Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n
\u2018122 wines (2 of them twice, just to check), 3 olive oils, countless grissini and a couple of pints of Guinness.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s rare, but occasionally we get a sneaky glimpse into Wayne\u2019s diary to find out what he\u2019s really up to when he claims to be cycling\/visiting family in Essex\/trimming the hedge\/painting the fence\/swinging the lead… To be fair, he does spend a significant portion of his non-work life engaging in all of the activities above but every now and then he goes off the reservation and hits the town.<\/p>\n This happened on Tuesday.<\/p>\n A quick warm up tasting at the Oval (30 wines tasted, 3 olive oils, various breads) was an exercise more focused around trying new vintages of wines we currently list and a couple of esoteric peripheral treats \u2013 for example, a quality Lambrusco and then a 1978 Terrantez from Madeira that was a rare treat but, at over \u00a3150 for a half bottle, it is unlikely to be appearing in the shop anytime soon!\u00a0 Olive oil was all delicious and green and herbaceous and frankly we got side-tracked…<\/em><\/p>\n Next stop Langan’s.\u00a0 Well you should really, shouldn\u2019t you, if the purpose of your day is vinous extravagance.\u00a0 A baker\u2019s dozen of wines here, tasted in the upstairs room with all the photos of all the luminaries propping Peter Langan up, the sort of photos Hello and co aspired to present but none as classy and cool as this collection.\u00a0 Again we got side-tracked.\u00a0 Some really tasty and interesting wines from Beaujolais (the \u2018next big thing\u2019 apparently if Lambrusco doesn\u2019t get there first, or posh Madeira), some genuine horror stories from various bits of the New World, some melt in the mouth slivers of hand-carved Serrano ham and we\u2019re out the door, all within half an hour.<\/em><\/p>\n Quick courtesy call at Marks & Spencer\u2019s and then a route march down to the Albert Hall, having misjudged the intervening distance.\u00a0 Tasting wasn\u2019t in the hall but when you\u2019re tasting next door, this is the landmark you aim for.\u00a0 Here is where teeth turned black, and tasting notes grew monosyllabic.\u00a0 Almost 80 wines tasted and noted \u2013 the two Cremant were re-examined a few times, just as a respite, just as a palate cleanser and then as a treat \u2013 sometimes it is just too rude to spit.<\/em><\/p>\n And the Guinness.\u00a0 Now that tasted fabulous, the requirement to spit was no longer there and a body that had been teased all day by the prospect of a tasty tipple was finally given its reward.<\/em><\/p>\n If that\u2019s what he gets up to on a Tuesday, one can scarce imagine what his weekends must be like!<\/p>\n Last call for Wine School<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Following on from Wayne\u2019s herculean efforts this week, how about joining us for the slightly less frenetic Wine School<\/strong> that starts next Wednesday, 25th<\/sup> January at 8pm?<\/strong><\/p>\n Admittedly, over the six week course you will only taste about half the number of wines Wayne tasted on Tuesday, about 10 each week, but to be able to be<\/u> like Wayne you need to have been<\/u> like Wayne for a long time \u2013 and not many people have….<\/p>\n Anyway, over the six weeks you will learn about all your old favourites \u2013 Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and friends – but you will also get to learn about, and taste, other grape varieties that perhaps you are always a little wary of when confronted with the wine list.\u00a0 Treat yourself to this in 2017 \u2013 if wine is going to get more expensive, it might be time to explore the roads less travelled, where greater value hides!<\/p>\n Wine School \u2013 Wednesday 25th<\/sup> January to Wednesday 8th<\/sup> March <\/strong><\/p>\n (half term 15th<\/sup> February)<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a3150 per person, 4 places remaining.<\/strong><\/p>\n 6 for 5<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n 16.66% discount.\u00a0 On wine and beer.\u00a0 Many of you have partaken, more of you haven\u2019t.\u00a0 It ends when January ends, as does abstinence \u2013 you might well need a bottle or six by then!<\/p>\n Haggis time<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n This time next week we\u2019ll have celebrated Mr Burns\u2019 night.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have asked ourselves why we don\u2019t eat haggis, neeps and tatties on a more regular basis.\u00a0 Then we\u2019ll remember what we read in the paper about the critical shortage of courgettes and other veg from Spain and Italy at the moment, and it will dawn on us that maybe we will be having neeps and tatties more regularly, like it or not.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not all bad news.\u00a0 The joys of the haggis meal are limitless.\u00a0 It\u2019s the simplest dinner party in the world \u2013 boiling and mashing whilst leaving the wee beestie to its own business in the oven means more time for socialising and champagne drinking.\u00a0 There\u2019s barely any washing up.\u00a0 It tastes fabulous and when else can you open a bottle of whisky and pour it onto your food \u2018as a gravy\u2019 \u2013 Wayne, of course, thinks this rocks!<\/p>\n So, speaking of Whisky we can offer:<\/p>\n Benromach 10 year old \u00a336.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Speymalt Macallan 2006 \u00a337.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Connoisseurs Choice Arran 2006 \u00a338.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Connoisseurs Choice Strathmill 2002 \u00a342.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 2003 \u00a345.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Highland Park 2006 (Cask Strength) \u00a350.00<\/strong><\/p>\n Connoisseurs Choice Royal Brackla 1998 \u00a352.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Coopers Choice Glenrothes 1997 \u00a369.69<\/strong><\/p>\n MacPhail’s 21 year old \u00a369.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Ardmore 1996 \u00a372.99<\/strong><\/p>\n Should you not wish to use up all your units on hard spirit we have plenty of wine recommendations for the Scottish dinner.\u00a0 Reds from the Rhone and Spain have historically given us great pleasure and with this in mind we\u2019ll break from the norm this week and open two reds for tasting, one from each of the above regions:<\/p>\n Celler de Cap\u00e7anes Mas Picosa de flor en flor 2013, Montsant, Spain (\u00a313.29)<\/strong> – Montsant is the area surrounding Priorat, in the hills behind Tarragona, just south of Barcelona.\u00a0 This is a winning blend of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah giving us plenty of brambly aromas with a juicy vibrant palate and a lovely fresh finish, which we think will be spot on with almost everything meaty.\u00a0 Oh, and it\u2019s organic.<\/p>\n Boutinot C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne Villages \u2018Les Coteaux\u2019 2013, Rh\u00f4ne, France (\u00a310.99) – <\/strong>Common practice in the C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne is to bottle the best cuv\u00e9es as a single named Village wine and the rest as basic Rh\u00f4ne Villages.\u00a0 The philosophy with this wine, however, is to start with the intention of making the very best C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne Villages possible.\u00a0 They source wine from the vineyards of named villages and enrich them with a small proportion of barrel-aged wine from Sablet, S\u00e9guret and Cairanne.\u00a0 The results are fabulous, as you can taste here, with well-balanced brambly fruit and soft tannin that is bang on the money and always a crowd pleaser \u2013 can you believe we haven\u2019t put this on a weekend tasting since April 2011?<\/p>\n So there you go \u2013 a round-up of the week just gone and some ideas for next week including an offer some fun wine education!<\/p>\n We\u2019re off now to play a kazoo duet at the Trump inauguration \u2013 do anything for a buck and a corndog in January!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, \u2018122 wines (2 of them twice, just to check), 3 olive oils, countless grissini and a couple of pints of Guinness.\u2019 It\u2019s rare, but occasionally we get a sneaky glimpse into Wayne\u2019s diary to find out what he\u2019s really up to when he claims to be cycling\/visiting family in Essex\/trimming the hedge\/painting […]<\/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-818","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\/818","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=818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":819,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}