The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Things we have learnt since we last wrote to you….

No caffeine, no protein, no booze or nicotine, remember everything gives you cancer

Joe Jackson was very much playing the oracle when he wrote those lines all the way back in 1982.

The WHO have finally finished their research into process meats and have decreed that the days of hot dogs, ham, sausages, corned beef, black pudding and barbecuing need to be put behind us – they just need to find a problem with seafood and tomatoes to put the writing firmly on the wall for the Mediterranean. Or do we all need to use more olive oil and drink a glass of red wine every day to stave off these illnesses – I think I already know the answer to that.

Anyway, if you want to get the full picture, go to www.numberwatch.co.uk and look up The complete list of things that give you cancer (according to epidemiologists), within which you will find such diverse carcinogens as bracken, dairy products, fruit, not having a twin, railway sleepers and a particular favourite of ours, Vatican Radio Masts.

Vegetables also give us cancer, apparently.

This meant that we read the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall article on the BBC website regarding food waste with a great sense of relief.   Fortunately for us all, tonnes and tonnes of these dangerous vegetable things are thrown away each week because they are the wrong shape, are too big/small or are just not straight enough.  He quotes a figure of 20 tonnes of parsnips a week being dumped at just one Norfolk farm for not conforming to supermarket restrictions.  We both definitely feel like we’ve dodged a bullet here and sincerely hope that plenty more of these dangerous vegetable killers are kept out of our reach.

Phew, time for something safe to eat…

Holy Smoke

Obviously, having read all the guidelines and scare stories above, the most sensible place to find sustenance and safety would be a restaurant that specialises in smoked food.

For those of you who haven’t been, Holy Smoke is the new restaurant on Leopold Road that took Wimbledon (and Trip Advisor, for what it’s worth) by storm when they opened in February this year. Cameron, the affable, flip-flop sporting, South African owner has created a masterpiece local dining experience with a definite hint of smoke about it.

We went on Tuesday night and thoroughly recommend it – if nothing else the smoked French fries alone are worth the visit!

There’s more to Northumberland than Moors and Pete Doherty and Robson Green…

There’s Gin now, too! One of our longest serving customers, previously of a parish near here, upped sticks a few years ago for the wilds of the North.  As often happens when the winters are cold, long and dark, thoughts quickly turn to hard spirit.  However our friend , being of an entrepreneurial bent, decided to take it a step further and create his own Gin using the local available botanicals – particularly Juniper, Bog Myrtle and Douglas Fir.

It sounded interesting to us, he was like an extremely excitable cocker spaniel about it, and so we thought we’d give it a taste.

It’s fab, very pretty, delicious and, according to Victoria Moore in The Telegraph, is “utterly brilliant and original martini gin – maybe the best I’ve ever had.”

It’ll be here on Monday costing £38, plus we have an open bottle here to taste, should you wish to try it before then.

It’s definitely worth it.

And finally, some gentle musings…

Imagine how good a Scotland v Argentina semi final could have been?

Imagine how much you could have won if you’d put a fiver on Sunderland to beat Newcastle 3-0 at the weekend? (answer: roughly 1100 quid, according to one of our customers…)

Imagine being able to go to a private viewing of Spectre at the Bulgari Hotel, courtesy of Bollinger – lucky Wayne…

Imagine what Ontañon Gran Reserva Rioja 2005 (£25.99) tastes like – no need, it’s on tasting today and tomorrow…

Imagine how pink-tickled we would be if you voted for us in the Time Out #lovelondonawards…

Imagine what the world would be like without a bacon sarnie and a barbecued sausage…

Let’s be careful out there!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It’s Saturday morning just after opening, and Alex is sitting in the armchair polishing his glasses surrounded by Rioja. In walks the postman with a cheery greeting, bringing us a couple envelopes that are obviously bills, a magazine about mining for somebody who left years ago, and a suspicious looking brown envelope, both bulky and floppy at the same time.

Which package do we open first? Patient as we are, the suspicious looking item gets it. Immediately torn open, a bevy of cards onto the counter and in the envelope is a poster.

All of them contain the phrase “Time Out Love London Awards”. It would seem somebody out there loves us and has shortlisted us in the local shops for Wimbledon. So now that we’ve been nominated we’d really like to win. We know that may come across as a trifle needy and for that we apologise.

