Christmas and the New Year...

So it appears School is already out for most of you. For the thirsty, the needy, we shall be here until the last minute, virtually – Christmas Eve. Next week however I will be nursing my wounds and taking most of that week off. Any of our locals, any of our regulars, you all should have my mobile number (it is below if you haven’t) and if you need a pre New Year half-case of Champagne, just call or text and I will nip in and open up the Shop for you.

Our newest of our three House Champagne and now appears our best-selling:

R. & H. Lamotte 1er Cru Champagne at £ 24.50 per Bottle

(£ 54.00 per Magnum)

And the usual fare for Christmas indulgences:

Half-Bottles

Magnums

Double Magnums

Imperials…

Red

White…

Champagne (Rosé, Vintage)

Sauternes…

Vintage Port

Armagnac

Kentucky Bourbon

Pedro Ximénez

Whisky…

Silly season:

            I am 46 years old and still do not see the point of Golf but my money for BBC Sports Personality of the Year is firmly cemented to Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy. If these two don’t both finish in the top three I’ll eat my Rupert the Bear plus fours and flappy tasseled shoes. It is not merely about actual tangible gold plated sporting achievement but that key word, personality. The rest of the field, Andy Murray; Mo something; Alastair Cook; Straussy; Mark Cavendish, come on, not exactly an exciting list is it. So I won’t be shouting that embarrassment “in the hole” (I’ll actually be watching Tottenham versus Chelsea) but I will be expecting and hoping Golf to triumph tomorrow. I don’t say that often.

            Jeremy Clarkson got a right royal roasting for saying that strikers should be taken out and shot, in front of their family. Even Schoolboy, Miliband Minor, got upset. Come on children, don’t any of you misery guts watch Have I got News For You or Q.I. or Mock The Week or Never Mind The Buzzcocks? Don’t you have humour in Islington? Maybe I am just so diabolically middle class – when I get home I flick through the channel hopper and only rest when I get to Top Gear; University Challenge or the aforementioned Comedy smug fest. I suppose I am just hopelessly and incurably, middle class!

            I have always thought (known) Arsenal F.C. is a different breed. Twenty teams in the Premiership and nineteen of those with avid supporters. Bitter disappointment for a losing side in a Manchester Derby etc but beyond that, a basic respect for other Clubs and an acknowledgement of skill and style when displayed by others. Except I find from Arsenal fans. Having lost to the better Manchester City on Sunday (1-0) I then proceeded to get at least fifteen texts from my step brother (an Arsenal fan) each of them berating how robbed they were. I watched the game and then with provocation, again the highlights just to assure I wasn’t biased. I voiced that if it were a boxing match Man City would have won 5-2 on points. They were simply far more incisive in attack. Like Arsene Wenger, he refused to believe and thought the world was against him. Having lost, the Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny was quoted as saying “I’m only worried about finishing above Tottenham”. I think that says it all. Some people you just can’t help!

Now I know for some Kensington is scaling the heights but I really can’t fathom why we have no less than six mountaineering shops on Kensington High Street, same side and within a hundred yards of each other. Is this where Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Sir Richard Attenborough and Chris Bonnigton all live? Is this really the Mecca for all the anorak clad ramblers? Can’t see five of the six lasting the year.

Christmas can be a pressure time with the family. Spare a thought for a couple we had in yesterday. Not regular customers but they had just flown in from California and were going to their son’s new girlfriend for Christmas Day. So far so good but they found out she is vegetarian and not merely for herself but will be inflicting that upon the whole family. Stuffed squash apparently. They were distraught. Staying in a Mayfair Hotel however I advised them to leave an hour early and nip into Bar Bouloud under The Mandarin Hotel and have their terrific hamburgers as an hors d’oeuvre. So whatever you have to contend with this Sunday afternoon, spare a thought for those on stuffed squash. Whatever that is! Henry here has a solution about the family arguments – invite friends as well as he says that dilutes any and all problems!

            The bitter weather of the last few days does make one think of how especially tough it is to be Homeless at this time of year. I duly walked up to the man with his stack of Big Issues in Lower Sloane Street, £ 1.50 in hand to palm it his way but then saw it is now £ 3.00. My God, how long since I have bought the Big Issue? Suitably embarrassed. www.sfts.org.uk

“Britain is as isolated as someone who refused to join the Titanic just before it sailed.” – Terry Smith

Hearty Rhône Red...Raspail-Ay...

I hadn’t intended to pitch a new wine to you before Christmas but A) this was good and B) with winter storms finally lashing parts of the U.K., I thought perhaps a pertinent time to suggest this hearty, meaty Rhône Red. We used to stock the 2004 Vintage which was eminently popular. The 2005 should have been as good or better but for my schilling, it wasn’t and so Raspail-Ay duly dropped from our radar for the last couple of years. The 2008 which we tried last week is back where we would like it to be:

Gigondas 2008 Domaine Raspail-Ay at £ 22.00 by the Bottle

Initially, candied violets, not unlike a Côte-Rôtie but with thick mouth-filling texture, chewy, flavoursome. Lovely grainy texture.

With time and in the glass brambly, strawberry fruits in evidence and those drier Rhône flavours with spice and herbs shining through.

(In stock and £ 21.00 by the Case)

15^th to the 24^th of December –

OPEN each and every day…

If it helps, we will be OPEN this coming SUNDAY.

