Fellow Wine Lovers,
We’ll start off this week with an apology. We mentioned the sun in last week’s note and it promptly sent a few solar flares and a wonderful display of the aurora borealis before returning the rain to us. We’re keeping shtum this week.
We are approaching, albeit rather slowly, a General Election. We know this, not because Kier Starmer has set out some of the things they might like to do if elected (change the wallpaper?) but because yesterday, Rishi Sunak appeared on Loose Women and revealed that being on the programme was one of the most intimidating things he’s done. He also revealed that if he is not on the winning side and elected as PM, he will stay on as an MP. Still a bit of an assumption in that comment we thought but perhaps we should lobby for Janet Street-Porter to be on the Standards Committee?
Due to an impending shortage of train drivers, the government is consulting on lowering the age at which one can become a locomotive operator. It could be that soon we’ll have 18 year old train drivers; we contacted a number of teenagers to gauge the interest in driving a train, but didn’t get much of a response past a cursory grunt. In unrelated news, HSBC, KPMG and Deloitte have all had to withdraw job offers for foreign students due to visa rules changes.
In Devon, we saw South West Water issue a ‘boil water notice’ after many residents of Brixham reported an icky tummy and twenty two of them were found to be suffering from cryptosporidiosis, a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite. How many more gallons of sewage will be dumped in our rivers and lakes before we see cholera putting the NHS under pressure?
Moving onto sporting endeavours, we couldn’t help but notice it’s PGA Championship time again. Given the performance Rory put in last week, and the fact he plays so well when there is a bit of domestic stress, we think it could be his weekend.
In the Premiership, it’s all come down to the last game. To win the Premier League, Arsenal need to beat Everton at home, whilst hoping that West Ham win in Manchester, whilst Tottenham Hotspur need to draw at the minimum with Sheffield United to have any European travel next season. At this stage I fancy Alex’ chances more than Wayne’s.
Over in Italy we have some proper sport conducting itself rather excitingly around the country. Tadej Pogačar is still riding around dressed like the Pink Panther with a lead of over 2 minutes from Daniel Martinez and Geraint Thomas in second and third respectively. Today’s stage is a pan flat 179km stage that should end in a bunch sprint for the crazy guys, difficult to look past Jonathan Milan given his form so far, but surely Kaden Groves is due a win.
Tasting This Weekend
This week we’ll be visiting Niederösterreich in Austria, which is the home to Funkstille Grüner Veltliner 2023 (£14.49). It is a cracking example of Grüner Veltliner, rich with pear and melon fruit character and a fresh, zippy finish. The winery produces its own fertiliser from grape skins, manure and straw in a Biogas plant which also produces more than enough energy, along with some solar panels, to power the entire estate.
We’ll head further east for the red. Arriving in Bulgaria, we’ll head straight to the Bessa Valley to taste Domaine Bessa Valley Enira 2018 (£19.99). This is a recent discovery on one of those days we opened a bit late. It’s a blend of 66% Merlot, 20% Syrah and 14% Petit Verdot aged for 12 months in French Oak. In the glass, the wine has plum and forest fruits, a touch of cocoa and lovely silky tannins. After we’d put our double tick (our buy signal) in the tasting book we got chatting and discovered the estate is in Count Stephan von Neipperg stable. He also owns Canon La Gaffelière, Clos de L’Oratoire, La Mondotte and d’Aiguilhe in Bordeaux, several of which we have offered shelf space in the recent past. We’re pretty excited about it so do come and give it a go.
I’m off to cheer for West Ham!