We know our clothes are not as fashionably desirable as some of the items in Matches, and that the Two Sisters know far better than us the correct positioning of your Barcelona chair and vintage mirror. We do think, however, we manage to do a half decent job of providing a chipper comment, sympathetic smile and even the odd bottle of wine.

If you agree with us please do have a vote on our behalf, we’d be diluted to win.

http://www.timeout.com/london/lovelondonawards#/vote/wimbledon/shops

Don’t forget to tell all your friends and their Nans too. We’d love all those votes!

Bond: James Bond

The reviews are in and everyone seems fairly to be pleased with the film, with the chap from The Guardian positively gushing on the radio yesterday morning. We have just a couple of the Limited Edition Spectre Bollinger bottles left so don’t be slow if you’ve been thinking about it! ‘SPECTRE LIMITED EDITION’ – £125

Wine School – New Year Term

We’ve put together the dates for this next term of our ever popular Wine School. At this time of year it seems a popular idea for a present. We’ll start on 27^th January 2015 to 3 weeks, take a break for a week for half term and then do 3 weeks with the last week on 9^th March.

We’ll taste about 60 wines, talk about wine faults and generally shoot the breeze about all things vinous. Coming along? £15o per person, full details attached.

Tasting this Weekend – Shop Rioja

So we’re still flinging the Rioja around, and this week we’ll be pulling the cork on Valenciso Reserva 2008 (£23.99). Founded in 1998 by Luis Valentín and Carmen Enciso, who are two talented winemakers with 30 years’ experience, who’ve spent too long working for other people. This is a fabulous Reserva, 100% Tempranillo fermented in concrete vats, aged for 17 months in French oak barrels and open for your delectation this weekend.

Chilling in the white corner is Mas Macia Cava Brut NV (£10.99). Although, these days a small amount of cava is produced in Rioja itself, ours is from the Penedès region, near Barcelona. This is cava’s real heartland with production of around 200 million bottles annually. The Mas Macia spends around 24 months aging on its lees giving a nice bready character. So white and bubbly, still clearly Spanish, but from a tad further east than the Rioja.

That about raps it from us this week,

Vote for us, give us a review on Time Out’s website and tell all your friends, family, acquaintances, and maybe even random strangers on the tube if you’d like to meet new people!

The magazine about mining for the absent friend? Sent back like every other quarterly issue for the last 5 years!

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week we learnt that loopholes are there for the taking.

We’ve seen that multinational companies can use loopholes like a back-to-front telescope so that they end up paying less corporation tax than your local shop.

We’ve seen that grammar schools can use loopholes and open another branch of the same school in a different town entirely. Wayne went to a grammar school, back when the world was in black and white and only the army or a farmer drove a land rover.  He says even then people wanted to stop them.

We’ve also seen loopholes in sport. Michel Platini is looking for one whilst on suspension and still enjoying the support of UEFA (hmmm!). The sporting loophole we had the most hope for though has snapped shut. News that Bridge will not be considered a sport has both of us feeling a little downcast today.

Not that either of us even know how to play the game (though we both know people that do), but we were fairly confident that we could make a strong case for another sport if Bridge made the cut.

We had high hopes for Olympic wine tasting.

Physically more demanding than Bridge, with a need for a certain amount of strength and technique to remove a cork, decanting also requires a deliberate skill set.

Then we come to the tasting itself, there are the breathing exercises need to bring the sniff into action, the agility required in swirling the glass. Then there is the slurping action, again a result of special breathing exercises, before exercising the control of the cheek muscles to perfect the final arc of expulsion, the spit if you will. So line up a flight of 80 wines and by the time you’re through, you’ll believe me when I say you’ll feel a little tired when you finish.

Sadly it was not to be: bridge didn’t make a strong enough case and the loophole tightened shut on us!

Christmas Cheese & Wine Tasting

Thursday 26^th November at 8pm £20 per person

This is the last tasting this year with some places left.  We’ve reviewed the best cheeses we’ve had this year and will be serving them alongside some suitably festive drinking. Sounds like a jolly fine evening to me.

Shop Rioja

This weekend we will be “flopping it out” in the red corner, Wayne having persuaded Alex that the best course of action for a Shop Rioja exploration would be to open Roda I 2007 (£50). This stunning Reserva is made from 100% Tempranillo grapes grown on low yield 30 year old bush vines. Anthony Rose, writing in The Independent, said “This is a fabulous modern Rioja, whose rich, vanilla oak flavours coat a cherry fruitiness, with a nicely balanced acidity”.

