The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

 “It’s really a very simple story. A rich private tennis club is looking to make itself even richer by tripling in size, at devastating cost to the local environment and community.”  Andy Hamilton, keeping it simple.

Anyway, let’s move on from that and ask, once again, the question: who briefs Donald Trump?  Because, frankly, it doesn’t seem like anyone holds that position.  I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now, in between watching Willy Wonka (64 years old, after lunch) snoozing at Wimbledon, however to catch up those of you who haven’t, Donald Trump welcomed the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal  to the White House on Wednesday.  Displaying even more ignorance (racism?) than usual, he patronised the Liberian President’s mastery of the English language; wisely, sensing a possible trap, because surely no-one can be that stupid and uninformed, President Boakai exercised masterful diplomacy by simply smiling and saying ‘yes sir’ whilst the orange fella opposite him jabbered on, digging a deeper hole…

Meanwhile, here in SW19 (official language: English), we’ve been swamped with sunshine, strawberries and a surfeit of sport.  Rosé and sparkling wine have been the drinks of choice although, for us on Wednesday evening, the refreshing tang of The Park Brewery Hope Mimosa Sour completely hit the bullseye.  A vibrant, fruit forward beer made using apricot and mango puree, it was bright, tangy, refreshing with a lovely sour finish and 440ml didn’t last five minutes!

Whilst on the subject of interesting drinks, we have a couple of new tipples to tempt you with.  After much discussion, we’ve decided  to get a few bottles of Rathfinny Rosé Brut 2019 – £42.00, buoyed by the success of their classic cuvée, we thought we’d tempt you with some pink.  Very pale in the glass and bone dry on the palate, this is just fabulous.  Ripe peach, red cherry and strawberry coulis notes with just a waft of pepper to finish.  Another stunning Sussex sparkler!

Closer to home we have an exciting new edition from Braden and the gang at Doghouse Distillery.  Always the innovators, they have just launched their first ever American style corn whisky, a batch of just 1,000 bottles.  In their words: “Debt Collector, inspired by deep south blues rock music, is an American style whisky made with a mash of corn, barley and rye.  It is fermented using a Kentucky Bourbon yeast and then matured in virgin American oak for 3 years and diluted to bottle at 50%.  It is the first ever American style corn whisky to be made in London and is an incredible tasting whisky.   On the nose it hits notes of crisp cherry, caramel and light vanilla.  Strong viscosity on the palate coupled with rich notes of vanilla, oak and caramel sweetness, plus a warming earthy spiciness.   Drink neat and enjoy this remarkably smooth finish with oak, light smoke and clean spice.”

Doghouse Distillery Debt Collector Whisky – £50.00

Anyway, as discussed above, the sun has been shining and promises to continue unabated whilst international sport is everywhere.  We have tennis; we have cricket; we have European football; we have rugby from all over the world; we’ve even got some cycling but all the while all we really want to do is go swimming…

And we’ve got barbecues going on and with this in mind, how about we open a couple of crowd pleasing bottles for you to taste tonight or tomorrow?  Good idea, let’s do it.

The Lions are in Australia, so we thought we’d open Pauletts Polish Hill River Aged Release Riesling 2018 – £21.99.  Polish Hill River is a sub-region of the Clare Valley and about a 90 minute drive from Adelaide.  We always love the Aged Release that the Paulett’s keep back for a few years in their cellar as it’s always crisp and dry with bags of citrus and minerals and a fab finish.  Good idea as your aperitif whilst the coals are getting glowing.

And since England are playing Argentina on Saturday evening, how about Sottano Selección Blend 2020 – £23.99 is a blend of Malbec, Syrah and Cabernet Franc; dark in the glass as you’d expect and with lovely aromatic berry aromas with a hint of violets and wood smoke.  The palate is rich and layered with cassis and berry fruit notes, coffee and wood spice with a touch of black pepper to end on.  It works very well with quick cooked skirt steak if you’re looking for a deliciously easy supper!

That’s it from us, I’ll be honest, it’s been a tough email to write this week – can we have a good news week nest week please?!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Double celebration day today – the Founding Fathers declared independence 249 years ago whilst, a mere 248 years later, Keir and the Gang won the general election, neither event coming as much of a surprise. 

So yes, a double celebration and a chance for us all to reflect on how well things are going on either side of the pond.  Here, we can celebrate the announcement of a 10 year plan for the NHS which sounds a lot like a return to the cottage hospitals of old; meanwhile, those lucky enough to live in the Land of the Free can celebrate the big bad wolf’s big beautiful bill.  This is the plan that, over 10 years, will add $3 trillion to the national deficit and cut $1 trillion from Medicaid – definitely need to be brave to call this place home.

Celebrating other achievements, Post Malone is 30 today, big beautiful Bill Withers would have been 87 and Greece’s victory over Portugal in the Euros is now old enough to buy a beer in America – all good dinner party conversation starters for Saturday evening, I think you’ll find.

