Handbags and Gladrags....

We have been rather focusing on White Burgundy of late for everyday drinking but have just received a few cases today of Inama’s Soave Classico. Somewhat leaner, steelier and fresher, it is a great alternative if you are a tad tired with White Burgundy again and again!

Soave Classico 2009 Inama, Veneto, Italy at £ 13.00 per Bottle

If you are bored of Chardonnay this ever so slightly grassy but overtly minerally mid-weight white should do the trick.

“Huntsworth Handbag Amnesty” -  £ 1 a pop…

Not going to pretend this is about saving the planet but simply about practicalities. Our hessian Huntsworth bags are useful but also pretty popular and we have been through a fair few hundred of these recently. Always handy to have one or two lying about but quite a few of you pop back with an armful of five or ten. That would be mighty useful if any of you have plenty or any to spare and we will knock a pound off per bag for any armfuls duly returned! Do keep one or two as I said but and extra would be handy for what is our “Huntsworth ‘Handbag’ Amnesty”

Weekly indulgence:

Château Gloria 2001 St-Julien at £ 27.00 per Bottle

One of the most instantly recognizable labels in Bordeaux along with such classics as Lynch Bages; Ducru-Beaucaillou; Latour.

A very solid, yet to a degree, a restrained effort. Mouth filling, dense Cabernet fruit leaning more to the drier than sweeter side.

A good hour decanting is more than advisable and the wine will settle down to a textbook Claret display!

3 cases, all in original wooden case (but available singularly off the shelf).

Silly-season:

Well it seems that everyone has an opinion on little Osborne (as opposed to Osborne & Little) and his cuts. It won’t surprise you that I am amongst that very throng. As much as Chancellor Brown had the gilded ability to do one thing three ways and thus complicate what was or should be a simple task, the route back to normality is surely to simplify matters and reverse that trend. In all possible arenas. My view on this is as simple as it gets. Anyone with a single word job title is important or at a stretch two words (Wine Merchant – phew!) should be saved. Anyone with a job title of three words or more should be culled. Two words. End of. “I’m a Doctor; a nurse; a teacher; a farmer; a milkman; a policeman; fireman; dentist; dustman; Chef; parents…great, we need you to do this…we need you for that…thank you.” On the other hand, you receive a telephone call and you hear “Hello, I’m Ray Smithers-Jones the Assistant Director of Parking Operations from Department of Environment & Transport at the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea…” – Stop! I don’t need you…I don’t want you…and I don’t want to pay for you and your reserved parking space at my Town Hall and your paid for Bank Holidays and your early retirement package and your expense account. Go away and do not come back. Ever. If your job title is one or two words, you are probably an integral part of what is important in life and helping others around you. If one uses a more elaborate title than necessary or simply more words you are probably only helping yourself and the printing industry. The most oft used phrase is “will the cuts send us into a recession?” Possibly, but surely U.K. P.L.C. will head into a recession that much quicker if one doesn’t cut? A business that can’t afford it will go to the wall unless it is being subsidized. The trouble is that source of subsidy is simply pushing many individuals and businesses to the wall. Chicken and egg as my School teachers used to say but even aged twelve I knew the egg came before the chicken!

Usually it is only the first few rounds of X-Factor that witnesses wave upon wave of deluded folk. This weekend however, what about scary Storm Lee? Weird. This series X-factor is almost as good as its American counterpart in that we do actually have more than 2-3 genuinely talented acts. People who can actually sing. Storm Lee was not one of them. Nor to Pub Act Worzel Gummidge aka Wagner, a tragic Opera for sure. Storm Lee actually said “I had a dream that Simon Cowell came up to me and said you are really one of the best male vocalists in the World and he will because my dreams always come true.” Well, if a devastating plague hits Planet Earth and there are just two people remaining, “Si-Co” and you, a better than evens chance. Otherwise back to your bed-sit pally. I have also been taken by the absolute opposite that follows “Downton Abbey” the somewhat syrupy, schmaltzy, period costume drama but for I.T.V., usually purveyor of lowest common denominator T.V. They have truly excelled themselves. Worth watching and wishing for more. Aunty Beeb must be spitting as they have been truly outgunned in that department.