Standing up in the white corner we’ll have a rather drop dead gorgeous Valenciso Blanco 2014 (£19.99). Almost as rare as an England team at the World Cup (they only make 12-15 barrels a year) this is a beautifully elegant blend of Viura and Garnacha Blanco with a fabulous texture and finish.

That’s it from us this week – as there’s no rugby on, you might as well come and book onto the tasting, try some exceedingly fine wine and take advantage of our 10% off 6 Rioja offer!

I’ll get my coat…

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week we’ve had raids at Volkswagen, suspensions at Fifa and tax fraud charges for Mr Messi. We’ve got Klopp in at Liverpool, though probably Sunderland need him more, and Dinamo Zagreb face no sanctions despite one of their players failing a drug test after the game with Arsenal.

We’re not going to mention the rug…oops nearly slipped up.

We had a brief chat with our chum Ulrich this week; he’s the talented chap that makes the Hoffman and Rathbone English sparklers. He was pretty excited and busy sharpening his secateurs as he expects to start harvesting today.

Elsewhere across Europe, we’ve had earlier harvest than usual due to heatwaves across parts of France and Spain this summer, but Bordeaux, Rhone Valley, Tuscany and Rioja all seem pretty excited about the grapes they’re squashing. Rioja particularly seems to think it is similar to 2005, one of the great vintages in recent times.  The Port producers also seem pretty happy which means we can all look forward to some great drinking in the years to come!

Shop Rioja

Talking of Rioja, the sharp eyed amongst you may have noticed a number of fine bottles and maps appearing in our window display. For way of a change, we are going to feature the wonderful wines from this beautiful part of Spain. We’ve teamed up with the wonderful people of Wines from Rioja to participate in their Shop Rioja campaign.

Located in the north of Spain, Rioja is the country’s best known region. Protected by mountains from both scorching continental heat and heavy Atlantic rains, it has an ideal climate for the production of whites and roses, as well as the better known reds.

Not any wine can be called Rioja- wines have to pass several tests before they are classified.

The reds are from predominantly Tempranillo, but the blend can also contain Garnacha, Mazuelo (known elsewhere as Carignan), and Graciano – a grape Alex is particularly fond of if you’re looking for gift inspiration!

The whites are predominantly Viura, but also can contain Garnacha Blanca and Malvasia in the blend.

This week on the red front we’ll look at a Crianza. Identified by the regulator with a cherry red logo on the back label the wines must be aged for a minimum of two years at the winery before release, one year of which must be in oak casks.

Ramon Bilbao Edición Limitada 2011 – £14.99 – These guys were named “Best Spanish Producer” at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2014. Based in Haro in Rioja Alta, one taste of this and you’ll see what the fuss is about.

On the white front we’re getting all cosy with Bodegas Ontañon’s Vetiver Rioja Blanco – £10.79. This hails from Rioja Baja and is 100% Viura aged for 4 months in a barrel and 6 months in the bottle. Perfect with some fish pie!

All that remains for me to say is all Rioja wines are on a special offer this month. We’re offering 10% off of 6 bottles and that’s mixable. Given the great value these wines offer already, you should be “having it large!”

¡Salud!

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Mr Bond, we’ve been expecting you…

Rumour has it that this phrase is never really uttered in any of the Bond movies but we don’t like spreading rumours, so we are going to assume that it is in common usage amongst Bond villains for the sake of this email.

Now that we are in October, we are finally released from the terms of the 1,000 page Non-Disclosure Agreement that we had to sign in order to be allowed to sell the Limited Edition Bollinger for Bond, known as ‘Spectre Limited Edition’.  This was launched officially on October 1^st in anticipation of the Royal Premiere and Global release of Spectre, which will take place in London on Monday 26th October.

In language more MI6 than SW19, we were told in no uncertain terms that we needed to be very aware that the product could not be sold or discussed with anyone until after the 1st October – we were definitely given the feeling that EON (the producers of the film) would send the boys round, quick as you like, if we breathed a word.  So we didn’t, but now we can.

Bollinger has had an exclusive partnership since Moonraker in 1979 and has actually appeared in 13 of the films since Live and Let Die in 1973.  From a book perspective it was actually first mentioned by Mr Fleming in his 1956 novel Diamonds are Forever.  So a 40 year relationship that just seems to be getting stronger and stronger and to celebrate this relationship we will be getting our hands on some of the limited edition release.

