Fellow Wine Lovers,
First up, a quick admin reminder:
The shop will be closed all day next Friday, 30th August, due to a close bereavement. We hope you understand and apologise for any inconvenience caused. We will be open again at midday on Saturday.
Now, you may have noticed time and again that Wayne has rather strict parameters as to what constitutes ‘proper sport’. Simply put, if it’s got a bike involved it’s a proper sport to be taken seriously, anything else is just a pastime or a hobby. Cycling is profound, it can be used as a metaphor for many of life’s struggles, it’s not for the faint hearted and it’s not light hearted.
Mock cycling at your peril.
On August 14th 2021, the Vuelta a España, Spain’s most serious and profound bicycle race, kicked off (probably the wrong term but pedalled off sounded worse) inside Burgos Cathedral, which was unusual for a Saturday. However, having visited this cathedral with my daughter a few years earlier, I can report that it is certainly big enough to house a peloton and that it’s nowhere near as exciting as the ice cream shop around the corner, according to my girl.
Anyway, a serious building for a serious sport.
Fast forward to Thursday 22nd August 2024, also known as yesterday. Stage 6 of this iteration of the Vuelta started in the famous Andalucian town of Jerez de la Frontera. An opportunity perhaps for Roglic and the boys to pedal through the solera at Bodegas Alvaro Domecq or take a spin around the bullring before getting on with the serious stuff, but no, this was not to be. The peloton, as well as the lead vehicle for Vuelta Race, paraded through the Carrefour Jerez Sur. Yes, you read that right, the stage started in a supermarket – sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
As discussed, a serious building for a serious sport!
And whilst this is all going on, The Junior Tour of Wales has had to re-route due to the draconian 20mph speed limits enforced across the country – apparently the bikes are fine to exceed this limit but the support cars are not! Hmmmm…
You probably realise by now that it’s been a bit of a quiet news week and Phil Space has been enlisted to help write this epistle.
One of our regional contributors (York office) pointed out something we all missed last week – one of his great pals, Nadim Zahawi, had forwarded him a poll from YouGov HQ revealing that “One in four Britons think they could qualify for the 2028 Olympics if they started training today”.
I know, that’s a lot of us. If we consider that the UK population over 16 years old stands at just over 42 million then, according to the poll, over 11 million of us are going to make it to Los Angeles in 2028 – that’s roughly the population of Belgium! So, if we got 70 medals this time and only sent 327 athletes, we should come back from California with over 2,000 necklaces in 2028 – cannot wait!
This breakdown made us smile though:
- 39% of 18-24 year olds
- 34% of 25-49 year olds
- 23% of 50-64 year olds
- 15% of 65+ year olds
There are some very ambitious pensioners out there who, I imagine, will focus rather more on the golf than the rugby sevens!
Speaking of percentages, having done our own research, it would seem that 80% of the residents of Wimbledon are currently not resident in SW19 and we imagine will remain wherever they are until next weekend, having taken advantage of the late summer bank holiday weekend that we are just starting.
For the lucky 20% of you who are still in situ, here’s what we are going to open this weekend. It would seem that the weather is going to be a bit iffy tomorrow (Saturday) but the prospects for sunshine without showers are looking good for Sunday and Monday, so let’s focus on sunny drinking…
This weekend, we’ll mostly be drinking Pinot Noir.
Barton Pinot Noir Rosé 2022 – £12.99 this is another cracking wine from our chums at Barton, down in Walker Bay, South Africa. Pale salmon coloured in your glass with lovely aromas of red berries lead on to a palate that is crisp and dry with raspberry fruit and a creaminess to the finish. Excellent balance of freshness and fruit and dangerously easy to quaff – we think this is a real winner and if it was from Sancerre, it would be twice the price!
Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2022 – £32.00. Can one have a ‘go to’ Pinot Noir? If you can, then this would be the one for us, hailing form the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Slightly unfairly referred to as their entry level wine, this has more sophistication and character in its little finger than a number of New World Pinot’s demanding higher prices. Lovely ripe fruit on the attack with some gentle spice coming through towards the finish and a fabulously long and silky finish – being Aussie, it doesn’t mind a bit of barbecue, so light those coals!
That’s it from us for this week, remember not to go to work on Monday and to not visit us on Friday, we’re off now to find out how we can become a start line for the Tour Of Britain!
Serious stuff.