Anyway, enough chat about them, let’s get back to talking about us.  We had to use google this week to find an accurate definition for Gen Z, aka Zoomers.  We both had a wishy-washy idea of what it meant but then discovered that we had differing wishy-washy ideas, hence the library visit.  To remind you, Gen Z is the generation born between 1997 and 2012, so aged anywhere between 12 and 28, the youth of today, if you will.  Anyway, we had been led to believe that Gen Z was ‘abandoning alcohol’ and that this would have a serious knock on effect for the future of the drinks industry.  However, this week, up stepped the IWSR and Bevtrac consumer research.  Apparently, they tell us, ‘Gen Z is confounding conventional wisdom by reviving participation rates and consumption occasions.’  I read the whole article so you didn’t have to and learnt that, in 15 key markets surveyed, 73% said they’d had a drink in the last 6 months, up from 66% in 2023.  Plus, they’re drinking a broader variety of drinks, loving their spirits and going out a lot more than other generations, which is frankly as it should be and long may it continue; we just need more of them to get into wine and our future will be secure!

Not much else to report in the wine world though, so again, we move on.  Normally at this time of the year, Wayne is driving the narrative in these emails – ranting about the increased traffic resulting from the annual tennis competition taking place in the park and then typing excitedly about the start of the Tour de France.  He’s got the day off today, so it’s down to me to man the moans but happily he left me his notes.  In 2023 he fumed:

Greetings from the biggest and busiest carpark in south-west London.  If you can’t find a taxi near you it’s because they are all sitting on Arthur Road, shouting at each other and trying to squeeze through spaces made for a VW Polo and not for a Land Rover Defender, so, if you don’t mind, you’ll have to reverse… Welcome to Wimbledon fortnight, come and smell the fumes.

Whilst in 2018 he wrote, with bullet points:

• a notable increase in oversized SUV’s struggling to drive on their side of the road or through width restrictions or in fact anywhere that there are other vehicles
• perma-tanned, beautiful people wearing glistening tennis whites whilst schooning pints of Lanson in Hemmingway’s
• lots of eager emmets will soon be emerging blinkingly from the penumbra of Wimbledon Park tube station to discover that the All England is not bang outside or even that close and no, they haven’t bothered to put up any signposts to help
• the Pig & Whistle will become a drop-in centre for people camping in the park yearning electricity and cushioned seating
• the Co-op will run out of anything salad or strawberry related but will have a plenitude of swedes and turnips and other winter casserole ingredients
• we’ll all become tennis experts once more

And in 2017 he told us this:

You’ll have seen the Wimbledon branded cars driving around on their practice runs the last two weeks (I’m sure they used smaller cars in the past, maybe saving on hotel rooms?). This can of course mean only one thing: Wimbledon fortnight is upon us! The Co-op will have sold out of all useful lunch items for the next few weeks so Alex and I will be on the microwave stew or Uncle Ben’s rice packs.

So, in a nutshell, Wimbledon fortnight consistently rewards us with Co-Op food shortages, big cars and lost tourists – got to love the consistency!

Away from tennis, we’ve got the Women’s Euros just started, England playing on Saturday.  We’ve got Lions rugby down under, England in Argentina, Scotland in NZ and Wales in Japan.  We’ve got cricket going on in the Midlands and we’ve got cycling masochism in France, as mentioned above.  We’ll need a minimum of 3 screens I think, just to be on the safe side!

With fingers crossed for nicer weather than is currently forecast, we thought we’d open a couple of Iberian easy drinkers this weekend.  For the white, we have the dangerously drinkable Vilacetinho Vinho Verde 2024 – £10.99.  Founded in 1790, these chaps are one of the oldest producers of Vinho Verde in Portugal.  Avesso, Arinto, Azal and Loureiro are the grapes, grown on south facing granite slopes.  The wine is crisp and dry with lively, zingy, zesty citrus notes and a light spritz.  Perfect as an apéritif, with a picnic, or just as a sundowner on the Riviera and, at only 11% alcohol, you can happily reach for that second glass!

The red comes from eastern Spain Bodega Sierra Norte Ananto 2023 – £12.99.  The 67 hectare Finca Fuenteseca estate lies in Utiel-Requena, a high, rugged plateau, nearly 1,000 metres above sea level, just inland from Valencia.  The grapes used are 65% Bobal and 35% Tempranillo; Tempranillo you will know from Rioja, whilst Bobal is the local grape variety, representing 80% of red vines in the region.  The nose has complex aromas of dark fruits whilst the palate offers us ripe plum and bramble fruit with a juicy acidity nicely balanced by ripe, soft tannins.

Wayne insists that we leave the last words to a headline we read in cyclinguptodate.com on Wednesday: “To win the Tour, I have to be able to beat him” – Jonas Vingegaard is not looking for shortcuts to win Tour de France over Tadej Pogacar.

You heard it here first!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

At this point of the week it is customary for us to discuss some of the week’s more noteworthy snippets of news, in what we hope is a light hearted and occasionally amusing style. This week I find myself a little scuppered as I have paid virtually no attention to current affairs whatsoever. I understand Jeff Bezos has taken over Venice for his wedding, upsetting most of the locals who object to the idea that you can ‘buy’ Venice for a few days. There have been inflatable Bezos effigies floating in canals alongside talk of inflatable alligators too. Alex and I didn’t get an invite, or the catering contract. We don’t know Jeff Bezos any better than half of the guest list selection of folk from Red Carpet Fillers LLC but surely we could’ve helped with the wine?

I’m also assuming that, as we get to write again this week, WW3 has thus far been avoided. Why can’t these confused old men just play backgammon, cards or dominoes in the sunshine? Warhammer for real is just not cool, what benefit is there to the people of Iran, Israel or the US?

