Hi Winos 

It’s the Mother-in-law’s birthday this weekend so I guess I’m going to have to waste… I mean take a couple of really good bottles to celebrate! Whatever your weekend celebration I hope you drink well and get yourself into less trouble than me!!

#newwinethisweek

We’re staying in Spain this weekend; if you’ve never tried Verdejo before then its time to get acquainted… you’re going to love it:

http://confessionsofawinegeek.com/2014/10/13/newwinethisweek-week-41-verdejo-rueda/

 

Supermarket wine

Finest Premier Cru Champagne (Tesco £15.99 was £19.99)

Wairau Cove Pinot Noir 2013, NZ (Tesco £8.24 was £10.99)

Errazuriz Merlot 2012, Chile (Tesco £6.66 was £9.99)

Finest 1531 Blanquette De Limoux, anguedoc-Roussillon (Tesco £8.49 was £10.49)

Lanson Black Label Brut NV (Sainsbury’s £14.00 was £20.00)

La Terrasse Chablis 2012, Burgundy (Sainsbury’s £9.50 was £11.50)

Taste the Difference Ribera Del Duero 2011, Spain (Sainsbury’s £7.50 was £11.00)

Villa Maria PB Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Marlborough (Waitrose £8.39 was £11.19)

Waitrose Fairtrade Chenin Blanc 2014, Western Cape (Waitrose £5.49 was £6.99)

Loimer Kamptal Gruner Veltliner 2011, Austria (Morrisons £12.99 was £14.99)

Baron De Ley Rioja Gran Reserva 2004 (Morrisons £9.69 was £12.99)

 

Wine in the news

More turmoil at Tesco:

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/10/tescos-dan-jago-suspended/

Grüner Veltliner: it’s a big deal

http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2014/10/what-s-the-big-deal-about-gruner-veltliner

Global wine production set to drop in 2014:

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/10/global-wine-production-set-to-drop-in-2014/

d’Arenberg to build giant ‘Rubik’s cube’ visitor centre:

http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/587625/d-arenberg-to-build-giant-rubik-s-cube-visitor-centre

Rain hits the end of the Bordeaux 2014 vintage:

http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/587621/bordeaux-2014-rain-hits-end-of-the-harvest

 

Wine events

Wednesday 22^nd October, 7PM to 9PM

Ruinart Champagne Masterclass – £25.00

Roberson, 348 Kensington Hight Street, London W14 8NS

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the first vintage of Ruinart’s Rosé, so what better way to celebrate than with a Ruinart tasting? Ruinart is the oldest Champagne producer, and over the years has perfected its range of Champagnes to be some of the best in the world. At this event, Amelie Chatin of Ruinart will be talking you through a tasting of the three iconic non-vintage wines – the R de Ruinart, Blanc de Blanc and Rosé, as well as a vertical of the legendary Dom Ruinart (1993, 1998 and 2004) and, to finish, the sublime Dom Ruinart Rosé 2002.

http://www.robersonwine.com/store-and-tastings/ruinart-champagne-tasting-165

 

Wednesday 3^rd December, 7PM to 9PM

CVNE Rioja Masterclass – £30.00

West London Wine School, The Wine Cellars, Big Yellow Storage, 71 Townmead Road, Fulham, SW6 2ST

C.V.N.E., or to give it its full name, Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España (The Northern Spanish Wine Company) was established on the 24th of March 1879. Set up by two brothers, Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa. C.V.N.E are based in the heart of the Rioja wine region, in the town of Haro, where they have huge capacity for ageing thousands of bottles. They produce a wide range of wines with quality being the primary focus.

http://www.westlondonwineschool.com/product_info.php?id=516

 

Light relief

I know you’re expecting a whole load of Mother-In-Law jokes… But even I’m not cruel (or courageous) enough to print the ones I found online! So how about some one-lines from the great Steven Wright – if you’ve never heard of him, be sure to look him up:

PS. If you don’t laugh, you are odd.

I used to be a narrator for bad mimes.

I was once walking through the forest alone, and a tree fell right in front of me—and I didn’t hear it.

One time, the police stopped me for speeding, and they said, “Don’t you know the speed limit is 55 miles an hour?” I said, “Yeah, I know, but I wasn’t gonna be out that long.”

For my birthday, I got a humidifier and a dehumidifier… put ’em in the same room. Let ’em fight it out.

Right now I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.

I’m planning a trip to Spain. So I bought an album that teaches you the language. Put the album on, you put headphones on, you learn the language while you’re sleeping. During the night, the record skipped. I get up the next day, I could only stutter in Spanish. 

One night, I stayed up all night playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.

I broke a mirror in my house. I’m supposed to get seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.

I like to reminisce with people I don’t know. Granted, it takes longer.

I like to fill my tub up with water, then turn the shower on and act like I’m in a submarine that’s been hit.

You know when you’re sitting on a chair, and you lean back so you’re just on two legs, and then you lean too far and you almost fall over, but just at the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time.

I have map of the United States, it’s actual size. It says one mile=one mile.

I got up the other day and everything in my apartment had been stolen and replaced with an exact replica.

I’ve been doing a lot of painting lately. Abstract painting—extremely abstract. No brush, no canvas. I just think about it.

One time I went to a museum where all the work was done by children. They had all the paintings up on refrigerators.

I like my dental hygienist. I think she’s very pretty. So whenever I go to have my teeth cleaned, while I’m in the waiting room I eat an entire box of Oreo cookies.

One time I went to the drive-in in a cab. Movie cost me $95.

I went into a place to eat, it said “breakfast anytime.” So I ordered French toast during the Renaissance.

A while ago, I was in Las Vegas at the roulette table, having a furious argument over what I considered to be an “odd” number.

I have two very rare photographs. One is a picture of Houdini locking his keys in his car. The other one is a rare photograph of Norman Rockwell beating up a child.

The Stones—I love the Stones. I can’t believe they’re still doing it after all these years. I watch ’em whenever I can. Fred, Barney…

Friday I was in a bookstore. I started talking to this very French-looking girl. She was a bilingual illiterate—she couldn’t read in two different languages.

My bus came and I sat down next to this beautiful blonde Chinese girl. I said, “Hello,” and she said, “Hello.” And I said, “Isn’t it an amazing day?” And she said, “Yes, it is, I guess.” I said, “What do you mean, you guess?” She said, “Well, things haven’t been going too well for me lately.” I said, “like what?” She said, ” I can’t tell you, I don’t even know you.” I said, “Yeah, but sometimes it’s good to tell your problems to an absolute, total stranger on a bus.” She said, “Well, I just came back from my analyst, and he’s still unable to help me.” I said, “What’s the problem?” She paused and said, “I’m a nymphomaniac and I only get turned on by Jewish cowboys.” And she said, “By the way, my name is Diane.” I said, “Hello, Diane, I’m Bucky Goldstein.”

For a while I lived in Vermont with a guy named Winny. We lived in a house that ran on static electricity. If we wanted to cook something, we had to take a sweater off real quick. If we wanted to run a blender, we had to rub balloons on our head.

The ice cream truck in my neighborhood plays “Helter Skelter.”

 

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Cheers and have a great weekend!

Wine Geek

 

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