Fellow Wine Lovers,
As I sit here, gazing across the Park Vintners estate, watching the red plumed Royal Mail van going about its daily tasks on Melrose Avenue, listening to the gentle twitter of scaffolders crowding around the feeding table at Manuel’s The Baker, drowsing to the reassuring buzz of diesel vans flitting up and down Arthur Road, I reflect that there is very little not to like about British summertime in London. As shards of dull, grey light flood the front of the shop and the cooling North Easterly wafts through the door, keeping the temperature easily within single figures, it seems to me there is nowhere else I would rather be right now…
For sure.
Doom and Gloom
But it’s not all doom and gloom. At long last the EU has addressed the malevolent trend that is ‘dipping oil’ in restaurants and bars. For too long we have had to put up with generous restaurateurs, often Italian, offering us a basket of bread and with it a little bowl of virgin olive oil and perhaps a little balsamic dropped in there too. Take the bread, dip, sprinkle some salt on it and eat. Disgusting, but fortunately now this sort of behaviour will be stopped as the busy Brussels bureaucrats have demanded oil be served in tamper proof glass bottles, to maintain authenticity.
But is this enough?
I want my salt to have geographical reference to which sea it originates. Clearly the balsamic should be from Modena, that’s fine, but what of the bread, I hear you cry. Well I personally will only be happy once I am cutting it myself at the table with an approved knife on an EU sanctioned board. Or perhaps I should bring my own from home. Or perhaps I should just stay at home and avoid any risk of contamination from ‘food’.
We thank you, Brussels.
This weekend we greet the second May Bank Holiday (as a result we’ll be shut on Monday, dozing in the hammock) , we welcome the Germans to Wembley on Saturday night for the Champions League Final and we have local golf at Wentworth. The second Test against New Zealand starts again today and please, no-one call it an ‘Ashes Warm-Up’ because firstly that sounds a bit weird and most likely illegal, and secondly it could be seen as disrespectful to our honoured guests…
Something for the long weekend….
So, as we now move swiftly away from summer and more towards the wintery red season, we would like to remind you all that our delicious Chateau de L’Aumerade Rose Cru Classé 2012 (12.99) from Provence has a six bottle discount of 10% – six being the universally recognised quantity required for a Bank Holiday weekend. To refresh your palates we will have a bottle open this weekend, from sundowners on Friday until late on Saturday and we’ll happily carry the box to your car for you!
We’ll also pour out a bottle of red, as is our wont, and this week the lucky fella is Colonia Las Liebres Bonarda 2012 (10.99). Bonarda is a grape variety brought to Argentina by Italian settlers at the beginning of the 20th century and is now the 2nd most planted variety. It produces lighter wines than Malbec with a juicy succulence and freshness without giving up on richness. This one has a lovely raspberry fruit character that sets off its soft tannins beautifully.
Pop by and see us anytime but don’t forget to bring us some sunshine!
Alex & Wayne