The Weekly Wine

Fellow Wine Lovers,

This week, Reuters, a news organisation founded in London in 1851, revealed a major investigation to unlock a decades long kept secret. The investigation ran to 8000 words, featured some rather good pictures and referenced sources in London, Bristol, Horenka, New York and Kyiv. There were comments from war photographers, musicians and a hotel worker. Having read all of the 8000 words we can safely reveal that, apparently, Banksy is the same person that the Mail on Sunday revealed over 20 years ago. He has, over the years, used several pseudonyms and still isn’t Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack.

I’ll admit to being a little surprised to find there were no more pressing topics to investigate other than an ‘almost’ anonymous artist who was unveiled two decades ago. Does knowing his name and what his face looks like improve or lessen his work?

Meanwhile, in Cuba, Juan Carlos Pino has modified his Polish-built Fiat Polski with scrap and repurposed parts, to run on charcoal. His efforts to get around the US oil blockade involved burning charcoal in a sealed former propane tank sealed with an old transformer. It has a filter that is a stainless steel milk jug stuffed with old clothes. Whilst it all sounds really rather Heath Robinson, his two cylinder Fiat Polski can achieve 70kph! This ingenuity has been copied and now has a 50 kilowatt generator powering a neighbourhood and an icemaker able to make ice again. Juan Carlos said “just about any engine can ​be converted to run on charcoal by drawing hot gas instead of gasoline into the carburettor”.

This week the King opened a project that started in 2009. The King Charles III coastal path is a 2689 mile stroll around the coastline of just England currently and was originally instigated during Gordon Brown’s premiership. There are a couple of challenging spots to negotiate, the Mersey crossing requires a ferry, and to get across the River Erme in South Devon you have to time your crossing within an hour of low tide and wade across as there is no bridge. Should 2689 miles not be quite enough for you, the Wales Coast Path, completed in 2012, adds another 870 miles and most of Scotland’s coast is accessible under the right to roam so that could get you all the way up to about 9000 miles. Those of you who have six weeks off in the summer will be expected to update us with your progress!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the man who would be king has won a war, needs help to win a war, doesn’t need anybody’s help ever, especially to destroy what he already told us was destroyed back in November. Oil is up, gas is up, stocks are down and Russian sanctions are lifted!

In booze news, the Office for National Statistics has booted ‘Premium Lager’ out of the calculation for the Consumer Price Index and shipped in alcohol-free beer instead. New World white wine and Old World white wine are now merged together and just exist as white wine. Randomly, motorhomes have also been included for the first time.

In cocktail news, bone broth is coming to a cocktail near you in the near future. Predictions are of a rise in popularity of Bullshot. We have no comment.

Tasting This Weekend

We will start off in Marlborough with a glass of Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc (£22.99). We’ve stocked this since the first vintage of 2009 and love the restraint that Kevin brings to the now traditional Marlborough character. We’ll head over to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon for the red: Hochar 2021 by Chateau Musar (£26.59) is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from a single vineyard in the Western Bekaa Valley, near the village of Aana. The vines are 30 years old and yields kept low. We tasted it recently for the first time in a number of years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Let us know what you think.

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Let’s start with something that doesn’t involve war, rugby or Epstein – let’s start with something to celebrate or rather, someone.

This Sunday, 15^th March, is Mothering Sunday, lasting for a full 24 hours and bringing with it a great opportunity to honour your Mum because, let’s face it, we’ve all got one and, without her, we’d not be here!  So, we delved into Wikipedia and found out things we didn’t know.  We knew already that Mothering Sunday to be a celebration of your mother church, the church where you were baptised, but hadn’t noticed that it always takes place on the 4^th Sunday of Lent.  We knew that in the 20^th Century the celebration became more secular and Mothers themselves became more the focus but we didn’t know that it is also known as Rose Sunday, or Refreshment Sunday, a day on which fasting can be suspended and feasting can be enjoyed, kind of a Lenten half-time orange. 

But, before we get to Sunday, today is also a special day, unless you happen to suffer from Paraskavedekatriaphobia.  Yep, we’ve been worm-holing on Wikipedia again, which for us is far more fun than TikTok or Hay Day.  Apparently, the world renowned (?) Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute of North Carolina, tells us that an estimated 17–21 million people in the United States suffer from this particular phobia – about 5% of the population – and as a consequence will avoid walking under ladders, breaking mirrors, spilling salt, opening umbrellas indoors and crossing paths with black cats more than ever today, Friday 13^th.

Sometimes we marvel at how many people have their lives run by folklore!

Mind you, sports fans are having their beliefs tested of late.  France didn’t believe Scotland could beat them; England believed their unbeaten run against Italy was enough ammunition to allow them to play terribly and still win; Wales believed they could beat Ireland and at times it looked like Ireland thought that too.  All this brings us into a very weird final weekend of Six Nations Competition: England fans will be hoping Wales beat Italy (with neither team getting a bonus point) whilst whoever wins out of the Ireland-Scotland clash will be cheering their hearts out for England to beat France, in Paris.  Incredible, in the truest sense of the word. 