The 2009 vintage Bollinger has been dedicated to the Bond Limited release only. 

According to the press release it is

‘sourced exclusively from Grand Crus, it is a blend of 68% Pinot Noir (39% from Ay and 29% from Verzenay) and 32% Chardonnay (16% Mesnil-sur-Oger, 8% Avize and 8% Cramant) matured for twice as long as stipulated in the Appellation rules.

As a final touch it arrives encased in a sleek Carré Basset designed black cool-box with embossed silver Bollinger and 007 branding. The exterior is designed to mimic the texture of the gun grip on 007’s Walther PPK, whilst the insulated interior will keep the bottle chilled for up to two hours once removed from the fridge.’

According to Wayne

‘The sublime 2009 vintage Bollinger is boxed up in a fancy pants box that reminds me of a tuxedo and gift bag and is for sale for £125 in exclusive establishments with close connections to Her Majesty’s Secret Service’

So there you have it – we’ve attached some pretty pictures and the fiche technique to tantalise your taste buds – if you would like a bottle for yourself, for your other half, for Christmas or just for the hell of it, let us know and we’ll set one aside for you.

‘SPECTRE LIMITED EDITION’ – £125

Back in the world we live in, life ticks on.  Studiously avoiding the subjects of Rugby and Arsenal we have found ourselves talking about wine and cheese for the most part this week.  Safer territory for both of us.  We’re doing a Rioja/Spain focused Wine & Cheese evening here in the shop of Thursday 15^th October, as part of our involvement with Shop Rioja, during the month of October.  We’re trying to find a cheese from Rioja, we know there is certainly one but it’s a question of where we can get it – failing that we’ll have to focus on Rioja wines and cheese from other parts.

Either way, it’ll be a top night and a great opportunity to enjoy the differences between Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva whilst munching on fine cheese and pouring crumbs down your front.

THURSDAY 15^TH OCTOBER AT 8PM – WINE & CHEESE – £20/PERSON

And finally, wines on tasting today and tomorrow. 

We will be opening our new Malbec – Angulo Innocenti 2012 (£17.59) from La Consulta, Mendoza – a reasonably neutral selection, since we don’t believe Argentina will win the World Cup.

And for the white we will be visiting South Africa, Robertson in fact, and opening Fram Chardonnay 2014 (£12.99) – a reasonably neutral selection, since we don’t believe South Africa wi….

Park Vintners will be back.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

What’s the best festival you’ve been to? 

For Wayne, Woodstock ranks highly from the vague snippets he can recall (you just had to be there, man), the Bang Face Weekender and the Hull International Sea Shanty Festival both coming a close second.  My wife really liked the idea of Bookfest, until it was explained that it wasn’t simply an opportunity to sit in a tent on Wimbledon Common and read your book uninterrupted for 10 days.  Rufus really wants to go to the Kattenstoet, particularly the bit when they throw the cats out of the belfry tower into the square below – however he’s not able to go because it’s in Belgium, he’s a cocker spaniel without a passport and apparently they stopped throwing real cats in 1817.

Me, well I don’t know.  Having had, at university, a reasonably lucrative career driving people down to Glastonbury at 2am to help them climb the fence and pocketing enough cash to get me to the pub for the next week, my view of festivals is more from the position of facilitator rather than attendee. The Bearded Theory Festival in Derbyshire is an attractive proposition on name alone as is the Hop Farm Festival but the current favourite is of course our very own Great Sherry Festival.

Two weeks of drinking and talking about sherry in the comfort of our own shop with no need to queue for a portaloo or an overpriced falafel and no requirement to sleep under canvas.  Yes, two weeks – far longer than your Isle of Wight or Reading events and far less smelly.

Last weekend really kicked it off – we had Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla Classic Dry Manzanilla 37.5cl £7.99; we had Emilio Lustau Almacenista Manuel Cuevas Jurado Manzanilla Pasada de Sanlucar 50cl (£21.99); we had Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla Fino En Rama 37.5cl (£9.99), we had… we had loads open.

