Fellow Wine Lovers,
Here we are barely into May and we’ve all broken out the suntan lotion, Ray-bans and found Wayne in his shorts! The BBC reports it is the hottest start to May on record with temperatures hitting 28˚C here in London. We’ve been dosing up on the hay fever meds, salads and rosé wine.
We’ve now had 100 days of the Tango Tariffmeister who insists the negative US economic numbers this week are nothing to do with tariffs. Meanwhile, his chief economic adviser, Stephen Miran, had a meeting with bankers and hedge fund managers who found him to be “incoherent” and “out of his depth”. I don’t know about you but I think the US will come to rue its loss of ‘reserve currency’ economic status.
It also appears that the IMF has bailed out Argentina. Again. At least that should keep the supply of Malbec nice and steady!
Tesla have denied reports in some quarters that they have been talking to head hunters in a bid to replace Musk. For information purposes Tesla’s share price opened at 432.64 on January 21st and closed at 282.16 on April 30th.
Here in the UK, Marks and Spencer, Co-op and Harrods have had their business disrupted by cyber-attacks.
Outside of London some folk will have been voting in their local elections, which I’m sure will find us a photo of Nigel Farage with a pint of bitter in his hand. Maybe he’ll switch to a milkshake IPA!
As Tate Modern hits 25 years old, I still remember the giant spider in the Turbine Hall when I first visited. I also remember less fondly not being able to get tickets to see Kraftwerk play there. I still can’t think of a more apt venue for them. Anyway, do pop along and have a mooch around. Something that’s free that makes you richer.
In international news, Japan’s busiest bullet train line screeched to a halt on Wednesday after a snake wrapped itself around the power line and shorted the supply. Not the best start to Golden Week!
Spain and Portugal also suffered power issues this week and investigations as to the cause are ongoing. Apparently unplugging the long extension lead has been ruled out!
In wine news the Bordeaux 2024 en primeur campaign is slipping down nicely, if relatively ignored. The quality isn’t all that and the prices have come down to 2013/2014 release prices without generating much interest.
Today is International Sauvignon Blanc Day so we shall open a bottle of Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2024 (£22.99). This is the 15th vintage we have stocked, having started with Kevin’s inaugural vintage in 2009. We rather like his phrase “Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with the volume turned down a notch!”
We were lucky enough to have a brief chat with roving winemaker Matt Thompson (Blank Canvas and others) in January. He told us he thought 2024 Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough was the best quality fruit he’d encountered in his 32 vintages there!
On the red front we’ll be sampling Famiglia Bianchi Gran Corte 2020 (£19.99). This appealing blend of Malbec (37%), Cabernet Sauvignon (30%), Merlot (26%) Cabernet Franc (7%) from the Uco Valley won a trophy at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. Why not come and see if you like it as much as the judges? We’re suggesting it might be tasty with some Barbecue!
That’s it from us for this week; we’re Waltzing out of the door!