Fellow Wine Lovers,
Pity the poor soul, mouthing soundlessly at his television in the 91st minute, Ladbrokes slip in hand bearing the legend
MATCH: Germany – Brazil / SCORE: 7 – 0 / ODDS: 1,000 – 1
Pity Jasper Cillessen, substituted off in the quarter-finals for the penalties in favour of Tim Krul, then only left on in the semis because Holland had run out of substitutions, the whole world knowing he was the second choice penalty stopper ( track record: never saved one, no sir, not one) and then Chris Waddle calls you limp wristed! (quote: The keeper will be disappointed because that was the one he could have saved, with strong wrists)
Speaking of wrists, pity Sir Bradley Wiggins, sitting at home, rocking away with his rug on his knees, supping a pint of mild and munching a cheese ‘n chips toastie whilst watching Chris Froome retire from the Tour de France…
Pity Justin Beiber, sent to anger management classes for egging a neighbour’s house – and fined the fabulously filthy fee of $80,000 damages… that’s a lot of eggs!
And pity the schoolchildren who couldn’t have their sports day yesterday due to the weather… can someone explain to me (and perhaps those in charge) the significant properties and benefits of an All Weather Track?
Sales
It may not be immediately obvious a lot of the time but we are in the business of sales. One of our eagle-eyed customers has actually noticed our selling success and sent us this email:
I have 4x tickets to England v India at Lords 4th day (yes, the day after my mate’s wedding in Bristol). Any chance you can see if anyone wants them for face value? Compton Upper.
This is a genuine offer, I know and can vouch for the muppet, mug, gentleman in question and confirm that he has a history of purchasing too many tickets for sporting events (he pretty much funded the London Olympics via his Visa card) so if anyone is interested, drop us a line and we will proceed from there.
Now back to wine.
Votes
Ok, not quite yet.
Momentum is gathering, knives are being sharpened, teeth are being gnashed as we roll into the last few weeks of voting in the Time & Leisure Food & Drink Awards 2014.
Now, we hope you’ve all voted for us already, or perhaps Waitrose in Worcester Park floated your boat this year but either way your vote is very important so we implore, entreat, beseech and beg that you follow this link and place your X in the box:
http://www.timeandleisure.co.uk/food-and-drink-awards/2279-best-wine-retailer.html
TVM.
School
We’re not unionised here, so we don’t have any option to strike, which means that our Wine School will be an un-interrupted 6 week course commencing Wednesday 17th September at 8pm.
There has been a typo in some of the fliers we sent out previously so I would like to confirm that it takes place on six consecutive Wednesdays:
17th & 24th September, 1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd October
It’s an enormous amount of educational fun, you will taste a broad spectrum of wines and make some lovely new friends – amongst our graduates we can count the gentleman trying to sell his cricket tickets above and if that’s not a golden recommendation I don’t know what is!?
So sign up today, £150 per person, more than 60 wines over 6 weeks, think of all that new knowledge you’ll have to impress everyone with at Christmas…
Ha, first mention of Christmas – July 11th – must be a record!
Now, back to wine
After all these weeks of late night penalty shoot outs and other joys the World Cup charabanc trundles out of town on Sunday night leaving behind it a trail of broken hearts, unexpected heroes and a new world champion. Being Englishmen of a certain age we are finding it difficult to decide who to back – neither team would be our first choice clearly but we have to back someone.
So this weekend we will be tasting a wine from Germany and a wine from Argentina – the idea being, when we devised this in the pub on Wednesday, that the one we sell out of first is the winner. Great idea at the time ruined by the fact we have 15 more bottles of the Argentina wine than the German which equates to a potentially insurmountable handicap.
So perhaps the one that we sell the most of. Or the one we/you like the most. Or the one with the prettiest label. I don’t know, perhaps it can be a draw.
The contenders are:
Reichsrat Von Buhl Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Pfalz, Germany – £18.49 – a really classy Sauvignon Blanc with classic gooseberry and cut grass character. Racy and tasty on the palate – we likened it more to a posh Sancerre rather than an exotic NZ. Fabulously long finish and a fantastic alternative to the Loire valley.
Crios Limited Edition Red Blend 2012, Mendoza, Argentina – £14.99 – 40% Malbec, 40% Bonarda, 15% Tannat, 5% Syrah. Dark and rich with brambly fruits and a touch of mocha. The tannins are soft and velvety which would actually make it a really nice accompaniment to a bit of roast duck.
Considering the quality of these two wines I think it’s going to be Klose but hopefully it won’t get Messi!
I know, I’ll get my coat…
Have a wunderbar fin de semana!