Fellow Wine\nLovers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tidied up all\nthe rose petals? Paid off the a cappella\ngroup and the mariachi band and the Whitney Houston impersonator? Washed up the champagne flutes and lobster\npicks and wondered to yourself \u2013well, how did we get here already? I know we have\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two sessions\ninto the 6 Nations, Valentine\u2019s Day behind us, half term starting today, the\nmercury hitting 15 Celsius yesterday afternoon, daffodils in the shops, sunset\nafter 5pm \u2013 all these factors can only, surely, mean one thing – that spring is\nwell and truly on its way! I\u2019ve even tasted\na variety of ros\u00e9s this week and last, with a view to what to have on our\nshelves this summer, whilst Wayne has been ironing his shorts and talking about\ncycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It really does\nseem that not a huge amount has happened in the world this week. Brexit rumbles on but still flatters to\ndeceive; as discussed, Valentine\u2019s day passed in a flash of consumerism and for\nus, cheese; rugby continues to surprise and delight us; our Poundland George\nBest, Wayne Rooney, gets drunk and embarrasses his wife and family, quality\nbloke; in St Lucia, we win the last (irrelevant) Test match before an Ashes Summer,\nhaving lost, comprehensively, the previous two and yet somehow this is being\nlauded as a huge boost \u2013 did none of the journalists watch in Barbados or\nAntigua?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, with little\nto light our candle on the news front, let\u2019s talk about Gin shall we? We have all watched in awe as the juniper\ninfused potion, which was once firmly confined to the drinks globe of retired\nRear-Admiral\u2019s in Plymouth, has become the darling of the cocktail\nclasses. According to figures released\nby HMRC this week, the value of gin exports has more than doubled in value\nsince 2010 and overall sales of gin, here and abroad, have now topped \u00a32.5\nbillion. Clearly it\u2019s not just Hepple\nmaking all this money, or even Beefeater, it\u2019s the whole shooting match from\nthe big boys at Diageo down to the wee fella on Garratt Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those of you\nfamiliar with Garratt Lane, particularly the stretch near the station, the name\nBen\u2019s Canteen will no doubt be familiar. \nFor years this corner site was home to Willie Gunn\u2019s Wine Bar, a popular\nhaunt for long lunches and lost weekends. \nWe used to sell an indecent amount of Plymouth Gin to this bar but it\nclosed its doors in 2014 and was soon taken over by Ben\u2019s Canteen, a business\nalready established up in Clapham Junction looking to spread its wings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, that\u2019s\nenough history, what is important for now is that these forward looking chaps\nhave started to make their own gin, on the bar, in the bar. It\u2019s a proper micro-distillery, by all\naccounts they produce about 40 bottles per batch, which we imagine just about\ncovers their own requirements but when they have some spare they sell it to\nlocal people like us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus Bloody Ben\u2019s Signature Gin – \u00a338 \u2013 <\/strong>or\nEarlsfield Gin as we keep finding ourselves calling it, is the newest kid on\nour block and is proving to be a bit of a hit. \nI\u2019m going to shamelessly lift the marketing blurb they gave me now:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The micro copper Gin Still in Earlsfield\nmakes 30-40 bottles per batch. It’s a London Dry Gin with Wandsworth Honey and\norange notes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This gives it a Spanish theme. The local\nhoney represents London living and the Sweet Orange Peel represents escapism,\nin our case time in Mallorca where the firm was inspired. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As well as G&Ts, the Orange peel\nmakes it ideal for Negronis.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Botanicals:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Cloves<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Angelica\nRoot<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Cardamom\nSeeds<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Liquorice<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Cassia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Lemongrass<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Sweet\nOrange Peel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Coriander\nSeeds<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. Juniper\nBerry<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. Honeysuckle\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ok, agreed, it\u2019s\na puff piece. Our tasting note described\nit as a deliciously juniper forward drop with fabulous orange citrus and\nhoneyed notes. Significantly, it doesn\u2019t\ntaste like any of the other Gins on the shelf so it can carve its own niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have a little\nopen to sample and we have some stock so, if you\u2019re of a mind, come and have a\ntaste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wine open this weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As ever we\nrealise that you don\u2019t all want to taste gin so we\u2019ll get some wine open too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\nthe white lovers we\u2019ll open Domaine de\nVedilhan Viognier 2018 – \u00a39.99.<\/strong> This\nLanguedoc estate belonging to the Fayet family based in the village of Moussan\nclose to Narbonne. The property has a\nsmall brook running around the outskirts which provides natural irrigation to\ngive much needed water. This gives the\nwines their freshness and appeal; keeping the vines cool in a very hot\nclimate. A flirty Viognier: shimmering\nhay and peaches with a lush viscous texture give way to a sensual palate of\nroses, pineapples and mangoes. Delicious\nwith Thai or fusion food, or some big, juicy langoustines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nfor the red heads we will taste Chateau\nThieuley 2014 – \u00a316.99.<\/strong> Predominantly\nMerlot but with a healthy dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon, this Bordeaux estate\nhas been family run since the 1950\u2019s, now under the guidance of two sisters,\nMarie and Sylvie. Marie is in charge of\nwinemaking and Sylvie concentrates on the commercial side sensibly keeping out\nof each other\u2019s way! The wine has a\nlovely red plum character, a touch of chocolate and spice, medium to\nfull-bodied with a long juicy finish. \nSpot on with a Sunday roast or a steak even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, swing by and have a taste tonight or tomorrow and perhaps even see how the Cambria is getting along in the eto?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, Tidied up all the rose petals? Paid off the a cappella group and the mariachi band and the Whitney Houston impersonator? Washed up the champagne flutes and lobster picks and wondered to yourself \u2013well, how did we get here already? I know we have\u2026 Two sessions into the 6 Nations, Valentine\u2019s Day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1110,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions\/1110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}