The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Everyone recovered from the craziness that is April 23rd? I don’t know what those Irish think they’re up to, we’re definitely the ones who know how to throw a party, and how!

First up, I saw at least two cars sporting the St George’s Cross; a couple of scaffolders sang Jerusalem, and then I saw him.

Hair dyed bright red, red and white grease paint on his face, gambolling up and down Arthur Road tilting at invisible dragons with a plastic lance he had brought from home. Three times the police had to remove him from the tube station as he tried to lure the aforementioned dragons from the tunnel with Yorkshire Pudding and Apple Crumble. He was last seen cycling off into the sunset, pannier filled with a takeaway from the local Chinese (Dragon King FYI) muttering loudly about conspiracy theories and the Knights Templar.

So today he has the day off, bless him.

Me, I dressed up like Shakespeare, copied this blog from one Wayne had written earlier, and spent the day talking to a skull – no madness in this King George!

What else has happened this week? Tesco hit the headlines hard, so hard in fact that the news that Sainsbury’s is looking to shed around 800 jobs by stripping out a seam of middle management almost slipped under the radar. And at the start of the week Which? launched something called a ‘super-complaint’ to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), calling for an end to misleading and unclear pricing/sharp practices that serve to create a false illusion of savings. The culprits? Asda, Tesco, Ocado and Waitrose. Trust in the supermarkets must be at an all-time low.

But now it’s Friday and we can think about far more exciting things than supermarkets and Wayne with red hair…

Wine & Cheese Tasting – last two before summer

This is where we get four cheeses in from our chums at Norbiton Fine Cheese, partner them with six wines we think will do the business and then have a round table discussion on the merits of our choices.

We have two more slotted in before the summer Thursday 14th May, and Thursday 11th June. Both start at 8pm, will cost £20 for your place so if you’d like to come along give us a call as soon as possible on 020 8944 5224 to book yourself in.

Think Pink – A tour of Rosé

So there we were, standing in the shop, watching the world go by in the sunshine when before we knew it a plan had formulated for a tasting across a range of Rosé.  Some still, some sparkling, and certainly all very tasty.

Thursday 11th July at 8pm and £20 per place, so if you want to feel in the pink give us a call on 020 8944 5224 to book yourself in – we think this will sell out fast!

Wine School

Wednesday 3rd June sees us start the new term for wine school. You’ll be signing up for six Wednesday evenings where you’ll taste 60 wines, get to know your claret from your Beaujolais and possibly even discover a new favourite.

3rd June – 8th July inclusive, cost is £150 per person and we kick off each evening at 8pm.

This will be the last course before summer so if you want to have more of a clue when confronted by the winelist in that lovely bistro in the South of France, now’s your chance!

Fizz-tastic

Last week we mentioned a couple of deals on the old bubbly stuff, both have been going well, so we thought we’d mention them again.

That way you don’t miss out and Alex may get a chance to wear his ‘Salesman of the Month’ tie-pin again. Leveret IQ Brut (£14.99) or 20% off 6 till the end of May. Bollinger Special Cuvée (£45) or £200 for 6 whilst stock last!

Tasting this Weekend

Many of you know (and indeed buy) our monthly mixed cases and we thought we’d show you a couple of the wines in this month’s box. We’ll start off with Vinhos de Altitude Beyra Branco 2013 (£10.99). The previous vintage was winner of the ‘Northern Portuguese White Under £15 Trophy’ and ‘Best in Show Trophy’ at the Decanter World Wine Awards, and we think this one is no less delicious.

In the red corner we’ll have Estate Manolesakis Exis red 2014 (£12.99) from Drama in northern Greece. A blend of Moschomavro and Limnio, it’s a lovely, juicy red that really captivated us when we tasted it.

So swing by for a gargle today or tomorrow – we’re here waiting!

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Congratulations to all of you who ignored Wayne’s sporting tips last weekend – you must have made a fortune – how about treating yourself to a bottle of wine. For us, money on Oxford in the boat race yielded little return, likewise Lewis Hamilton’s victory in China; Soll and Druid’s Nephew lost you your stake, and if you went with Lee Westwood or Bubba Watson in the Masters, well they finished tied 46 and tied 38 respectively.

