Fellow Wine\nLovers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First things\nfirst, no beating about the bush. Today\nis Valentine\u2019s Day. You do all probably\nknow that by now, even if perhaps you were unaware of it last night when you\nwent to bed. That sickening feeling you\nfelt this morning at 6.45 when you shambled blearily downstairs and were\nconfronted by a whacking great bright pink card, a box of chocolates, 2 dozen\nred roses and a beaming, expectant partner will never, ever really go away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Sorry, darling, I thought we\u2019d celebrate\nthis evening? You know, bit rushed in\nthe morning and all that, I\u2019ve got a nice bottle of champagne all ready to go\nbut it just seems a bit early right now\u2026.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And, whilst your\nthinking that you\u2019re doing an amazing job dodging a relationship bullet, your\neyes are giving you away, filled with blind panic and shame at the codswallop\nyou are spouting, safe in the knowledge that you are busted big time, once\nagain. Time to up your game, you say to\nyourself, as you surreptitiously google what time the card shop opens\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forget the card\nshop though, that moment has gone. There\nis still Champagne though because yes, you were right, 6.45 is too early to\nenjoy the bubblier side of life unless you\u2019re in the Lounge at Gatwick. And we have them chilled, sparkling wines and\nchampagnes, ready to go, to save your bacon. \nHere are some pink options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Domaine Landreau Cremant De Loire Morin\nRose NV – \u00a315.99<\/strong> \u2013 for\nChampagne fans on a sparkling wine budget<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hawkins Bros Rose Reserve NV – \u00a329.00<\/strong> \u2013 the best thing to come out of Guildford\nsince the A3, a traditional blend but with a little extra fruit than some of\nthe more austere English examples <\/p>\n\n\n\n Champagne Lallier Grand Cru Rose Brut NV\n– \u00a337.99<\/strong> \u2013 delicious,\nGrand Cru grapes, comes in a gift box\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Delavenne Pere et Fils Grand Cru Brut\nRose NV – \u00a345.00<\/strong> \u2013 from\nBouzy, which is officially the best name for a wine town, ever<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, we\nhave plenty of other fizz available to tantalise your taste buds, all you need\nto do is remember to come straight home rather than go for a few drinks after\nwork with your colleagues!<\/p>\n\n\n\n NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not a whole\nbucket-load this week \u2013 no trips to exotic Northern locations, no loyalty based\ncall ups to the reshuffled Cabinet, no cases of Coronavirus to report. Sport and weather dominated last weekend,\nAlex actually won a rugby bet for the first time in a long time whilst this\nweekend looks a bit bereft of sport and potentially customers too, as half term\nis upon us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nope, just\nchecked, not much else in the news that warrants further discussion, sadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NEW WINES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whilst we did\nstray up North to drink gin last week, this week we stayed closer to home thank\ngod \u2013 Oxo Tower and Great Portland Street to be precise \u2013 and particularly\ntested ourselves against wines from North Macedonia, Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon\nand Greece, these last two feeling quite mainstream in this company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway, bottom\nline is, we\u2019ve bought some esoterica. I\nthink it\u2019s been mentioned before but whilst we like a glass of Kiwi Savvy B or\na splash of Prosecco on a sunny day these wines are not necessarily what make\nus leap out of bed and run to work each day. \nNo, it\u2019s the stuff around the edges, the wines that actually don\u2019t\nperhaps have a historic reputation, a listing in a Michelin starred restaurant\nor a fancy-pants globetrotting winemaker – these are the wines that get us out\nof our pyjamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we\u2019ve listed\nsome but sadly not all. In our\nexcitement we ordered a couple of wines from Armenia and one from Georgia to\ndiscover that their not in the UK until May \u2013 boo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However we have got,\narriving today, the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lebanon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oumsiyat Merlot 2018 – \u00a315.99<\/strong> \u2013 a supercharged damson\/plum fruit nose\nthat follow onto the palate \u2013 classic with a bit of oomph!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republic of North Macedonia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tikve\u0161 Kratoshija 2018 – \u00a39.99<\/strong> \u2013 strawberries and cream and a hint of\nbacon on the finish trust us, it works!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tikve\u0161 Smederevka 2018 – \u00a39.99<\/strong> \u2013 crisp fruit here which is softened by\n15% Riesling in the blend, a rival to Sauvignon Blanc?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Georgia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Vachnadziani Winery Krakhuna 2018 – \u00a313.49<\/strong> \u2013 really nicely balanced white,\nsomewhere between a Furmint and a north eastern Spanish white \u2013 very versatile<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vachnadziani Winery Saperavi NV – \u00a311.49<\/strong> \u2013 easy drinking red, with lots of light,\nbright fruit and a decent length finish \u2013 definitely might find yourself onto\nthe second glass quite quickly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also found\nsome less esoteric stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Italy the San Costantino Cannonau di Sardegna DOC\n2018 – \u00a317.49<\/strong> \u2013 a style we have been trying to find for ages \u2013 Grenache\ndone the Italian way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Spain, a\nreplacement for the now lost Vivir Sin Dormir – Finca Bacara \u2018Time Waits For No One\u2019 White Skulls 2018 – \u00a313.49<\/strong> \u2013 a\ndelicious Monastrell from Jumilla \u2013 delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Portugal,\nanother corker for silly money. Wayne\nthought it was going to be about \u00a320 when he tasted it \u2013 when I told him how\nmuch it actually is he almost chocked on his scotch egg! Quinta\nda Garrida Reserva 2015 – \u00a311.99<\/strong> \u2013 Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz doing\nwhat they do best in the D\u00e3o sunshine\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weekend Wines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think we\u2019ll\nopen the Quinta da Garrida as we are so excited about it and then it might as\nwell be joined by a fellow countryman in the white corner \u2013 Ai Galera Mistico 2018 – \u00a38.99<\/strong> \u2013 a\ndelicious and fresh blend of Fern\u00e3o Pires and Verdelho that has aperitif\nwritten all over it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, don\u2019t stay\nlate at work, get yourself home and don\u2019t forget the Friday fizz en route!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cheers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, First things first, no beating about the bush. Today is Valentine\u2019s Day. You do all probably know that by now, even if perhaps you were unaware of it last night when you went to bed. That sickening feeling you felt this morning at 6.45 when you shambled blearily downstairs and were confronted […]<\/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-1247","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\/1247","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=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1248,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}