in his own lifetime although Covid saw him make a total dogs dinner of his premiership. Right now it would seem his career is ready for the knackers’ yard, it’s been a bodge job but we must never expect him to eat humble pie since he doesn’t consider that he’s done anything wrong, because he’s mad as a hatter!
Elsewhere, everyone’s favourite international jet-setter has set his own big dogs to work denying all charges against him, which he would of course. We don’t know much about law and lawyering but we thought “Prince Andrew lacks sufficient information to admit or deny the allegation that there exists photographic evidence of his alleged meeting with Giuffre” took the biscuit. Blimey, this is the photo that has appeared in probably 90% of the world’s tabloids over the last few years – you could only expect such brass neck from a man unable to sweat!
Now, onto things that don’t make our blood boil. I’m sure many of you will have come across the excellent book Great Lies To Tell Small Kids by Andy Riley, a veritable treasure trove of silliness that includes classics such as Wine makes Mummy clever. Anyway, I only mention this because we’ve been talking about lying but now we should talk about wine.
A Chinese study, published in journal Frontiers, has found that COVID risk is lower in red wine drinkers compared to non-drinkers whilst beer and cider drinkers up to a 28% higher COVID risk compared with non-drinkers.
So, we’ve vaccinated, double vaccinated and boosted, now it’s time to reach for the corkscrew and open that nice bottle of Italian red to make sure we are properly covered – how does this one sound?
Maculan Brentino – £23.99
For three generations the Maculan family has been selecting and vinifying the best grapes from their hillside vineyards, on volcanic soils, with the best sites of the Breganze DOC. Located about 20 miles north of Vicenza, Breganze is an enchanting village at the foot of the Asiago high plains. Maculan has long been a favourite winery of ours but, since we left Oddbins many moons ago, we haven’t been able to get hold of their wines. Until now. This red is a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon with seductive aromas of blackberries and dark cherries, that lead onto a medium to full-bodied palate with dark fruit character and some nicely balanced tannins that persist well into the finish.
We’ll have this open to taste over the weekend and to complement it, we’ll have an Italian white too:
Vigneti Le Monde Friulano – £15.99
Established in 1970 and recognised as a “cru” within Friuli, it is only under the current owners that the estate has really taken off. This wine is made from 100% Friulano, with aromas of fresh flowers, citrus, lemon and green apple. The palate is crisp and dry with again notes of apple, peach and pear with a subtle floral note. Good weight, perfectly balanced by a fresh clean finish – this often slips under people’s radar and we cannot understand why!
And now we must leave you with one last true story, as told by Barry Cryer:
A man drives down a country lane and runs over a cockerel. He knocks at a nearby farmhouse door and a woman answers.
‘I appear to have killed your cockerel,’ he says. ‘I’d like to replace it.’
The woman replies: ‘Please yourself – the hens are round the back.’
Timeless.