Helpful suggestions from the West Country just helped to remind us that punditry is a skilled job. The recommendation was that we put good Park Vintners money on a horse named Al Co (not sure why that name struck a chord) at 25-1 last Saturday in the National. Now falling at the first hurdle is one thing, however, unseating the rider so that he goes over the first hurdle first is downright rude!

The silver lining here is that we can lose money on him again tomorrow as he is fit enough to be running (if he decides that’s what he fancies doing) in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr!

So we’re broke. Our side bet of Kevin Pietersen being the next England Test Captain still looks outrageous, but not that outrageous, whilst we try and work out whether they should risk sacrificing Joe Root’s form by burdening him with captaincy or give Stuart Broad the poisoned chalice for the summer with a view to appointing new blood post the Ashes thrashings.

There, that’s our blog for Racing Post done; time to get the wine email written.

What’s news in the world of wine?

The spraying of Mumm Champagne after the Grand Prix has filled more column inches this week than perhaps warranted; Bordeaux en-primeur continues to provide plenty of scope for fence sitting as the consensus seems to be that it’s not a poor vintage but not a great one. Its greatness will be decided by sensibly the Chateaux price the best vintage since 2010, which is damning it with faint praise considering how ordinary ‘11, ‘12 and ‘13 were.

Oh, and in the beer world, the founder of pioneering US craft brewer, Elysian, has quit 3 months after it was taken over by Anheuser-Busch which unsurprisingly removed some of its craft credentials, you thought he might have realised sooner! To recap, a quick look at the Anheuser-Busch website shows them to own: Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA, Bass and Boddingtons, Beck’s, Bud Ice, Bud Light Lime Ritas, Busch, Chelada, Goose Island, Johnny Appleseed Hard Apple Cider, Kirin, Landshark Lager, Malt Liquors, Michelob, Natural, O’Doul’s, Regional Beers, Rolling Rock, Select Family, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe, Shock Top, Specialty Beers – artisan producers, man and boy…

So, it came to pass.

After centuries of selling Morton Estate Brut NV, it was re-branded late last year and became Leveret IQ, as I’m sure you all know. What you may not know is that we haven’t changed the price for Morton/Leveret, or indeed Mimi, since we first opened in 2010.

And so, it has come to pass.

Leveret IQ is now £14.99 per bottle and the two Mimi’s have become £12.99. In order to soften this blow a little, we have decided to offer all three of these wines at a better than normal price of 20% off 6 bottles until the end of May. Far better than the normal 6 for 5 deal, so we suggest you fill your boots asap (we can get 30 cases in the back of the Volvo as a guide!)

However, if your tastes are more Francophile, we are also doing a 6 bottles for £200 offer on Bollinger Special Cuvée, so if you’ve drunk all your Christmas stock, now would be the time to replenish!

This Weekend

As it’s now easing into Friday afternoon, the sun is shining into the back garden and lunch is beckoning, I fear it is time to consider opening some wine for the weekend. One of our suppliers kindly gave us a bottle of Sancerre La Clochette 2013 (£15.99) to open up, so we shall. Staying in France, we thought we would execute the classic Loire/Rhone pairing and open up Les Vignes de Prince Cotes du Rhone 2013 (£9.99) which in this vintage, unusually for them, is a blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Mourvedre due to the paucity of the Grenache crop.

Hopefully we’ll see you sometime over the weekend – we’ll be glued to the telly at 3.45 to watch Al Co go off at 14-1 but will be with you by 3.46, given current form.

Here’s Mumm in your eye!!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week we thought we should probably have a chat about the sport, there seems to be a lot on and some of it is interesting!
Started in 1829 and an annual feature since 1856, The Boat Race runs on Saturday. Currently Cambridge are in the lead with 81 wins to Oxford’s 78, with only one dead-heat (1877 and mired in controversy as it happens, as the race judge was over 70 and blind in one eye!). Looks to me like Oxford are favourites this year, but let’s see what happens.

In Shanghai we have the Chinese Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton favourite. He seems to be snivelling about having to read all 80 pages of his £21 million contract so I’m hoping his distraction means that Rosberg wins, just to light up the rest of the season a bit. Either way, the cooler weather should favour Mercedes.

