More Wine Darling?

To jump on band wagon here I fought I will highlight what the House of Commons wine cellar and bars are like. When Labour puts up the tax on our wines they have a wine cellar worth just over £800,000 and 500 bottles of spirits worth around £792,00. Decanter said on it web page that “Official figures revealed last year showed that ministers spent £5m of taxpayers' money on wining and dining. More than £100,000 went on maintaining the Whitehall wine cellar”. In the bars in Parliament they can pick up cheep tax free bottle of the best tipple from around the world (on there expenses most likely). This is when they make it that a bottle of wine will cost us more with there tax hikes which will put thousands of jobs in the wine industry at risk.


Enjoy a glass on us Darling!

English Wine Producers Tasting on St George's Day

I have here a report I wrote on English Wine Week last Thursday. Sorry I have not posted it sooner I have been running around with dinners, cricket, politics etc the last couple of days but here it is:
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I have just attended the English wine week preview tasting. It was set to be a good one this year with events all over the country from Cornwall to Yorkshire. Today’s launch is a mouth early as they thought it would be a prohibited to hold it on St George Day, but the English Wine Week itself is from Saturday 23rd till Sunday 31st of May. So if you’re keen on your wine I would say take a couple days off to go up or down to a vineyard. You can even sleep over at some of them, have a good meal and enjoy some exciting wines. You can find out what going on where HERE.
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The same week our Celtic brothers in Wales are have their wine week so why not take a break at Ancre Hill Estates, Monmouth where they are launching their first release of a white wine made primary from Seyval Blanc.
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Today’s fun was at the Chelsea Football Club, Stanford Bridge. Stalls were set out separated by region. The main table was for the mass wines separated into sections of wine type. I feel today event sums-up English wine as it was a professional operation featuring a mix of slick commercial wine houses mixing in with amateur small wineries. There was still a lot of wine being made with off-dry Germanic grapes. They might be interesting grapes but they are still and I think always will be wines for people in the know.
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The pick of the whites for me today where:
The two Wickham's from Hampshire, Special Release Fume 2008, £8.50; could be French.
The other Wickham is there Vintage Selection Dry 2008 for £6.75; it is a simple wine with a lot going on.
Two from Leventhorpe from right at the top of England in Yorkshire, £7; this little powerful dry white has hints of apple and other green fruit it would turn even the syncs of English wine to lovers.
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I went over to the nation’s favourite wine in the summer months, Rose. If any country should be able to make a rose it's England, as it is the most popular wine in pubs. We have seen what the new world bland pub rose' do and I was hoping for something new and exciting. I just found that we are making boring bland wines. There was one wine which stood out and gave me hope for our roses:
Lady Geraldine's Blush 2006 from Ickworth, a National Trust estate in Bury St. Edmunds, and well worth a visit during English wine week or in-fact any time if passing. There Lady Geraldine's Blush is 100% Rondo and is a dry rose which is pack with subtle flavours of blackberry, damson and redcurrant's. The flavours come together instead of insulting your pallet with bold, over powering, almost article flavours you might find in other English roses.
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Reds have never been the English strong point there is a lot of heavy imbalance wines but I did come across some gems:
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There two wines from Welcombe Hills, Stratford. This vine yard on land once owned by Shakespeare’s family is worth a look at. Their experimental Pinot Noir Special Reserve £10.95; don't read to much in the reserve bit, that is just there to make it sound good but do read the special as it is a special as it was aged in 3 oaks it comes out with an extremely pale colour which might put of a traditionalist who will judge a book by it cover (or wine by it colour) but they did not muck around with it, they kept it with a pale red, almost see-through. When you drink the wine it does something most English reds don't do, that is to make you think. There is a lot going on, with cherry flavours and a smoke taste coming off the oaks. Their other wines which are worth a look at is the Pinot Noir, Precoce blend they can boast to be one of two in the country to grow Precoce. This wine has a lovely soft red cherry flavour to it.
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Going back to Wickham there is a Special Reserve Red 2006, Pinot Noir, £11.99; is worth a buy and keep back for Christmas 2010 as by then it will be a great well balance wine with its dark cherry and blackberry to make perfect with you Christmas dinner.
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Two from Bookers in West Susex, their Pinot Noir, £10.95; is a new world flavoured Pinot Noir. It could have been take off the ship for New Zealand with its red cherry and red plum. The other one is there Dark Havest 2006, £8.95; its packet with light fruits like a fruit salad bar, a great one if you’re not normally a red drinker not to dissimilar to a Italian Primitivo.
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England might be on the up with their whites, learning about Rosa and finding out that Pinot Noir should be the grape of choice for UK Reds. But our sparkling is just brilliant. There are so many I could pick.
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The Ridge View wines are and have been, as long as I have been tasting them, a first class wine. I have written about them before HERE. There whole range is worth a couple of glasses. I was happy to find out that they are expanding and will be even better place to take the French on at there own game.
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There were other big boys present like Chapel Down and the excellent Nyetimber but, I found my self drawn to the new guys, wines which will be household names in 5 years who came with a well presented package. They had pro PR guys running their stalls, I was ready to demise these houses, as Barack Obama once said as “a pig in lipstick” but, I was wrong.
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The Balfour Brut Rose is by far UK's best sparkling rose it could almost be Champaign Gosset. A good balance of flavours, redcurrant, strawberry and pears which can all be found on the nose, a perfect wine for the 'season' of Ascot, Wimbledon and Henley. Now don't think this is a small guy making good, this is a slick well organised operation, but who said this is a bad thing if they can make the wine to match their slick PR. It comes from the Richard Balfour-Lynn who is responsible for Hush Heath apple juice, Hotel Du Vin, Malmaison Hotel, Liberty’s of London and other luxury companies. You won’t find this wine in supermarkets just yet as they are starting in indie wine shops around London first, as well as in all their hotels, but in time they will be the sparkling rose of chose for middle England.