Meanwhile, the accolade ‘best football league in the world’ is apparently no longer believable since none of the English teams managed to win their Champions league games this week.  Three teams lost by 3 goals, the overall final score was 16-6 in favour of Europe and Liverpool and Man City failed to even get on the score sheet – let’s pray that form continues into the weekend!

In more local news, as suggested last week, we are hosting another Wine & Cheese Tasting event on Thursday 16^th April at 7.30pm.  We only announced this last week and have sold almost half the seats at the table, so if you fancy fine wine and fancy cheese on a rainy evening in April, we’ve got you!  Tickets cost £30 per person so if you fancy it drop us a line or pop in the shop to reserve your spot.

Recently one of us went to Italy and discovered, to his surprise, that they do rather good wine.  Filled with this knowledge, he rushed back to London, like a modern-day Sir Walter Raleigh to share the news with his King.  So impressed was King Wayne with the keen traveller’s tales that he decreed that examples of such wines be shown on tasting this weekend, for the delectation of others… and lo, an orange wine and a red wine from Sicily were chosen:

Sibiliana Vini Sensale Anfora Orange 2024 – £16.99.  When we first listed this, it proved an enormous hit and then sold out.  So, we bought more.  Made from organic Catarratto Bianco, Sicily’s most planted grape, this is fermented on the skins and left for 5 months in amphorae.  This process gives us lovely, ripe yellow fleshed fruit character (plums or nectarines) and a long, rich finish.

Collezione Beatrice Nero d’Avola 2024 – £13.49.  Beginning in 1850 with an Osteria serving Southern Italian wines, the Pirovano family business has developed into an Italy-wide producer and bottler of wines.  This is a juicy and approachable expression of Sicily’s signature red grape with a nose brimming with ripe blackberry, cherry and plum fruit, accented by hints of violet and sweet spice.  A smooth and fruit-forward palate make this a real second-glasser!

Come and have a taste and perhaps get your mum a bottle of Champagne whilst you’re at it – I think we all need something to celebrate right now, don’t we?

Fellow Wine Lovers,

As some of you may have noticed, lately we have been swanning off on mostly Monday and Tuesday mornings to attend tastings. It’s that time of year and there’s a couple more to come, so thanks for bearing with us.

So how did it go this week? Well Monday saw us at a tasting that was not at all what we were expecting. The wide ranging portfolio tasting we were expecting turned out to be a much focussed event featuring barely a handful of producers, many of which we were familiar with. We tasted a Provençal rosé that was so pale that it defied the name. So pale in fact that I suspect if it hadn’t have said rosé on the label a gambling man might have had his chips on white! We were back at the shop with our lunch by 1.30 that day.

Tuesday saw us start off at a church associated with Jack the Ripper and delivered a much more rewarding tasting experience.  Checking some new vintages of things we already list, spotting a couple of things that we shall try and shoehorn onto the shelves. We also managed to catch up with Swiss, an old chum from Oddbins days and have a quick catch up with the lovely Amy who looks after us remotely from Manchester.

Then, we hot-footed it to Westminster just as quickly as you can ever hot-foot it on the District line.

Here we found ourselves charmed by a bottle of Champagne that was half the price of the one we were supposed to find charming. Oops! We also found ourselves wondering if Manzanilla spritz really would be the drink of the summer, whilst simultaneously bumping into our chum Michael, a wine buyer at one of the London clubs. We’ve known him for so many years I guess we’ll have to stop thinking of him as ‘young Michael’ now. We also discovered that the uniform of the Yeomen from the Tower of London in civvies is almost as striking as their ‘proper’ uniform. Markedly less red though.

Talking of red, whilst having a chat about blends with the upstanding gentleman from Fleur de Boüard, Wayne found himself on the receiving end of an unexpected intervention from the beer buyer for one of the supermarkets: “No, they’re all the same blend just different ages!” Thanks for that! Overall though they were an interesting couple of tastings with the possibility of some new wines in the not too distant future.

Talking of tastings, we feel it is prime time to announce our next Cheese and Wine Tasting: Thursday 16^th April at 7pm. Cost is £30 per head.

Six nations continues on the Rugby front, Ireland host Wales tonight, France travel to Scotland for the early game, and England will have time for a spot of sightseeing in Rome before starting the later game on Saturday. Will Italy make history?

Talking of Italy, in proper sports it’s Strade Bianche on Saturday. If you’ve not watched before, it’s a fabulous mix of white gravel roads and punchy climbs. It marks the opening of the 2026 campaign for three times winner Tadej Pogačar. He certainly starts as the bookies favourite, but Tom Pidcock is not to be ruled out with one win under his belt already. This race certainly appears to match his skill set. In the women’s race last year’s winner Demi Vollering is probably favourite, but do keep an eye out for Puck Pieterse.

