Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n
My daughter hasn\u2019t eaten a proper meal since Monday lunchtime, or at least that\u2019s how it feels.\u00a0 However, she has certainly eaten Love Hearts, Maoam\u2019s, Parma Violets, countless lollipops and too many funsize Mars\/Snickers\/Twix.\u00a0 My son had a binge on Sour Patch Kids but then felt sick.\u00a0 And my saintly wife has been surviving on lettuce and dried bread, never once dipping her hand into the gargantuan bowl of child size sweets.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t Halloween great?<\/p>\n
And now we are in the midst of Guy Fawke\u2019s fever\/fervour.\u00a0 As one of our customers pointed out earlier, in this super-sensitive politically correct environment we inhabit, it\u2019s quite amazing that we are allowed to celebrate, and indeed celebrate quite so vigorously, a foiled catholic plot that took place over 400 years ago!\u00a0 But celebrate we do, by lighting a bonfire and setting off fireworks \u2013 ironic considering these are exactly the things that the plotters failed to do.<\/p>\n
Remember, remember the 5th<\/sup> November, although if you wanted to see fireworks in Wimbledon Park, they were held last night, bizarrely, as opposed to Saturday…<\/p>\n Back in the modern day another plot has been foiled, if only temporarily, as the High Court rules that Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU.\u00a0 Talking of Brexit, a much quoted line from The Spectator<\/em>\u2019s Parliamentarian of the Year awards on Wednesday evening, whilst receiving an award for Comeback of the Year:<\/p>\n In the words of our great prime minister… I understood that Brexit means Brexit and we are going to make a Titanic success of it<\/em><\/p>\n Isn\u2019t Boris great?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a small wine merchant in Wimbledon Park….<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n … has been continuing about its business whilst trying not to uspet anyone or get caught up in any plotting.\u00a0 We\u2019d like to confirm that the darker afternoons and colder mornings are not of our doing \u2013 if we had our way it would be shorts and t-shirts 24\/7\/365 \u2013 but we have plenty of Whisky and Gin and King\u2019s Ginger and Amaretto and Kummel open to taste all the time to keep our cockles warmed when required, so pop in on your way past if you feel chilly.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve taken delivery of more wines with a distinctly festive feel, sometimes more traditionally described as wines from Bordeaux, and we\u2019re getting quite excited about how things are shaping up.\u00a0 Latest arrivals (just today in fact) are<\/p>\n Chateau Corbin 2010, Montagne Saint-Emilion<\/strong> – \u00a319.99<\/strong>\u00a0 – 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon – the winemaker has spent some time in Australia so he likes a bit of ripeness and so we have nice bright fruit, plums and damsons here.\u00a0 Really fresh and a bit broader on the palate with quite delicious and softened tannins on the finish.<\/p>\n Chateau Haut Ferrand 2009, Pomerol – \u00a343.99<\/strong> – 60% Merlot 40% Cab Franc \u2013 a beautiful nose, showing the ripeness of the vintage and a very smooth palate – extremely delicious and very habit forming.\u00a0 Smooth, ripened soft blackberry\u00a0fruits perhaps even some background hints of strawberry.\u00a0 Proper wine.<\/p>\n Chateau Relais de la Poste 2012, Cotes de Bourg – \u00a318.49<\/strong> – known as Cuvee Malbec.\u00a0 This has deliciously dark blackcurrant fruit, appealing with a hint of violet too, and is frankly really tasty but with a bit more weight and juice than a normal Bordeaux.\u00a0 Unusual to be 100% Malbec and thus, very interesting.<\/p>\n Smooth palate, plums and damsons, fresh and broad \u2013 what are you on about?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n If you want to know what we\u2019re on about and fancy learning how to write tasting notes as erudite as Wayne\u2019s then the Park Vintners Wine School<\/strong> is the place for you!<\/p>\n School starts again in the New Year \u2013 Wednesday January 25th<\/sup> 2017<\/strong> to be precise, at 8pm,<\/strong> to be even more accurate.\u00a0 It will then proceed on a weekly basis until Wednesday 8th<\/sup> March<\/strong> \u2013 a break for half term will be taken on the week containing Wednesday 15th<\/sup> February.\u00a0 You\u2019ll taste around 60 wines, you\u2019ll learn lots of clever wine terms to use at dinner parties and you\u2019ll get a thorough grounding in the key grape varieties plus a foray into the exciting grapes that sometimes hide in the shadows.<\/p>\n The course costs \u00a3150 per person<\/strong> and full details are attached to this email.<\/p>\n If you can\u2019t wait until January…<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n … then come and taste some wines with us this weekend.\u00a0 We\u2019ve finished #ShopRioja now so will be leaving Spain for a bit.\u00a0 How about a quick trip to Argentina \u2026<\/p>\n Pulenta Estate Chardonnay 2014, Mendoza, Argentina – \u00a312.99 <\/strong>Pulenta Estate is located in Alto Agrelo, Luj\u00e1n de Cuyo, Mendoza, its high altitude, at 980m, ensures a wide temperature range and a slow ripening of the grapes. This is a lovely crisp yet full bodied Chardonnay with a good finish.<\/p>\n And\u2026<\/p>\n Susana Balbo Signature Malbec 2013, Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina – \u00a325.99 <\/strong>\u201cBright ruby-red. Pure, vibrant aromas of blackberry, blueberry and mint. A smooth, densely packed midweight with noteworthy inner-mouth tension and lift to the flavors of dark berries and violet. There’s something a bit Syrah-like about this very fresh, juicy, long Malbec. Has the strength of character to evolve slowly but this is already easy to appreciate. Drink 2016-2023. Score – 91.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (Stephen Tanzer, vinous.com, Jan. 2015)<\/p>\n That\u2019s all from us this week.\u00a0 By next week we\u2019ll know the next POTUS \u2013 scarily it\u2019s now shaping up to be a bit of a nailbiter!<\/p>\n Cheers,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, My daughter hasn\u2019t eaten a proper meal since Monday lunchtime, or at least that\u2019s how it feels.\u00a0 However, she has certainly eaten Love Hearts, Maoam\u2019s, Parma Violets, countless lollipops and too many funsize Mars\/Snickers\/Twix.\u00a0 My son had a binge on Sour Patch Kids but then felt sick.\u00a0 And my saintly wife has […]<\/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-790","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\/790","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=790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":791,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions\/791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}