What The Street Thinks

So today we have had the budget and if you been on GoJ in the last 48 you can tell we have gone all out on this but you'll be happy to know as

tomorrow is the beginning of English Wine week we will go all out on English wines.

So a recap of today the Rt. Hon Darling has increaser duty on alcohol to 2% which works out to be 2p on every pound you spend on a drink and combined with last year’s 17% leap in excise duty, will raise duty on alcohol by around 40% by the time of the London Olympics in 2012. It gos into action at midnight to night.

The WSTA; who represents the whole of the wine and spirit supply chain including producers, importers, wholesalers, bottlers, warehouse keepers, logistics specialists, brand owners, licensed retailers and consultants. Have come out with a statement 'In its first ever joint budget submission the major drinks industry trade associations warned a total of 75,000 jobs would be at risk if the plans to increase taxes further went ahead.' WSTA Chief Executive Jeremy Beadles said: “At a time when the Government is offering other industries a helping hand it is extraordinary that it wishes to hurt the drinks industry with further tax increases.'

In light of this I went out to Reading, a town which I would not call middle England but average Briton. I first went to a pub in the leafy suburb of Caversham called The Crown on the Bridge. There I spoke to the landlord. I ask what affect the 2% increase would do to there prices they told me that they expected that it will in fact end up being something like 5% or 10p extra on the pump after the price has filtered throw down from the brewery's.

With rent and now the increase it is a hard time for pub as Caversham has seen 4 pub close in the last couple of mouths. With this increase which will drive costumers to buy drink for home and bypass the pubs and head straight for the High Street bars after overloading on booze at home or force people to stay at home and have a quite drink from the supermarket, it looks like tough time ahead for the pubs.

I went and look at the other end of the market and went of to the middle of Reading financial business district. I went into a empty wine bar and ask what do they think about the 2% duty increase, they told me that they have gone into administration as they can not get people through the door. This once thriving Bar is now on course to close down.

Walking throw the town I stoped by a couple of pub where people where siting enjoying a drink I ask them if the price increase would stop them coming out they told me they would still come out but drink less and leave there local pub and head to a chain pub like Weatherspoons where the drink would be cheaper. They told me they would prefer to stay at there local but they could not afford it and that they would be forced to stay at home when 'on Saturday the cheaper pubs are taken over by youths bing drinking'.

As as Conservative leader David Cameron later said the extra tax on beer would affect "every drinker in every pub" This increase would make £200 million but is it worth it when we are £160 billion in debt? Is it the 200 million worth the 75000 jobs at risk? Is the 200 million worth community pubs closing? Is 200 million worth people to start bing drinking at home to save money? Well Brown and his Darling think so. I guess they have been in a cosmopolitan London government to long and lost touch.

Cost of drink brake down.

Rant over now back to the wine!

Darling Would You Like A Drink?

After weeks of bad press and headaches over what to do with the economy Brown and his Darling need a drink, but tomorrow they just might make that even harder as tomorrow Darling will go before the house to give his second Budget speech and one which will not be happy reading for any one who likes a tipple now and then.

I here on the grape vine (and the grapes are not at all in joy with this) that tax will go up on our Wine, Beer and any thing which responsible grown ups like to drink after a long day. If the Pre-Budget any thing to go by our drink is going to be hit. In the Pre-Budget we had a 15% VAT cut but our Drink dutty was increase to sub the VAT cut.

36% of adults drink more than 4/3 units of alcohol on at least one day of the week. So it no wonder why they won't to put up tax. £400.60 billion we have spent on bail outs so far. Brown happy to have mass bail out for failed bankers like 'Fred the Shred' but to do this they take money out our pockets, throw drink tax .

There a reason why 90% of licensees believe that the Chancellor will once again ignore the pleas of the pub trade and increase duty which will kill of villege pubs nation wide. If the pubs go, so do 59,000 jobs and that not including the people who make the drink, the people who inport,sell and market and of cource write about it. I would like to know if whisky a drink made in Brown and his Darling constituency's will once agin be exempt for a tax increase? Or whether it will affect the price of the cheap drinks in the Commons in there non-licence bars?