Tasting This Weekend

We can’t promise you liveried tasters or the appearance of old chums, but we can offer something really rather tasty to tantalise your taste buds for the weekend.

We’ll start off in Swartland South Africa with Patina Chenin Blanc 2021 (£26.99). Local chap Tim Atkin MW describes it:  “The nose entices with its fresh green fruit character showing aromas of Granny Smith and yellow apple, fresh pineapple, papaya, greengage and lime with whiffs of fig, acacia and lemon verbena. The fruit profile of the nose follows through onto the palate with flavours of poached pear, passion fruit, nectarine and quince. The mid-palate is very balanced with a soft, smooth mouthfeel and a vibrant, yet integrated, lemony acidity. Fresh tropical fruit lingers on a clean finish with hints of tarragon and ginger.” 92 Points.

For the red we’ll head down to Bordeaux for Lussac Saint- Émilion superstar Chateau Lucas 2016 (£24.99). This estate has been owned by the same family since the 16^th century. The Vauthier family own several estates in Bordeaux, also counting Ausone and Fonbel amongst their holdings. This wine is a fifty/fifty blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot and to this taster is an absolutely cracking wine. Shall we have a roast at the weekend?

So drop by, say hi and have a taste!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

First up, a reminder and with it an apology.  Today, FRIDAY 27^TH FEBRUARY, WE WILL BE CLOSING AT 5PM so that we can sell wine and answers (for the right price) at the KCS Quiz, up in the village.  We’re sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate this is not ideal but, hopefully, you’ll forgive us when you pop in to tell us off on Saturday!

The February half term is now over, although February is still carrying on, for a bit.  The Winter Olympics are also now over, with GB netting an astonishing 3 Gold Medals, just under 3% of the Golds available, which isn’t bad when you consider that 50% of the golds went to the top 5 countries.  Champions League football is also over for the Italian powerhouses Juventus and Inter Milan – the latter falling to Bodø/Glimt, currently 2^nd in the Norwegian Eliteserien and owners of a rather charming plastic pitch in the Arctic Circle, with 8,270 seats around it, although we suggest standing, keep the feet warm and all that.  AFC Wimbledon has 9,215 seats, for those with an interest in such trivia….

Mandy and Andy are still dominating headlines, although I think they’d rather not.  Across the pond, Mr Trump isn’t dominating the headlines as much as he’d like but this is most likely because the US justice department hasn’t released enough Epstein files with his name on them.  Sadly. the rumour that they couldn’t release more files because they were physically unable to get out of the building due to a monstrous banner blocking their exit, featuring the monstrous man-baby’s monstrous head, appears to be untrue.  Given that ‘Make America Safe Again’ is the strapline, we’re really not sure he should be the first choice for poster boy.

In booze news, the beer world seems to be having a moment…

• Carling Black Label will be rolling out across the UK off-trade from mid-March.  It has been described as a way for lager drinkers to “trade up” from the rest of the portfolio.  Drinks Retailing News 12-02-26
• Diageo GB has significantly expanded its field sales team with the recruitment of over 100 new roles. Harpers 18-02-26
• Diageo halves dividend as new CEO Sir Dave Lewis plots shake-up.  the drinks business 25-02-26
• Heineken to cut up to 6,000 jobs over next two years. the drinks business 11-02-26
• Molson Coors has unveiled proposals to close Sharp’s Brewery in Rock, Cornwall… “the site is no longer financially sustainable as part of our national production network”.  the drinks business 26-02-26
• Brewdog workers protest sale citing ‘years of catastrophic mismanagement’.  the drinks business 25-02-26
• Four pubs a day closing under high-tax Labour.  The Telegraph 21-02-26

Not a lot of good news in there, looks like the big boys are feeling a bit of a squeeze, although Molson Coors seem to have mixed plans – re-vamp a poor lager, Carling, on the one hand whilst further destroying the Cornish heritage of Sharps on the other.  Our research has also informed us that Carling in fact originates from Canada, which surprised us…

Thankfully, this weekend we don’t have to go through any further international rugby pain as it’s a fallow week although I think Quins fans should probably find something else to do on Saturday afternoon.  As should Tottenham fans on Sunday…

And now to wine.  It’s St David’s Day on Sunday and as such, the Welsh will celebrate being Welsh with daffodils and leeks in abundance, whilst also celebrating it being a fallow rugby weekend, I imagine.  We don’t’ have any Welsh wine here so cannot offer some for tasting but we do have a new wine that might fit the bill, from…. South Africa.