And we’re going to have them all open again this weekend – I’ve attached a list if you’d like to see what we’ve got – so hopefully those of you that already love Sherry can re-visit some old favourites and those of you who’ve always wondered what all the fuss is about, well, you can find out what all the fuss is about…

As with all good festivals, there is always some sort of highlights programme late on a Saturday night and this festival is no different.  Actually there is no programme but we do have a short list of firstly, things we have learnt about sherry this week and secondly, things we have learnt about you

Things we have learnt about sherry this week

Amontillado is the most adaptable – it goes with nuts, cured meats, mature cheeses, salt fish, baked fish, salt baked fish (!), consommés, shellfish, smoked fish, fresh tuna, artichokes, asparagus, mushrooms, game, spicy dishes and of course, on its own.

Manzanilla and Fino, with their low acidity, are the perfect foil to dressed salads – the vinegar acidity doesn’t have anything to fight with – so we can pencil in Salt & Vinegar Squares as a good match here too.

Cream sherry, when made with top quality Oloroso and a splash of PX is a joy to behold and far removed from the stuff in blue bottles – in fact it can even have a herbaceous character, reminiscent of a good Vermouth.  Who knew?  Definitely not us until this week…

Things we have learnt about you

Many of you came in and, quite rightly, said that you preferred the drier Manzanilla style of sherry, the stuff you enjoy with some tapas and olives and that really the sweet sherries were not your cup of tea and a bit Aunt Maud, if you will.

Best-selling sherry so far?  Bodegas César Florido Moscatel Dorado 37.5cl £8.99 – a sweet sherry made from late harvested Moscatel grapes in Chipiona, on the coast.  Oooo, that’s absolutely delicious, was the oft heard phrase!

So, in conclusion – sherry on tasting all day today and tomorrow, places filling on our various evening tastings, especially the Posh Italian Evening (see attached), and rugby on the TV all weekend.

England v Wales – I couldn’t possibly comment in writing!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

To say we are a little excited would, quite possibly, be a little understatement. The week started off gently enough with Sherry tasting on Monday whilst Wednesday saw us swanning around in Mayfair at the Dirty Dozen tasting of small importers in the morning, before launching the new term of Wine School in the evening.  It’s a tough job but we apply ourselves!

But what really has us ‘made up’ with excitement is news that reached us yesterday: British Cycling has been working with the England Rugby Team! As long standing observers of the cycling scene we are well aware of what their ‘marginal gains’ did to Chris Hoy’s legs. So we fully expect all 31 members of the squad to have fast, strong legs.  Given the known skills cyclists have for dancing, we’ll also be looking forward to the marginal gains brought to the ‘Hakarena’.

Yes folks, this evening the Rugby World Cup 2015 kicks off with England hosting Fiji at Twickers. So, if you were as lucky with tickets as we were, pop in and get some supplies on the way home. We have beer, biltong and Bollinger to hand; alongside a selection of Malbec, should you be firing up the barbecue.

Tasting Dates

In our usual, organised way we have had these dates on the back of a fag packet marked in the diary for absolutely ages, and today’s publication has nothing to do with pleading, nagging, cajoling or otherwise…

Thursday 15^th October at 8pm WINE AND CHEESE – £20

This one falls during our Shop Rioja feature, so will definitely feature some fabulous drops from that part of the world.

Thursday 19^th November at 8pm ITALIAN POSH- £30

We’ve been wittering on about our posh purchasing over the summer and thought it high time we put some in your glass, so come and join us for a tour of the posher addresses in the land of grapes.

Thursday 26^th November at 8pm WINE AND CHEESE – £20

We’ll be pinning a Santa badge on the cheese monster for this tasting and coming up with some suggestions to match the traditional cheese board – to port or not to port, that is the question?

Thursday 3^rd December at 8pm CHAMPAGNE AND SPARKLING – £25

We are FIVE!!!  Bubbly on a birthday, what could possibly go wrong?

Alex said he’s pulling out all the stops for this, I think it is because he won’t need a corkscrew!

Sherry Festival 2015

As we see it, nothing says Rugby World Cup like a schooner of sherry. With that in mind, we decided to join in once again with the Great Sherry Festival organised by @sherrywinesuk

This weekend we’ll have a selection of fine drops from that very special corner of Spain open for your delectation. We’ll be talking about food matching too and if that isn’t exciting enough for you, we’ve just discovered that Saturday is also ‘International talk like a pirate day’

We’ll start you off with some lines from Pirates of Penzance

Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry; Fill, oh fill, the pirate glass; And to make us more than merry let the pirate bumper pass!

