Fellow Wine Lovers,
It seems to us that a variety of sports have forced their way into the newsletter this week. Early cycling season event, The Race to the Sun (Paris-Nice), had to abandon stage 3 because of snow, which suggests our chums heading to Beaujolais for some bottling action may be a bit chilly!
Warren Gatland seems fairly confident that Wales are going to do a job on England by repeating their World Cup Pool win, but we at Park Vintners are not so sure. The memory alone should be motivation enough, without even counting the inclusion a certain Mr Tuilagi as a super-sub (can we say that, or do we have to get a red top?). At the risk of upsetting some of our readers, it seems to us that George Ford will survive the test and may end up slaying the Dragon!
Maria, Maria, Maria! We’re frankly rather disappointed to be talking about drugs and cheating in sport again. If you can’t do it without cheating, do something else! Maria Sharapova has been busted, proving positive for a banned substance during the Australian Open. Even if the substance was only banned from the beginning of the year, the list of changes was published at the end of the September, so at the very least she is guilty of naïve negligence!
It seems that the notorious gangster, who had previously died of natural causes (in his garden -with gunshot wounds!), was possibly professionally bumped off!
The hokey-cokey karaoke of the EU continues with Her Maj getting involved (allegedly) this week. It seems the claims on both side get more extraordinary every couple of days, what on earth will they all be claiming by June. Could everyone take a deep breath, have a glass of wine, and just give us some facts?
Before moving swiftly on, we felt we should share some congratulations with you all. Sparkling wine sales in the UK have topped £1 billion annually, for the first time. Sales over last year are up around 20%, which is enough bubbly to fill an Olympic swimming pool (what a thought!). You have all played your part in this, so pats on backs all round!
Window Work
Since Alex very decoratively filled our window with whisky and King’s Ginger you’ve all got a bit carried away, so much so that we had to buy some more whisky. Then, whilst no one was looking, Wayne snuck our first Irish onto the order form.
Jack Ryan Beggar’s Bush 12 Year Old Single Malt (£51.99), was launched in 2013 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Beggar’s Bush Pub in Dublin. The pub, still owned by the Ryan family, has had a long association with fine whiskey. This whiskey is smooth, with a vanilla sweetness to the fruit, a gentle spice and a very long silky finish. Isn’t St Patrick’s Day on the horizon?
Tasting This Weekend
Well, given that we mentioned Beaujolais already and we just happen to have a new one in stock, I can’t help but think we should give Château de Belleverne ‘La Basse-Cour’ Beaujolais Villages 2014 (£9.99), a quick gargle. A lovely drop of Gamay, with fresh strawberry aromas and a lovely fresh light touch on the palate. We’re suggesting popping a Brie in the oven and tucking in with some crusty bread!
In the white corner, we thought we’d wrap our tasting apparatus round Uitkyk Chenin Blanc 2012 (£12.99), a delicious new drop that we’ve discovered from the Simonsberg mountain in Stellenbosch.
Have a fab weekend!