So, if you were of a mind to go and source some strikingly yellow daffodils this weekend, you would probably use a sharp bladed super-scissor to cut them with, some secateurs perhaps?  Well, let me introduce you to Badenhorst Family Wines Secateurs Chenin Blanc 2025 – £18.49.  We actually have sold this wine before but that was over 10 years ago, however some of you may remember it with its striking yellow packaging!  Adi Badenhorst is one of South Africa’s most exciting winemakers and this has always been one of our favourite Chenin Blancs from anywhere.  Unctuous, with apple and pear fruit, a kiss of citrus and a touch of spice.  Medium bodied and bang on with some rarebit and laverbread, maybe…

For the red, sticking with tenuous links to Wales, let’s talk football, their national sport.  On 18^th November 2025, the last time the Wales Men’s team ran out in Cardiff, they faced North Macedonia and proceeded to beat them 7-1.  To help celebrate such an emphatic victory, we thought we’d open Tikveš Kratosija Crveno – £12.99 which, as you’ve probably guessed, comes from North Macedonia. So, whilst Tikveš Winery may have been flying the flag and spreading the word since the late 19th century, the indigenous grape varieties may be a bit new to us.  This one, Kratosija (pronounced Krat-oss-SHEE-yah), has the same genetic origins as Primitivo in Italy and produces a wine with bright aromas of redcurrants, cherry and red berries that would be bang on with a nice bit of Sunday roast Lamb!

That’s probably it from us; we’ve got a couple of later starts on Monday and Tuesday as we have a number of tastings in town to go to but we should be back early to mid-afternoon – well before the evening rush!

Say it quietly but does anyone else feel there might be a hint of Spring in the air?

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We’ll start the week with some birthdays. Dennis the Menace will feature on a special 50p coin issued by the Royal Mint this week, to celebrate achieving the ripe old age of 75. Weirdly, it’ll cost £15 to buy one, inflation off the charts or the oddness of coin collecting, you decide.

In Spring, National Treasure David Attenborough will be celebrating his 100^th birthday with a week of special programmes starting on the 8^th May. A new programme will show behind the scenes on ‘Life on Earth’, which was first broadcast in 1979 and has visited 40 countries.

Celebrating his 66^th birthday yesterday, the Andrew formerly known as Prince was arrested at his new home in Norfolk. Barely had his birthday crumpet popped up in the toaster than the heavy boots of Thames Valley Police were crunching up the path to his door. He has been arrested on suspicion of wrongdoing in public office, which we suspect is like getting Al Capone on tax evasion.  The King says “the law must take its course”.

We bet he’s sweating now.

Elsewhere, South Korea demonstrated that nobody is above the law by jailing their ex-president Yoon Suk-Yeol for life. He was found to have damaged their democracy by trying to impose martial law in December 2024.

In a place where an entire administration feels they are above the law, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, called for the authors of a NY Federal Reserve paper to be “disciplined”. The paper pointed out that business and consumers are bearing the higher cost of tariffs. He even went as far as calling them an “embarrassment”. One wonders about looking in the mirror. In other Fed news, central bank policymakers warned that progress towards the central bank’s inflation target “might be slower and more uneven than generally expected”. We can’t think why.

Last week’s rugby didn’t all go according to plan; I certainly didn’t recognise that Scot’s team as the same people who played the week before. Looks like Van der Merwe will be back against Wales and that England may have had a chat with themselves. Possibly the game of the weekend will be on Sunday in Paris where France host Italy.

In the other shaped ball, Arsenal seem rather too happy to squander leading positions and rescue a single point from games they really should be winning. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen on Sunday.

In booze news, Brewdog seems to be in rather a lot of bother, up for sale and in danger of wiping out all its Equity for Punk Investors. I think possibly the founders and the toxic work culture have had more to do with their demise than the Chancellor’s tax rises.

On the wine front, we’ll be opening a couple of new Portuguesers this weekend. They hail from the Tejo region of Portugal. Located between Lisbon and Alentejo, it is Portugal’s fifth largest wine region.

Monte da Serra Branco 2024 (£12.49) is a blend of Arinto, Fernão Pires and Verdelho, whilst the Monte da Serra Tinto 2024 (£12.49) is a blend of Syrah, Castelão and Aragonez. When we tasted them we found them to be fruity, but not overly so and really rather good drinkers. Come and have a taste and let us know what you think.

Finally an admin note – next Friday – Friday 27th February, we will be closing early.  It’s our annual trip up the hill to help out at the KCS quiz night, so in order to get this all set up, we will be closing at 5PM – apologies in advance.

And with that, we’re off to find out if Pizza Express Woking does deliveries by drone!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Tasks for this weekend:

• Rugby – Ireland v Italy – 2.10pm Saturday 14^th
• Rugby – Scotland v England – 4.40pm Saturday 14^th
• Rugby – Wales v France – 3.10pm Sunday 15^th
• Priority – Valentines Day – all day Saturday 14^th
• Priority – Dinner and Gifts – any time after 7pm Saturday 14^th
• FA Cup/Winter Olympics – watch highlights once other tasks completed

One would add that, if you want your priorities to be successful and well received, one should perhaps postpone the Guinness/Peroni/Tennent’s Extra/Neck Oil adventure until later in the day.

