Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week, all we need is love. Not tainted love, because that would give love a bad name and would probably require a love resurrection, more the groovy kind of love that grows where my Rosemary goes, that you can\u2019t hurry, that you can\u2019t help falling in, that one love that will keep us together rather than tear us apart. And once we have found love, what are we gonna to do with it? Not that, thank you Mr Meatloaf, if we want to know what love is we\u2019ll probably consult the Troggs rather than you or Ms Benatar\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
February 14th<\/sup> today, just in case you missed the hint \u2013 if necessary, we\u2019ve got chilled Champagne ready to save your bacon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Valentine\u2019s Day serves as a bit of a watershed for us as it feels like we\u2019ve got the grim dark days of January well behind us and, with half term also here, the sense that we\u2019re moving towards brighter days \u2013 it\u2019ll be March in two weeks\u2019 time, which feels amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We thought that by blockading news from the USA this week, we would avoid political muppetry and mistruth; however our Chancellor seems to have found herself in the hot-seat for all the wrong reasons. The suggestion that, whilst at HBOS, she might have used her expenses inappropriately on dinners, events, taxis and gifts that led to an investigation cannot be a good look for the person in charge of the government\u2019s current account. With a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e2-vu, we also learn that perhaps her CV is not everything it purports to be, although I\u2019m sure there are others in positions of power whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9s wouldn\u2019t bear too fine scrutiny. However, since all this comes in the week after the Andrew Gwynne\/Oliver Ryan WhatsApp scandal and hot on the heels of \u2018voice-coachgate\u2019, it does leave a bitter taste and confirms that the moral pedestal that Labour placed themselves upon when in opposition was really not where they belonged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least we all know Nigel Farage is a fibber, not sure he\u2019s ever pretended not to be but where does that leave UK politics if he\u2019s the most transparent player!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In sport, Tottenham fans can finally celebrate a win! Enfield Council has approved the football club\u2019s plans to build floodlit all-weather pitches in Whitewebbs Park, taking a 25 year lease for 130 acres of the 240 acre park. The council got \u00a32 million for this (doesn\u2019t seem much to us) and the irony that the sports grounds will be built on a former golf course should not be lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sage did warn us that once the AELTC Wimbledon Park planning application was approved that it could open the floodgates for development on green belt land and well, look, here we go\u2026 What next, Heathrow runway expansion into Windsor Great Park?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enough of all this, let\u2019s talk drinks and drinking. We\u2019ve been here for 14 years now and have probably bored you to death with this fact too much already. Over the years we have seen numerous comings and goings locally \u2013 Wine Rack closed and re-opened and closed again within 18 months of our arrival; The Sampler opened on Leopold Road and sadly didn\u2019t last; cigar specialist, Friarwood, opened in the village, followed by the Jeroboam\u2019s deli with Amathus, the spirits specialists, practically next door; last week we learnt that local brewer, By the Horns had gone into liquidation which is a huge blow especially when you consider they started at about the same time as us, made great beer and were running the Phoenix Pub at the AFC ground. Many ups and downs, over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, yesterday we heard from a gentleman called James, who rang up out of the blue to tell us about his shop in Wimbledon Chase. The Artisans Depot is on Merton Hall Road and has just recently changed ownership \u2013 they sell wine, beer, deli goods and snacks, have plans to open a wine bar and by all accounts are an asset to the neighbourhood. We\u2019ve obviously not had a chance to visit them ourselves but, admiring their chutzpah and ambition, we thought we\u2019d give them a shout out! If you visit, tell them we sent you and they\u2019ll know their marketing worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for me to stop distracting myself\/answering the phone and get on with choosing some wines for the tasting table today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n V Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – \u00a312.99<\/strong> seems very appropriate for Saint V\u2019s day. As you\u2019d expect from Marlborough Savvy B, we have vibrant flavours and alluring aromas of zesty citrus and vivacious tropical fruits. Superbly balanced by a delightful texture and minerality, apparently a good match to Walkers Sensations Roast Chicken and Thyme crisps, according to The Crisp Sommelier!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for the red, Gran Passione Rosso 2022 – \u00a316.89<\/strong> seems pretty darnn obvious! Made from 60% Merlot and 40% Corvina in the Veneto and made in the appassimento method to give us a rich luscious nose and palate full of sweet ripe dark cherry, plum, vanilla and spice. The Crisp Sommelier recommends Popchips barbeque but in some parts that could be seen as a crime against wine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it from us for now, no Trump-watch this week, it\u2019s all starting to feel a bit like shooting fish in a barrel to be honest and we like fish. Ducks on the other hand\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do you turn a duck into a soul singer?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Put it in the microwave until its bill withers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mic drop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, This week, all we need is love. Not tainted love, because that would give love a bad name and would probably require a love resurrection, more the groovy kind of love that grows where my Rosemary goes, that you can\u2019t hurry, that you can\u2019t help falling in, that one love that will […]<\/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-1927","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\/1927","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=1927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1928,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions\/1928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}