Shiver me timbers and pass me sherry!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As I write this in the sultry Thursday evening sunlight I find it difficult to see much wrong with the world.  This I find extremely vexing because it is a very rare day that I am unable to see 6 or 7 things ‘wrong with the world’ and I am worried if my ‘WwtW’ radar needs re-calibrating.

To continue.  There’s not too much wrong tonight in Wimbledon Park – we’ve not been evacuated from burning planes in Las Vegas, not had our LinkedIn photo commented upon or been shamed and outed by the Commons Expenses Watchdog as non-payers of expenses.

In truth, there is actually one thing wrong with WP this evening – none of you are here!  I believe this sultry sunshine has got you all standing outside wine bars in the city or by the river, rather than rushing home to your loved ones, and of course, your wine shop!

So how can I incentivise you to come home and not go to the pub over the next few weeks?

PLAN A

(For the purpose of this plan, the word ‘all’ doesn’t refer to everyone, just to those who like the things to which we are referring)

We all love the pub.  We all love the rugby, especially International rugby, especially the World Cup.  We all love beer.  We all love going to the pub, drinking beer whilst watching the Rugby World Cup.

However, a potential glitch has occurred regarding the viewing of the England matches – they are all prime time Friday or Saturday evening… not the easiest time to get a seat in the pub even without world class sport going on.  Plus, we all hate queuing, whether for drinks or for the loo….

So, how about bringing the pub to your house?

Become the Landlord of your Living Room by getting yourself a 10 litre minipin of either, Sambrook’s Wandle, Sambrook’s Junction or Sambrook’s Pumphouse.   The minipin is racked bright (without sediment) so that it can be served immediately.  The shelf life on racked bright beer is typically 7 days unopened and 3 days from opening.  Put it on a table in the corner and you have the best part of 18 pints to get through during the match.  And you shouldn’t need to queue.

Prices for the pins are:

Wandle Minipin – £35

Junction Minipin – £37

Pumphouse Minipin – £37

Works out around £2 a pint… which seems remarkably good value!

Should this be of interest let us know over the weekend and we can get orders into the brewery for delivery on Friday – bear in mind they do need a couple of days’ notice so I will be ordering by close of play Monday.

And if you have bigger plans that 18 pints can cope with, again let us know, because they do also do a 20 litre polypin which works out even better on a pint by pint basis.

PLAN B

Flattery will get you nowhere… but don’t stop trying (Miss Moneypenny – Dr. No)

Through no fault of my own, it seems I have a quick Bollinger offer for you – maybe something to do with Mr Bond’s imminent arrival on the big screen quaffing it.  Anyway, just for this weekend, I am reducing the price of Bollinger Special Cuvée to £40 per bottle.  Normally I sell it for £45 and it will still be £200 if you buy 6 bottles (£33.33 per bt), but if you just fancy a single bottle, starting Friday 11^th at 11am through until Saturday 12^th at 8pm, that’s the deal! 

PLAN C

The Power of Wayne

The usual practice is that when I go on holiday Wayne drains the bank account in pursuit of fine wine and fun.  The fine wine mostly ends up on the shelves in the shop and I find it best not to ask about the fun.  It seems though, even when he’s not here, he still gets up to his tricks…

Earlier this week I received a delivery of 12 bottles of Principe Corsini Le Corti Chianti Classico Riserva Cortevecchia DOCG 1997.  This is a wine that we used to sell when we worked in Clapham, is a wine that our suppliers, the main importers, ran out of before we even opened here, so really is a wine I assumed was for the history books.

Clearly not, because it’s here, I don’t know where he found it and cannot find out until he stops sunning himself a few time-zones east of here.

It’s on the shelf for £30.99 – 1997 was a very good vintage in Tuscany and this is a very good wine from that vintage.  I just need to sell it all before he gets back in case he had other plans for it…

PLAN D

My daughter says school is sooo boooring but she hasn’t tried wine school!

And quite right too, because she’s only nine.

You, however, can.

Term starts next Wednesday 16^th September, then for the following 5 more weeks.  It costs £150 per person and you’ll taste masses of different wines from all over.

No children allowed.

AND IF NONE OF THESE PLANS WORK….

How about popping in after work and tasting some wine?  We’ve got a couple of wines from the d’Oc: Domaine de Vedilhan Viognier 2014 – £8.99 and Le Malbec 2013 – £10.99, both delicious in sunshine or rain and frankly, if they’re good enough for the Doc, they must be good enough for us!