One thing did catch my eye, in Warwickshire the Reform leader of the council, Rob Howard, has stood down after just 41 days in the job saying his health doesn’t allow him to continue in the role “to the standard I would wish”. This presents an amazing opportunity for his deputy, 18 year old George Finch. Now, as much as I welcome all great opportunities for young folk, I do question whether any 18 year old has the necessary skills to deliver the best value for money from the councils £500m revenue budget. Quite a steep learning curve I’d suggest, let’s hope he passed his GCSE Maths.

Well Wayne, you might ask, what have you been up to that had you so disconnected from the 24 hour news cycle? Well, since we last spoke I spent a day standing in a field near Milton Keynes watching old folks sing the songs of my youth, some rather better than others. I finally got to see Kraftwerk after the best part of 50 years of trying. They might be robots, I’m not sure, but they certainly had a bass that rattled your lungs against your ribs. Then I dashed off to Bordeaux, as you do!

Tasting and drinking mostly red wine in 33˚C is a bit of a challenge but rest assured I did my best to rise to it. I got to meet up with a selection of colleagues from independent merchants around the country to exchange ideas alongside tales of woe, derring-do and hilarity. We planted trees to help with one estate’s diversity and visited a brand new (or at least very nearly finished) winery, on one of the largest estates in Bordeaux, that will remain empty until the pea sized berries that we saw have ripened and been harvested. 

We got to visit Yves at Saransot Dupré whose two wire haired dachshunds made sure we stayed on the straight and narrow; Cyril from Chateau Haut Barrail was there too and Yves  told him off for not pouring large enough samples! We also met Jean-Christophe from Château Les Tourelles, who has some very gnarly looking 100 year old Semillon vines for his sweet wines and supplies us with some remarkable value wines from down in Cadillac. I certainly never expected to be sat discussing wines from Mallorca sat in a cellar in south-east Bordeaux!

This brings me to what we’ll have on tasting this weekend. Glastonbury is on the telly and we seem to be in line for some nice weather, so why not try Chateau Les Tourelles 2023 (£11.99) in the white corner. As mentioned above, it’s from Cadillac in south east Bordeaux and its crisp freshness is just the ticket for this weather.

In the red corner, we’ll again go for a summer swigger that suits the weather. Hanewald-Schwerdt Spätburgunder 2020 – £19.99. Pinot Noir from Germany doesn’t appear on everyone’s radar very often but it should!  Bright strawberry and cherry notes lead the way with some delicious savoury character and good minerality.  Intense and medium bodied this is designed to be drunk easily (hooray) and can be enjoyed on its own (hooray again) and if you were of a mind it would chill down rather nicely (can I get a third hooray?)

That’s that from us except to wish Mel Brooks a happy 99^th birthday for tomorrow.

“It’s good to be the king”

Fellow Wine Lovers,

If you’re reading this, we are very relieved.  We thought that there was a more than decent chance that the world may have ended last night.  Not because of Tango Tariffmeister and Bulldozer Benjamin’s excursions in Iran, though we can see the risk.  No, the reason we thought the world may be doomed was because, at last night’s Vitality Blast between Middlesex and Essex, the MCC had dispensed with the requirement for gentlemen to wear jackets in the Pavilion.

Whilst we’re on the subject of last night, we’d just like to thank everyone who came along to a rather warm cheese and wine evening.  The cheeses were really rather tasty, Roncevaux from the Pyrenees was a discovery, whilst the wines all sang too, particularly the Bedoba Saperavi, and some great pairings were found.  So much fun was had that we’ll do it again after the summer –   keep your eyes peeled for the next date.

Since we last spoke, Tango has had a birthday that involved him spending a truckload of US tax dollars on a military parade.  Unfortunately for him, it seems that US soldiers don’t march with quite the same panache as those in North Korea.  The stands for spectators seemed to be catering for a much larger gathering.  There were also rather a lot of street parties around the country in many cities, towns and hamlets although I’m not sure what they have against kings.

Space X continues its endless battle between being a firework manufacturer and wanting to conquer the final frontier.  I don’t know about you, but to me, Mars still looks more like a snack for work, rest and play than a colonised planet.

Closer to home, both A-levels and GCSEs have finished, so expect some partying up on the common. We’ve no idea what happened to that bottle of gin but do have another if you need one!

When I was a boy, apart from the world being mostly in black and white, rugby was a game that was played in the winter.  I have many memories of watching games where the protagonists ended the game looking more like extras from Swamp Thing than rugby players.  Imagine my surprise then, to realise that the Lions fixtures are starting with a game in Europe before heading off to the wintry climes of the Southern Hemisphere.  Fortunately for the players it’s only 23˚C in Dublin.  Oh, and I’ve just been informed that England are playing France at Twickenham tomorrow afternoon – anticipated temperature at kick-off – 32˚C….

Indeed, it seems we’re in the midst of, what some may term, a heatwave.  Irving Berlin was familiar with the idea, penning a song famously sung by both Marilyn Monroe and Ethel Waters.  There was a jazz-funk band from London called Heatwave featuring Rod Temperton.  He later went on to write songs for Michael Jackson and George Benson amongst others.  To make your heatwave experience more pleasurable we’d suggest imbibing some cool beverages and checking out the Temperton oeuvre!

Whilst we are on the subject of tunes and drinks, there seem to be a number of summer parties happening over the next few weeks.  If we can help with yours, do let us know.

