Fellow Wine Lovers,
So, that’s the end of an era. The Volvo finally wended its way to a charming retirement yesterday, somewhere just outside St Austell. Happily we are told that there is a vibrant Swedish ex-pat community in Little Polgooth, regular Abba nights in Hewas Water and, if the urge for meatballs and Daim bars becomes too hard to resist, Exeter has an Ikea – so all is good – although Exeter is over the border, so there may be a problem…
But we move on. From now on the PV deliveries will be sponsored by either Volkswagen, Skoda or pushbike, dependent on the size of order and the clemency of the weather but, rest assured, we will still be able to drop off your favourite tipples in a timely manner.
But we now move out of SW19. It seems that the BBC has finally enacted some of the ‘Artist Formerly Known As Twitter’ protocols that we had to institute here a good while back to curb some of Wayne’s enthusiasm. @mikeycylcing and @TheJeremyVine would be nothing without his retweet button however, he readily accepted that he had a particular responsibility to respect Park Vintners’ impartiality, because of his high profile at Park Vintners and as such would no longer be saying all those rotten things about charming Suella and her lovely brain trust at 55 Tufton Street.
What we did find interesting from this was which programmes auntie considers to be ‘flagship’:
- Antiques Roadshow
- Dragons’ Den
- MasterChef
- Match of the Day
- Strictly Come Dancing
- The Apprentice
- The One Show
- Top Gear
- major sporting events – not so many of these nowadays I think
while for radio they have spotlighted the shows presented by the following political heavyweights:
- Greg James
- Zoe Ball
- Vernon Kay
- Scott Mills
The world will be a poorer place, robbed of their commentary and insight.
Interestingly, Have I Got News For You didn’t make the flagship list, despite the fact that it is about to start its 66th season – perhaps they realised trying to silence the editor of Private Eye might be too much to ask…
But we move away from W1 and venture to Europe. In France we delighted in victories for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the Rugby, in Spain we saw Europe keep hold of the Solheim Cup whilst back in Holloway, on Sunday, Tottenham slowed Arsenal’s 2023/24 premiership campaign – I do hope those 2 points aren’t significant come May! As only Scotland are playing rugby this weekend, the rest of us can focus on the Ryder Cup that starts today, in Rome, where the big bearded fellows Rahm & Hatton got us off to winning start and then the very in-form Norway and Sweden representatives teamed up for Match 2 to do the same. Match 3 saw a return of the beard with Irish Shane joining long tall Sepp for another win and then Fleetwood Mac completed the landslide – mouth-watering stuff. Two years ago, 8 of the US players were in the world Top 10 whilst this time they have 6 and we have 4 – the gap has narrowed and we’re playing in Europe, might as well start engraving the trophy now!
And that’s about it for world news. Here on Arthur Road, having said arrivederci to Whisk a fortnight back, we said wilkommen this week to Ben Venuti who hopefully will pick up where Andrea & Sara left off and keep us all well fed with the good stuff.
Speaking of good stuff, fancy trying some wine this weekend? Good, rather hoped you’d say yes. Today we’ll be opening a white from the middle shelf and a red from the third one up.
Domaine Morin-Langaran Cuvee Caroline Picpoul de Pinet – £15.99
Picpoul is a grape variety that has been grown for years on the banks of Lake Thau, in sight of the famous oyster-beds of Bouzigues down in the Languedoc. The vines bask in the sunshine being gently aired by the salty breeze and thus this wine is unmistakably Mediterranean. The estate has been in the same family since 1966 and they produce a classic Picpoul, aged on its fine lees for complexity and the perfect match to shellfish, grilled fish or just as an aperitif!
Quinta do Espinho Colheita 2018 – £13.99
A classic blend of the Douro – Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, all of which feature in the sweet Port wines of the region and in fact these chaps also provide the Taylor’s port people with grapes. However, this is a dry wine, bright, elegant and complex with lots of red berry and cherry on the nose. The oak is light and well integrated bringing some extra length to the juicy finish, a touch of spice and green herb too – dangerously delicious and a proper all-rounder food wise.
And now we must leave you be, to continue with your daily tasks. Have a splendid weekend, and, if you’re going to watch a Michael Gambon movie, eschew the Harry Potter offerings and get your teeth into The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover and raise a glass to the maestro!