Fellow Wine Lovers,
We often like to think of this newsletter as a little view of the world gazing from the shop window. Well, I can tell you that today the view is of mostly empty parking spaces and the occasional passer-by in shorts, invariably carrying a choc-ice. SW19 has been enjoying a few days of summer this week, with real sunshine and a proper thunderstorm to end the day. I’m not sure I’ve ever been wetter!
The Olympics are on, I know some of you are there watching, a couple volunteering, maybe even some competing. I’ve been watching some on the TV, not the tennis, golf or swimming for me, I’ve been concentrating on some of the more esoteric sports, so many of them you only get to see every four years on TV.
As I write this I can hear Canoe Slalom burbling away in the background, it looks a bit of a crazy sport to me, more Indiana Jones than Matthew Pinsent. The sailing had just been cancelled for now due to lack of wind. I’m looking forward to a bit of fencing later.
I’ve seen the lunatics on the BMX course, great to watch but very scary when you think how many times they must have fallen in order to perfect those forward and back flips, let alone the no hand spins. I’ve also seen some surfing, volleyball and beach volleyball and three person basketball. Whilst we’ve been chatting the sailing restarted and then stopped again. The wind, it would appear, is a cruel mistress.
Still on the subject of the Olympics, I think we should have the person responsible for the Triathlon as the new head of Ofwat don’t you? I was so impressed that after several days of being unclean and unfit for swimming we had an overnight turnaround in quality, despite a shower that had many of the women triathletes sliding out on corners during the cycling leg.
Away from the Olympics the world seems to be carrying on. Trumpolina seems to be running scared of a debate with Kamala Harris, Kemi Badenoch apparently asked for her holiday flight to be paid with taxpayers’ money and Nigel Farage has, according to a former head of the Met’s counter terrorism unit, helped to incite violence.
The country’s financial position might not be as good as the last government led us to believe and still no money back from Michelle Mone. Meanwhile, a man from Portsmouth has been jailed for 8 months for shoplifting 798 Cadbury Creme Eggs in a crime spree that took in 19 shops across Dorset, West Sussex and Hampshire. Imagine his dentist bills!
Back to the Olympics we get on to the proper sports this weekend. The men’s road race is on Saturday, women’s road race on Sunday and then the track cycling comes at us thick and fast on Monday. There’s still some golf on to get the naps in! Chapeau to Andy Murray who retired from professional tennis yesterday after he and Dan Evans lost in the quarter finals of the doubles. He did make me smile with h is tweet of “Never even liked tennis anyway.”
There’s been a lot of talk about the photograph of the surfer, it’s amazing and worth seeking out but the one that caught my attention was Turkey’s 10m air pistol contestant Yususf Dikec. All around him, contestants had special glasses, eye patches and ear defenders whilst he looked like he’d stopped in on the way home from work. Ordinary glasses, hand in pocket all the way to claiming the silver medal. Cool as cucumber!
Wine This Weekend
We’ve got a small parcel of AIX Rosé (£18.49 or 3 for £48) which is a delicious example of the pinks of Provence. Crisp and dry with hints of raspberry and herbs. We’ll open a bottle of that to kick off with, and then will fly the spinnaker and head over to Argentina for a sample of Bodegas Staphyle Iris Malbec (£11.99) a cracking example from Lujan de Cuyo high in the Andes. Tip top with something cooked over coals if that’s the plan once the Olympics have finished for the day.
Salud¡¡