Tasting This Weekend

We thought we’d start with something nice and fresh, Château de la Mirande Picpoul de Pinet 2024 (£14.99).  The vines for this Picpoul de Pinet are 100 years old and grow on the slopes overlooking the oyster beds of Bassin de Thau.  The wine is pitch perfect Picpoul, crisp and dry with lovely stonefruit character that was, for this taster, somewhere between a peach and a yellow plum.  Oysters would be a good partner, as would some dressed crab.  Salted crisps too, if you’re opening as an aperitif!

For red we thought we’d stay a bit light, with one you could chill if you fancy. Monte Tondo Corvina 2023 (£15.49).   Monte Tondo is a family estate located in the beautiful hillside vineyards of Soave.  This is a new wine to us, a lovely red with a bright and lively nose showing fresh cherry, black berry and black pepper hints.  It is medium-bodied with a lovely freshness and supple, well-integrated tannins.

So that’s it from us, Summer Solstice tomorrow morning heralding the longest day of the year – use it wisely!

Cheers!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Another week, another weather report, another update on our sartorial selections. 

Our very own Angus Young continues to don his tailored shorts whilst Captain Birdseye still seems ready to embark on a 3 day fishing trip in particularly squally weather.  This is probably because the eternal schoolboy believes the BBC when it tells him ‘temperatures forecast to hit 29c by Friday’ whilst the salty seadog’s 2 day old copy of the Daily Mirror highlights ‘Exactly where thunderstorms will hit UK as rainfall warning issued by Met Office’.  One of them will be correct, possibly both.

And that’s the end of the news for this week because, frankly, there’s not a single headline that makes for happy reading – why are people so rotten to each other, all the time, everywhere?

So instead, we went down an internet wormhole earlier this week, as is our wont, and ended up discovering what the words cupboard, embarrassment and bamboo all have in common.  Any ideas?  No?  Well it was our wormhole, so we’ll tell you later.

This weekend sees the annual festival of awful greeting cards as we celebrate Father’s Day.  And I mean truly awful cards.  My father, a man of a certain age let’s say given my own receding hairline, doesn’t want a card with a racing car on the front and some rubbish about how he great he is at driving and how great he is at being a Dad – I’m not 10 years old Hallmark, there are grown-up’s with Dad’s too!  How about a card that has a bottle of wine and two glasses on the front and a message inside that says something like ‘Fancy sharing a bottle sometime soon?’

So what’s the difference between your Dad telling your friends an embarrassing story from your younger, needier days and a collection of Pandas?  Nothing apparently, they’re both an embarrassment!  Yes, indeed, the wormhole told us that the collective terms for pandas can be a cupboard, a bamboo or an embarrassment!  Why an embarrassment?  AI informs us:

‘the exact origin is unclear, it is widely believed to have emerged online or in informal discussions rather than having a historical, scientific, or linguistic root.  The term plays on the perception of them as being clumsy, lazy, and sometimes embarrassing in their behaviour, especially due to their fondness for bamboo and their somewhat limited activity.’

Father’s Day – Sunday 15^th June and also, Happy Birthday to Nigel Walker, 62, the insanely quick former Welsh Rugby Player with the ability to drop the pass on both wings!

In real sport, where they have no need to catch a ball, I’m told it’s the start of the Tour de Suisse this weekend which doesn’t sound terribly flat to me.

No interesting wine news this week – it still tastes great and we have plenty for all of you, just say the word.  To help with your decision making process, the wines open this weekend will be from Spain and Austria, no rationale behind this decision, just fancied opening them.

Palacio del Camino Real Blanco 2023 – £11.99 – we love a drop of white Rioja and this is a cracking blend of Viura, Malvasia and Grenache Blanc grown in the higher vineyards of Rioja Alta.  Pale yellow in the glass, with lovely fresh aromas of stone fruit and citrus, framed with a touch of vanilla from a couple of months lazing around in the barrel.  Exceptionally food friendly but equally has enough character to be well chilled should Wayne’s weather forecast be correct!

The red is a new listing for us.  We’ve had their Grüner Veltliner on the shelf for a few years and now have added Funkstille Zweigelt 2023 – £15.49.  These guys are the good guys.  All work in the vineyard is carried out sustainably, using their own fertilisers made from grape skins, manure and straw from their fields, to improve the soil structure and vitality of their vines.  Grapes are harvested in the early morning and taken to their energy neutral winery, where they are pressed with the must, then transferred into stainless steel tanks for fermentation.  However, forget all that, our notes for this describe cherries on the nose, a lovely fresh palate that is joyfully juicy and very, very drinkable!   Apparently, Funkstille translates as ‘radio silence’ so find a quiet spot in the garden, turn off the devices and enjoy it, perhaps even lightly chilled!

Unless it’s raining….

That’s it for this week.  As a quick heads up, we’ll be opening a bit later on Tuesday 17^th June as we have to go to a quick tasting in Islington which only starts at noon but we should be back in the trenches by 3pm, if you can hang on….

Remember, it’s always better to be known as an embarrassment than a cupboard!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Well, where to start.  As I am sitting here wearing a sweater, long trousers, ski socks and a beanie whilst my colleague is parading around in shorts and a polo shirt, I do wonder whether he was a postman in Newcastle in a previous life.  Clearly, Postman Pat did something very naughty at some point in a previous incarnation because his samsara has taken a significant backward step (if a circle can do such a thing) to end up running a wine shop in a wet Wimbledon Park.  But he seems happy enough, so no need to dwell.