So, yes, it’s St Valentine’s Day this weekend, which is the first time it has fallen on a Saturday for 11 years, I’m told.  By all accounts, on 14^th February 2015, Australia beat England by 111 runs in the opening round of the ICC Cricket World Cup (spoiler alert: Australia won the whole competition whilst England failed to progress to the knockout stages).   Meanwhile, a fragile ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas War had been agreed which was then quickly broken and still they are fighting… not enough has improved over the last decade, sadly.

In the 2015 Six Nations, on this date England beat Italy (47-17), Ireland beat France (18-11) whilst Scotland would lose to Wales (23-26) at Murrayfield on the Sunday.

And with that, you are all suitably equipped with a rich variety of candlelit dinner conversation starters – thank me later.

Should romance, and not rugby, be your thing, here’s some background, courtesy of www.history.co.uk/articles/the-pagan-roots-of-valentine-s-day

“many historians believe the day originated from the Roman pagan festival of fertility called Lupercalia…. a major festival on the Roman calendar commemorated every year on February 15.  It was held in honour of the gods Faunus and Lupercus, the gods of agriculture and fertility.  In a representation of fertility and because Lupercus was a god of shepherds, two male goats were sacrificed in the cave.  This was followed by the sacrifice of a dog to represent purification and because dogs often guard the flocks. Blood taken from the sacrificial knife was then smeared across the foreheads of two naked Luperci.  The knife was then wiped clean with a piece of milk-soaked wool. Historians have suggested this ritual is the reason why Valentine’s Day is associated with the colours red and white; red represents the blood from the sacrifice whilst white represents the milk on the wool that wipes the knife clean, signifying new life.”

Ok, perhaps not as romantic as one might hope, let’s read on:

“Feasting followed this ritual and after stomachs were full the Luperci cut strips from the sacrificed goats called ‘thongs’ and dipped them in the sacrificial blood.  The Luperci then ran naked through the streets of Rome and whipped any woman within striking distance. Many welcomed the lashings, often revealing bare skin for the thongs to strike. The Romans believed that the thongs would make childless women more fertile whilst blessing pregnant women with the gift of an easy birth.”

Hmmm, not sure about the naked whipping thing but I think the next bit might be closer to what we now recognise:

“Another custom during Lupercalia was the pairing of young Roman boys and girls.  At some point during the festival, the names of young girls were written on bits of paper and slipped into a jar.  Every young man would then pull out a girl’s name from the jar; the pair would then be coupled together for the duration of Lupercalia.  Many stayed together until the following year’s festival, some even fell in love and married.”

Bless.

In the real world, the mainstream media continues to publish many of the same stories as last week whilst in the wine world there is a definite news lull, perhaps they’ve all gone skiing?  One piece of news that did raise a smile was the release of the 2026 Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland which gave the restaurant Opening of the Year Award to Maria Bradford’s Shwen Shwen in Sevenoaks.  Now, we know a little bit about Sevenoaks and honestly never imagined that this soulless dormitory town would become home to ‘an unforgettable dining experience that brings the rich, vibrant flavours of Sierra Leone to Sevenoaks.’  Chapeau, Maria; Chapeau, Sevenoaks – most exciting thing to happen here since the storm of 1987!

So, what are you going to drink with your fancy food on Saturday night?  If it helps, we’ll be opening the following wines this weekend: Collequieto Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2024 – £13.99 and Valenciso Rioja Reserva 2019 – £29.00.

We chose the white because it comes from Italy, the home of Lupercalia.  Hailing from Abruzzo this comes from a family vineyard, with around 35 hectares between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic coast, who we think offer excellent value.  Verdicchio is one of Italy’s noble white varieties and this has delicate hawthorn aromas as well as apple and citrus.  The palate is a little richer with a lovely freshness, some minerality and a touch of nuttiness to the finish.

The red, from Rioja, is a wine we’ve been banging on about since Alex visited them in 2007, the winery having been established in 1998 as a collaboration between ex Bodegas Palacios’ Luis Valentin and Carmen Enciso.  They are fully quality focused with the Reserva being their flagship wine – they don’t make a Crianza or a Gran Reserva.  The wine offers us savoury aromas alongside lifted, perfumed notes of violet and blackberry leading to an elegant palate – tight and concentrated with spice, fine tannins, great complexity and purity.

Delicious.

That’ll be it from us, as a quick heads up, we’ll be opening a bit later on Tuesday 17^th, another tasting in town I’m afraid, but I imagine a number of you will be tucking into a Jambon Buerre on some forsaken French hill, so you won’t even notice!

Don’t ignore the task list at the top – if it helps, we have lots of cold Champagne!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

So we have all survived another splendid week with no news and nothing much to talk about. As we mosey on out of dry January it seems we’re having a rather wet February with four days out of five involving the wet weather gear, today still to be decided!