I’ll be open and QPR v Man Utd / Villa v Liverpool / Man City v Arsenal will be on. Just don’t tell the wife!

Silly season.

I won’t say I am avid reader of the Torygraph but after Private Eye it is perhaps the number one read for me. Or at least what I will admit to in public. Last week however they had a sequence of three photographs that appeared to show Petit Sarkozy has snubbed a handshake from David Cameroon. The reality is that Cameroon patted Sarkozy on the back as he was passing and snub it was not. At least not then. Are the Telegraph trying to take over the mantel from the News of the World.

It’s been a week and a half for geeks. Did anyone see Louis Walsh in some extraordinary burgundy and black outfit during the X-factor Final? Quite extraordinary. It is only excusable if you are of the David Bowie and Elvis Presley entertainment bent but for anyone else it is just hideously embarrassing. A fancy dress party maybe but on television, Walsh, what were you thinking of man?! On the subject of geeks, I couldn’t help squirm at what an over-excited little schoolboy Andrew Marr was on Sunday when he had Mick Hucknall on to warble something. By all means get excited (but don’t show it) if it’s The Beatles or Mozart or U2 or Led Zeppelin or even Cold Play but Mick Hucknall, get a grip man.

As we are fast approaching Christmas and though it still doesn’t feel like that to me I have done some of the usual seasonal offerings. Like my son’s School Carol Service; had my shins hacked in the Fathers’ v Son’s Football Match (strategic 3-1 loss); and even put my son’s Hornby train set in the shop window as a vague gesture towards a Christmas window. So I also took him to St-Luke’s in Sydney Street but alas the Carols were not the ones I knew. Don’t like it when religion tries to be trendy. Apart from a prayer book and an offering box us mere mortals can’t find too much else useful in a church these days, such as a modern convenience like heating or a loo! However St-Luke’s was a positive revelation – they have a fully fledged Café! Not just limp sandwiches but everything from a prawn cocktail and forwards for the next thirty years. So if you find yourself lolling along the King’s Road and feeling nostalgic, St-Luke’s is worth the pilgrimage.

Fashion is not exactly my bling but what on earth is going on at Dolce & Gabbana? As I slid by t’other day in my large red coloured taxi (bemused of Belgravia) I couldn’t believe how goppingly gaudy the Shop was. Real Pantomime stuff. Trouble is, I doubt they’ll grow out of it come January.  

In keeping with fashion, of sorts, “Tuggy M”

Weekly Wine...

Nothing brand new to stick under your noses this week but just to let you know of two popular wines that are now down to the last 100 or so bottles, which simply put, means we won’t have stock indefinitely!

Nebbiolo Langhe 2009 Produttori di Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy at £ 17.00 per Bottle

We tried their 2010 yesterday with was terrifically Burgundian but for drinking right now, the 2009 is more expressive and characterful.

Macon-Vinzelles “Clos des Grand-Pères” 2008 Bret Brothers at £ 17.50 per Bottle

We still have some stock of the more feminine 2007 but this fatter 2008 Vintage is now under 120 Bottles.

Weekly indulgence (and with Christmas in mind):

We do have some terrific Vintage Ports

(1977-1985-1991-1994-1997-2000)

From the Aristocracy like…Dow’s; Graham’s; Taylor’s

&

other Port Houses like…Cockburn; Delaforce; Gould Campbell; and Warre’s.

Silly season.

Well you wouldn’t be mad enough to leave your front door unlocked or even open would you? Funnily enough though, that is exactly what humble shopkeepers do! That means one is open to whoever decides that my door needs pushing and then just wander blithely in. Most of the time this works pretty well and having done this for twenty nine years now, one learns to take the rough with the smooth. The last week however has been simply one coo coo ca choo after another. Without exaggeration I would say that we have had people in that were the wrong side of the bars. At times amusing, at times crushingly dull, at times I am looking for the merest hint that a knife is about to spring out and how to I deflect, jump, hide. I don’t know if it is just the looming Pantomime season or the Government has put something in the drinking water but loopy lou it most certainly is and way, way above the usual remit that eighteen of the twenty leading world eccentrics live in Kensington. Battersea Dogs Home, Barking Central…

On the front page of the Torygraph this very morning I spotted “Chancellor warns of falling living standards, rising unemployment and even deeper public spending cuts”. George Osborne doesn’t yet strike me as a man of gravitas ready to imprint his Dr Martens on the world stage but as Chancellor, as Prime Minister, and in retirement I cannot conceive that Gordon Brown would or will, ever, concede such ground.

Not quite so gay any more. I always loved the name of that chain of launderettes called “Go Gay”. I can’t say I was a customer but I was sad to see the last one close on Wandsworth Bridge Road just yards from me in deepest darkest Fulham. It is always amusing to see how inventive some Shop names can be but a certain shoe shop in King’s Road and a host of Chinese Restaurants (unintended) are simply too blue to reiterate here. The naffest by a long shot are the Hairdresser fraternity. Anyway, for Go Gay, end of an era.

Pause for thought.

“God Speed”

The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust

www.cwmt.org.uk

Tuggy

White Burgundy @ £17.50 & Thanksgiving...