In fairness, the weather was just as pony this time last year and eve n worse on 6^th June 2023 so it is, apparently, to be expected nowadays.  However, at least this year we’re not having to deal with an upcoming General Election and all the fallout that produced – thank goodness we’re through all those unsettled times, safe in the hands of Kier & Co – not sure what devilment we all got up to in a previous incarnation but I hope it was worth it!

However, it’s not all sunshine and cupcakes in the world of hospitality.  According to a survey undertaken by UK Hospitality alongside The British Institute of Innkeeping, The British Beer & Pub Association and Hospitality Ulster, 33% of hospitality businesses are now operating at a loss.  As discussed previously, the impact of increases in NI and Business Rates in April was always going to be brutal, with an estimated £3.4 billion of extra costs landing on the sector’s lap, just like that.  In fact, in the last few months, 60% of those surveyed have cut jobs, 63% have cut staffing hours, 76% have put up prices and yet, notwithstanding  these actions, 11% more businesses are working at a loss than in the last quarter.

One final bit of number crunching, with approval ratings courtesy of IPSOS:

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, post the fabulous September 2022 mini-budget:

• Doing a good job – 16%
• Doing a bad job – 53%
• Neither good nor bad – 21%
• Dunno – 10%

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, right now:

• Doing a good job – 16%
• Doing a bad job – 51%
• Neither good nor bad – 22%
• Dunno – 10%

As I’m sure you know, there’s nothing going on in the USA this week, likewise in sport, so let’s move away from all that and talk cheese and wine.  Further to the announcement of our upcoming event you all went away for the long weekend, enjoyed the break and forgot to book your seat!  So, just to remind you:

Wine & Cheese Tasting on Thursday 19th June at 7.30pm – £30 per person

We have four spaces left as I write so, if you fancy it, give us a call on 0208 944 5224, reply to this email or pop in and see us!

However, if you cannot join us on the 19^th, you can always pop in and taste some vino today and tomorrow.  This weekend, given the cryptic climatic conditions we don’t really know whether to barbecue or roast so we’ve fence-sat with our wine choices:

About a million years ago, when we sported Oddbins polo shirts, we used to sell lots of this Domaine Lebrun Pouilly Fumé 2023 – £20.49.  The bottle has lost its distinctive orange label somewhere in the intervening years but the wine has lost none of its quality or verve.  The estate is now run by Laurent, who is the sixth generation of the family to run it.  Gooseberry, grass, minerals, lemons and limes all crop up somewhere between the start and the nice long finish.  Tip-top classic Pouilly Fumé!

The red is from Italy – Cantine Povero Barbera D’Asti ‘Dianae’ 2023 – £15.99.  This is a bit of a cracker, quite natural with hand-harvesting, minimal intervention in the winery, minimal sulphur too.  Fermented in temperature controlled tanks and aged for 6 months in stainless steel.  The result is a velvety red with cherry and raspberry fruit character and medium to full body, just a touch of tannin to keep it tidy and a lovely long fresh finish.

So, that’s almost it from us but one thing before we go – recently was the Copa Jerez, an annual event celebrating food and sherry matching.  By all account one of the stand-out combinations, from the UK entry, was a dessert of beetroot amazake sorbet matched with Cream Cruz del Mar.  Now, everyone claims not to like cream sherry but perhaps it needs a revisit?  If you fancy some, we have the Cruz del Mar – £11.99/half bottle.

Now, it surely must almost be time for all of us to down tools and nip off to support the hospitality industry in the Friday ‘sunshine’, who’s with me?!

Cheers!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We had some insight this week into the costs of doing business. In the USA, the Treasury has announced that they will stop producing the 1 cent coin that was first introduced in 1793. The coin is made of zinc and copper and the cost of production has gone up to an astronomical 3.69 cents per coin. Clearly, there is absolutely no sense in continuing with it.

In other US news, the Tango Tariffmeister has increased the cost of having a one to one meeting with him to $5 million. We’re not entirely sure how that will affect the price of eggs, but by all accounts the administration is no longer worried about the idea of corruption because they are being so transparent about it. This turned out to be very lucky for tax cheat, Paul Walczak, who was pardoned after his mum paid a million dollars for dinner at a Mar a Lago ‘fundraiser’. Also it turns out that the tariffs are illegal, or not, depending which court you speak to. His Orangeness is rather grumpy about the TACO trade, wait till he hears the song!

Meanwhile, Musk has given up at DOGE after disagreeing with a big beautiful bill and has gone back to his day job of blowing up rockets.

Closer to home, Thames Water has been fined £104.5 million for breaking the rules on waste water, and an additional £18.2 million for paying out dividends despite the company’s poor performance. The company, not exactly flush with cash, was called ‘uninvestable’ by its previous owners. They have been given six months to agree plans for putting things right. The CEO of Ofwat gave them a proper telling off:  “You’ve let us down and you’ve let yourself down!”  Given the 393 open investigations that the environment agency has with the sewage industry we doubt they are off the naughty step yet.

In our own merry go round of politics, Kier Starmer seems more interested in fighting the next election than governing, Kemi Badenoch is happy to fight anyone who’ll listen, and Ed Davey says he’s a lover not a fighter.

