Fellow Wine Lovers,
First of all, some admin.
We will be open all week this week, no early closes or late starts, just our usual, published working hours. We appreciate this is short notice and a departure from our recent foolhardy strategy of randomly closing early on the busiest evening of the week; however, hopefully we can all adapt to this new framework and enjoy it for many weeks to come without too much upheaval!
Nice to be back in long trousers this week and the opportunity to always have an umbrella at hand is much appreciated, thank you. Not much else to celebrate in the world currently, harmony and love don’t seem to be in great abundance, although the world’s most famous day-sleeper has confessed to a love of inflation which, given his ego, doesn’t come as a complete surprise. Over this side of the pond, Tommy Robinson flew to Russia to meet Errol, Elon’s estranged father, in a Moscow hotel – we wonder at what point Tommy realised he’d made an appointment with the wrong Musk?
In wine news we have no news but, as they say, no news is good news, so it’s all good news here, thank you very much.
Meanwhile, in the world of football, it’s all kicking off. The biggliest, most beautiful World Cup, like you’ve never seen before, started last night with the hosts, Mexico, playing South Africa, who have qualified for the first time since 2002. Red cards were being dished out like parking tickets but I was too busy enjoying some stringhopper fry in Tooting to watch such a fun-fest. South Africa were hosts in 2010 and, for all you trivia lovers out there, the opening match was between them and Mexico, resulting in a 1-1 draw in front of 84,490 spectators. 48 teams, 104 matches, 1 winner on Sunday 19th July – a long haul but if you don’t like football, plenty of the matches will take place when you are tucked up in bed. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan are all making their first appearances at a World Cup – welcome aboard, chaps, you’ve got this in the bag!
Meanwhile, in the world of cricket, it’s also kicking off. Love or hate Ben Stokes, or indeed Gus Atkinson, but it does feel like the ECB might be cutting of its nose to spite its face here. When David ‘Biggles’ Gower ‘buzzed the tower’ at the Carrara Oval, Queensland in 1991, he was fined £1,000. However, he wasn’t dropped – apparently, they had considered sending both of them back home (John Morris being the other ne’er do well) but decided against because the side was doing extremely poorly. Ben Stokes has history, both on and off the pitch, of making big headlines. He likes a beer, as do many sportsmen, and he broke his curfew, guilty. On the other hand, his team had finished their match, won it too, and were the furthest away from their next outing that they could possibly be – at what point does the ECB step back and let them be, fine them certainly, but dropping them feels a little heavy-handed. Rob Key, who played 15 test matches for England before failing to make the triumphant 2005 Ashes team, said yesterday:
“Even when they win a game of cricket, is it now a time when there’s just no alcohol at any time and at any stage? I need to think through these things because I don’t want to make a rash decision that hinders the team and creates a situation where they don’t feel they can do anything. But the players now have to show the public they can be trusted. At this point it’s hard to say they can.” www.bbc.co.uk
Booze and cricket perhaps don’t mix? Tell that to the fans, or indeed Lord’s, who happily list on their ‘Our Partners’ page the following:
- Asahi UK (offering Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%, Asahi Super Dry 0.0%, Meantime Craft Beer, Fuller’s new Pride Lager and Fuller’s London Pride)
- Hendrick’s Gin
- Majestic Wines
- Veuve Clicquot
- Westons – Stowford Press
Hmmm.
Meanwhile, in the world of rugby, no-one is getting disciplined, dropped or fined.
You’ve all been promising me that the weather is going to cheer up for the weekend and whilst it was hard to believe you earlier in the week, I have complete trust in your weather apps, so summery wines will be on the tasting counter this weekend. We’ve gone German, not because Wayne thinks they’re going to win the World Cup (Scotland at 250/1 is his tip) but because one of them arrived in the shop for the first time on Thursday and the other one is a summer cracker.
Both wines come from Weingut Hanewald-Schwerdt based in Pfalz, in western Germany and is a partnership between two cousins, Thomas Hanewald and Stephan Schwerdt, who have taken over the running of their family winery founded by their grandfather in 1955. Their vineyards are located between Weisenheim am Berg in the North to Ruppertsberg in the South and their focus is on dry wines, primarily made from Riesling and Pinot Noir that express their vintage and vineyard.
Riesling Trocken ‘Auf der Pochel’ 2024 – £16.49 – is crisp and dry with a fresh citrusy nose complemented by yellow fruit aromas. It has a sweet fruit mouthfeel with gentle yeasty notes and a lively acidity, very much what you would hope from a classic Riesling.
Spätburgunder 2021, Pfalz, Germany – £19.99 – Pinot Noir from Germany doesn’t appear on everyone’s radar very often! Bright strawberry and cherry notes lead the way with some delicious savoury character and good minerality. Intense and medium bodied this is designed to be drunk easily (hooray) and can be enjoyed on its own (hooray again) and doesn’t mind chilling in the fridge (hip, hip hooray).
That’s it from us, we’re here, doors open, ready for a wonderful warm weekend – let’s hope the apps are right because I’m not feeling too confident right now!