Fellow Wine Lovers,
Whoop, whoop-di-whoop, it’s the 30th January! The first and worst month is drawing to a close and February is ready to go… however, before we get carried away, some important admin:
- As a reminder, tomorrow, Saturday 31st January, we will be closing promptly at 6pm as we need to be elsewhere in a hurry!
- Tuesday 3rd February we will be opening a bit later, as we need to attend a supplier tasting in the City but we should be back by 3pm.
- The famous January sale, 6 for 5 etc etc etc will finish on Saturday 31st January, at close of play.
- We still have a number of spaces available on our Wine & Cheese Tasting on Thursday 12th February – starts at 7.30pm – £30 per person (tickets need to be purchased in advance) – don’t miss out!
Right, enough of that, more of this. I won’t be telling you anything you don’t know but frankly, it’s been another week worth forgetting. Hosepipe bans have finally been lifted all over the country and our Exeter correspondent tells us that since they have already had 222% of their expected January rainfall, the local Wetherspoons has also experienced a 222% increase in takings. Spooners – keeping the southwest saturated.
Speaking of pubs, this week’s government U-turn announcement was that pubs and music venues would receive a rates relief package giving a 15% discount and then a two-year freeze in real terms, followed by a change in revaluation methods before 2029. Hooray, I hear you say and you’d be right, they’ve saved the pub! However, what about wine bars and restaurants, why haven’t they been afforded the same treatment? Shouldn’t pubs and bars and restaurants all be under the same umbrella, don’t they offer similar services? How can the government be so inept and unable to see the whole picture – oh, wait a minute… During Covid, one of the rumoured reasons for why we were allowed to stay open as ‘essential’ was based on the idea that since the supermarkets were allowed to sell alcohol, we should also be allowed to, in order to prevent them having an advantage/a monopoly/taking away our business. I know it’s different now to 2020 but surely the cafés, restaurants and wine bars are being disadvantaged for no good reason.
We expect an imminent U-turn addendum.
In other news, the Australian Open tennis continues in sweltering heat and we’ve got a Brit in the Men’s Doubles final. Another Brit, Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open Winner) has parted ways with her 9th coach since that slam win, a man whose CV includes being a coach to Rafa Nadal for 17 years, during which time he won 22 Grand Slams. It’s not me, it’s you…
Speaking of faded sporting glory, Tottenham Hotspur FC (First Division Winners 1950–51 & 1960–61) who can just about score a goal a game in the Premiership and have only won 7 games thus far, somehow managed to finish 4th in the Champions League first round. They won 5 of their 8 matches, scored 17 goals and have a coach who looks baffled by the whole thing – perhaps Francisco Roig might be able to help.
As we’re February bound, we are also Six Nations bound. In a first, France will be playing Ireland on Thursday night (5th February) which is clearly a fixture scheduled with travelling fans in mind rather than big money TV deals. They claim that they don’t want to clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics that takes place on Friday but I’m honestly not sure how much audience crossover there would be!
Back here in SW19 we’ve decided that the wines on tasting this weekend will be French. With the risk of a 222% tariff being put on their wines exported to the USA, we thought they could do with some help.
The white, with a nod to their President, will be Genetie Mâc(r)on Charnay ‘Les Piliers’ 2023 – £17.49. Charnay is one of the smallest of the Mâcon Villages, also renowned as one of the best. The name Genetie is from an engraving on a protected pillar at the estate. The wine is excellent, crisp and mineral with spring floral notes and stone fruit character and a full citrusy palate with a lingering finish.
The red, with a nod to the weather, is a classic claret. Château Curton La Perrière 2020 – £18.29 was a new one to us late last year. It is 100% Merlot from 30-year-old vines grown on clay and limestone just 15km south of St Émilion. Blah, blah, soil types grapes… I know. To put it another way perhaps we could say… “this is like a Pomerol for less than £20. Form an orderly queue!”
That must be it from us, and it needs to be, as my hands have gone numb from the cold. Any of you Dry-Janners, well done, welcome back, now don’t do it again!
Santé!