Much closer to home brings us the news we already know. AFC Wimbledon had a great day out at Wembley securing promotion to League One through a Miles Hippolyte goal. Fingers crossed for Southend United who hope to come up and take their place!

In proper sports, the Giro d’Italia has been gripping. Regular watchers will know the Giro is always a bit on the bonkers side, but this year especially so. Early race favourite Primoz Roglic has gone home after crashing several times. Juan Ayuso, one of the other favourites, imploded as we hit the big mountains, a knee injury being the cause and then a bee sting on the eye yesterday made him more pirate than bike racer. He subsequently retired from the race. Visma Lease a Bike claim to know nothing about the sting despite being known as the ‘killer bees’. Ayuso’s young teammate, Isaac del Toro, remains in pink ahead of Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates both less than a minute behind. Big mountains ahead!

Tasting this Weekend

Given the successful meteorological performance last weekend we suspect there may be some barbecues on the agenda this weekend.

We’ll start off in the white corner with something to go with the seafood starter….

Domaine Fournillon Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022 – £16.50. 

It is likely the name looks somewhat familiar,  since we have been selling their Chablis and their Epineuil Pinot Noir for a number of years.  From the 23 hectare family-run domaine situated in the small village of Bernouil, close to Chablis, this is lovely and crisp and clean. The clay-rich soils of Bernouil give this wine its depth of fruit combined with freshness and intense stone-fruit aromas. Unsurprisingly, it is a rather Chablis-esque drop.

In the red corner we’re going to California for a Pinot Noir that’ll be awesome with a pork chop or spatch-cocked chicken.

Long Barn Pinot Noir 2022, Napa, California, USA – £16.49

Fruit from cool coastal areas provide bright acidity, while warmer vineyard locations add rich fruit character.  Blended to perfection and aged in French oak to add structure while enhancing the bright fruit flavours, this is classic Californian Pinot Noir, a quick swirl fills the air with red cherry aromas.  The palate is soft with silky tannins, lovely bramble and cherry fruit flavours, gently edged with a touch of spice and a lovely fresh finish.  It really is made in an old barn and, to quote one particular customer, “it just goes down so easily!”

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Wet weekend incoming?  Pah! – we laugh in the face of meteorology because, frankly, it’s a Bank Holiday, we all have plans that involve being outside and wet dogs don’t smell great in confined spaces.

So, it’s half term – time for some reports:

Keir Starmer

Keir has acted more positively towards Europe this week, which shows a good growth mind-set.  Opening the e-gates made him very popular with his class mates and Nigel from Clacton was one of the first to use them.  He keeps on talking about winter fuel, which he knows is important but still seems to struggle to understand why, something he needs to work on over the half term break.  Importantly, after a shaky start to term, if he is going to progress, he needs to maintain focus and concentration rather than sucking up to the troublemakers in the back row.

Donald Trump

Donald often seems to take too much pleasure in his role as backrow troublemaker, which is seriously disruptive for his more impressionable classmates.  Being 16 years older than Keir, he could perhaps show this maturity on a more regular basis but, given recent performances with the South African touring party, this doesn’t seem like something he’s willing to do.  Honestly, unless he seriously changes his attitude to authority, I foresee many detentions in his future.

Angelos Postecoglou

Ange has had a difficult year.  His peripatetic lifestyle perhaps could be the reason for this and he promised to do better in his second year.  However, it has been made very evident that the continual assessment format of the coursework this year has not been beneficial to his grades, with his marks being firmly in the bottom 20% of his cohort.  However, the end of year exam on Wednesday was a sign that perhaps this format is more suited to his talents.  We wish him luck at his next school, wherever that may be.

Enough of all that. 

In the world of wine and associated pleasures, not much to report.  Breweries are still closing at an alarming rate – the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates chief executive Andy Slee said, to deaf ears:

“Times are incredibly tough for independent breweries, and whilst the price of a pint in pubs may be rising for drinkers the price brewers are paid for their beer actually dropped over the last twelve months. What is desperately needed is a lower tax burden for pubs, lower direct taxes for brewers, and greater access for independent breweries to sell to pubs in their area – many of whom are currently controlled by global beer supply.”  thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/05

Meanwhile, Champagne shipments are apparently on the up, having been in the doldrums for most of 2024 and, most excitingly of all, 1990’s icon alcopop, the Bacardi Breezer is going to be back on local corner-shop shelves as of next month, available in Zesty Orange, Zingy Lime and Crisp Watermelon.   I Cannot Wait.

Here in the shop, we dallied down memory lane earlier this week.  It came to our attention that on 4^th May 2011, a Wednesday I believe, Park Vintners hosted their first ever Wine & Cheese tasting. 

Jo & John came down from Clapham, Jen-Jen popped over from Balham, as did Silvie, whilst Kare ambled down the hill.  Mio also came with a couple of friends but has since returned to Japan, and Suzy came too – little did we know at the time that she would end up selling us her Barton wines for years to come.  Half of these brave souls are still customers of ours and, for that, we salute you.

We offered Appleby Cheshire, Cropwell Bishop, Golden Cross & Tunworth for the cheeses, pairing them with a couple of whites, three reds, a sweetie and a beer – all very tasty.  Over the years we repeated this formula unchanged on 76 more occasions (13 times in 2019!) until Covid came along in 2020.  Our last outing on 27^th February 2020, the week after half term, was held in a room full of friends who had been skiing in Italy the week before, a couple of whom had a bit of a tickly cough….