Watching the telly last night I was struck by how many Christmas adverts are already springing up and yet to me it feels as if the Summer has only just finished. Anyone for Champagne…Vintage Port…Sauternes…Magnums…? Woops, kettle and black. We have just fast forwarded from the 2007 to the 2008 for one of our real stalwart White Burgundies, the Mâcon-Vinzelles “Grand-Père” by the Bret Brothers. The 2007 was pure, elegant and refined. The 2008 however is a terrific and more substantial example.

Mâcon-Vinzelles “Le Clos de la Grand-Père” 2008

Bret Brothers at £ 17.50 per Bottle

Gone is the relative subtlety and poise of the 2007 and move over, the 2008 has richness, opulence, and bags of fruit.

This flavoursome White Burgundy is incredibly expressive and engaging.

Not merely a blockbuster like many a New World example but possessing a solid backbone of wet stone minerality and well balanced.

Invariably, the smaller the crop, the better the quality. The vineyard lost close to half their grapes with late hail but the late September sun and late

harvest picking in October really helped to concentrate the wines and to produce what the Bret Brothers feel is their best Vintage of Grand daddy and I agree!

Not all too surprising given the 50 year old vines in this tiny vineyard, a smidgen over half a hectare.

In stock.

Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, 24^th November…

“The Usual Suspects” -

Au Bon Climat (Central Coast)

Olivia Brion (Sonoma)

J. Christopher (Oregon)

Dominus (Napa)

Flowers (Sonoma Coast)

Kistler Vineyards

Peter Michael Winery

Ridge Vineyards

Joseph Swan (Russian River)…

Additionally, just shipped and recommended:

Palladian Estate Cabernet-Sauvignon 2005 St-Helena, Napa Valley at £ 28.00 per Bottle

A bit of bottle-age, full-bodied, chewy, rich Cabernet.

Silly Season:

Short and sweet this week:

The day before Remembrance Day my interest was pricked by “Muslims Against Crusades” on the BBC News. In retrospect if you were on the receiving end of pretty much any Crusade you’d be right to be feel a tad miffed. The irony to me however was what one of their spokesman first said when being interviewed. He said that their primary aim was to bring Sharia Law to Britain. Correct me if I am being particularly dumb but isn’t that itself a Religious Crusade?! We are against Crusades but here is our Crusade. A bit like Alcoholics Anonymous but why don’t we each start with a bitter shandy…?!

Champagne by Half...or Magnum...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

            Having winged a House Champagne offer or two to you in the last few months, always in Bottles, I thought about time to offer you the Little & Large version - Half-Bottles and Magnums. As with the Gosset Bottles we had about a year ago, these both come with additional bottle-age having been cellared longer than usual. A treat in other words. We should have these in stock on Friday. The Magnums are in individual card boxes and we sold these pretty quickly pre-Christmas last year as they make quite a convenient present.

            With the Taramasalata Wars (how many A’s can you get in one word?!) and parts of Europe descending to Monty Python like scenes, Champagne is arguably the perfect mental tonic.

With extra bottle-age:

Gosset “Brut Excellence” Non Vintage Champagne £ 16.95 per Half Bottle

Gosset “Grande Réserve” Non Vintage Champagne £ 97.00 per Magnum

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars” – Oscar Wilde

Champagne it is then!

Weekly Indulgence:

24 Bottles available:

(by the case or individually)

Textbook lush, gamey, fleshy, seductive and perfectly mature Margaux…

Château Brane-Cantenac 1985

Margaux 2ème Grand Cru Classé

at £ 59.00 per Bottle

Silly Season:

However mind boggling it is that there is no end to space and how many planets there are all around us, equally mind boggling is that each and every snow flake is a unique geometric pattern. How one can tell 20 feet down on a Peruvian mountain compared with an Aspen slope is beyond me but if they really are all unique, quite remarkable. Don’t forget, “Frozen Planet”, BBC1 tonight, 9.00 p.m. Worth a butcher’s.

Is it really any surprise that the City of Westminster is extending payment charges (and thus potential fines) to evenings and Sundays? For years, these people have been taking six figure salaries by simply treating the majority of ordinary hard working visitors and customers and clients and families of residents and businesses as, well, criminals. For every M.P. that was dispatched to jail of late, I strongly believe that ten-fold from Local Councils should be thus scrutinized and duly dispatched. I ask, have any of you ever had a parking ticket quashed with a letter out-of-the-blue, from the Head of Parking, saying that it has been cancelled on a technicality? Not when I asked about that but immediately after I requested (under the Freedom of Information Act 2000) how much revenue had been raised at a particular junction and what changes to signposting had been instigated after initial complaints that the signage was misleading and inadequate. A few days later, a letter letting me “off the hook”. Smell a rat? A whole damn lot of them. City of Westminster, take thousands in local rates and top up by treating their customers as criminals to be duly mugged on a daily basis.

I don’t know what Angela Merkel is up to? I thought it was our job to mention zee war, not theirs. He was able to ride financial and sex scandal time and again but I think Silvio Berlusconi’s final demise was probably down to him announcing that he was about to release an album, accompanied by a traffic warden. Some things really are just too much.

Magnums of Guigal at £ 19 to £ 22!

