Fellow Wine Lovers,
Here was the news:
· Euromillions numbers: 8 19 28 32 46 – Star Balls 4 7 – no winners, €15,000,000 rollover…
· Temperatures fall to -11C in parts of Somerset
· Second Test in Adelaide, day 1: Australia 245 (85.5 overs); England 1/0 (1 over). England trail by 244 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
· Bankia was formed as a result of the union of seven Spanish financial institutions, with major presence in their areas of influence
· Megamind, Secretariat, Monsters – all released in UK cinemas (did we see these?)
· Better Than Today by Kylie released (I know, me neither)
· Some selected Mail online headlines:
Not bad for a 22-year-old: F1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone’s daughter Petra to buy £66m house
Jobless couple with six children demand bigger house (but say, ‘We’re not scroungers, honest!’)
Two to Tango-ed? Strictly’s fake tanned Gavin Henson and Katya Virshilas do after-hours quickstep to ITV movie party
Sixteen… or six? Justin Bieber draws on his face, plays with toys and throws a tantrum at restaurant
But whilst the world was going crazy in a flurry of Bieber-induced, non-lottery winning, freezing cold, divide-between-rich-and-poor emphasising, bad-movie-release mayhem, two brave souls were just about to turn the lights on in SW19…
… and they’ve being turning them back on most days for the past 3 years! Yes indeed, next Tuesday, 3rd December will be our third birthday. If it was a wedding anniversary it would be our ‘leather’ one, but it’s not, so we won’t, much to everyone’s relief.
So yep, we’re still here – mind you so is Wine Rack – but we wouldn’t be if you hadn’t all kept on walking through our door, coming to our tastings, getting us to help out with your school events/weddings/balls/gallery openings and generally keeping us out of the house and usefully occupied six days a week. So thank you, you know who you are!
However it’s not just the shop that is celebrating, Wayne also has a big birthday this year. Not that sort of big birthday, it’s more to do with the fact that he’s had an awful lot of them already, the numbers are getting bigger and bigger and our insurance premium has rocketed to cover the potential fire damage from all the candles on his cake!
So a double celebration this weekend. Let’s make it a triple – we’re seeing the start of Advent on Sunday and as a consequence the Christmas lights are being turned on at Christ the King at 4pm on Saturday – as if you needed another excuse to visit Arthur Road.
Drinking
Because by now we all need one. To celebrate all these birthdays we will have Morton Blanc de Blanc 2002 Methode Traditionelle (£19.99) on pour, and once your tastebuds have been suitably tantalised we can then offer you a taste of Jean-Baptiste Ponsot Rully 1er Cru Montpalais 2011 (£22.49) one of our favourite white burgundies and Vieux Chateau Gaubert 2005, Graves, Bordeaux (£23.49) a cracking claret from a cracking vintage, and soon to be available in magnums in time for Christmas.
As it’s his birthday, Wayne will be manning the spirits stand, where we have the Dutch Courage Gin (£33.99), the Mamont Vodka (£35.99) and the Finlaggan Whisky (£29.99) all open for tasting and spirited debate. Whilst you’re chatting ask him about the King’s Ginger, our new Cremorne Gentleman Badger’s Wild Blackthorn Sloe Gin and all the other exciting spirits we have on the shelves.
Should you feel the need for some non-liquid refreshment at this point, if you just look to your left, towards the sparkling wine and beside the Meerlust Rubicon stack you might just glimpse our newest arrival: Biltong!!! Available in 150g bags, for £5.50 a bag, this is the genuine article, made by genuine South Africans – and it’s made just down the road! Flavours are Peri-Peri or Original, with the latter being extremely popular with the wines at our Bordeaux tasting last week.
Free Mince Pies should also be available throughout as we continue our very scientific research into the best ones for Christmas Day, come and help!
We’ll leave it there for now – no need to talk about cricket, football match fixing or Tottenham’s return to mediocrity, this is a time for celebration not a time for recrimination!
Looking forward to sharing a glass of bubbles with you all over the weekend and, as Wayne is fond of saying:
Bottoms up!!