So it turns out that Peter Mandelson is a bit of a wrong ‘un then. Who could have known? There were no clues from his 1998 resignation for dodgy house funding, or from his 2001 resignation for talking to the Home Office about a British Passport for an Indian billionaire. Let alone champagne fuelled trips from Davos to Russian Ice Hockey games with aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska. If any of these previous indiscretions had been public knowledge we might have had to question the judgement of the Prime Minister and the governments vetting process. Could Mandelson be off to FIFA next?

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as “New START” and signed in 2010, expired at midnight on Wednesday. It was the last nuclear weapons control treaty between the US and Russia, but luckily both countries are led by very level headed gentleman so we’re absolutely sure there is nothing to worry about. Pope Leo sounded a little more nervous saying the situation “calls for doing everything possible to avert a new arms race”. Good point well-made perhaps.

On a more cheerful note we had the Grammy’s this week. As usual there was much discussion of the hits, or otherwise, as to the sartorial choices of those on the red carpet. What caught my eye though was the Lifetime Achievement Award, given posthumously to Fela Kuti almost 30 years after his death. He becomes the first African to win the award. Congratulations also to The Cure who won Best Alternative Music Album for “Songs Of A Lost World” and Best Alternative Performance for “Alone” their single from the album. Finally, kudos to the Dalai Lama who won with his audiobook: “Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama”. Beijing was unimpressed, describing the award as “anti-China political manipulation”.

The Winter Olympics have started; time to reacquaint yourselves with curling, skeleton and speed skating. Also, it’ll be worth having a look out for ski mountaineering appearing for the first time. No I don’t know either, but will look out for it later in the month. Apparently its SkiMo to the cool kids and will be happening on the Stelvio! Elsewhere,  most of the chatter in ski jumping is about ‘enhancements’ that may or maybe not being used to increase the size of their suits.

The Six Nations started last night – which is unusual for a Thursday (apologies to Tommy Cooper fans). France certainly showed how much work Ireland has left to do with Les Bleus cruising to a convincing win in Paris.

On Saturday, a much more sensible day, Italy host Scotland for the early game at a weird 14.10, and England will host Wales at the funny old time of 16.40.

Cheese and Wine Tasting 12 February 7.30pm – £30 Just a couple of places left, you already know what’s in the work diary so what are you waiting for?

Cheese and Wine are known to be life enhancing….

Tasting this Weekend

We’ll give Martin and Anna Arndorfer’s Handcrafted Grüner Veltliner 2024 (£19.99) a spin around in the glass, it’s gently spiced pear and apple fruit character deserves a share. Made unfiltered and unsulphured from grapes that are farmed organically, this is a cracker.

A farm run by the same family since 1870 gives us our red: Alceñ0 Sierra de Enmedio Monastrell (£11.99) hailing from old vines frown in Jumilla Spain this is a medium bodied red, soft and elegant and just the ticket with those sausages you picked up at the farmers market!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Whoop, whoop-di-whoop, it’s the 30^th January!  The first and worst month is drawing to a close and February is ready to go… however, before we get carried away, some important admin:

• As a reminder, tomorrow, Saturday 31^st January, we will be closing promptly at 6pm as we need to be elsewhere in a hurry!
• Tuesday 3^rd February we will be opening a bit later, as we need to attend a supplier tasting in the City but we should be back by 3pm.
• The famous January sale, 6 for 5 etc etc etc will finish on Saturday 31^st January, at close of play.
• We still have a number of spaces available on our Wine & Cheese Tasting on Thursday 12^th February – starts at 7.30pm – £30 per person (tickets need to be purchased in advance) – don’t miss out!

Right, enough of that, more of this.  I won’t be telling you anything you don’t know but frankly, it’s been another week worth forgetting.  Hosepipe bans have finally been lifted all over the country and our Exeter correspondent tells us that since they have already had 222% of their expected January rainfall, the local Wetherspoons has also experienced a 222% increase in takings.  Spooners – keeping the southwest saturated.

Speaking of pubs, this week’s government U-turn announcement was that pubs and music venues would receive a rates relief package giving a 15% discount and then a two-year freeze in real terms, followed by a change in revaluation methods before 2029.  Hooray, I hear you say and you’d be right, they’ve saved the pub!  However, what about wine bars and restaurants, why haven’t they been afforded the same treatment?  Shouldn’t pubs and bars and restaurants all be under the same umbrella, don’t they offer similar services?  How can the government be so inept and unable to see the whole picture – oh, wait a minute… During Covid, one of the rumoured reasons for why we were allowed to stay open as ‘essential’ was based on the idea that since the supermarkets were allowed to sell alcohol, we should also be allowed to, in order to prevent them having an advantage/a monopoly/taking away our business.  I know it’s different now to 2020 but surely the cafés, restaurants and wine bars are being disadvantaged for no good reason.

We expect an imminent U-turn addendum.