DIARY PLAN

A few of you have been asking about Wine & Cheese – we will confirm dates next week.

We will be tasting a lot of sherry here in the shop over the next two weeks though, which should be fun – we’ll let you know more after we’ve seen our Sherry people on Monday.

In fact we’re doing quite a bit of offsite tasting in weeks to come, which means that we will be opening late Monday 14^th, Wednesday 16^th and Thursday 17^th… we’ll be back by 4pm, at the latest, ideally before…

That’s it from us, time for some Bolli!

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Right people, we’re back in the real world now, summer’s over as you may have noticed, the schools are finally doing what schools are meant to do and keeping our children out of our wallets and the next stop is Halloween.

Apologies, nothing on earth can be more depressing on your first week back in the chair than thoughts of pumpkins, trick-or-treat and the clocks going back.

And the Newspapers aren’t filled with huge amounts of joy and jollity either ,with the pages filled with stories that have been threatening to become headlines for a long time and now, unfortunately, seem to be here to stay.

However, ours is not to solve crises or discuss political errors, that falls to far greater minds, ours is to keep you distracted over Friday lunchtime and sharpen you up for the weekend.  So, to shoulder our responsibility, we have decided to create a shortlist of awards for the last week, plucked from various sources, and in no particular order:

Best Proposed Ruling That Will Never Be Policed

Remember when talking on your mobile phone whilst driving was made illegal – well, that was such a success as we all know, prisons filled overnight, cars were impounded and the very idea of talking on a handheld when behind the wheel became as archaic as smoking on the tube.  Now, having taken guidance from heaven knows where, Nottingham council have put a blanket ban on havin’ a gasper during working hours and even when not at work but dressed in council uniform.  Who will be the lucky person given the role of enforcing this no smoking policy… mmm, not sure – I suspect this plan to be stubbed out imminently.

Best Beer

Has to be Guinness Zero ABV.  Admittedly this is only in Indonesia and has been there for a year apparently, but really, zero alcohol.  We drink Guinness because it tastes good as a beverage with alcohol in.  Let’s face it, I don’t ever get asked for alcohol-free Whisky because, like the Zero, that would be weird…

Best Climb in Rankings

This has to be a tie between Rory McIlroy and the Welsh football team.  Now before Karen, Lee, Roger and Morgs get hot under the collar, I’m not having a dig at the Welsh, that’s not at all what I am meaning.  If we take Rory first, he’s now back at world No. 1.  Jordan Spieth lost top spot to him this weekend, when he missed the cut.  Rory didn’t even raise a club this weekend and yet somehow the person who actually went out and played came of worse than the man who stayed at home and watched Ireland lose to Wales in the rugby (see, I love you really Taff!). 

Similarly Wales overtake England in the Fifa world rankings.  They’ve had a cracking Euro qualification period and played 7, won 5, drawn 2 which puts them bang on to qualify for next summer.  The irony is that England couldn’t have had a better campaign themselves!

Who knew sport could be so complicated?

Best TV Coverage

Has to go to whoever is in charge of the cameramen on La Vuelta a España.  Two cyclists taken out by motorbikes filming the race, on 2 separate days, resulting in both riders having to abandon through injury.  As if these Grand Tours weren’t hard enough…

Best Letter

From the erstwhile benchmark of bad behaviour, Shane Warne’s open letter to the current enfant terrible of Aussie tennis, Nick Kyrgios, effectively telling him that he needs to earn respect and stop trying everyone’s patience.  We won’t go into Shane’s long list of misdemeanours but suffice to say they make a good checklist of things not to do as a professional sportsman (perhaps a letter from David Boon at some point might have kept him on the straight and narrow) but we do think his continued use of ‘u’ in place of ‘you’ in the letter will certainly encourage Nick to take this very, very seriously

Best Laugh, Yesterday

The American news-lady, Harris Faulkner, who is suing Hasbro for making a doll which has the same name as her.  Admittedly, they could have used a different name but really, suing for $5 million dollars – apparently she objects to being associated with a toy that presents a choking hazard to children under 3, I kid you not.

What made us laugh though was that she is claiming that the toy bears a strong physical resemblance to her.

It doesn’t. 

Not at all, not even if you scrunch up your eyes and turn it sideways.  She looks like a glamorous American newsreader and the toy looks like a cheap, yellow plastic toy.  Some people really do take themselves a little too seriously…

Best News Regarding Duty And Tax

Apparently all the tax and duty malarkey that we pay on top of our wine actually more than covers the NHS bill.  So we can expect far better treatment, big cures for big diseases and larger beds, or a drop in taxes. 