Tuggy’s tips:

Never a problem for me as I don’t have a positive litany of credit cards but it is amazing how many punters, customers, clients meander in and cannot remember their pin number. I have an easy solution. Just remember one country or international telephone number you already know or dial regularly and slide down that number in alphabetical order. Thus you only have to remember one actual number. Id est: 01189 71 3174 =

Am-Ex – 0118

Barclaycard – 1189

Maestro - 1897

MasterCard – 8971…

Not Rocket Science but might help some of you, never, having to forget again.

Weekly World of Wine

A beautiful new wine to unfold? Not quite. Alas the end of last week went amidst a haze of Eucalyptus lozenges, Night Nurse and Lemsip. Full-on Man Flu. Hence no tasting of wines. Henry fared little better but I did dispatch him to a Burgundy tasting earlier in the week but nothing sufficiently tempting for us to in turn tempt you. An odd week indeed.

Weekly Indulgence:

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1997 Sauternes

Premier Grand Cru Classé

at £ 19.00 per Half-Bottle

Classic Vintage, beautiful colour, perfect with Foie Gras (just don’t tell the Guardian readers!)

(90-92 points Robert Parker)

44 Halves in stock.

“Silly Season”

‘Tis a dangerous game when you compare others or the opposition to oneself. I did that recently with our Planeta Chardonnay at £ 16.50 against Majestic at £ 25.00. I don’t feel too off the mark with that one but sometimes one needs to be a bit more considered. On Sunday night I was at a friend’s House and accidentally (honest) picked-up a copy of The Mail on Sunday. The header said “70 pence cheaper than the Sunday Times”. I had never really considered the price of The Mail but it simply highlighted to me how grossly overpriced the Mail actually is, against pretty much anything. I am unequivocally not a fan of Murdoch and he has long been off my Christmas card list but the Culture Section alone in the Sunday Times outguns the collective best that the Mail on Sunday can muster. Some things one should just keep quiet about. Even if it were free I’d not mention it in the same breath.

            Prompted by Claire Rayner’s final words of warning this week to David Cameron it did remind me of the highs and lows and different perceptions of that great old dinosaur, the N.H.S. Just yesterday I scuttled off to Imperial College which sprawls southwards around the Albert Hall. A spectacular amount of money has been spent here across the approximately ten blocks of prime South Kensington Real Estate. Phenomenal. Impressive. Expensive. Heaven knows where the money came from to pay for this. On second thoughts… Anyway I popped in for a routine check-up at the Dental Practice, prompted by a Scottish friend who recommended it highly, not just because it only costs £ 16.50 and that as he told me was a leading factor for a Scotsman, but because the dentist was a particularly cute Scottish lass. The invariable N.H.S. flaw – a 10.30 a.m. appointment, yet finally summoned in at 11.10 a.m. and finished and out by 11.20 a.m.! It was however pretty state of the art and when the wheels were finally in motion it was incredibly efficient. But of course it couldn’t run by itself. As I sat there waiting, flipping through a dog-eared copy of Country Life from the Gordon Brown Era, I was confronted by a gaggle of five, presumably, bureaucrats. Four looked as if they had just left School. Clipboards, pointing, gesturing and this strange language that I have mentioned before. Only English of sorts. This techno littered meaningless language where any potentially simple task is instead layered upon layer. In amongst this slick efficiency it was depressing to witness this extra and I can assure you unnecessary strata. Will we ever unravel back to a simpler form of life?

            Back to the Sunday Times (10^th October) and I did spot “Let’s Fire The Lot Of Them” concerning The Apprentice. It reminded me that I said the exact same thing but back in May 2008:

“The Apprentice is fast becoming a farce, however compulsive it is to watch. If someone is not good enough old beardie points the finger and says “you’re fired!” Understood, simple format. With this series however he should have fired the first Muppet and then immediately afterwards said “and you are all fired!” because they are all unemployable; unappealing; unattractive; and all utterly useless. I have been served by some better people flipping burgers at McD’s. It would shorten the series but sometimes a bit of honesty is needed. I guarantee that whomever Mr. Amstrad picks as the winner they will not be working for him at the year’s end. “

            Still a ways to go but good news from San Jose, Chile at least.

