Fellow Wine Lovers,
- Babe, I love you so, I want you to know…
- That I’m gonna miss your love, the minute you walk out that door
- So please don’t go – don’t go – don’t go away
- Please don’t go – don’t go – I’m begging you to stay
Wise words, written by KC & the Sunshine Band in 1979, covered by KWS in 1992 and sung by wine merchants all over the country this week, these are sentiments that straddle the generations. Welcome to January 2025.
A quick admin note though, before we get stuck in – as often happens in January, there are tastings galore. As a result, we will be closed all day on Tuesday 14th January to attend some important ones – apologies, we will be open on Monday and Wednesday onwards…
Back to it now.
And it’s been a brutal start to the year. The Trump caravan has wobbled into town and the attendant nuttiness has perhaps set a benchmark for the months to come. If a man can actively suggest that Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal should now be part of the USA then I fear we can project what his thoughts might be regarding Ukraine becoming part of Russia. Meanwhile his current crush, Mr Musk, famous for dabbling in marijuana and ketamine, has clearly had his doors of perception opened so wide that he has time travelled more than 10 years back in time and has concluded that an individual, whose career has focused on fighting for women and victims of sexual violence, is in fact a witch and should be in prison. Welcome to January 2025.
And it’s cold. Whilst we live in a London bubble, even here we have seen the mercury touch below zero and rumour has it snowflakes have been spotted, sporadically. Around the country the news is less appealing and doesn’t seem to be getting better. Flooding in York, snow and ice chaos in Devon whilst Northumberland looks like a lunar landscape – welcome to January 2025.
Which all begs the obvious question, what on earth would possess anyone to welcome a ‘dry’ January?
Just to add to all this mirth, a quick look ahead to what is going to happen on February 1st. Currently, the duty on wines between 11.5% and 14.5% has been set at a standard rate. However, in February, new duty rates will come in to force, meaning a rise in price on most wines, since the new rates will now be on a sliding scale with duty dependent on alcohol content – effectively every 0.1% ABV will be subject to a different tariff. Thankfully, the ABV for most wine in the UK increases in 0.5% jumps, so that is a small mercy. To cut to the chase, every wine over 12% will go up in price with the hardest hit being those at 14.5% where a bottle will immediately cost 65 pence more when we buy them!
Perhaps it might be worth buying a few bottles before the end of the month which segues quite nicely into my next paragraph…
JANUARY SPECIAL OFFER – SIX BOTTLES FOR THE PRICE OF FIVE
Some of you may find this offer familiar, as indeed you should. This is our annual kick-start the year/make money to pay the VAT bill/encourage people across the threshold strategy which we have done every year since 2011 – and it works for us and hopefully it works for you too!
16.666% OFF SIX BOTTLES is another way of putting it, for those that are good at mental arithmetic.
Either way, the offer goes on until 31st January and applies to most of the wines in the shop – in fact, we’ve attached a current wine list, should you fancy a perusal.
Whilst we’re talking attachments, we’ve also attached the notes for this month’s WINE CLUB wines. For those of you that don’t know, each month we select 6 wines for £75 and 6 wines for £100 that we think you might like. The way the club works is simple – give us your email address and at the start of each month we’ll send you the notes and you can decide whether they tickle your fancy. Should you be tickled, you just need to respond affirmatively and we’ll deliver them to you at a mutually convenient time. There are no strings or fees, just the cost of the wines, so you can dip in and out at will. It’s very simple, just let us know if you fancy joining in…
This month the £75 case includes:
- Cave de Turckheim Riesling 2021, Alsace, France
- De Wetshof Bon Vallon Chardonnay 2023, Robertson, South Africa
- Orovela Cuvée Chandrebi 2007, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia
- Cantine Povero Barbera D’Asti ‘Dianae’ 2023, Piemonte, Italy
- Famiglia Bianchi Malbec 2022, Mendoza, Argentina
- Palacio del Camino Real Reserva 2017, Rioja, Spain
Whilst the £100 case contains:
- Domaine Jouan Menetou Salon 2023, Loire, France
- Max Ferd. Richter ‘Zeppelin’ Riesling 2023, Mülheimer Sonnenlay, Mosel, Germany
- Meerlust Chardonnay 2023, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Chateau de Paraza ‘Cuvée Spéciale’ 2020, Minervois, France
- Finca Bacara ‘Time Waits For No One’ 2022, Jumilla, Spain
- ‘La Côte Sauvage’ Cairanne 2021, Rhône, France
To whet your whistles, this weekend we’ll be opening the orange wine from Georgia – Orovela Cuvée Chandrebi 2007 – £12.99 and then for the red, a new listing,Famiglia Bianchi Malbec 2022 – £14.99 which seems appropriate for the current climate!
That’s it from us; we’ll leave you with these last words:
- Don’t you, forget about me
- As you walk on by, will you call my name?
- As you walk on by, will you call my name?
- When you walk away, or will you walk away?
Over and Out.