Fellow Wine Lovers,
- Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me,
- Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be,
- A lovely day…
This week, all we need is love. Not tainted love, because that would give love a bad name and would probably require a love resurrection, more the groovy kind of love that grows where my Rosemary goes, that you can’t hurry, that you can’t help falling in, that one love that will keep us together rather than tear us apart. And once we have found love, what are we gonna to do with it? Not that, thank you Mr Meatloaf, if we want to know what love is we’ll probably consult the Troggs rather than you or Ms Benatar…
February 14th today, just in case you missed the hint – if necessary, we’ve got chilled Champagne ready to save your bacon!
Valentine’s Day serves as a bit of a watershed for us as it feels like we’ve got the grim dark days of January well behind us and, with half term also here, the sense that we’re moving towards brighter days – it’ll be March in two weeks’ time, which feels amazing!
We thought that by blockading news from the USA this week, we would avoid political muppetry and mistruth; however our Chancellor seems to have found herself in the hot-seat for all the wrong reasons. The suggestion that, whilst at HBOS, she might have used her expenses inappropriately on dinners, events, taxis and gifts that led to an investigation cannot be a good look for the person in charge of the government’s current account. With a sense of déjâ-vu, we also learn that perhaps her CV is not everything it purports to be, although I’m sure there are others in positions of power whose résumés wouldn’t bear too fine scrutiny. However, since all this comes in the week after the Andrew Gwynne/Oliver Ryan WhatsApp scandal and hot on the heels of ‘voice-coachgate’, it does leave a bitter taste and confirms that the moral pedestal that Labour placed themselves upon when in opposition was really not where they belonged.
At least we all know Nigel Farage is a fibber, not sure he’s ever pretended not to be but where does that leave UK politics if he’s the most transparent player!?
In sport, Tottenham fans can finally celebrate a win! Enfield Council has approved the football club’s plans to build floodlit all-weather pitches in Whitewebbs Park, taking a 25 year lease for 130 acres of the 240 acre park. The council got £2 million for this (doesn’t seem much to us) and the irony that the sports grounds will be built on a former golf course should not be lost.
A sage did warn us that once the AELTC Wimbledon Park planning application was approved that it could open the floodgates for development on green belt land and well, look, here we go… What next, Heathrow runway expansion into Windsor Great Park?
Enough of all this, let’s talk drinks and drinking. We’ve been here for 14 years now and have probably bored you to death with this fact too much already. Over the years we have seen numerous comings and goings locally – Wine Rack closed and re-opened and closed again within 18 months of our arrival; The Sampler opened on Leopold Road and sadly didn’t last; cigar specialist, Friarwood, opened in the village, followed by the Jeroboam’s deli with Amathus, the spirits specialists, practically next door; last week we learnt that local brewer, By the Horns had gone into liquidation which is a huge blow especially when you consider they started at about the same time as us, made great beer and were running the Phoenix Pub at the AFC ground. Many ups and downs, over the years.
However, yesterday we heard from a gentleman called James, who rang up out of the blue to tell us about his shop in Wimbledon Chase. The Artisans Depot is on Merton Hall Road and has just recently changed ownership – they sell wine, beer, deli goods and snacks, have plans to open a wine bar and by all accounts are an asset to the neighbourhood. We’ve obviously not had a chance to visit them ourselves but, admiring their chutzpah and ambition, we thought we’d give them a shout out! If you visit, tell them we sent you and they’ll know their marketing worked.
Time for me to stop distracting myself/answering the phone and get on with choosing some wines for the tasting table today:
V Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – £12.99 seems very appropriate for Saint V’s day. As you’d expect from Marlborough Savvy B, we have vibrant flavours and alluring aromas of zesty citrus and vivacious tropical fruits. Superbly balanced by a delightful texture and minerality, apparently a good match to Walkers Sensations Roast Chicken and Thyme crisps, according to The Crisp Sommelier!
And for the red, Gran Passione Rosso 2022 – £16.89 seems pretty darnn obvious! Made from 60% Merlot and 40% Corvina in the Veneto and made in the appassimento method to give us a rich luscious nose and palate full of sweet ripe dark cherry, plum, vanilla and spice. The Crisp Sommelier recommends Popchips barbeque but in some parts that could be seen as a crime against wine!
That’s it from us for now, no Trump-watch this week, it’s all starting to feel a bit like shooting fish in a barrel to be honest and we like fish. Ducks on the other hand…
How do you turn a duck into a soul singer?
Put it in the microwave until its bill withers
Mic drop.