“He (Carlos Tevez) has been in England for five years now. So it’s disappointing that his English isn’t as good as what it should be.” – Graham Taylor

Tuggy

And proof read by Henry for political correct ness.

A Week in Wine is shorter than in Politics...

Wednesday 6^th October

 

 

 

Thinking ahead:

 

Enough new wines pitched at you lately so just a general update of revisiting some classics and a couple of soon arriving newbies:

 

 

I am informed (as I have been for the last 4 months!) that the Jean Daneel “Signature” Chenin Blanc 2006 will be shipped to us before Christmas. The bad news is that it is due to go up by 13% in cost to us. The good news is that it is in my view worth it. The Adi Badenhorst Family White is a success at £ 21.00 so the brilliant Daneel at the same sort of price should be grasped without hesitation!

 

 

From individual and brilliant to obvious and commercial (but undeniably successful) the Planeta Chardonnay from Sicily has moved on to the 2008 Vintage. But for the next 120 Bottles we will hold our price at £ 16.50 (Wine Direct £ 19.95; Majestic £ 25.00…).

 

 

Also, we have just secured a U.K. Exclusive on a fabulous quality Swiss wine, Histoire D’Enfer. More to follow in November.

 

 

Another forthcoming little beauty is the Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Fourrier. Now Fourrier is really turning heads for Red Burgundy and I first happened across Jean Marie’s Bourgogne Blanc as the absurdly cheap House White at Andrew Edmunds in Soho. I took my son there for Sunday and even cheaper he has the opulent and entertaining 2007 Vintage at £ 17.50 a Bottle. We will be about £ 15 a Bottle for the forthcoming 2008 Vintage, so to get the 2007, a straight Bourgogne Blanc granted, but a wine of this quality at what works out at less than £ 3 a glass must rank as one of the best value wine buys in a London Restaurant. Corkage in London Restaurants will feature heavily, with its own page, on our soon to be –released new Web-site but Andrew Edmunds is one London Restaurant that corkage truly isn’t necessary. Booking however might be!

 

 

 

Weekly Indulgence:

 

The Jacquesson “Cuvée 732” has now moved onto the “Cuvée 733” and though we will try this today to determine how good it is, it is alas still going from £ 30.00 a Bottle to £ 33.00-34.00 a Bottle. It needs to be seriously, seriously good for that sort of price increase in these climes so I am not guaranteeing to stock this unless it proves its worth + 10%! That opens the door for the tiniest of comparative bargains as we have just 3 Magnums left of the “Cuvée 732” and they are of course at the old price of £ 65.00. Once they have gone and if we take on the “Cuvée 733” they will of course be that much more expensive.

 

 

Last 3 Magnums only of:

 

Jacquesson “Cuvée 732” at £ 65.00 per Magnum

(Base Vintage 2004 and all from Premier and Grand Cru sites)

 

 

 

 

“Silly-Season”

 

Like Mark Twain I tend to view Golf as a good walk spoilt. I also decline an offer for a round of Golf as in all honesty my dress sense is bad enough as it is without having to dress-up like Rupert The Bear. Anyway, I did per chance find myself watching the final moments of the Ryder Cup on Monday and have to confess that I was left utterly speechless by what I saw. I really couldn’t believe what was going on, it was Wales and it was sunny. Quite remarkable scenes. Probably never to be seen again in my life time.

 

Well, you now all know (or soon will do) what it is like working for Deutsche Bank. German humour is no laughing matter. A few customers and friends vork for zis Bank and they confide that they have to wait until Friday 6.00 p.m. on zee dot before they can indulge in any hilarity. Rarely has a headline of a British Newspaper sent such a shudder down my spine and probably a first for The Daily Mail: last week I spotted “Death of the Office Joke…” thinking of course that it was a joke. Apparently not. Until it is no longer there, we simply take such things for granted in life. As if we hadn’t had enough utter tosh from people like Caroline Flint we now have Harriet Harman and Theresa May to thank for this latest introduction. An employee can now sue their employer if they find anything offensive. The potential is staggering, just think of 99% of the Treasury, they could put Gordon Brown in the dock. I never met the man but found him deeply offensive, imagine those who actually worked with him. Well, if this really comes to fruition and pervades the giant partitioned offices across our sodden land then me thinks Banks et all should better alter their bonus structure. I think rewarding Staff with vouchers or tickets for The Comedy Store and Edinburgh Festival will be essential element to maintain any assemblance of sanity. You must remember it was not just the Russians, nor the Americans a little later that saved us from Hitler’s Germany, it was Tommy’s sense of humour. Don’t under-estimate Gallows’ humour. Self-effacing; simple observation; timing; witty responses – something we would surely merit a Gold and our Australian Cousins a distant Bronze. Where do we go from here? Cutting ourselves off at the knees (but not in the Monty Python sense) and soon everyone else will catch us up. Except the Germans of course. And the…

