Fellow Wine Lovers,
Wow, what a week – to summarise:
England beat Senegal to get through to the Quarter Finals in Qatar – lots of goals, lots of different goal scorers in the England team, lots of pace and the prospect of putting some shots past the fading Hugo Lloris on Saturday has them licking their lips…
England beat Pakistan in the First Test, breaking many records en route – lots and lots of runs, lots of digging deep, lots of different wicket takers in the mix, bring on round two…
Eddie Jones has been given the Spanish archer – not before time for many of us.
The Trump Organization have been found guilty on 17 counts of tax fraud – of course DT has nothing to do with any of this with his defence lawyers stating that, despite personally signing several cheques and leases, Trump was unaware of the tax fraud being committed by his closest lieutenants! Can’t wait to see what happens next…
Baroness Mone of Mayfair might need similarly brazen lawyers as she faces various investigations into her and her husband’s use of the £200million they were given in 2020 for inappropriate PPE. Currently the National Crime Agency, the House of Lords standards commissioners, the House of Commons public accounts committee are all very, very interested… as is typical of people blatantly in the wrong (see also Paterson, Owen) Michelle is taking leave of absence from the Lords with immediate effect, “in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”.
Rishi Sunak is reportedly a bit surprised and shocked by all this – perhaps, as Sir Keir said, he should consult immediately with whoever was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020…. perhaps the quote from Trump’s lawyers could fit here too? Despite personally signing several cheques and leases, Sunak was unaware of the fraud being committed by his closest lieutenants!
Meanwhile, whilst we get closer to a General Strike, the rich just seem to get richer.
Earlier this week, Bernard Arnault temporarily became the world’s richest person on Forbes’ real time billionaires list, surpassing everyone’s favourite chancer Mr Musk. For those of you unaware of Bernard’s monetary pursuits, he is the owner of LVMH, who have in their portfolio, amongst others: Acqua di Parma, Ardbeg, Belvedere, Birkenstock, Château Cheval Blanc, Château d’Yquem, Christian Dior, Cloudy Bay, Dom Pérignon, Fendi, Givenchy, Glenmorangie, Guerlain, Hennessy, Hublot, Krug, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Mercier, Moët & Chandon, Ruinart, Tiffany & Co. and Veuve Clicquot – yeah, I know, can’t begin to understand how he became so wealthy!
Anyway, enough of all this nonsense, let’s talk wine and Christmas. Two weeks to go, plenty of shopping days left but perhaps time to start thinking about it all – with this in mind, let me introduce you to the Christmas survival kits we’ve put together:
THE CHRISTMAS MIXED CASE – £100
Lété-Vautrain 204 Brut NV, Charly-Sur-Marne, Champagne, France
De Wetshof Bon Vallon Chardonnay 2021, Robertson, South Africa
Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2021, Marlborough, New Zealand
Domaine Fournillon Pinot Noir 2019, Bourgogne Epineuil, France
Flametree Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot 2018, Margaret River, Australia
Magnifico Rosso Primitivo di Manduria 2021, Puglia, Italy
CHRISTMAS REDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD – £140
La Colombaia Amarone 2018, Veneto, Italy
Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2019, Victoria, Australia
Sottano Selección Blend 2019, Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina
The Chocolate Block 2021, Swartland, South Africa
Valenciso Reserva 2014, Rioja, Spain
Viña Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Pasa Robles, USA
FRENCH CLASSICS FOR CHRISTMAS – £150
Cave de Turckheim Riesling Grand Cru Brand 2018, Alsace
Domaine Moingeon St Aubin 1er Cru ‘Les Frionnes’ 2019, Burgundy
Domaine Roblin Sancerre ‘Terres Blanches’ 2021,Loire Valley
Domaine Belleville Mercurey ‘Champ Ladoy’ 2017, Burgundy
Domaine La Font de Notre Dame Gigondas 2019, Rhône
Domaine Valmengaux 2016, Bordeaux
THE CHRISTMAS CLARET CASE – £150
Château Grandis 2009, Haut-Médoc
Château La Menotte 2016, Lalande de Pomerol
Château Lucas 2015, Lussac-St-Émilion
Château Patache D’Aux 1996, Médoc
Domaine Valmengaux 2016, AC Bordeaux
Vieux Château Gaubert 2010, Graves
All the cases come with tasting notes, which we have attached for your perusal.
Tasting this weekend
Well, with two weeks to go, why not push the boat out, as they say?
Valenciso Blanco 2021, Rioja, Spain – £21.99 – This is a blend of 70% Viura and 30% Garnacha Blanca, sourced from 80 year old vines and then fermented with wild yeasts before lazing around for 9 months in Caucasian oak barrels. Complex aromas combining pretty, floral characters with preserved lemon, truffle and smoky notes. The palate is broad and well integrated with nuts and stone fruit characters. Fresh candied peel, minerality and crisp citrus acidity on the finish. The texture in the mouth was similar to a posh Graves but believe me when I say it’s unmistakably Spanish in style which is why I often pair it with the Christmas Eve fish extravaganza!
La Colombaia Amarone Della Valpolicella 2018, Veneto, Italy – £26.99 – The grapes are hand harvested at the end of October and these late harvested grapes are dried for four months until January following the vintage. Four months fermentation followed by two years barrel ageing gives us a richly flavoured and approachable Amarone with layers of ripe plum and cherry fruit, mocha and spice. Absolutely perfect to partner with a comfy chair!
Meanwhile, in the eto:
Porto Krohn Vintage 2003 – £50 – Wet weather in winter and spring of 2003 was followed by a very hot August which led to the grapes showing high concentration and sweetness but relatively low acidity. The result is this award-winning Port – rich, powerful and complex. Retaining a deep and youthful colour, the nose has intense black fruit characters, with notes of plum, black cherry, sweet spices, liquorice and vanilla. The palate has structure and concentration, with more of that rich, ripe plum and cherry character, more spice and firm tannins. Drinking really well right now, this had Christmas written all over it when we tasted it in September!
Of course, we also have our usual selection of spirits open to taste, joined once again by this year’s batch of Foxdenton Estate Christmas Liqueur – £23 – made with Winslow Plums and a blend of traditional Christmas spices including Ginger, Clove, Cinnamon, and Star Anise, our Christmas Liqueur, is the ideal winter warmer. All this needs is a mince pie and an open fire!
That should be all from us for this week, we’ve taken up too much of your time already, so have a lovely weekend and stay warm!!