For many years we have followed Guigal’s stunning value everyday Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge. With any half-decent or better vintage we have always advised shrewd customers to squirrel away 5 cases, as though simply put a Côtes-du-Rhône, it still has the gifted ability of aging gracefully in the cellar for about a decade. In Magnums, potentially longer. 2007 is a terrific Rhône Vintage, a real classic. To get a Magnum of something drinkable at £ 22.00 is sound enough. In quantity, to get a Magnum under £ 20.00 and with 10+ years cellaring potential is, how do I say, recession busting?!

Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge 2007 É.Guigal at £ 22.00 per Magnum

£ 22.00 per Magnum…

£ 21.00 each for 6 Magnums (1 case)

£ 20.50 each of 12 Magnums (2 cases)

£ 19.50 each for 18 Magnums (3 cases)

£ 19.00 each for 30 Magnums (5 cases)

In stock.

Notables recently back in stock:

Château Beaumont 2005 – our best selling red.

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon-Blanc – for you label hunters.

Henriot 2002 Vintage Champagne - for the discerning set.

Weekly indulgence:

A little sweetie…

Château Doisy-Védrines 1988 Barsac

2ème Grand Cru Classé at £ 25.00 per Half-Bottle

1988 was the first, and purest, in a trio of exceptional Sauternes & Barsac Vintages.

Nearly a quarter of a Century on and at this price, it shows that not all Bordeaux is expensive!

We have just 18 halves left in the Shop.

Wine Journal May 2009	Neal Martin	91	Drink -	$80-$105
Tasted at the Doisy-Védrines vertical at the chateau. This has a very Barsac nose with notes of marmalade, barley sugar and a touch of quince, all with excellent definition, although it probably lacks the vigour of the 1989 or 1990. The palate is very smooth and harmonious on the entry, a little low in acidity, but remains cohesive to the finish with a certain degree of elegance to it. Touch of dried apricot, fig and marmalade, although just lacking the complexity and precision of the 1989 on the finish. Tangy, orange cut marmalade on the aftertaste. Moderate length. Still a very fine 1988 Barsac. Tasted September 2008.

Silly Season:

Impossible to say from the relative comfort of my Viking swivel chair but on Saturday night I drove past the annual Guy Fawkes Fireworks display at nearby Ladbroke Square. One side was clear as a bell but on the south side it was an absolute “pea souper”. Very eerie, very Dickensian, and I was even, having, to be cautious at 15 m.p.h. It was fog by another name. What happened on the M5 last Friday is guesswork for most of us but what I drove through in a little corner of London last weekend was best described as, fog. Don’t want to be a killjoy but every year we get deaths and maiming from the fireworks and it’s not as if like the Chinese or Sydney Harbour Bridge we do it particularly well. Perhaps Guy Fawkes attempt, sacrifice, whatever, would be better served by simply popping a Champagne cork.

I have to confess that I have perhaps only traipsed into a Boardroom three or four times in my life so negotiations are not my greatest skill. Nonetheless I seriously doubt that I would have traded 1,027 convicted Palestinian prisoners for the solitary Gilad Shalit. However nice he might be. Those are pretty impressive odds. Maybe Goldman Sachs should look to recruit a few top negotiators from Hamas.

We have many mutual customers with nearby Sally Clarke’s so just a brief mention for one of their longest serving staff, Barry Deady. Now moustaches might be out of place for most, unless you still fly a Spitfire, yet our Barry is putting himself through some daily ridicule by growing a ‘tash. For the month of November he is growing a moustache. More Ronald Colman than Adolph Hitler, thankfully, but all in a good cause which concerns’ Prostate Cancer. www.Movember.com

Tuggy

Kiwi Victory - in black & white...

Well, you can’t say it wasn’t widely predicted but a one point margin was a lot closer than any realist could have imagined. With the, “in the bag” victory for the Kiwis I thought it might make sense to offer a post toast with two wines that New Zealand are most world renowned – Sauvignon-Blanc and Pinot Noir. So from black-and-white to red and white:

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon-Blanc 2011 Marlborough, New Zealand at £ 17.50 per Bottle

(Majestic £ 24.00 each, £ 19.00 on offer)

&

Felton Road “Bannockburn” Pinot Noir 2010 Central Otago, New Zealand at £ 28.50 per Bottle

(Berry Brothers £ 37.50 each, £ 33.75 on offer)

Weekly indulgence:

Château Trottevieille 2001 St-Émilion

Premier Grand Cru Classé B

at £ 36.00 per Bottle

Silly season:

It is amazing what the internet has given us today but also what changes it can throw up some sixty or more years ago. In 1953 my father with his first wife, pregnant and their first daughter, were flying from Sydney to San Francisco and stopped off at Honolulu for a scheduled re-fuelling stop. At first sight they both liked the look of Honolulu so much that my father telephoned through to his travel agent (no mean feat in itself in the 1950’s) and asked if they could get off that plane and take the next one. Luckily his travel agent answered and arranged it so they duly stayed in the Pacific sun. Twenty four hours later the news filtered through that their plane, A British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines DC-6, named “Resolution” crashed near Half Moon Bay on its approach to San Francisco Airport. No crew or passengers survived that day. On board was a reasonably famous pianist called William Kappel. Otherwise little more than a footnote in aviation history as America’s first forensic investigation team. That ordinarily would be that. A few yellowing newspaper cuttings and the fading memory of an 82 year old man. Nothing more tangible than that this side of the pond. However, with the advent of the internet and the briefest of on-line searches and personal contact is made with relatives of some who died in that very crash. Only in December 2008 was a memorial plaque posted at the site. When my brother searched this for my father, within minutes we had contact from America, and my father dug-up the original card breakfast menu from that flight into Honolulu and within seconds it was scanned and winged across to San Francisco. Nearly 60 years on, people still desperate to know, did you sit next to / speak to / see my father…on the earlier leg? Quite sobering but to some degree brought back to life by the internet. Three wives and families and grandchildren later, what one, whimsical little decision can effect hundreds of people… What a thin thread we are attached by.

