Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/p>\n
Afraid you\u2019ll have to put up with me again this week as Wayne is still single-handedly propping up the Japanese economy, whilst hopefully swerving any long term attachments to Hello Kitty merchandise.\u00a0 In future I think I should read his applications for annual leave more diligently, as this is starting to feel a bit more like he\u2019s on a sabbatical!\u00a0 Oh well, as long as he brings us all back some Sake\u2026<\/p>\n
So we have struggled on bravely without his wit and charm to keep us going and, as a result, the weeks have just flown by and suddenly I\u2019m writing the Friday email once again.<\/p>\n
The essay plan for this week\u2019s message reads, in no particular order, thus:<\/p>\n
Giro.\u00a0 Liverpool\/Tottenham\/Arsenal.\u00a0 Elections.\u00a0 Sainsbury\u2019s.\u00a0 Bank Holiday.\u00a0 Weather (that always crops up).\u00a0 Wine (as does this).\u00a0 Fun spirits.\u00a0 New Listings.\u00a0 UKIP Black Death.\u00a0 Japan.\u00a0 There should probably be more but this is a good start.<\/p>\n
And now to put some flesh on the bones.<\/p>\n
In spite of the fact that our principal cycling correspondent is still on a bullet train somewhere the Giro d\u2019Italia starts this weekend.\u00a0 Now I lived in Italy for a while in the 1990\u2019s and spent most of my days in the upper half, predominantly in Tuscany.\u00a0 It is fair to say, I have never actually ventured south of Rome unless Sardegna counts.\u00a0 Anyway, suffice to say my southern Italian geography is a little loose, I still occasionally reference the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and my children groan.\u00a0 However, I bet none of you know that Israel is part of the Republic of Italy?\u00a0 Well, it is for three days apparently, as the greatest cycling race on earth is starting there \u2013 that\u2019s a long way back to Rome, even if you have been on the watt bike!<\/p>\n
Liverpool made it to the CL final.\u00a0 Will they be able to emulate Tottenham and beat the mighty Real?\u00a0 Either way, Kane will claim the goals.\u00a0 There will be no fairytales as Arsenal let Arsene down to another Madrid team \u2013 apparently there are younger chaps out there who thought the team was named after Mr Wenger, bless.<\/p>\n
Local elections took place.\u00a0 Wimbledon and Merton stayed much of a muchness, Wandsworth didn\u2019t fall for Jeremy\u2019s charms and UKIP had such a poor showing that their General Secretary likened it to the Black Death.\u00a0 I would love to know how much they spend on media training?<\/p>\n
Sainsbury\u2019s and Asda getting seriously intimate whilst the rest of us wonder how they can possibly commit to a long term relationship.\u00a0 The soundbite they wanted to catch the headlines was the promise to cut prices but the actual soundbite was the CEO singing songs from 42nd<\/sup> Street \u2013 ditto that media training question?<\/p>\n And now it\u2019s the early May Bank Holiday weekend.\u00a0 Hottest ever by all accounts.\u00a0 Take a brolly.\u00a0 We are fully prepared her though with oodles of Proven\u00e7al perfection in the beautifully shaped bottles of Chateau de L\u2019Aumerade 2017 (\u00a314.99 or 6 for \u00a378)<\/strong>.\u00a0 We even have a few bottles of Whispering Angel 2017 (\u00a320.99)<\/strong> if you fancy seeing what all the press fuss is about.<\/p>\n Should Ros\u00e9 not be your thing, we have all our Sacred Gins back in stock (Classic, Juniper and Cardamom)<\/strong>, the Bonal Gentiane-Quina (\u00a314.99)<\/strong> season will start again this weekend (mix with tonic and plenty of ice \u2013 delicious) and should you be in the market for jazzing up your bottle of fizz we can suggest Foxdenton Raspberry Gin (\u00a314.99) <\/strong>or Chamberyzette Aperitif a la Fraise (\u00a316.99) \u2013 <\/strong>neither of these need<\/u> fizz but it does make it a longer drink and this a longer evening!<\/p>\n Back to wine now.\u00a0 Frequently, whilst I am on holiday, Wayne has had moments of sheer devilment when he decides to list wines that we have previously not carried or have considered listing but never pushed the button.\u00a0 In the past I have risen above such shenanigans when he vacates the premises but this time I said to myself \u2018why not?\u2019 and, since there was no one else here to tell my why not, I did.\u00a0 I know right, who\u2019s the boss?!<\/p>\n Just two new wines, I didn\u2019t want to overdo it, you see:<\/p>\n The Rude Mechanicals Three Monkeys GSM 2016 – \u00a312.99<\/strong> \u2013 we first tasted this over a year ago, tried to order it but it hadn\u2019t arrived from Australia yet and promptly forgot about it.\u00a0 Until I remembered this week.\u00a0 A classic blend of 67% Grenache, 20% Shiraz and 13% Mataro from the Barossa Valley this is to my mind the style of blend that put Australia on the map \u2013 their version of the classic southern Rh\u00f4ne wines.\u00a0 We found it really appealing without being blowsy and in your face and a real tasty mouthful for 12 and a bit quid.\u00a0 Barbecue anyone?<\/p>\n Sepp Moser Zweigelt 2015 – \u00a312.99<\/strong> \u2013 an organic red wine from Austria, I know it\u2019s just what you all keep asking me for.\u00a0 Ok, maybe not but we will persist.\u00a0 A hint of oak and juicy cherry, berry fruit and a lovely summery freshness \u2013 it\u2019s not selling Italian Pinot Grigio that gets us out of bed in the morning, it\u2019s selling esoteric flights of fancy such as this.\u00a0 If you want to try it for yourself then rest assured it will be open this evening and tomorrow for your delectation.<\/p>\n Whilst on the subject of weekend tasting, as stated, I\u2019ll open the Sepp Zweigelt as a red and for the white drinkers, following on from the huge success we had with the Accomplice a few weeks back, there will be a bottle of Flametree Sauvignon Blanc \u2013 Semillon 2016 – \u00a315.99<\/strong>, from the wonderful Margaret River in Western Australia.\u00a0 Lime, lemongrass and stonefruit notes on the nose whilst some lees stirring has added texture and minerality to the palate.\u00a0 Shrimps?\u00a0 Barbie? Don\u2019t come the raw prawn with me, sunshine!<\/p>\n Well, it seems like I\u2019ve manged to get all the salient points into some sort of order and the punctuation isn\u2019t too bad (!) so I think my work here is done but for a last couple of things.<\/p>\n We\u2019re closed on Monday, because it\u2019s Bank Holiday.<\/p>\n We do sell ice and beer and other things too but this weekend I feel Ros\u00e9 will run the show.<\/p>\n Enjoy the sunshine!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fellow Wine Lovers, Afraid you\u2019ll have to put up with me again this week as Wayne is still single-handedly propping up the Japanese economy, whilst hopefully swerving any long term attachments to Hello Kitty merchandise.\u00a0 In future I think I should read his applications for annual leave more diligently, as this is starting to feel […]<\/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-992","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\/992","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=992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":993,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992\/revisions\/993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}