Fellow Wine Lovers,
Sometimes an email just writes itself. Incidents and accidents that occur through the working week and slowly ferment and bond until Thursday evening when they are fined and filtered, made presentable and then bottled and labelled the Weekly Wine.
I’ve been King of the Shop all week now, ruling with a rod of iron, bottles all standing to attention in serried rows, dog banished to the back room, Wayne banished to Greece.
As all great rulers know, with power comes great responsibility. It’s no longer just a question of putting your clothes on the right way round, having breakfast, walking to work and trying to be there on time; no, deliveries need to be organised, orders placed, sales made and money taken – every day apparently.
So, to the flesh of this email. As you may know we do the Park Vintners Wine Club Monthly Case which we deliver to between 30 and 40 customers each month and most of this happens in the first week of the month, in the evenings, once people are back home from work and the kids are in bed.
Yesterday afternoon I parked the Park Vintners Delivery Enabling Solution (the car, in old money) some way down the road ready for such evening deliveries. An hour or so later I saw that there were a couple of spaces free outside the shop, which would be useful to park in, since I had rather a lot of cases to load up. Jogged down the road, got the car, parked it right outside the shop – King of the Shop, King of Arthur Road Parking I was thinking smugly to myself as I walked up to the locked shop door. Good security, less useful if the keys are still inside.
I am now #1 Idiot of Arthur Road, stuck outside, slightly bereft of ideas. Clearly breaking in was an instant option but I hoped (and still hope) that if someone started breaking into our wine shop then some good citizen might call the police. In a far more regal and elegant manner, fitting my status as King, I went around to the back of the shop, forced the gate, borrowed a ladder off some builders and climbed in the back window. Far less criminal.
Once emotionally reunited with my keys, having washed the blood from my hands and regained my composure it was time to take the ladder back. When I had borrowed it, the scaffolder had said ‘that’s the wine shop isn’t it – boys we’ve struck lucky!’ which was a fair point as they didn’t look like they would have much use for a dry cleaner or some sewing supplies.
So what to give: rosé might have ended in claret being spilt everywhere, vodka might have had the owner of the property a trifle upset, so I settled for the globally accepted expression of male gratitude – a six-pack of cold beers.
Cheaper for me than a locksmith, and well received by them after a hot day in the sun!
Sambrook’s 5th Birthday – Beer as a thank you!
They’re not going to be giving us all six-packs to say thanks, but they are throwing a party to celebrate the fact that they have been doing good things to beer since 2008. They’ve linked up with Morden Hall Gardens (with the Wandle running through it) and are throwing an event called ‘Beer by the River’. There is a website www.beerbytheriver.com but I’ll give you a brief outline here:
Taking place on Saturday 14th September, from Noon until 11pm it promises to be a day filled with beer, food and music. They have split it into two sessions 12 – 5 and 6 – 11. Tickets cost £19 for adults and £5 for kids per session and there is an option to upgrade to both sessions on the day for a small fee.
A ticket includes: Entry/One Pint beer token PLUS a 1/3 Pint token for Sambrook’s exclusive ale/unique festival glass/festival programme/live music & entertainment/Food token of £5 value.
Kid’s tickets include tequila slammers and a bottle of WKD an ice cream and a soft drink, of course.
If this floats your boat and you’d like a ticket, we have some for sale here in the shop so sail on by and grab yourself a couple.
Weekend Wine
Bottles to be opened this session will be: Zeppelin Riesling £12.99 from Germany, delicious, back in today with the lovely fresh 2012 vintage and Morton Syrah £10.99 from our pals in NZ but very reminiscent of the Rhône.
So, the King of the Shop lives to rule another day, just, and he now knows he has a spare set of keys at home, knowledge that would have served him much better if his house keys hadn’t also been locked in the shop!
Cue fanfare.