Many will know Bletchley Park and their success in cracking the German Enigma codes. Earlier in the week Aunty Beeb posted a significant little documentary on what was a far tougher task and that was to crack Hitler’s personal decipher code named Lorenz. Creating “Colossus” two unassuming, geeky characters called Bill Tutte and Tommy Flowers firstly broke this “unbreakable” code and then set about creating what was the first ever electronic computer. The Americans put “claim” to this achievement after the war but due to the stringent Official Secrets Act these two extraordinary gifted brains died, barely ten years ago, without the full recognition that they had conquered another level of Enigma and as a result built the first electronic computer. The Documentary itself was strongly marred by a ludicrous overplaying of every conceivable music, from classical to Massive Attack, and unforgivably, in parts where the narrative is being held by one of the original men from “Station X”. A brilliant story, atrocious direction. In reality “we” gave about 5% of the battle casualties that Russia by comparison endured. We were not in a position to give much in the way of arms or Divisions to Uncle Joe as he continually urged and when we fed them military information it was invariably mistrusted and ignored. They did however absorb the critical intelligence for the Kursk offensive, which was pivotal, and to think that this came from a few nerdish science boffins like (Professor) Bill Tutte et al. Hardly household names but I struggle to think of two more worthy names to stand upon Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth than Bill Tutte and Tommy Flowers. The violence of the Borgia’s etc gave us the most creatively gifted period, the Renaissance. Worth remembering that WWII threw up some equally gifted inventions, much in use today. Tough times at least bring creativity.

One that the Beeb got spot on was the remarkable David Attenborough, late last night. He must be older than some of the extraordinary creatures that he thrusts our way. Surely he’s nearly a hundred himself?! The photography for this North and South Pole extravaganza was quite breathtaking. Some of the best photography yet seen on television or certainly to my eye. This goes a long way to letting us forgive the Beeb for some of their dire prime time drivel.

South Africa's Great Whites...

We have waited and waited but finally HMR&C have done their stuff and we have just had delivered 100 or so cases from South Africa. As the temperature gauge drops, how nice would it be to head to the Cape right now?

Anyway, from Chris Mullineux we have the “full house” of award winners: Syrah 2009; Chenin Blanc 2010; & his much lauded and intense Straw Wine. Those who have pre-ordered, we will be starting to deliver from today onwards. However, I am going to concentrate on four of South Africa’s finest white varietals or blends. Three are new vintages, the Adi Badenhorst 2008 Vintage however is down to about the last 6 cases. Ordinarily not a problem but both Henry and I tried and agreed that the next Vintage of this, which we sampled last week, is not quite as good so will not look to stock this. Id est, if you are a fan of the extraordinary and eclectic Badenhorst blend (Chenin Blanc / Roussanne / Grenache Blanc / Viognier / Verdehlo / Chardonnay) then I’d urge you to snaffle a half-case or so now and duly squirrel away in your cellar, as once it is gone, it’s gone!

All wines are in stock; all have individual merit so I would suggest mixing and matching in any odd amounts, unless you are sold or set on one particular favourite.

The other plus is that as we are now shipping the Mullineux wines directly so these are 50p to £ 1.00 cheaper a Bottle and the Daneel is also £ 1.00 cheaper. Unlike Bordeaux, we are pressing for the wines in the “right” direction!

South Africa’s Four “Great Whites”:

Chris Mullineux Chenin Blanc 2010 Swartland at £ 15.00 per Bottle

(£ 14.50 by the Case)

Radford Dale “Renaissance” Chenin Blanc 2010 Stellenbosch at £ 17.50 per Bottle

Jean Daneel “Signature” Chenin Blanc 2010 Swartland at £ 20.00 per Bottle

(£ 19.00 by the Case)

  

Adi Badenhorst Family Wine “White Blend” 2008 Swartland at £ 22.00 per Bottle

Last few cases remaining so if you like it, I’d urge you to buy some now.

Next week – Cloudy Bay

Presumably to celebrate New Zealand’s crushing World Cup victory in the Rugby, next Wednesday’s e-mail we be the bang up-to-date 2011 Vintage of Cloudy Bay’s Sauvignon-Blanc. The price will be unchanged at £ 17.50 and should be about the best if not the best retail price.