Back to the UK Aintree hosts the most famous horse race on the calendar. The Grand National is on Saturday with AP McCoy favourite on Shutthefrontdoor, but personally I’m not convinced. Much as it’d be a lovely way to bow out, he’s the one with all the pressure. If he does win however, there’ll be a lot of bookmakers crying into their Rioja on Saturday night. Having had a quick squizz at the runners, I’m thinking an each way on either Soll or Druids Nephew might be in order.

Over the pond sees Augusta hosting the 79th US Masters. This is the competition where grown men swing sticks at small white balls for hours on end. The winner after four days gets a green anorak(and $1.6 million). Bookies favourite this year is Rory McIlroy, but again I think he’s got all the pressure, how about Lee Westwood or defending anorak Bubba Watson.

Meanwhile, in proper sport, Sunday sees Bradley Wiggins ride his last race for Sky in the Hell of the North that is the 113th Paris Roubaix. One of the oldest races in cycling, it has run since 1896 (skipping a couple of wars)and traditionally goes over a ridiculous amount of cobblestones. The winner of the race wins a cobblestone (and about €30000). I would love a first British winner but whether it’s Wiggins, Thomas, or Stannard is a tough call. Wiggo does have a history of doing the business when he’s had a singular focus, and this has been his focus all season.
Cheese and Wine
Come join us on Thursday 16th April. We are opening wine, partnering it with some delicious cheese and you’re all at a loss as to what to do after the Easter break. 8pm start £20 buys your seat at the table and there are still a few places left.
Think Pink!
The sun is shining and the new vintage of our favourite rose has arrived. Chateau de l’Aumérade Cuvée Marie Christine 2014 is, we think, even more tasty than last year. Its crisp, delicate red fruit characters are the perfect foil for something garlicky. £14.49 per bottle or £75 for six bottles!
Tasting This Weekend
The weekend is on the doorstep and we all have a whistle to whet. We thought we could get started with Bioca Godello (£12.99) a dangerously moreish white from Northwest Spain. Whilst in the red corner we thought we’d try something a bit more mainstream after Alex’s journey to Greece last week. We’ll crack open Campos de Luz Garnacha (£8.49) from Cariñena, a cracking example of old vine Grenache and just perfect should anyone be considering setting light to some sausages charcoal this weekend.
Lastly, a toast to Richie Benaud, just 16 short of a century!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

It’s been a funny old week – less sleep, more sunlight and lots of wind. We’ve been stock counting for our year end (after a couple of hours you see bottles wherever you turn), we’ve seen the less practical of us (we’ll call him Wayne) put the A-board out, only to have it blow over and pop its hinges, which leaves the more practical (let’s call him Alex) to mend it.

He also got the short straw for the weekend, unaccustomed as I am to taking a few days off, I thought I’d take full advantage of the Easter break and go for a ride on my bike. As a result Alex will be holding the fort for the following opening hours…

EASTER OPENING HOURS
GOOD FRIDAY 3rd APRIL – 11AM – 3PM
SATURDAY 4th APRIL – 10AM – 6PM
EASTER SUNDAY 5th APRIL – CLOSED
MONDAY 6th APRIL – CLOSED
TUESDAY 7th APRIL – NORMAL HOURS

Wine & Cheese Tasting

Thursday 16th April at 8pm we will be sampling a selection of wines with some delicious cheeses from our chums at Norbiton. There are still a few spaces left, £20 per person, as you’d be able to read on our A-board if I hadn’t broken it!

Wine School

On the other side of our A-board there is talk of tasting 60 different wines over a succession of 6 glorious Wednesday evenings that start on April 15th at 8pm. It costs £150 so go on, give Alex a call on 020 8944 5224 to book your place.

Weekend Wine

There will definitely be some and Alex will choose them. I have a suspicion that anything I drink may have a Spanish flavour to it but not until I’ve locked the bike up!

Have a great long weekend everyone,

Wayne & Alex

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Here at Park Vintners Towers we occasionally find ourselves looking at the world in amazement, wondering if we’re a little odd. This week would be a good case in point with two stories catching our attention.

Nonsense
The first one, which we would perhaps consider a cautionary tale, revolves around the concept of knowing one’s place, and we’re not sure that many of the protagonists in this episode actually did.

