Fellow Wine Lovers,
Well, the Sue Gray report delivered everything we expected but appears to have changed nothing. We have a child’s swing and slide damaged in the Downing Street garden and people leaving (by the back door) after 3.oo am on the morning of Prince Philip’s funeral. Evidence not of a work event but just one of the examples of evenings where a group of people properly strapped it on leaving empty bottles scattered across desks, red wine on walls and even sick for the cleaners to deal with.
They say you can tell a lot about people by the way they treat their staff.
But it’s a work event. In our experience, leaving do’s aren’t work events held in offices, they are held after work at the pub, something that wasn’t allowed. Funerals, surely the ultimate leaving do, were restricted to less people than those attending these leaving do’s. Anyway, we’ve at least had it confirmed that the moral vacuum at the centre of government is indeed a moral vacuum at the centre of government.
I suspect it won’t be the last we hear of it but perhaps for this week it will be.
In completely unrelated news, the Treasury and Mr Sunak have announced a windfall tax on energy companies that was voted against by all Conservative MP’s, just a week ago. The money will at least be spent on easing the cost of living crisis for low income families. The distant part of me that remembers how inflation works does wonder how increased government spending will do anything to ease it.
I guess we just continue kicking cans down the road.
I don’t know about you but we’ve had dreadful trouble hiring a private jet this week. It turns out they are all in Switzerland as the great and the good are all assembled in Davos. As you’d expect, the discussion has been dominated by the war in Ukraine. Of note though, is that the OECD sponsored deal to tax multinationals has been postponed to 2024, another can kicked down the road.
Bernie Ecclestone got arrested in Brazil this week for having a gun in his bag when it was X-rayed at security before he boarded a private jet to Switzerland. He said that whilst it was his gun, he didn’t realise it was in his bag. I have a certain amount of sympathy for this explanation having lost a corkscrew under very similar circumstances.
In other news, Top Gun Maverick is at the cinema, I’m sure we’re all going aren’t we? I’m expecting Primark to be full of flying jackets and jumpsuits too.
With last week’s news of no ATP ranking points being awarded at Wimbledon this year, we find ourselves agreeing with Andy Murray. Nobody watching cares about the points. We don’t remember that the winner got awarded 2000 points; we remember that they won Wimbledon. That said, it amused us enormously to discover the possibility that even if Djokovic plays and wins at Wimbledon this year Medvedev could still become World No1 as Djokovic loses the 2000 points awarded for winning last year!
RideLondon is this weekend, heading out on its new route through Essex.
If you’re in a car, expect some frustrating road closures and a fair amount of traffic through Parliament Square along the Embankment, out through Epping Forest to almost Chelmsford and back. If you’re on a bike, expect some awesome road closures and no traffic through Parliament Square along the Embankment, out through Epping Forest to almost Chelmsford and back!
Jubilee Week Opening Hours
Due to Her Maj. interfering with the natural fall of Bank Holidays, we are operating a bit differently next week.
MONDAY 30TH MAY CLOSED
TUESDAY 31ST MAY NOON – 7 PM
WEDNESDAY 1ST JUNE NOON – 7 PM
THURSDAY 2ND JUNE NOON – 6 PM
FRIDAY 3RD JUNE NOON – 6 PM
SATURDAY 4TH JUNE NOON – 7 PM
SUNDAY 5TH JUNE CLOSED
Tasting This Weekend
We’ve opened the white suitcase and found Veritable Jurancon Sec 2019 (£10.99), a crisp and dry bottle of deliciousness from the foothills of the Pyrénées. It turns out that the red arrived in a box to the back door fresh from the hills inland of Tarragona. Marco Abella Mas Mallola 2018 (£27.99) is from Porrera in Priorat, where the family has been involved in wine since the 15th century.
Like our peers in Downing Street we’re off now, out of the back door and will assume complete responsibility!
Cheers!