In other news, the Australian Open tennis continues in sweltering heat and we’ve got a Brit in the Men’s Doubles final.  Another Brit, Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open Winner) has parted ways with her 9^th coach since that slam win, a man whose CV includes being a coach to Rafa Nadal for 17 years, during which time he won 22 Grand Slams.  It’s not me, it’s you…

Speaking of faded sporting glory, Tottenham Hotspur FC (First Division Winners 1950–51 & 1960–61) who can just about score a goal a game in the Premiership and have only won 7 games thus far, somehow managed to finish 4^th in the Champions League first round.  They won 5 of their 8 matches, scored 17 goals and have a coach who looks baffled by the whole thing – perhaps Francisco Roig might be able to help.

As we’re February bound, we are also Six Nations bound.  In a first, France will be playing Ireland on Thursday night (5^th February) which is clearly a fixture scheduled with travelling fans in mind rather than big money TV deals.  They claim that they don’t want to clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics that takes place on Friday but I’m honestly not sure how much audience crossover there would be!

Back here in SW19 we’ve decided that the wines on tasting this weekend will be French.  With the risk of a 222% tariff being put on their wines exported to the USA, we thought they could do with some help.

The white, with a nod to their President, will be Genetie Mâc(r)on Charnay ‘Les Piliers’ 2023 – £17.49.  Charnay is one of the smallest of the Mâcon Villages, also renowned as one of the best.  The name Genetie is from an engraving on a protected pillar at the estate.  The wine is excellent, crisp and mineral with spring floral notes and stone fruit character and a full citrusy palate with a lingering finish.

The red, with a nod to the weather, is a classic claret.  Château Curton La Perrière 2020 – £18.29 was a new one to us late last year.  It is 100% Merlot from 30-year-old vines grown on clay and limestone just 15km south of St Émilion.  Blah, blah, soil types grapes… I know.  To put it another way perhaps we could say… “this is like a Pomerol for less than £20.  Form an orderly queue!”

That must be it from us, and it needs to be, as my hands have gone numb from the cold.  Any of you Dry-Janners, well done, welcome back, now don’t do it again!

Santé!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Things that one might say if they were under-researched or perhaps deliberately wanted to mislead people to fit an agenda:

I haven’t been able to find any Big Macs in McDonald’s – surely the only place to buy them?

I haven’t been able to find any Catholics in Vatican City – surely a 100% catholic population?

“I haven’t been able to find any windfarms in China” – surely the world’s biggest producer of wind energy (with USA in second place)

“Stupid people buy windfarms” – to confirm, the USA has 75,000 of these windmills, Sancho.

I must apologise, I spent Wednesday afternoon doing paperwork and listening to Davos discourse whilst wondering why I subject myself to such unedifying tasks.  Sadly, because the weather was so dreary, I wasn’t overwhelmed by customers and, consequently, was able to spreadsheet uninterrupted and listen to the entirety of the 70-minute POTUS speech, which is an hour I will never get back.  In truth, he didn’t cover any new ground, occasionally reinventing the laws of maths (percentages again) and promising that the attraction of Greenland had nothing to do with rare earth mineral deposits as it’s just a “very expensive, very big piece of ice.”

Pants on fire.

So, that’s the last of my New Year Resolutions up in flames.  The Dry January thing was never going to have any traction and, whilst the gym membership is being paid for, the treadmills haven’t been under too much threat from these feet.  Now, I’ve only gone and given Trump some airtime which is something I’ve been trying to avoid and, frankly, I’m both angry and disappointed with myself but at least I’ve avoided talking about the Beckham’s!

In positive news, we tasted 152 wines on Tuesday, which is more taxing on the palate and a lot less fun that it sounds.  Just about half the wines tasted were En Primeur 2024 Burgundies which can make life even harder as you basically taste 36 Chardonnay of similar quality followed by an equivalent number of Pinot Noir.  I know, tune up the tiny violins but not every wine is a superstar and, as Adam Bruntlett from BBR surmised, “A challenging vintage, but it was possible to make good and very good wines for short- and medium-term drinking”.  For us, the whites were showing better than the reds but then, that’s often our position with Burgundy.

But it’s not just us that can do wine tasting, you can too.  We still have spaces on our first Wine & Cheese tastings of 2026:

Thursday 12^th February – 7.30pm

Thursday 12^th March – 7.30pm

The cost is £30 per person and as ever, first come – first served, we have more spaces available in February than in March, just so you know!

‘Go bring to me a pint o wine, And fill it in a silver tassie;’

Neither of us are at all Scottish but we do like a bit of Burns Night.  Robert, as seen above, and whilst famously a lover of whisky, clearly also had time in his calendar for a hearty draught of wine, which we admire.  For those unversed in such things, this Sunday, 25^th January, would be Mr Burns’ 267^th birthday and will be celebrated worldwide with haggis, neeps, tatties and over exuberant cod-Scottish accents addressing the ‘Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race’!  Oblivious as to whether or not you will be indulging on Sunday, we will be tasting wines this weekend that would match the aforementioned dinner.