Weekly - 5 Stars for South Africa (Wine not Rugby)

It is amazing how much discussion before a big match (Rugby World Cup Quarter Finals) about what players need to start where or be substituted or play alongside another to have a winning influence on a game. Yet when it comes down to it, the Referee can truly be responsible for reversing the result of some thirty or more burly buggers you wouldn’t readily argue with. The way referee Nigel Owens penalized high tackles in the Argentina versus New Zealand match, one can only surmise that if he had instead held the Australia versus South Africa match, without any shadow of a doubt, Oz would be taking the short step home. Four years of hard work and a Ref can toss it away in seconds. Bit like training four years for the Olympic 100 metres and having one false start and you are out. Au revoir. Toodle pip. Return ticket required. Anyway, that brings me neatly onto South Africa. These last two days I have been wined and dined (and tasted many an impressive example) by some of the best names in South African winemaking: Chris Mullineux; Adi Badenhorst; Newton Johnson; Jordan; Alex Dale, amongst others. The results were very impressive indeed and we will be adding a couple of examples in the next few days.

Yesterday our long awaited Jean Daneel and Chris Mullineux shipment arrived in the U.K. Alas H.M. Customs have to satisfy and satiate their bureaucratic and financial needs first so this will take a few days before we see the wine translate into our Shop. Not that John Platter’s Wine Guide is the highest accolade but nonetheless I am delighted to say that we chose all three wines from Chris Mullineux (Syrah / Chenin Blanc / Straw Wine) and as of yesterday, Platter announced that all three of those same wines had been awarded a five star rating. A first and decent acknowledgement of certainly what I had already tasted in bottle. Some of you have pre-ordered Mullineux’s Straw Wine and or the Jean Daneel “Signature” Chenin Blanc, these will be reiterated in a larger offer next week.

I will re-taste some other wines (Newton Johnson 2010 Pinot Noir…Jordan “Cobblers Hill 2003…) and these could well feature in due course. For now:

Radford Dale “Renaissance” Chenin Blanc 2010 Stellenbosch, South Africa

at £ 17.50 per Bottle

I rarely if ever start with price but this is a terrific value wine at £  17.50.

Certainly if you want a break from “Chardonnay & Sauvignon-Blanc” this would accomplish that beautifully.

On the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain, these are 45 year old bush vines, unirrigated which is a rarity in Stellenbosch.

This is rich and unctuous in the mouth but is still so fresh as it clearly benefits from wonderful natural acidity.

Opulent but not heavy, flavoursome, citrusy. Just swirls in the mouth.

Though most of the U.K. spend nearer the £ 8-9 mark, why anyone would have two bottles at that level for one bottle of this is genuinely beyond me.

This will be in stock tomorrow.

From a mere 300 cases produced just 20 cases will be coming to the U.K., so this will not be available for too long!

Encore:

We still have about 10 spaces or places for our Lamotte Champagne Dinner at nearby Sally Clarke’s (next Tuesday, 18^th October). Just to reiterate, you don’t have to buy, the Champagne you drink on the evening is totally free, you’ll simply pay the £ 50-60 per head for an inclusive 3-4 course meal to Clarke’s. Certainly worth doing if you can.

Weekly indulgence:

11 Bottles available of - Delaforce “Corte” 1997 Vintage Port at £ 31.00 per Bottle

&

9 Bottles available of - Château Magdelaine 1995 St-Émilion 1er Grand Cru Classé B at £ 67.00 per Bottle

Silly Season:

Too busy this week for that I’m afraid. Maybe next.

Champagne Dinner & Weekly...

The eagerly awaited Jean Daneel (“Signature” Chenin Blanc) and Chris Mullineux (Chenin Blanc / Syrah / Straw) wines have just landed in the U.K. today but with Customs bureaucracy we won’t actually get our mits on these ‘til late next week.

A fortnight from yesterday we are having a Champagne Dinner at nearby Sally Clarke’s Restaurant. Usual format will apply and that is the Champagne will be provided free (by us and by Lamotte) and guests will simply pay the set price for food to Sally Clarke’s. Our historic House Champagne has been J.M.Gobillard & Fils but now that we are shipping Lamotte directly, this has effectively become our newest House Champagne.

Small groups (3-8 people?) can opt for their own table if they wish and we will have a longer mixed table with the winemaker etc. Having your own table means it is equally adept for a wee social gathering of your friends or if you actually are entertaining on business.

Tuesday, 18^th October (7.30 p.m.)

R.& H. Lamotte Premier Cru Champagne Dinner

We will show the current Premier Cru, the Rosé and some Magnums of the 2006 & 1979 Vintage.

We currently have about 15 people (potentially 21) booked and space for maybe 30 if we take over the whole of downstairs at Clarke’s. Do let us know therefore if you can or would like to make this evening as we are already about halfway on numbers.

Bin-end weekly indulgence:

Our last 2 Double Magnums of Château St-Baillon Rosé at £ 55.00 (from £ 63.50)

Silly Season:

One of the obvious ironies about the Travelers’ at Dale Farm in Essex and their determination not to be evicted is that they are asking for their self gained status to be respected and staying put is just the opposite of that! Nomads and Travelers’ as their name implies, move around a bit. Staying put is not in the creed surely?

