Fellow Wine Lovers,
Let’s pop a cork and celebrate ‘Bubbles for Boris’!
Non-Vintage
Lété-Vautrain Brut 204 – £30.00
Joseph Perrier Cuvee Royale Brut – £36.99
Delavenne Pere et Fils Grand Cru Brut Rosé – £45.00
Andre Robert Les Jardins du Mesnil Grand Cru – £47.00
Tarlant Brut Nature – £50.00
Louis Roederer Collection 242 Brut – £50.00
Vintage
Lété-Vautrain Grand Millesime 2013/14 – £35.00
Collet Brut Vintage 2008 – £50.00
Joseph Perrier Cuvee Royale Vintage 2008 – £70.00
Bollinger PNVZ 16 – £84.00
Bollinger La Grande Année 2012 – £112.00
The Bollinger 007 Limited Edition Millesime 2011 – £200.00
Louis Roederer Cristal 2013 – £220.00
So, yeah, it’s been one hell of a week. Lots of people who we had never heard of resigned on Wednesday; one person we’ve heard too much from kind of resigned yesterday whilst never using the word resign or resignation in his statement and actually not leaving Downing Street; and all the while, Chris Pincher, the final nail in the Boris shaped casket, still has a job as MP for Tamworth in spite of all the evidence stacked up against him – a truly Johnsonian situation if ever there was one….
But we move on, little by little. People who wouldn’t have made the Cabinet in any normal government are now throwing their hats in the ring, mistakenly believing themselves to be viable prospects for Leader whilst the opposition wants BJ to go straight away, which could lead to the very real situation of Dominic Raab, as deputy PM, becoming caretaker PM. Boris, please don’t go….
Moving away from the parliamentary pantomime we find ourselves reading about beer, which seems to have been in the news this week. First up, we discover that a YouGov ratings report into beer and cider covering the first part of this year confirms that, whilst craft beers are fun and funky, the most popular and positively viewed products are still the big names. San Miguel, Guinness and Heineken take the top three spots, followed by two mass produced apple based drinks, Kopparberg and Bulmers. The rest of the top ten you can probably guess – Peroni, Stella Artois, Kronenbourg 1664, Magners and Corona. Brewdog, in spite of all its barking and growling, only comes 15th and will possibly be affected by their founder and CEO suggesting this week that his much reported inappropriate behaviour could stem from previously undiagnosed low-level autism. As Alice Running wrote in Metro yesterday, ‘whether or not James Watt is autistic, is irrelevant. Being autistic does not excuse bad behaviour, because being autistic does not equate to being badly-behaved.’
Staying in our hoppy place we then delved into the recently published article on the Impact of Beer and Nonalcoholic Beer Consumption on the Gut Microbiota: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial written by CINTESIS, a research facility in Porto. As ever, we read this stuff so you don’t have to and, in a nutshell, beer is good for you and it doesn’t even have to contain alcohol. They conclude that: ‘Nonalcoholic and alcoholic beer increased gut microbiota diversity which has been associated with positive health outcomes and tended to increase faecal alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker of intestinal barrier function. These results suggest the effects of beer on gut microbiota modulation are independent of alcohol and may be mediated by beer polyphenols.’
Sorry Yakult, them’s the breaks, your work here is done.
Elsewhere, we won the cricket at a canter, which is definitely something I wasn’t expecting to say. I have to confess, and I know I’ll get rebuked for this given his heroics of late, but I still cannot warm to Young Jonny Bairstow, sorry. However, I can love the fact that English Test Match cricket has risen from the ashes and has proven it can be the most exciting format. We lost the rugby against the Aussies by far more than the 2 point difference would make you believe but we did beat Austria in the opening match of the Women’s Euros. Tennis is in the balance but, as I write this, we still have Cameron from Putney keeping our hopes alive….
Anyway enough piffle, I’m told we’re about to have a heatwave weekend and that we all need to stay well refreshed, so we should probably think about opening some wine for you all to taste. As it’s such an exciting weekend, we’re going to open 3 bottles and they’ll all be coming from the fridge!
Domaine du Landrau Cremant de Loire Rosé NV – £16.99
As we said, let’s celebrate ‘Bubbles for Boris’ and pop a cork. Hailing from Anjou, Domaine du Landreau has passed through four generations of vine growers. This is made from Cabernet Franc and Grolleau, hand harvested fermented in the traditional method and then aged for 3 years on the lees. A cracking sparkler with raspberry fruit character that is an absolute joy – pink bubbles on a sunny day, it’s a no brainer!
Domaine Jouan Menetou Salon 2020 – £15.99
Menetou-Salon is a small appellation of around 300 hectares just to the south-west of Sancerre. Here the Sauvignon Blanc vines are planted on Kimmeridgian limestone soils, very similar to those of Chablis, and similar mineral notes can be detected in the wines. It has always been the case that a bit of careful hunting and tasting can find you some real gems that rival it’s more famous neighbour in the quality stakes and this is a fine example of that; fresh and floral with aromas of citrus and blackcurrant leaves and elegant mineral tones and a long finish.
Beaujolais Villages ‘Cuvée Six’ 2020 – £11.99
There’s been a quiet revolution going on in Beaujolais. Some of the smartest burgundy winemakers have been buying up parcels of land, co-operatives have been merging and there has been a quality revamp too. This wine is from the villages of Jullié and Emeringes and grown on the sandy granitic soils that produce the best Gamay. Tender, round and fruity, as you’d expect from a pure expression of this grape variety. Awesome with a plate of charcuterie and delicious from the fridge.
So, come and join us for a sip or two and raise a glass to our future – we’ll leave the last words to the ex-King of the World, which we think speaks volumes: my policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it…
Bye-Bye Bojo!