Fellow Wine Lovers,
Tasks for this weekend:
- Rugby – Ireland v Italy – 2.10pm Saturday 14th
- Rugby – Scotland v England – 4.40pm Saturday 14th
- Rugby – Wales v France – 3.10pm Sunday 15th
- Priority – Valentines Day – all day Saturday 14th
- Priority – Dinner and Gifts – any time after 7pm Saturday 14th
- FA Cup/Winter Olympics – watch highlights once other tasks completed
One would add that, if you want your priorities to be successful and well received, one should perhaps postpone the Guinness/Peroni/Tennent’s Extra/Neck Oil adventure until later in the day.
So, yes, it’s St Valentine’s Day this weekend, which is the first time it has fallen on a Saturday for 11 years, I’m told. By all accounts, on 14th February 2015, Australia beat England by 111 runs in the opening round of the ICC Cricket World Cup (spoiler alert: Australia won the whole competition whilst England failed to progress to the knockout stages). Meanwhile, a fragile ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas War had been agreed which was then quickly broken and still they are fighting… not enough has improved over the last decade, sadly.
In the 2015 Six Nations, on this date England beat Italy (47-17), Ireland beat France (18-11) whilst Scotland would lose to Wales (23-26) at Murrayfield on the Sunday.
And with that, you are all suitably equipped with a rich variety of candlelit dinner conversation starters – thank me later.
Should romance, and not rugby, be your thing, here’s some background, courtesy of www.history.co.uk/articles/the-pagan-roots-of-valentine-s-day
“many historians believe the day originated from the Roman pagan festival of fertility called Lupercalia…. a major festival on the Roman calendar commemorated every year on February 15. It was held in honour of the gods Faunus and Lupercus, the gods of agriculture and fertility. In a representation of fertility and because Lupercus was a god of shepherds, two male goats were sacrificed in the cave. This was followed by the sacrifice of a dog to represent purification and because dogs often guard the flocks. Blood taken from the sacrificial knife was then smeared across the foreheads of two naked Luperci. The knife was then wiped clean with a piece of milk-soaked wool. Historians have suggested this ritual is the reason why Valentine’s Day is associated with the colours red and white; red represents the blood from the sacrifice whilst white represents the milk on the wool that wipes the knife clean, signifying new life.”
Ok, perhaps not as romantic as one might hope, let’s read on:
“Feasting followed this ritual and after stomachs were full the Luperci cut strips from the sacrificed goats called ‘thongs’ and dipped them in the sacrificial blood. The Luperci then ran naked through the streets of Rome and whipped any woman within striking distance. Many welcomed the lashings, often revealing bare skin for the thongs to strike. The Romans believed that the thongs would make childless women more fertile whilst blessing pregnant women with the gift of an easy birth.”
Hmmm, not sure about the naked whipping thing but I think the next bit might be closer to what we now recognise:
“Another custom during Lupercalia was the pairing of young Roman boys and girls. At some point during the festival, the names of young girls were written on bits of paper and slipped into a jar. Every young man would then pull out a girl’s name from the jar; the pair would then be coupled together for the duration of Lupercalia. Many stayed together until the following year’s festival, some even fell in love and married.”
Bless.
In the real world, the mainstream media continues to publish many of the same stories as last week whilst in the wine world there is a definite news lull, perhaps they’ve all gone skiing? One piece of news that did raise a smile was the release of the 2026 Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland which gave the restaurant Opening of the Year Award to Maria Bradford’s Shwen Shwen in Sevenoaks. Now, we know a little bit about Sevenoaks and honestly never imagined that this soulless dormitory town would become home to ‘an unforgettable dining experience that brings the rich, vibrant flavours of Sierra Leone to Sevenoaks.’ Chapeau, Maria; Chapeau, Sevenoaks – most exciting thing to happen here since the storm of 1987!
So, what are you going to drink with your fancy food on Saturday night? If it helps, we’ll be opening the following wines this weekend: Collequieto Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2024 – £13.99 and Valenciso Rioja Reserva 2019 – £29.00.
We chose the white because it comes from Italy, the home of Lupercalia. Hailing from Abruzzo this comes from a family vineyard, with around 35 hectares between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic coast, who we think offer excellent value. Verdicchio is one of Italy’s noble white varieties and this has delicate hawthorn aromas as well as apple and citrus. The palate is a little richer with a lovely freshness, some minerality and a touch of nuttiness to the finish.
The red, from Rioja, is a wine we’ve been banging on about since Alex visited them in 2007, the winery having been established in 1998 as a collaboration between ex Bodegas Palacios’ Luis Valentin and Carmen Enciso. They are fully quality focused with the Reserva being their flagship wine – they don’t make a Crianza or a Gran Reserva. The wine offers us savoury aromas alongside lifted, perfumed notes of violet and blackberry leading to an elegant palate – tight and concentrated with spice, fine tannins, great complexity and purity.
Delicious.
That’ll be it from us, as a quick heads up, we’ll be opening a bit later on Tuesday 17th, another tasting in town I’m afraid, but I imagine a number of you will be tucking into a Jambon Buerre on some forsaken French hill, so you won’t even notice!
Don’t ignore the task list at the top – if it helps, we have lots of cold Champagne!