Now, 5 years later, we’ve decided to dip our toes back in the fondue and are happy to announce that we will be hosting a Wine & Cheese Tasting on Thursday 19^th June at 7.30pm – tickets are £30 per person and we have a limit of 12 spaces – first come, first served!  The formula will be the same; hopefully the jokes won’t be….

On the subject of tasting, it’s that time of the week again.  Yesterday was International Chardonnay Day – how did you celebrate?  Oh, you didn’t know there was such a thing?  In truth, neither did we until, well, yesterday, however it does give us a good excuse to open a bottle today.

All the talk of Bacardi Breezer’s and 90’s throwbacks has encouraged us to open some Aussie Chardy.  Now, the whole ABC trend can be put down to over consumption of strong white wines from Australia in the later days of the last century.  Rosemount Estate is one that springs to mind – their Chardonnay was rich, fruity, uber-oaky, 14.5% ABV and we drank it like water, felt dreadful the next morning, then did it all again next week.  These hefty wines put an awful lot of people off the Chardonnay grape for a long time and could be seen as a likely cause for the huge popularity of thinly flavoured Italian Pinot Grigio in the years that followed.  But Aussie Chardy isn’t like that anymore…

De Bortoli Regional Reserve Chardonnay 2023 – £18.49.  This wine is from grapes grown in the north of the Yarra Valley which are fermented in a mixture of stainless steel vats and French oak barrels.  This mix helps retain the flinty freshness whilst giving a touch of creaminess too.  Our notes said ‘open nose, crisp on the palate, restrained ripe fruit, crisp touch of mineral, gently creamy, decent finish.’

For the red, we’ll stick with Australia and open one of our favourites:  Geoff Merrill Bush Vine GSM 2016 – £22.79.  Based in McLaren Vale, South Australia, Geoff always likes to release his wines with a bit of age on them and this 8 year old is a joy.  This fabulous blend of 54% Shiraz, 37% Grenache and 9% Mourvèdre has outgrown the boisterously youthful fruit you would get in a younger wine and is filled with rounded blackberry fruits encasing notes of vanilla and mocha. 

So, that must be it from us.  We’ll be shut on Monday as it’s a Bank Holiday and we’ll be busy celebrating the AFC win, whilst also supporting our local pub and then back here bright and breezy on Tuesday morning.

Enjoy!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ve sat here waiting for the phone to ring but, as yet,  not a single nation has offered us so much as a discount code for EasyJet, much less a personalised airliner. Alex was even considering having an orange rinse and a spray tan to expedite things. Possibly it is just one of those rules that’s not for us and given the parlous state of Boeing lately, he’ll have likely retired well before production starts!

Whilst we’re on the subject of luxury goods, I’m very suspicious of salesman with talk that boats are unsinkable, cars having remarkable traction control or bicycles with puncture proof tyres. Mike Lynch’s unsinkable boat had a design flaw that meant it wasn’t, I had a ride extended timewise by a bougainvillea thorn, and the amount of tyre screech that comes out of Melrose Avenue daily suggests traction control has its limits.

The Tango Tariffmeister has been on a tour of the Middle East. He’s been topping up his tan, signing deals, not drinking coffee and whingeing about Apple choosing to expand their Indian operations.

In Turkey, there are talks for peace between Russia and Ukraine but given the attendees are mostly note takers or work experience interns, we’re not holding out much hope for success. It seems a bit of a pointless exercise if nobody is taking it seriously.

As I type this on Thursday afternoon, the two Ryder Cup Captains are on the leader board at the PGA Championship; most of the peloton had a visit with the tarmac in a very chaotic stage of the Giro D’Italia which is now actually in Italy.  It would appear that not only we amateurs struggle with rain and white paint.

In football news, FIFA has received a complaint from a team of lawyers including their former anti-corruption adviser. It seems they may have broken their own rules in relation to Human Rights and awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia. We’ll report back as we hear more.

I’m sure many of our regular readers will have read last week’s 990 word missive and formed their own opinions of how they felt about our prose. Our correspondent in the north asked an AI programme for a precis of it. The result made us laugh aloud: “Trump quote reflects frivolous disregard or poor understanding; Rosé sales robust; Giro D’Italia starts.”

Last week’s choice of tasting wines, whilst popular in the glass, certainly caused some amusement.  A number of tasters keenly pointing out that the Giro was not visiting Sicily this year and that perhaps our pre-race reconnoitre was not up to snuff.

With that in mind, we will be opening two wines from Greece this week. We understand that the Giro D’Italia will not be visiting and that whilst Albania was close, it is closer to Corfu than Crete.

Lyrarakis Vóila Assyrtiko 2023 – £17.99. Located in the mountainous commune of Alagni in Crete, Domaine Lyrarakis stays true to local winemaking traditions.  The domaine focuses on indigenous varieties, taking them from obscurity and driving them in a more modern direction, while still retaining a clear sense of place.  Its style focuses on pure varietal character, precision and supple texture.  The 2023 Assyrtiko is a delicious wine, grown at 580 metres’ altitude in the Voila vineyard.  There is a definite floral character, refreshing minerality and chalky texture to this delicious wine that marries well with all forms of seafood, as you might expect from a producer surrounded by sea!