Let me explain… there’s a big company who are a bit involved in the business of news and entertainment and they discover that there has been a bit of a ‘fracas’ involving “The Talent” and a member of “The Crew” whilst filming one of the more successful shows. Torn between the reporting instinct to tell the story on the one hand, and duty to staff on the other an enquiry is launched whilst all other news outlets run amok, unable to hide the fun they’re having.

In truth, we find ourselves amazed that “Man punches colleague, gets sacked” has managed to make so many front pages and garner so many column inches, let alone get a million signatures on a petition!

History
The second story, and this has kept a puzzled expression on Wayne’s face all week, is Richard III.
A skeleton is dug up in a car park in Leicester, confirmed as Richard III (dental records we’re guessing, certainly no passport or fingerprints). It is then kept in a laboratory for 2 years whilst plans are made.

Whilst he’s in the lab, the 500 year old story that he was a hunchback is refuted, but it turns out that he didn’t have feet (still missing, presumed stolen by Victorians).

This week the plans are unveiled and 20,000 people see the box of bones (some queued for two hours), the bones then go on a road trip to the site of a Battle of Bosworth, where it’s presumed he died. He is then (still without feet) reburied at Leicester Cathedral just a short distance from where he was dug up!

At the ceremony even Sherlock Holmes turned up, we can’t help but wonder if he was there at the behest of distant relatives of the Princes in the Tower.

We just can’t help wondering if the entire story was dreamt up by someone who works at Leicester Tourist office, after all the car park now has a Visitors Centre!

Wine
In wine news this week scientists have published a study that suggests the secret to terroir may actually lie in the bacteria around the roots rather than the soil itself. We shall watch this space for further revelations!

Easter Opening Hours

Good Friday 3rd April – 11am – 3pm
Saturday 4th April – 10am – 6pm
Easter Sunday 5th April – Closed
Monday 6th April – Closed
Tuesday 7th April – Normal Hours

Wine School
The new term start on 15th April and runs for six consecutive Wednesdays. We’ll kick off at 8pm and you’ll taste in the region of 60 different wines. £150 per person and full details attached.

Tasting
Talking of revelations we had a great tasting this week “Off the beaten track” we discussed with a group of customers the merits of Malagousia, the kick of the Kekfrankos and the tingle of the Txakoli. Fun was had by all and the consensus was that there is definitely life beyond Sauvignon or Shiraz.

Cheese and Wine Tasting
The next event in our ever-popular Cheese and Wine tasting series is on 16th April at 8pm. That’s a Thursday night packed with cheesey deliciousness, washed down partnered with some well-chosen wines from our shelves. £20 per person, pop in and book your place.

Something for the weekend?
With the revelation that there is life beyond Sauvignon we’ll grace our white corner with a bottle of Thiasos 2013 (£9.49). A super white wine from the Peloponnese that’s a blend Roditis and Moschofilero, full of sunshine and loveliness.

Whilst we’re toasting the end of winter and saying ‘Au revoir’ to an hour’s sleep we will do so with a glass of The Chocolate Block 2013 (£23.99) in our hands. It’s a tasty blend of rather better known varieties Syrah, Cabernet sauvignon, Grenache, Cinsault and Viognier.

So come along and join us, and get your laughing gear around these two.

And finally…
We’ve not managed to confirm or deny that UKIP have recruited a new candidate for Chipping Norton!

Clocks forward Saturday night folks!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Flushed with the success of our campaign at Cheltenham, where we saw horses run and jump over things whilst carrying small men with garish shirts up a steep hill, we thought we would cast our beadies over other sporting events this week.

So we’ve cast aside the jockey’s diet of a lettuce leaf and two glasses of water, choosing instead the steak and eggs option of the Six Nations. Wayne had a look at the points table and reached for the slide rule causing Alex much mirth, who promptly explained the concept of spreadsheets.

With this being the final weekend of a thrilling Six Nations, Wayne has put his new found expertise on pages with grids to answer the question on everybody’s lips. He has worked out that if Italy beat Wales in the early game, Scotland have no hope of avoiding a wooden spoon-shaped object.

In other news we saw that scientists from the University of Illinois are working on “hangover free” wine. Reading past the headlines however and we discover that by genetically modifying the yeast using a “genome knife” they believe they will remove some of the toxins that cause hangovers, and may even be able to boost the “health” benefits of a wine by introducing things like ginseng. The article then went on to say that it’s not just these toxins that cause hangovers, there is a series of other suspects too, many of which they don’t understand.