Nearing the end of “One On One” by Craig Brown, the book  that I mentioned last week, alas I find little cause to alter my initial assumption. Potentially a terrific idea linking all these famous people through History but the truth is that most of these links are stories that in isolation have little reason to make any effort to make us aware of. The Politicians; Actors; and fellow Writers almost all come out of this badly. Things of interest that I didn’t already know, you can count on one hand. After Hitler being knocked down by an Old Etonian I was amused at, I think, Edward Heath’s remark after one of Hitler’s mid 1930’s Political rallies “the uniform being more important than the man”. Then on September 23^rd, 1955, a young Alec Guinness was introduced to an even younger James Dean at the Villa Capri in Hollywood. When Dean proudly showed Guinness his new Porsche 550 Spyder, Guinness found himself saying “It is now 10 O’clock, 23^rd September 1955. If you get in that car you will be found dead in it by this time next week!” Guinness was prone to premonitions and alas, history knows the end of that one. Another one, Nikita Khrushchev remarking after meeting some Labour party big wigs that if he was British he would vote Conservative. Nonetheless I think I can better that remark from a Russian Premier when John Major asked Boris Yeltsin to say in one word what is the current state in Russia – “Good!”. And then he asked, in two words – “Not Good!”. Another little tit bit is that in Monaco there is apparently a small graveyard for those gamblers that have committed suicide due to their losses at the gaming tables. Whenever possible the casino workers were supposed to place cash in the pockets of suicide victims to lessen the belief that gambling was solely to blame. Charming. Anything of interest in the last 80 pages, I’ll let you know next week.

Poor Louis Walsh. You have four to choose from a list of eight. Not too difficult to select the best four. The other three judges managed it well enough. Well, old Louis managed to pick the weakest two of the eight. There are only two out of thirty two that would amply suit Butlins or Pontins and he picked ‘em. Thankfully one has since stepped down of their own volition but perhaps this should be Louis’ last hurrah.  

Chianti Classico at £ 10.95...

A few months back we sold-out of the well-priced and terrifically easy-drinking, smooth, accessible little Chianti Classico “Terra Firma” 2007. I was more than a wee bit miffed that the Importer ran out without pre-warning me. Anyway, Henry and I tried the new 2008 Vintage yesterday. Differently styled but perhaps even better value than the 2007. The 2008 is more substantial, more structured, fruitier. A big and better wine overall. It will cellar and obviously soften in time but for a round a tenner this is a very engaging and in truth, practical little Tuscan. A Party Wine or for a simple Monday night…

Chianti Classico “Terra Firma” 2008 Tuscany at £ 10.95 per Bottle

(Or £ 10.00 per Bottle for 3 Cases)

In stock early next week.

Weekly indulgence:

12 Bottles of:

Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru 2001

Domaine Drouhin-Laroze at £ 55.00 per Bottle

Charity Kick

Earlier in the month we had a small soirée for a customer who is due to run the New York Marathon and he will be aiming to raise a few thousand pounds to donate to his chosen Charity, Whizz Kidz. During the evening about a dozen or so bought some specially selected half-cases of wine and as such we are just about to donate a tad over £ 500.00. Thank you to Christopher T. and good luck in the Marathon.

www.whizz-kidz.org.uk

Silly Season

I do realize that Russian leaders always end up being embalmed for gory public consumption but surely Putain, I mean Putin has jumped the gun a bit? Whatever work he has had done, whatever nail bar he is visiting, he simply looks like a Madame Tussaud’s waxwork figure. A taut, shiny face that looks as if he should be on a mortuary slab. It is supposed to be about vanity but I truly don’t understand it as there are almost always only ever two results – the dummy, so to speak either looks worse, or worse still, different. A different person. What is the point?  Shane Warne…Simon Cowell…Gordon Ramsay… When I looked on the front page of the Sunday Times Magazine I didn’t recognize the man but the title said Jamie Oliver. I looked again and again and I still couldn’t equate it. Sometimes it is just plain photography that can make you look totally different but whatever me mate Jamie has or hasn’t done (and I have no clue), I wouldn’t recognize him in the street. Come on men, what’s so wrong with just being a man?

I have written much this year about the relative crassness of Bordeaux. Whilst the financial world hangs by a long and narrow thread, many Châteaux owners restrict and brashly market to hype their wares. An agricultural product but one that can at times enchant. Nonetheless, these are not the times to be stitching up your customers 40% or even 10%. 5% in current times would be my ceiling. Now I do speak from a position of ignorance in that, is Jade Jagger actually a talented designer in her own right or only or mostly offspring of someone pretty famous on the music scene? I genuinely don’t know. Nonetheless, as I turned the page of the F.T. Magazine I almost choked on my Weetabix as I saw a full-page garish, Versace like, advert of gold rococo swirls on black heralding “JADE JAGGER SIGNS THE NEW JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU. Jade Jagger.” Has Ducru-Beaucaillou altered their famous yellow etiquette? No. The new jewel is a second wine. A second wine in Bordeaux serves its purpose (except perhaps at Pontet-Canet) but laughable prices of Carruades-de-Lafite aside, they will always and simply be that, a second wine. This is a sub £ 30 bottle of wine and it is being dressed up like an Essex dog’s dinner. Please, please Mike Leigh, start scripting your own jewel of these bouffon buffoons. (The advert is in our Shop if you wish to take a peak and judge for yourself its veritable merits.)

