Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n
How the devil are you? I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s almost a week since we spoke last. Lots has happened, both Alex and Wayne have managed to duck the double input of numbers required for the VAT return but with the deadline looming they\u2019re going to have to pull their fingers out.<\/p>\n
Wayne snuck off to swan around the West End for a lunch with a Champagne producer that held some unexpected lessons for him (more below).<\/p>\n
We watched the England match, that\u2019s 90 minutes we\u2019re not getting back.<\/p>\n
Jessica Ennis-Hill has announced she\u2019s hanging up her boots (and javelin and shot) to retire at the top. We can\u2019t help but wonder if it\u2019s worth a friendly fiver on her being the next Bond?<\/p>\n
Elsewhere\u2026 Donald Trump!!!<\/p>\n
Bob Dylan has won the Noble Prize for Literature for creating “new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” \u00a0I wonder how that chap in Manchester feels now?<\/p>\n
Unexpected Lessons<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n I went to a Champagne tasting on Tuesday, Alex had tried some but not all of the wines before and I had tasted none of them until now.\u00a0 Champagne Tarlant was the producer, a small grower Champagne with a long history, who are doing some really interesting things. I tried 8 wines in all (I know, we call it work!) but what really surprised me was the vintage wine. It was from 2003 and had spent 12 years aging on its lees.<\/p>\n So, 2003 was a really hot summer, certainly not ideal for the production of Champagne. I looked up some notes, and most of the Champagnes I have tasted from that year seem to have the word weird in the note somewhere. \u00a0This one too, but only because it was so different from any others I\u2019d tried. So wonderfully fresh and alive, yet with a wonderful richness from the ageing. I really did get taught a lesson about generalising about vintages, I will definitely try and avoid such sweeping statements in the future. Vintage champagne 2003 weird\u2026<\/p>\n Word to the Wise<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Straight from the horse\u2019s mouth\u2026Pintia 2011 (\u00a338)<\/strong> is drinking really nicely currently. A bottle made a guest appearance at a recent BYO evening and went down a storm. We have a small amount left.<\/p>\n