We’ve conducted a quick straw poll amongst all our staff and we’re going to stick with an occasional tactical glass of water, and our firm belief that the best winemakers do virtually nothing in the winery.

Roy Hodgson has named the squad for the games against Lithuania and Italy and again the selection misses out on anyone called either Kevin or Pietersen. We can’t help but think you’ve missed a trick there Roy!

Back by Popular Demand

The Chocolate Block 2013 £23.99 (6 bottles for £120) – Undoubtedly one of South Africa’s most sought after wines, the 2013 is a blend of Syrah (71%); Cabernet Sauvignon (12%); Grenache Noir (11%); Cinsault (5%) and Viognier (1%). They say: “An exotic and vibrant vintage with an iron edge running alongside the inky core of prunes, mulberries, cloves and boasting floral notes. Firm ripe tannins on the palate covered by plums, blackberries and olive tapenade. Textured, composed and seamless in style.”

We can’t think of a better match for some venison.

Wine and Cheese

I’m not entirely sure how we got from venison to cheese, but anyway, Thursday 16th April sees the next outing of our Cheese and Wine tasting. We still have a few places left so don’t be shy, give us a call on 020 8944 5224 or swing by, say hi and we’ll book you in. £20 per person and an 8pm start as usual.

Wine School

You’ve all been asking so…
Term Starts on Wednesday 15th April at 8pm sharp. Over 6 Wednesday evenings you’ll taste around 60 different wines discover new favourites and who knows, maybe make some friends too. There’s nothing on the telly, cost is £150 and full details are attached.

Tasting This Weekend

In the white corner this week we’ll have a gargle on Petit Clos Sauvignon Blanc 2013 £13.99. Hailing from Marlborough this was a sheep farm until Domaine Henri Bourgeois, a Sancerre producer for 10 generations, bought the land and planted some Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir grapes. The resulting wine is an unmistakeably Kiwi Sauvignon with a certain amount of French sensibility and restraint.

In the red corner we’ll turn that whole idea on its head with Tahi 2009 £22.99. Here we have a typically French wine made by an Englishman who trained in New Zealand. I’ll make no apologies for this being the 2nd Domaine Treloar wine in a fortnight, the wines are too delicious to have unopened on the shelf!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As an antidote to the cricket, the Harlequins, and various football team’s fortunes, we have been focussing on winning this week. Visitors to the shop have noticed the Cheltenham festival trotting away in the background as we’ve got on with things. A thoroughly enjoyable diversion as every race has had a winner. We’ve not been so successful ourselves but surely the fun is in trying.

This weekend we see a return to action in the Six Nations with Twickers hosting the England Scotland game at 5 o’clock on Saturday. At the risk of supplying an opener for the worm can, I’m hoping England have a big bounce back from their defeat at the hands of the Irish.

Elsewhere, we had a full house of graduates from the latest episode of Wine School. New dates coming to an inbox near you very soon!

In the wider wine world the big news was words from Robert Parker: “Spending a lot for a top quality wine is fine if you plan to drink it, but not as a form of investment.” He went on to point out the costs of storage and insurance, along with slow market appreciation make it an often fruitless exercise, and in his opinion after 37 years in the trade, it was a terrible investment.

Now these words are fairly similar to utterances you may have heard either of us say on occasion, we are certainly in the ‘wine is for drinking’ camp.
It was more the response to his comments that caught our attention, with several commentators suggesting it was disingenuous of Mr Parker to “criticise the concept of wine investment”. Now, I’m sure it will come as no surprise to most of us that all these comments came from people who have a vested interest in talking us all into investing in wine.

Why is it nowadays that every time somebody voices an opinion, it is immediately taken as a criticism by those with a different view? Do we not learn things from opposing views, are we so scared of a different view that we have to resort to such aggressively defensive language?

Rant over!

Weekend Wine Tasting
The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed some unfamiliar (or as we like to call them ‘New’) wines appear on the shelves the last few weeks. These are the fruits of our dashing around town in sniffing, slurping and spitting whilst you were all dry January-ing. See how we sacrifice ourselves?

