Fellow Wine Lovers,
I think this will be the last time we’re going to have to do this for a while, I hope….
Next Monday, 28th September, we will be closed until 4pm. Another bunch of tastings, thankfully this time all in one place in Clerkenwell and we’ll be sure to be back in time to cater for your Monday evening Gin & Tonic’s…
The most recent tastings that we have been to have been pretty fruitful though, so I think it’s worth us making the trip across town. We’ve found some new Port to replace the no-longer-available Krohn’s; we’ve installed some posh Italians having verified they were still up to snuff; we’ve got a new Mezcal and a new Amaro (which we don’t mind if you don’t buy it because we’ll happily take it home) and a few other things in the pipeline – no, it’s not a jolly, it’s actually our job.
In our world where we are currently under threat from AI, from the USA, from Russia and a host of other things I’m sure, it was refreshing to hear some common sense from our PM in NY earlier this week: “I do believe there is a case to remove that discrimination. There are different ways it could be done. It could happen on a trial basis.”
But to what was he referring?
Given that the USA ranks 108/143 in the ‘Equal treatment and absence of discrimination’ table published by the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, maybe the question related to that? The UK ranks 29, China 114, Venezuela 128 and Iran 133 in the table, whilst #1 is Denmark. Perhaps, if it was a serious question about discrimination, it should have been broached to their Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, when the Greenland deal was being struck last week. However, it wasn’t a question worthy of her time because it was a question of discrimination against football fans not being able to drink in their seat at a match. Pitch-side drinking was banned in 1985 for the top five tiers of English football, which essentially means that anyone born after 1967 (almost 2 generations ago) hasn’t known any different and should be quite used to 45 minutes without a pint. For us, it’s not a thing.
Andy Burnham is 56, so unless the Toffees were accepting his fake ID, it’s not a thing for him either.
And, even if drinking on the terraces did become a thing, it will be the big breweries that reap the rewards. Recently a local brewery, By The Horns, was running the Phoenix Pub at AFC Wimbledon until, sadly, they were no longer able to make ends meet and went into liquidation in early 2025, citing bad debtors, the economy and rent hikes as reasons. And now we hear more sad news. Our best selling beer producers, The Park Brewery down in Kingston, have also had to call time on their business. After 12 years of trading and trying desperately to make it work, in the end, rising costs and tough market conditions meant that there was no money left in the tills. All of their beers were excellent and well received and really there is no justice in the world if you’re doing everything right and still it goes wrong. We’ve worked with Frankie and Josh for 11 years, they were the good guys and we are bereft.
In another instance of the world of booze colliding with the world of politics, Kemi Badenoch has outlined measures that would prevent long-term jobless benefit claimants from spending their welfare payments on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling, effectively by banning them from having cash. ‘Unworkable’, said Labour and we tend to agree whilst not disagreeing necessarily with the principle. We all remember kids standing outside the offie asking you to buy them some beer and fags, now it will just be grown adults doing this; if we also then factor in the success story known as ‘shoplifiting’, which saw 20% growth in 2024/2025, we still can’t see how this plan will work.
However, keeping to the topic of ‘free’ drinks, what are we opening this weekend? As we see the weather turn more autumnal, rose and chillable reds take a back seat and heartier fare takes over so, with this transition in mind we’ll be opening a couple of Bordeaux wines this weekend, a white and a red, to help ease us in.
Château Les Tourelles Blanc 2025 – £12.99. Situated in the Cadillac-Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, this estate has been owned by the Darriet family since 1938. The vineyard is on a limestone slope with a south/southwest exposure, excellent for terroir driven wines. This blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc was so tasty we couldn’t resist it – we might be bold enough to suggest a fish finger sandwich with this one!
Château Les Tourelles Rouge 2020 – £12.99. Now, you may have spotted this is from the same producer and we find this rather tasty particularly for the price. A blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, from 35-40 year old vines vinified and aged in barriques for 18 months, has given us a supple wine with plummy fruit, a touch of wood spice and a velvety finish. Definitely a luncheon claret in style for those of you who still luncheon!
Finally, a customer of ours is selling their wine fridge because they never use it! It’s a MQuvee Sw126, about two years old and in excellent condition which they are offering for £350. They approached me first because they thought I might know someone so now I’m approaching you! If anyone is interested (it sounds like a pretty good deal) I can put you in contact and, I believe, they will even arrange delivery!
Pitch over, time for wine and, by the looks of it, a bit of sunshine!