Still in the Sunday Times I read a pretty glowing review on “One On One” by Craig Brown. A clever idea as it takes famous people (starting with Adolph Hitler) and links encounters with other famous names, until it has run full circle (back to Herr Hitler). Some of the stories are genuinely interesting, beginning with Herr H being run over by an Old Etonian. Shame, if he’d been an Old Harrovian he probably would have done a better job of it and History would have been oh-so different. Others of interest, James Dean and Helen Keller but far outweighed by Kipling; Madonna; Michael Jackson, Nancy Reagan, Jackie Kennedy, Duke of Windsor, Andy Warhol…etc where I must confess that their little encounters are just that and in truth dreadfully dull. Furthermore, the writing I just do not feel gives it any lift whatsoever. A good story is still a good story and dull is as Warhol knows, dull. Moral of the story, don’t believe glowing reviews. Id est, disregard every piece of advice I have ever pushed out!

Technically I am not actually here, just a figment of my own imagination. I am on my Summer Holiday though I didn’t make it across the Channel as intended and I am still as much in the Shop as not. Henry will be here the rest of the week however. That has given me a chance to skip out and see a few films. A wee bit slow and simple is “Dolphin Tale” (with Morgan Freeman) but it is about a dolphin so you kind of have to take your children to see this one. It opens this Friday. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” is equally slow but in a masterful way, brilliantly evoking the 1970’s with wonderful, almost painful, photography as it holds one firmly in the dour and grimy decade that the ‘70’s really was. This could not be more different from the Bourne Supremacy, Ultimatum etc., and for that difference alone, worth seeing.

Henry has finally persuaded me to get a Blackberry. Am I dumb or dumber? No Jim Carey comparisons please.

Weekly wine e-mail...the strong stuff...

With our bling-tastic “Louis XIII” Cognac Tasting later tonight (there are still 2-3 spaces if anyone is tempted last minute) I thought I would get my palate duly attuned and thus taxied off to Hakkasan in Mayfair on Monday to sample half-a-dozen different Armagnac’s from Château de Laubade. Two really stood out for me. The Extra (approximately 30 years old) was stunning but at nearly £ 200 a bottle, perhaps a tad steep. The other one, which was not the X.O., or the Vintages but the V.S.O.P. Not just a classic Bas Armagnac but it really had a nose with a nod to Sauternes so it obviously curried favour with me.

Château de Laubade Bas Armagnac V.S.O.P. Bas Armagnac at £ 32.00 per Bottle

A standard V.S.O.P. should have at least 4 years barrel ageing.

This is a blend of between 6 and 12 years.

Possessing a real backbone, slight austere structure,

yet a lovely rich Sauternes like nose and highlighting licorice with lovely long, dry, burnt flavours.

Tiny weekly indulgence:

Just 2 Double Magnums (individually boxed) of:

Ochoa Gran Reserva “Single Vineyard” 2000

Javier Ochoa, Navarra, Spain at £ 85.00 per Double Magnum

Silly Season:

Well as David Cameron feels a bit like a new School Prefect, so Ed Miliband looks like the new boy joining the School. Both well meaning but both “wet behind the ear”. I read yesterday however that Miliband Minor wants the Great British Public to vote for any future Labour Leader. First up, it wouldn’t be him. Secondly, just consider, who on earth would we get if Joe Public really could get their grubby mits on this - Simon Cowell…Susan Boyle…Wayne Rooney…Sir Tate & Lyle…? Really doesn’t bare thinking about.

A couple of customers have had babies in the last fortnight which is always lovely to see. Amuses me though that each parent always says the same thing: “we had a little baby”. Like, aren’t babies always little? Still waiting for someone to say “we had this monster baby, five foot tall…”. Parents, babies are ickle.

Well done to Ireland by beating Australia and thus putting a bit of much needed fire into the, fairly lack luster Rugby World Cup. One thing I don’t understand, though linesman seem to be involved in almost every refereeing decision they seem utterly incapable or unwilling to flag or signal forward passes. Not just Oz getting away with a hatful four years ago but they are invariably better positioned than the Ref to call this one, yet they don’t. Anyway, the Kiwis to waltzing Matilda this one. I predicted wrongly the Irish win so, don’t listen to me.

Downton Abbey back, so don’t think about inviting anyone for dinner on Sunday night. Restaurants might as well close. Despite the backdrop of trench warfare this seems all a bit too chummy and cozy over the edge that the first series had.

As the X-Factor moves to the next stage the real interest for me has all but disappeared. It is staggering to see people who truly have a gifted voice yet are genuinely oblivious to their actual worth and skill. Measured against others who are so excruciatingly bad yet they are struck with disbelief and downright anger when people who do know, say that they are not very good (even though they should be saying, don’t sing, ever, and not even in private). A couple of fascinating documentaries popped-up in the interim. Last night about “Code Red” and America’s 1930’s plan for all out war with, no, not Germany or Russia, but with Great Britain. Interesting one. Then on a different tact but about ten days ago I stumbled into the middle of a programme about psychopaths. Fascinating it was and primarily for two things I learnt. A psycho simply has a “warrior” gene so any such leaning is potentially pre-determined. The damage that might ensue appears to only come about is if that carrier has had an abusive childhood. Otherwise a psycho can function normally and not only normally but they are far more likely to scale the heights of society. This comprehensive American study concluded that for every psycho in society that you blithely walk past in the street, you will actually find four times more with the warrior gene in the boardroom of the world’s biggest and best companies. This apparently is where they thrive. So if your C.E.O. had an Enid Blyton childhood then you are almost certainly okay. Perhaps best not to ask them though!

T.