 

Talking of skin crawling I watched Piers Morgan “interview” Sir Alan Sugar. Yes, the one who made all that rubbish hi-fi you and I bought back in the ‘70’s when orange and brown was fashionable. What makes a good interviewer? Piers possesses, if that is the right word, an innocuous, non-descript little voice so that’s not it. Or is he just a throwback to the past when of course the interviewer was far less interesting and famous than the an actual celebrity? Unlike the fashion for Jonathan Woss etc. He begins with that appalling media trait of “Lord Sugar’s multi-million pound pad…” He eyes Sugar and his goppingly decorated Florida pad with a tinge of envy but with his forthcoming American Chat Show one can only envisage he will fast immerse himself in this same sort of tacky glamour. Me thinks taste would come to him as an even greater shock. It takes a full twenty minutes before anything of real interest evolves and that was not from Morgan probing but simply Sugar revealing about his parents. The art of a good interviewer is to let some interesting talk. Twenty minutes is too long and if they ain’t interesting Sir Alan, then Piersy mate, you have to learn to fill in the gaps. Or better still give your job to someone who would make a proper fist of it.

 

This will all mean a slight change in direction for my weekly rants, my silly season. Ed’s replacement is Henry Palmer so I will now have to gauge and test and seek out his views on humour and “correct” topics. Will he vet my weekly, will he contribute, will he add, will he take away? Work in progress.

 

I went to Cambio de Tercio in Sud Kensington last week. Why do restaurants put a dinner plate on the table yet the second you sit down take it away? Practical; affectation; window-dressing; stupidity…?

 

“Henry Palmer did not find anything offensive in this e-mail”...

 

            …though I am not sure he found it that amusing either.

 

Tuggy Meyer

 

CC Mishcon de Reya.

Wednesday 29th September

My Wine of the week

With the positive chill in the air this morning it is perhaps now wise to start thinking of suitable, hearty reds for the Winter. We have a small parcel of 10 cases of Guigal’s 2000 Vintage Gigondas and it has reached its perfect maturity. Anywhere else they would probably be working on the 2006 and circa £ 17-26 a Bottle.

A taste of Rhône – Gigondas 2000:

Gigondas 2000 Southern Rhône, É.Guigal at £ 15.00 per Bottle

Classic earthy, characterful, heading towards rustic but at full maturity, chewy, gentle and easy.

 All one needs is a hearty stew.

Weekly Indulgence

(Just 12 Bottles available of)

St-Hallett “Old Block” Shiraz 1996

Barossa Valley, Australia at £ 33.00 per Bottle.

A renowned Barossa and a real treat with this unusual amount of bottle age.

(Only web price is circa £ 45 a Bottle)

Silly Season

Much to write this week but alas time eludes.

Still plenty to digest over the Ed & Dave Show. Personally I am struggling to get beyond Dave and his mono-brow. Nothing wrong with that, outside one of H.M.’s Prison’s, but just leaves me wondering, does Ed shave his unlike his brother?! His aside to Harriet Harman during little bro’s speech was I thought fair on all levels. All this and the Pantomime Season is yet to begin. The only real shocker to me about this whole, affair, was when of Dave Mili was standing on his North London doorstep, wearing what could only be described as something best seen in a Nightclub. Politicians never ever ever ever, ever, should try and look trendy. Miliband Senior – may I suggest a white shirt as looking like a City Accountant would be infinitely preferable.

Nearly the perfect weekend when I was told that Arsenal were within a whisker of being 4-0 down against “The Baggies”. That is West Bromwich Albion to most of you.