The white is a wine we have sold ever since we opened but rarely gets put out on tasting (no idea why not!) since Percheron Chenin Blanc-Viognier 2024 – £10.49 always hits the spot!  A deliciously rich blend of 80% Chenin Blanc (where some of the vines are over 40 years old) and 20% Viognier, it is vibrant and aromatic with delicious generous fresh apricot, nectarine and hints of passion fruit on the nose and a creamy palate with real fresh fruit flavours, fleshy, just-picked apricots and hints of guava.

We would always prefer a red with our Scottish dinner and the Rhône makes for happy hunting ground.  This week’s choice is ‘La Côte Sauvage’ Cairanne 2022 – £21.99.  Fully ripe Grenache and Syrah grapes are hand-picked from old bush vines within Cairanne, giving us a rich and intense wine drenched in dark red fruits.  Morello cherry and a touch of sweet spice on the nose, ripe berry, liquorice, chocolate, summer pudding and a hint of cinnamon spice on the palate, this wine is full flavoured and smooth with supple tannins.  Built for Haggis….

That’s pretty much it from us for this week – don’t forget we are still in January Sale mode for another week so, if you fancy a six box of your favourites, now is the time!

Fellow Wine Lovers,

We seem to be here already, Friday popping up on the calendar as we’ve barely wished the last one adieu! We’ve spent the week chasing up paper work from December, waving at customers as they pass by and trying to stay warm. Even the VAT return has been completed so I think we’re now ready to move gently into tasting season.

First up this week, our thoughts are with the poorly astronauts who had to cut short their stargazing. All those months of training down the Swanee. Being ill on the space station can’t be fun though and an 11 hour flight to splash down in the ocean is a smidge different to us popping to see the folks next door for a pack of paracetamol.

Elsewhere in the world, the news is fairly grim. We wonder if perhaps Donald might like to look up Napoleon to investigate the possible consequences of war on too many fronts, particularly Russia…

He wants Greenland to be part of the USA, apparently being an ally is insufficient. Fairwayland, Bunkerland and Teeland are all speaking to their lawyers, whilst Iceland has offered him a discount of 10% if he shops on Tuesdays. It made me wonder if we could interest him in Canvey Island, there’s a golf course, the remains of an oil refinery and a 17^th century Dutch cottage!

Closer to home, Kemi Badenoch has fired Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership for being about to defect to Reform. It seems the small bump in the polls might have been enough to push him over the top. No chance to succeed Kemi, with an improving Tory Party polling, naturally makes you think Farage I guess. Seems the genius left his resignation letter in the printer tray! Now he’s lost the ministerial car it is the duty of all of us to make sure he pays his rail fares.

Looks like he’s met Big Nige for that pint, as he’s already had his ‘welcome home’ press conference – I laughed out loud at “put aside personal ambition” and then the rather predictable lines were about a broken Britain. Given who formed the government of the last dozen or more years, you might wonder why Reform keeping hiring those who broke it!

Whilst we’re on the subject of Reform, they just announced their leader in Scotland as Lord Offord. Now, call me old fashioned but I struggle to understand why anybody in Scotland, or Wales for that matter, would vote for an English Nationalist Party.  

Points of Order/Diary Notes

It’s that time of year again when a plethora of tastings spread across our calendar. With that in mind, we will be closed for the entire day on Tuesday 20^th January as two of our bigger suppliers have, like last year, both chosen the same date.

Not tasting related but unavoidably we will also close early at 6.30pm on Saturday 31^st January.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

So whilst we’re on the subject of tasting, what are we having on the table this weekend?

White wise we’ll weigh in with Reserve de Gassac 2024 (£14.99) – A wonderful blend of Viognier and Marsanne from the Languedoc.  Fresh and floral with stone fruit and hints of herbs, it has an elegance to it too. The vines are planted in small plots or clearings surrounded by forest and garrigue. The wines consequently soak up the fragrances of the surrounding plant life. Wonderful attention to detail for a wine at this price.

On the red front, we’re going with Palacio Del Camino Real Reserva 2019 (£15.99) – A traditional style of Rioja that is anything but ordinary.Expressive from the first sniff: ripe, with succulent cherry, plum and strawberry fruit notes, complexity from oak spice and a balsamic lift. On the palate it’s beautifully balanced, with silky, well-integrated tannins framing the fruit perfectly. Swish with abandon, it’s a real second glasser!

Two final notes – our January Sale continues with the magnificent 6 for 5 offer on much of the wine on the shelves; also, we still have spaces on our Wine & Cheese tastings on Thursday 12^th February and Thursday 12^th March both starting at 7.30pm, £30 per person, should you care to join us!

That’s it from us, let’s all try and be nice to each other, it might rub off!