Fellow Wine Lovers,
Well, well, well – it seems we’re all going to get the sack.
Apparently the Alcohol Health Network is pushing for employers to be allowed to test their staff for ‘misuse of alcohol’ in order to decrease the amount of working days lost to hangovers and hospital visits. A thoroughly laudable concept with the nation’s health put very much to the forefront and improved productivity as its goal.
However, we are clearly a touch biased but this proposal seems to be doomed from the outset.
The sticking point is the word ‘staff’. When I used to work in Wine Bars it was never the secretaries or the post room workers that would be in for a glass of sherry at 10.30am or who would be ordering another bottle of wine at 3.30pm having been in for lunch at noon. Nor was it the trainees who, when out with their boss, would be ordering rounds of Champagne for everyone, upon losing a game of spoof. I’m in no way chastising these activities but if you want to drug test your staff it has to be lead from the front – and frankly I cannot see that happening.
Celebrate the completion of a deal with a pint of Champagne or a cup of Costa – what do you think!?
Plus the old adage that you’d rather get paid to have a hangover than wallow in your misery at home still holds true. So nice idea, but for now (and here Wayne breathes a sigh of relief) we won’t be instituting any such policy chez PV!
THE CHECKLIST – DONE’S AND TO DO’S
· Put the clocks back an hour – DONE
· Paint children luminous green, send them out onto the streets to forage for sugar coated sustenance, carve pumpkins – DONE
· Beat the Aussies at Twickenham in a scrappy mess of a game (but the score is what will be remembered!) – DONE
· Profess outrage at the fact that Hugo Lloris was allowed to play on with concussion, whilst ignoring the fact that such things have been going on in American Football and Rugby for years – DONE
· Wrap up warm, re-mortgage the house, pay to stand in a field for an hour, say ‘ooh!’ and ‘aah!’ repeatedly, reflect on why a hot dog is really called a hot dog, marvel at the value of dodgems for a fiver… – DONE
· Look at flights to the sun for early January – DONE
· Stow away shorts and suncream, defrost sweaters, gloves, scarves etc – DONE
TO DO
· Remembrance Sunday
· Buy last two tickets for Bordeaux Tasting
· Thanksgiving
· Christmas Lights turning on
· Christmas
· NYE
· 2013 – DONE
BORDEAUX TASTING THURSDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 8PM – £15 PER PERSON
As mentioned late last week we have had two places come free on our tasting next week with our pal Jeremy. Keen interest has been shown but thus far no commitment. To add a little extra incentive, here is a list of the wines that we will be tasting:
· Glass of fizz to start with (Champagne rather than Cremant de Bordeaux methinks)
· Château Thieuley Blanc 2012 – AC Bordeaux
· Château Fourcas Dupré 2001 – Listrac-Médoc
· Château Fourcas Dupré 2004 – Listrac-Médoc
· Château Thieuley Rouge 2006 – AC Bordeaux
· Château Lanessan 1996 – Haut-Médoc
· Château Faizeau 2005 – Montagne-St-Émilion
· Château Croix de Gay 2009 – Pomerol
· Something sweet – TBC
Seems a bit of a no-brainer to me….
I’VE BEEN KILLING TIME…
… waiting for a delivery which is now here, hence the tardiness of this email.
This delivery contained some new listings which I wanted to tell you about, notably:
Dom Ruinart 2002, Dom Perignon 2004, Krug Grande Cuvée Half bottles, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Ruinart Rosé, Ruinart Brut, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Cheval des Andes 2008 and Numanthia 2009.
As they are new listings and we want everyone to give them a try, Ruinart’s Rose, Blanc de Blancs and Brut have had a meeting and have decided to sell themselves for £5 less than their normal shelf price until Christmas for a single bottle (usual 6 for 5 deal applies for bulk). Bless them.
All bottles are clambering onto the shelves as I write, so will be ready to greet you later on.
TASTING THIS WEEKEND
Greywacke Sauvignon 2013 (£16.99) has just arrived from NZ so we’ll open a bottle of that for everyone’s delectation, including our own since we’ve not tasted it yet! Whilst we’re in the southern hemisphere, and perhaps sensible given the rugby fixture tomorrow, we’ll open Chakana Malbec 2013 (£10.89) from Mendoza, Argentina, a wine we have just re-listed and one that appears in this month’s Park Vintners Wine Club case. Two wines from 2013, very exciting!
But whatever you do this weekend, particularly Sunday, please do take a moment to stop what you’re doing, charge your glass in remembrance and raise a toast to Absent Friends.
Camera fade to black.