We shall share a couple of those with you this weekend: we’ll start in the white corner with La Terre Promise (£16.99) from our chums Jonathan and Rachel at Domaine Treloar. A delicious Catalan white and certainly the first wine we’ve listed that is named after a Bruce Springsteen song.
In the red nose corner, we’re staying firmly with the Catalan theme but crossing the border and driving down the coast a bit before we turn inland at Tarragona. This is where we find the Montsant region, home to Mas Collet (£14.49) from our very newest chums at Celler Capçanes, a delicious blend of Garnacha, Samsó, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon.

That’s it from us folks, we quite like the form on Road to Riches and Coneygree in the Gold Cup but do remember we work with wine, not horses!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

And the answer to Tommy & Alice’s maths puzzler from last week? Well, a number of you made good stabs at it but in the end, and with a big dollop of hindsight, it seems the best answer was to forget about watching sport completely and read the paper – far less frustrating and fundamentally more educational!

But we move on, we’re in a new month, we’re just days away from summertime (clocks leap forward in 22 days) and I’ve taken to wearing just one sweater in the shop. And the sun has been seen on consecutive days – get in!

Somewhere in the depths of winter – Guy Fawkes night perhaps or when Christmas shopping in New York or up a hill on New Year’s Eve – anyway, sometime over winter a few of you turned to your other half as you gazed into the embers/blizzard over Central Park/horizontal drizzle and said:

You know what, I could do this forever, but only if I could do it forever with you by my side – will you marry me?

Your other half dissolved into tears/giggles and before you knew it you had been introduced to far flung members of both families, you had developed a keen interest in marquees and for the first time you have had to grade your friends into some sort of league system relating to their worthiness and thus their likelihood of getting invited to your wedding.

There are chores and bores to organising a wedding and sometimes you wonder why on earth you are doing it this way – wouldn’t it be easier to slope off to the Seychelles and get married on a beach with a crab for best man. However once you have chosen venue, dress, transport, first dance and guestlist the fun really begins – you now have to choose your menu and more importantly you now have to choose your drinks.

If you are at a venue that has its own wine list and won’t allow you to BYO then you are restricted by their choices. However if the venue does allow you to provide your own drinks then this is the time you need to come and speak to us.

Here’s how it works. You come to us and tell us what you’re having to eat, how many people there are and what sort of drinks you’re after – usually it’s bubbles, white and red with perhaps some beers too. Hopefully you have an idea of budget, more often you know how much it would cost to do the drinks through the venue and are looking to get better wine for less money. Once we have all the details we make a selection of wines and drag you into the shop for a tasting – see I told you it was the fun bit. We talk to you about the wines, you taste them, we talk some more, you take a couple of them home with you to taste with your friends and we then proceed to quantities and delivery arrangements. How easy was that, all in one paragraph.
So, if you’re getting married this summer and are underwhelmed by the products on offer at your chosen location, come and have a word with us – we’ve done loads of these events over the years of differing size and budget – we’ll definitely be able to help you out.

Pitch complete.

Other news

We have a few seats still available at the table for our Wine & Cheese Tasting next Thursday 12th March at 8pm. If you haven’t been before and were wondering what goes on, here is the plan in a nutshell. We consult with our local cheese wholesaler – Norbiton Cheese – to source four seasonal, ripe cheeses around about 2 kilos in total. Once we know what the cheeses are we select a range of wine, always including a white and a sweetie, that we consider to be good matches. Now, we know a lot about the wines but are very much the keen amateurs when it comes to the cheese – so together we all taste the various wines with the various cheeses and consider their relative merits. Some call it educational, some call it social, Wayne calls it dinner – it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a Thursday night!

It costs £20 per person – to book one of the spaces you can either reply to this email, phone us on 020 8944 5224 or pop in and see us in the shop.

This Week’s Wines

We’ve got a few new wines in stock, a couple of old favourites have finally landed to (Crusher Pinot Noir, for example) and with this in mind, coupled with the fact that it’s threatening to be a lovely weekend, we thought we’d open a couple of lighter wines tonight.

Quinta das Maias Branco 2013 – £11.39 this organic white comes from 600m up in the foothills of Serra da Estrela, Portugal’s largest mountain range. The wine is fleshy, with almost Golden Delicious apple fruit and a long balanced finish. Unoaked and made from Malvasia Fina and Encruzado, we think this is one of the Dao’s finest whites.

