Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read any news, lately? No, me neither. I will confess to having spent too many months reading the same old stories only able to tell the difference between each fable by the numbers\/statistics used and the tilt of Boris\u2019s quiff in the accompanying photo. None of it is news though really, just developments of a saga that no one will ever want to recall around the fireplace:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 \u2018where were you in the great plague of 2020, Grandpa?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 \u2018in a shop mainly, my boy, surrounded by wine and poorly written email blogs\u2026.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 \u2018oh, how heroic!!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many of you (!) I\u2019ve had a bit more time on my hands for much of this year. Again, like some of you I imagine, I haven\u2019t nearly made as good use of this time as I could or should have done. When I visited the shed at the end of the garden during one of last weekend\u2019s downpours I discovered a certain amount of rain already inside it \u2013 if only I\u2019d had enough time to re-felt the roof over the summer! In a similar vein, I don\u2019t seem to have caught up on as much TV as I thought I would nor has the list of films I would like to watch shortened. This might be a blessing though, given the parlous state of the film industry right now. Anyway, the other day I finally got round to watching Jools Holland Hootenanny, from December 2019. Now, we all know that it\u2019s pre-recorded but I am always impressed by the vim and vigour with which many of the celebs in the audience attack the celebrations \u2013 they certainly seem to be drinking like it actually is New Year\u2019s Eve! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ainsley Harriott rattled on about sustainable meat and such like, Michaela Strachan talked about saving the world but then the value added Vic Reeves stepped up and, whilst I\u2019m unable to find the quote from him, he basically opined that, in 2020, we all needed to buy more toilet paper. Not just a few rolls but whole catering packs to keep us in loo roll for a good while hence. And everybody should do this. When Jools questioned what one should do with all this loo roll, Vic just gave him one of those looks that said it all. And then everybody laughed at Yorkshires finest surrealist and moved on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it is now clear that Vic knew what was coming and this was his warning to us \u2013 no dove from above this time, straight from the hip. So from now on, when Vic speaks, we should all listen up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not sure what Vic has had to say this week but I imagine he might be reiterating his advice as we seem relentlessly drawn towards another lockdown of sorts. A lockdown that still lets the kids go to school of course but doesn\u2019t let their custodians go to the pub afterwards (note to self, must finish watching Teachers during this second lockdown\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It does seem inevitable now that some further restrictions will be put on our movements, the famous circuit-break, and I genuinely think the pubs and bars will be hit hardest and earliest, especially if we consider what has happened in Scotland and Paris. So, I fully expect to see none of you this weekend as you all go and support your local bars and restaurants before any announcements on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Should such announcements be made, then we imagine that they will not be any more restrictive than in Lockdown Part I and, as a consequence, we will be able to continue trading as usual. Being better prepared this time and with 6 months of experience under our belts, we don\u2019t envisage closing the shop this time but we do see ourselves back in the Volvo doing doorstep deliveries. As ever, we\u2019ll play it by ear and act accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway enough doom and gloom, on to our happy story of the week – Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I mentioned Ratonero, Wayne\u2019s first guess was that he was a little known domestique in the Mitchelton Scott team, who had crashed into a mound of plastic bottles during the Giro d\u2019Italia. But he was wrong of course. He was also wrong when he suggested that Ratonero would be the new mascot for future premiership strugglers, Arsenal. Third time wrong was his punt that it was a new Stranglers album\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz is a breed of terrier, descended from our own Jack Russell, which has been given protected status in the city of Jerez as a thank you for keeping the cellars of the sherry bodegas rat-free for the last few centuries. The dogs have yet to comment, however I imagine they are delighted with such an honour but it won\u2019t change them and they will still be back to work in the morning! Dogs of sherry \u2013 we salute you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway, that\u2019s it from us, it\u2019s now early afternoon on a Friday and it\u2019s time for you to book that table at the pub, whilst you still can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until next time\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, Read any news, lately? No, me neither. I will confess to having spent too many months reading the same old stories only able to tell the difference between each fable by the numbers\/statistics used and the tilt of Boris\u2019s quiff in the accompanying photo. None of it is news though really, just […]<\/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-1336","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\/1336","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=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1337,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}