Lyrarakis Kotsifali 2022 – £17.99. One of the Queens of Cretan grape varieties, Kotsifali is indisputably a classic of the island, offering spicy red fruits, an elegant mouthfeel and a piquant aftertaste which makes it a deliciously fresh drop, not too weighty and seriously good with a bit of fried saganaki. Our chum Mary suggests it as an ideal partner to some lamb skewers on the Friday night takeaway slot!

It’s Eurovision this weekend, you’ll know if you need to add a bottle of fizz for the occasion!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Courtesy of Wikipedia, our best friend:

“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”, said to have been spoken in the 18th century by “a great princess” upon being told that the peasants had no bread.  The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food.  The quote is taken to reflect either the princess’s frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight.

Courtesy of POTUS Trump, everyone’s best friend:

“I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”  This quote could be taken to reflect either the president’s frivolous disregard for the people who voted for him or his poor understanding of their plight.

Because, yes, it’s normal to have 30 dolls, Donald.  Oh, and those 5 crayons, should they all be orange?  We asked these questions but were informed that the President was wielding a red light sabre on the golf course, dressed as the Roman pontiff. 

We could go on but we all have to move on.

Another short week this week and perhaps not as hot as hoped.  However, Rosé sales are still robust, so well done everyone for pitching in.  We celebrated VE day over a number of days, a celebration of the surrender of Nazi Germany to the allies.  We also saw the spiralling decline of the Conservative Party in the local elections, losing ground to Reform UK who seem to be thriving like knotweed under a Farage.  Lib Dems did well too, without too much hullabaloo from the member for Kingston & Surbiton, the Greens did ok, Labour not so much.

In a brief scoot around the rest of the news, we have a Deal for Growth in the free-trade deal with India; we have brand new tariffs (for now) with the USA (positive) coupled with access to a lot more American beef (negative); worryingly, we also have Pakistan and India on high alert, yet again; we had white smoke pluming out of the Vatican; and finally, faced with America’s latest addiction to weight-loss injections, WeightWatchers has filed for bankruptcy.  I’m sure everything will be just fine.

Wayne, as is his habit, has been following the current Bordeaux En Primeur campaign, as mentioned last week.  It’s been a disaster this year but perhaps the most worrying fact we have read (Bordeaux wine producers slash prices as wealthy collectors stay away – FT- 03/05/25) was this:

…less interest in fine wine among the younger generation of wealthy investors and declining alcohol consumption have all hit demand.   Consultancy Bain says that 65 per cent of drinkers in the top 10 consumer markets are moderating their alcohol intake.

We’ve known about the changes in investment focus amongst the high-net-worth’s but hadn’t previously encountered the stats that Bain offered up.  We cannot find the original document to draw our own conclusions but, blimey, that doesn’t sound good for business!  However, could it also mean that 35% of drinkers in the top 10 consumer markets are upping their dose?  As I said earlier, Wimbledon Park Rosé sales are still robust…

Arsenal left Europe competition on Wednesday having not managed to really get a handle on PSG but I imagine even the most loyal gooner would concede that the Barca-Inter double-header was the pick of the semis.  Tottenham, Man U and Chelsea all progressed to their respective finals, all at a canter.  Meanwhile, in rugby, Andy Farrell did the right thing by choosing not to select his son for the Lions, whilst also adding another chapter to the Henry Pollock fairytale! 

In real sport, Wayne has cycled up and down a variety of hills (mountains?) in Mallorca this week and is currently in possession of all the available jerseys except the Blanco – chapeau!  Oh, and second to that, he’d want you to know that the Giro D’Italia starts today and would probably say some clever things about Juan Ayuso, Richard Carapaz and Primož Roglič.  He would perhaps go on to make passing reference to the Yates brothers, questioning whether they are still up to it.  He then might suggest that an each way bet on young Antonio Tiberi could be worthwhile but we’ll never know because he didn’t leave me his notes!

Therefore, in honour of the Giro, I thought I’d open some wine this weekend, as you do.  However, whilst the first two stages are actually taking place in Albania, having scoured the shelves it seems we don’t have any wine from there, not even a bottle of Raki, so we’ll have to go Italian, apologies.

Sibiliana Sensale Bio Grillo DOC 2024 – £11.99 is a reasonably new arrival on our shelves.  Alex tasted this last year in Sicily and bought it immediately we had run out of the previous incumbent.  Grillo is native to Sicily, is used in Marsala production and is believed by some to have Muscat of Alexandria and Catarratto as its parents – this might explain the delicate straw-yellow colour with white peach, yellow melon and light citrus aromas that persist onto the palate.  It comes highly recommended with a platter of smoked fish in the sunshine!

The red is going to be Nicosia Nerello Mascalese 2023 – £15.99 from the opposite side of Sicily, based at the foot of Etna.  This wine is from organically farmed vineyards on Etna’s lava terraces around 550-650m above sea level.  The volcanic soils are rich in minerals and give us a delicious wine with delicate, complex aromas of wild strawberry and redcurrant with lightly floral notes.  Fresh cherry and red berry fruit on the palate, with fresh acidity, earthy notes and a lovely savoury finish.

In other news, no stages of the Giro will take place in Sicily this year…. Doh!

One last thing, how long before Mr Trump tries to take all the credit for the new Pope being American?!

Ave!