Fellow Wine Lovers,
To recap then:
Coldplay did not finish with Clocks.
Slovakia has gone home and, remarkably, it will be England to face Switzerland on Saturday.
Sir Mark Cavendish is, of course, the greatest Tour de France stage winner, having won majestically the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas stage on Wednesday, a day ahead of our schedule.
We saw Andy Murray and brother Jamie lose on Centre Court yesterday evening and not a dry eye could be found in the house! There’s still another chance though, as he is due to team up with Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles.
I think we all suspected hiring a helicopter to go strawberry picking would be a folly!
Quite some years ago the US had a chap called Richard Nixon as President. In a rather famous interview with David Frost in 1977, he said “Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.” On Monday this week the US Supreme Court appeared to pretty much enshrine that in law. It may come as a surprise but several of these judges were appointed by Trumpolina whilst he still had keys to the White House. No prizes for who might benefit from the decision.
We’ve also had the first debate between Biden and Trump for the November election. Neither covered themselves in glory but it seems falsehoods and lies trumped bewilderment in the eyes of the swing states. I don’t know why but that Chinese curse about living in interesting times keeps popping up in my head lately.
Closer to home, we hope you all remembered your ID, wondered on the policy implications of a bungee jump and actually got to cast your vote yesterday. Not all the results are in yet but we do appear to have lost that odious toad Rees-Mogg, swordsmith Penny Mordant and, of course, Lettuce Liz. Bungee jumps do appear to have helped the Lib Dem and we have a new PM in Sir Kier Starmer. We’re heading into a time of change, here’s hoping that it’s all for the better!
Biggest surprise of election day though is a knighthood for Chris Grayling, the only transport minister to have doored somebody with a ministerial car! That said Lord Grayling of Failing does have a certain je ne sais quoi.
There’s an enormous amount of sport on at the moment, we mentioned England facing Switzerland on Saturday (5pm!) but before we head there we’ll enjoy Spain and Germany facing off at 5pm and Portugal playing France at 8pm both on Friday. Whilst the later game on Saturday involves the Netherlands tackling Turkey.
Just across the way there’s some absolutely cracking tennis going on with seeds being cast aside, harsh schedules pitching British women numbers 1 and 2 against each other in a game that went to a thrilling tie break with Harriet Dart prevailing.
We’ve also got the Tour de France going on, the women’s Giro d’Italia starts on Sunday and the F1 Grand Prix circus has landed at Silverstone for the weekend. Unsurprisingly, Mr Verstappen is the bookies favourite but let’s see how the weekend plays out.
In wine news, Lidl has put out a red wine swirl ice cream, yes, ice cream. It looks like raspberry ripple gone rogue. We had just one question, why? In Gravesend, a teacher has been fired after being found sat in his car in the school car park drinking wine at lunch time. Even in the City a boozy lunch doesn’t float like it once did, clearly the message hasn’t got that far east yet!
Tasting This Weekend
We’ll start in Spain with J. Fernando Verdejo 2023 (£14.49) from Rueda. We were really rather chuffed to find a Rueda Verdejo at this price, usually they’re a few quid more expensive. The family has had vineyards for three generations and now, having completed their new winery in 2017, they have produced a fabulously zesty quaffer. A fabulous balance of fruit and herb notes and that lovely zesty finish will be pitch-perfect with a platter of Cantabrian anchovies.
We’ll then head to Marlborough, New Zealand for a snifter of Mahi Pinot Noir 2022 (£29). We’ve stocked wines from Brian on and off over the years but never had this one on the shelves. They always are looking for a decent texture in their wine and to achieve this grapes are always hand harvested, sorted and then fermented with wild yeast. Come along and see what you think!