No, we don’t see it happening either.

Best News Regarding Health

No proof that wine is bad for you, no proof that it isn’t, we might all just be human, and we’re all going to die anyway, yaaarrgghh…!!!

We read an article that said roughly this earlier in the week but can’t find it now under the pile of bottles.  Suffice to say, a new version of the same article will be along in a few weeks’ time – hurrah!

Best Value School Fees

£150 for 6 weeks of Wine School – starts Wednesday 16^th September.

Taste 60 wines and, in week 1 get to hear all about Wayne’s holiday, learn lots and lots about them.  Sorry, I had to put a sales pitch in somewhere!

Best Wines

Clearly the best wine is the wine in your glass right now, and the wines in our tasting glasses this weekend will be travelling over from South America where, no doubt, it is warmer. 

In white we will have the Crios Torrontés 2013, Dominio del Plata, Calchaquies Valley/Altamira, Argentina – £13.49 – Torrontes is Argentina’s speciality grape.  Enticing aromas, similar to Viognier, with hints of white pear, white flowers and citrus fruit.  On the palate, it has a beautiful structure and acidity along with enticing fruit flavours and plenty of body for a wine that shows such delicate aromas and flavours.  Fruity, floral and yet still dry.  Asian food with citrus influences, lemon chicken, guacamole, Mexican…

In red we cross the border and have Tabali Reserva Especial Pinot Noir 2013, Limari Valley, Chile £12.99.  The Limari Valley is one of Chile’s northernmost regions, and is more coastal than many of the valleys to the south.  Cool sea currents just off the coast and morning fog really benefit the Pinot grape, stopping it from becoming overripe and flabby.  The wine we have here is a great drop and we reckon its silky red fruits will be a delightful match with everything!

Finally, in yellowy-green, we have Bepi Tosolini’s Limoncello – £21.99 which will give you the opportunity to re-live those snoozy, sun-drenched afternoons on the Costa d’Amalfi…

Best be going now!

That’s it, another lunch over, only a few hours left; it’ll be the weekend before you know it.

Cin-Cin!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

The big news this week is that a super smart engineer has come up with a formula to help you decide on the best stick to choose to ensure success at Pooh sticks.

PP                   = A x I            x Cd

(perfect stick)= (cross sectional area) x (density) x (drag coefficient of the stick)

Seeing it written down it makes perfect sense (except for using I to represent density!), so choose a weighty, stubby stick with lots of bark. I suspect Morden Hall will have a rush on such sticks this weekend, and that the bridge will be especially crowded!

It’s not entirely clear if it was this news that has prompted the merger talks between Betfair and Paddy Power.

In the athletics, it seems cheats never prosper whether they speak to the press or not!

In proper sport, today sees the first proper climber’s day in the Vuelta with an 18km climb to the mountain top finish at La Alpujarra. In this heat I’m not sure I fancy it myself but am certain this is where the race will light up!

He’s back folks, but did you see the weather he brought back with him?

In other news both ‘Awesomesauce’ and ‘Wine O’Clock’ were added to the latest edition of The Oxford Dictionary, along with ‘Grexit’ ‘Brexit’ and, of course, ‘Hangry’.

Wine School

We’d love to tell you more about a subject we love…Wednesday 16^th September at 8pm. £150 each, taste 60 wines. What else would you do on a Wednesday?

Wine

Wayne managed to sneak in that other cracking white while Alex’s back was turned. Gerard Tremblay’s Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir 2012 (£35.99). Vaudesir is one of the seven Grand Cru’s and sits atop the hill overlooking Chablis Town. Wines from here are usually softer and more elegant in style than the other Grand Cru’s without losing any of the stunning minerality.

Tasting this weekend

Awesomesauce in your glass this weekend will be represented by Beyra Branco 2013(£10.99). A crisp citrusy, mineral laden white from 700m altitude at the top of the Douro near the Spanish border.

Sporting the red velvet jacket in the corner we’ll have Tufarello 2012 (£12.99). Hailing from Puglia in Italy’s sunny heel, this delicious Nero di Troia has a soft palate of ripe dark fruits with touches of herbs and sandalwood.

Drop by and say hi, there’s wine open to try.