Calusari Pinot Noir 2013 – £8.69 those of you with memories akin to Nellie will recall that we used to sell this wine. In 2011. It then disappeared from our radars for a few years until we rediscovered it at a tasting in early February. Made in Romania, this is the best value Pinot Noir we have ever come across – beautifully balanced red fruits, integrated tannins and a decent length finish, frankly, what’s not to like?
Both these wines will be open today and tomorrow, as will the shop, so swing by and have a try, if you can get through the scrum of recently engaged couples!

Bon Weekend one and all.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ll start today’s lesson with a parental maths puzzler:

Tommy and Alice have two children, Neil and Josie. Sunday 1st March is Josie’s Birthday. In the morning Josie plays netball, escorted by Alice, until 11am. At the same time Neil and his father will be at rugby training until 12pm. Josie has arranged to meet 8 friends at the famous farm-shop and bistro café, McDonald’s, at noon, prior to going to the cinema at 12.40pm as part of her birthday celebration. How can Tommy and Neil be at rugby until 12 whilst supposedly simultaneously enjoying quality beef patties and retailored chicken bits on the other side of town?

This question is worth one mark. For further credit, you may continue with the following:

Josie, her friends and her family will emerge blinking into the sunshine post-cinema sometime around 3pm. At 3pm England play rugby against Ireland in Dublin whilst here in London at 4pm, Chelsea play Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley. Tommy and Neil are keen rugby fans (see morning activity) and Tommy, despite living in a Chelsea encampment, is a Lilywhite rather than a blue and would thus be interested in seeing both games. England will already have lost the cricket to Sri Lanka in the morning, so this is not a variable in the calculation. At all times Tommy and Neil must remember it is Josie’s birthday and thus she is in charge and they must at least pretend to be enjoying themsleves. How can everybody be kept happy in this scenario?

This question is worth limitless marks.

Using the information provided, please come up with a working solution. Whilst it may seem an impossibility to keep everyone happy, full credit will be given for well worded attempts, supported by relevant, full workings, Venn diagrams if possible. Bonus credits available for those who also manage to factor into their calculations that Rupert, the family pet, will definitely need to be taken for a long walk at some point during the day.

So whilst you’re all puzzling on that, what else can we report?

Because they can

Football seems to have plumbed new depths with FIFA running roughshod over most everybody and plonking the 2022 World Cup Final on the 23rd December – what chance anyone getting home for Christmas on a budget? Their dated attitude of ‘we can do whatever we want and you’ll just have to fall into line because we are FIFA’ has to be discredited sometime very soon, one hopes.

Because he can

In the early 80’s, Robert Parker, through his Wine Advocate musings on the wines of the 1982 Bordeaux Vintage, gave Le Pin, a relative newcomer (first vintage 1979), a 100/100 score. Perfect, in his eyes. At the time he was just a man with a keenly developed interest in wine who would score various wines within a hundred point scale. However time has passed and his reputation, influence and indeed power – 90+ Parker Points now being a much used sales tool by fine wine merchants – have all blossomed from his opinions and musings on that 1982 Bordeaux vintage. Well done, Bob.

Yesterday, he announced that he won’t be attending the Bordeaux en-primeur bunfight this year and has handed over the reins to Neal Martin, whom many consider to be his natural heir. For more than 30 years Parker has been doing the en-primeur, so this is maybe another sign that he is handing over more and more of his domain to the team or is it perhaps a sign that he knows what a sham the whole thing is? It is murmured that some producers in the past have waited for him to announce his points before stating their release price, a good score supposedly justifying a huge price hike, which has resulted in the unsustainably high prices we now see for some very ordinary Bordeaux reds from some very ordinary vintages (2007 anyone?).

So we reckon his stepping away from the limelight can only be a good thing for everyone, well done Sir!

Oh, and whatever happened to the 1982 Le Pin? En primeur, the release price was $400 for a case of twelve bottles. If we consult the January 2015 edition of Decanter Fine Wine Price Watch, which shows the latest prices top wines have reached at auction, we can see that the same case of wine has sold for £57,577. Or approximately $88,690. Gadzooks!

