Fellow Wine Lovers,
As some of you may have noticed, lately we have been swanning off on mostly Monday and Tuesday mornings to attend tastings. It’s that time of year and there’s a couple more to come, so thanks for bearing with us.
So how did it go this week? Well Monday saw us at a tasting that was not at all what we were expecting. The wide ranging portfolio tasting we were expecting turned out to be a much focussed event featuring barely a handful of producers, many of which we were familiar with. We tasted a Provençal rosé that was so pale that it defied the name. So pale in fact that I suspect if it hadn’t have said rosé on the label a gambling man might have had his chips on white! We were back at the shop with our lunch by 1.30 that day.
Tuesday saw us start off at a church associated with Jack the Ripper and delivered a much more rewarding tasting experience. Checking some new vintages of things we already list, spotting a couple of things that we shall try and shoehorn onto the shelves. We also managed to catch up with Swiss, an old chum from Oddbins days and have a quick catch up with the lovely Amy who looks after us remotely from Manchester.
Then, we hot-footed it to Westminster just as quickly as you can ever hot-foot it on the District line.
Here we found ourselves charmed by a bottle of Champagne that was half the price of the one we were supposed to find charming. Oops! We also found ourselves wondering if Manzanilla spritz really would be the drink of the summer, whilst simultaneously bumping into our chum Michael, a wine buyer at one of the London clubs. We’ve known him for so many years I guess we’ll have to stop thinking of him as ‘young Michael’ now. We also discovered that the uniform of the Yeomen from the Tower of London in civvies is almost as striking as their ‘proper’ uniform. Markedly less red though.
Talking of red, whilst having a chat about blends with the upstanding gentleman from Fleur de Boüard, Wayne found himself on the receiving end of an unexpected intervention from the beer buyer for one of the supermarkets: “No, they’re all the same blend just different ages!” Thanks for that! Overall though they were an interesting couple of tastings with the possibility of some new wines in the not too distant future.
Talking of tastings, we feel it is prime time to announce our next Cheese and Wine Tasting: Thursday 16th April at 7pm. Cost is £30 per head.
Six nations continues on the Rugby front, Ireland host Wales tonight, France travel to Scotland for the early game, and England will have time for a spot of sightseeing in Rome before starting the later game on Saturday. Will Italy make history?
Talking of Italy, in proper sports it’s Strade Bianche on Saturday. If you’ve not watched before, it’s a fabulous mix of white gravel roads and punchy climbs. It marks the opening of the 2026 campaign for three times winner Tadej Pogačar. He certainly starts as the bookies favourite, but Tom Pidcock is not to be ruled out with one win under his belt already. This race certainly appears to match his skill set. In the women’s race last year’s winner Demi Vollering is probably favourite, but do keep an eye out for Puck Pieterse.
Tasting This Weekend
We can’t promise you liveried tasters or the appearance of old chums, but we can offer something really rather tasty to tantalise your taste buds for the weekend.
We’ll start off in Swartland South Africa with Patina Chenin Blanc 2021 (£26.99). Local chap Tim Atkin MW describes it: “The nose entices with its fresh green fruit character showing aromas of Granny Smith and yellow apple, fresh pineapple, papaya, greengage and lime with whiffs of fig, acacia and lemon verbena. The fruit profile of the nose follows through onto the palate with flavours of poached pear, passion fruit, nectarine and quince. The mid-palate is very balanced with a soft, smooth mouthfeel and a vibrant, yet integrated, lemony acidity. Fresh tropical fruit lingers on a clean finish with hints of tarragon and ginger.” 92 Points.
For the red we’ll head down to Bordeaux for Lussac Saint- Émilion superstar Chateau Lucas 2016 (£24.99). This estate has been owned by the same family since the 16th century. The Vauthier family own several estates in Bordeaux, also counting Ausone and Fonbel amongst their holdings. This wine is a fifty/fifty blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot and to this taster is an absolutely cracking wine. Shall we have a roast at the weekend?
So drop by, say hi and have a taste!