Because we can

Feet firmly back on the ground now, everyone. Not sure whether we had a market for £5,000 a bottle Bordeaux, we decided to cancel our order of Pomerol and instead order some new beer. Breaking with our unofficial tradition of buying local we have gone global, or European at least. We had been selling Krombacher Pils for a few years now but our supply dried up. As a result we had to find a new German lager beer and so, remembering how much we enjoy it in the pub, we bought Paulaner Munchen Hell £2.49 in 500ml bottles. We also finally managed to get our hands on a Gueuze from Belgium – Lindemans Gueuze £3.29. Like all things Belgian(!) this is absolutely delightful, I’m not going to go into its complicated production process here but suffice to say it has a tangy sourness that is extremely refreshing and moreish – go on treat yourself!

Because you can

We still have a few places left on our Cheese & Wine evening – Thursday 12th March at 8pm. Tickets are £20 per person and if you’ve not been before you should, because you can. These evenings are enormous fun – fine wine, four fine cheeses, plenty of chat and a splash of education in there too, all on your doorstep.

To book a seat at the table either reply to this email, phone us on 020 8944 5224 or tell us in person when you’re in to stock up on Gueuze!

Because we all can

Wines will be open for tasting this weekend, as is our wont. We have the just moved onto the 2013 vintage of Reichsrat Von Buhl Riesling Trocken – £13.99 always a stunning wine with apple and citrus notes, a streak of minerality and a magical finish. Very much looking forward to it.

For the red, Vista 2013 – £8.29 tickles our fancy. Weirdly, we haven’t shown this for a couple of years but it has been the backbone of our Portuguese range forever. A blend of Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Cabernet Sauvignon this is what is commonly known as a ‘cracking’ drop. Ripe brambly fruits with hints of spice on the finish – very much suited to the weather we’re having at the moment.

That’s just about it from us – anyone managed to solve the maths problem? No, us neither. However, I’m sure we’ll know the answer by Monday….

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ve looked at the calendar and found no Six Nations games, no Premiership matches, and with Lewis Hamilton skipping out of season testing due to illness, what on earth will we talk about this week? Cricket? The ¼ of me that is Kiwi is too embarrassed for the ¾ that is English!

Chinese New Year was considered, but we felt two days late is bordering on rudeness rather than fashionably late. We also considered Eastenders, but with their “Who killed Lucy?” storyline having more suspects than a Cluedo convention, we thought it best left alone.

We had a look at international news and discovered that Putin was still being problematic with some of the air force popping up over Cornwall. Perhaps he has a passion for pasties, someone should invite him to the annual taste off. Make him wear a shirt though!

Germany’s Finance Ministry spokesman, Martin Jaeger, bombed Greek hopes of a short term solution to this act of the tragedy. Looks like it could extend its run further, with what started off as a one act play gaining several more acts in the re-writes already. On the plus side, we tasted some delicious Greek wines earlier this week, so watch this space for further details.

We struck gold with news that, not only may drinking red wine help your memory, but a joint study by the Universities of Florida and Nebraska suggests it may also help your body burn fat better. As usual we’d err on the cautious side, if only because so far the studies have been on mice. Wayne said he might volunteer if they’re taking it further though!

I think we mentioned last year when Niagara Falls froze that it was an extremely rare occurrence but that the pictures were stunning. Well, perhaps a bit alarmingly, it has happened again and the photographs are no less beautiful.

Thursday 12th March will see us pulling the table out, cutting some delicious cheese from our chums at Norbiton Fine Cheese and matching some wines with said cheese. Coming to join the fun? We’ll start as usual at 8pm and £20 buys your place at the table. Give us a call on 020 8944 5224 if you’re up for it.

Tasting This Weekend

We’re going to kick off in the red corner with a wine that arrived just this week. We tasted it ages ago, but only just got round to ordering some. Quieto Malbec 2011 (£14.99) is a proper bobby dazzler with juicy damson and blueberry fruit and a touch of tobacco and liquorice spice to the finish. In the white corner we’ll pull a cork on Domaine Jacques Dury’s Rully La Chaume 2012 (£16.99), a delightful drop that hails from the slopes of the Côte Chalonnaise in Burgundy.

That’s us, have a great weekend and stop by for a taster!

Wayne and Alex