So tomorrow we will find out if it is doom's day or just a budget day.



I will be in a pub in Westminster for the Bugget to get the latest news and the reaction of people in the pub from landlord to puber.

If you like a go at making your own Brown and his Darling South Park pic click HERE. If you like to do something to stop any tax hikes on drink click HERE.

Happy B'Day Hugh Johnson

A 70 birthday birthday message from the great man of wine writing on decanter.com.
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I know like most wine lovers the way Hugh Johnson writes about wine is a great guide throw the pomp and complex world of wine making it fun and interesting. He battle with the american Robert Parker is some thing which legends are made from.
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Happy Birthday Mr Hugh Johnson OBE

EU Thinks Mixing Red&White Wine Make Rosé

A draft EU plan would allow wine makers to blend red with a splash of white to create rosé. They say 'the method is holding back French, Spanish and Italian producers in new markets such as China.'

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When we our trying to stop cheap nasty stuff made poorly and high in alcohol the EU show they dont care what the industry, winemakers or us the market wants just so what they think we should want. Show me one wino who thinks this is a good idea. If China want to make rosé that why let them, just dont make the historic French application control to adopt this sudo wine making method.

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Hat Tip- decanter.com

Wine Whining:They just dont get it!

Right you lot I know I said I stopped writing about politics but after waking up this morning; yes hung over, to the news of the Labour governments plans to tax alcohol on a unit based quasion, I felt I had to point out this silly, silly proposal faults. The government has stolen a Conservative idea to have higher taxers on the cheap nasty stuff, I have written about and like it I also like the SNP plans in Scotland. For some reason the government have decided to put a tax on all your tipples. They just don't get it, the government spoil perfectly good idea and have change it to make it into something stupid. The only reason I can think they would do this, because of revers snobbery in the scene if they are going to tax they are going to tax all as they might lose face if they did not tax wine drinkers. What I ask is if this new tax is going to be on whiskey? Like heck they would!

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The government just don't get it they are totally out of touch with normal people they are asking the equally out of touch advisers who see photo in news papers and make there judgment on it. Both the government and there advisers tell us they want to make us like the French. But why should we be like the French? I do fell at this time under years of this current government things have got out of control because of laws they bring in to make us 'more French'.
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The problem lies with the cost of drink being so high so people who are looking to save money drink at home with cheaper drink, then hit the town later and make the most of late licensing. Bring in the new tax would still make going out more expensive and the cheaper nasty stuff will still be the cheaper option. Unlike the out of touch government I don't sit on the high horse and say these young people going out getting drunk blur blur blur.... in fact last night before I went out I had a couple of G&Ts at home to save money on a good night out with my rugby mates.

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I know what the problem is as I live with it, work with it and I can see the government is clearly wrong and so keen to be seen to be taxing wine lovers as well as plastic artificial cider tasting drinkers. If you tax the high alcohol, high sugar drinks, the good drinks will end up not be cheaper but the same as the bad stuff. Alcohol is not the only problem. The reason people are so hyper is because of the drink is so high is sugar it make pepole loopy; I would love to see a study of the after effects of the sugar has on the drinker.There should be high taxation on drinks which don't fall into a application band and lower taxes (like with whiskey which is made in the PM and chancellors constituency) on good drink which has a proven application and is made in the idea of taste first.
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Sorry I will try to stop my rant but we can't let Labour do this to us! I am happy to let you know I am not that sad to sit in a dark corner inside stewing over this I happen to be outside in the lovely spring sun stewing over this.

SNP are right?

I would normally be against any government involvement in the way we live our lifes and especially one witch is high in bureaucracy but it has come apparent some thing has to be dune about binge drinking to save the liberty of other drinkers. If we follow a socialist lead with Labour we will see all drinkers penalized with the governments planed tax hike.

Some thing witch is embed into the social conscience and culture of this nation alcohol is; as the Scottish Parliament reports, is a 'complex relationship with alcohol' there is no doubt we need to change the culture of drinking especially with underage drinkers but also uphold the traditional culture of Scot's and the rest of Briton drinking.

I welcome the proposal by the SNP to day. It is simply to put a limit price on all alcohol now the idea to this would be to price out the cheep nasty drinks witch not only taste like poison but also high in alcohol. I do think if people where given the choice they would buy the better drink if it was of equal in price. This drink limit would also go into the pub and bar witch would stop the happy hours which we see on high street bars. The happy hours are on the cheep and nasty drinks it dues takes the Mick out of a smaller independent bar/pub happy hour who are behaving responsibly.

Now this is open to not only stop the people who abuse the luxury of alcohol but also the honest chap who might wont a pint of bitter after work. I do fill as much as I do welcome the min prise on booze that a more complex system working on each individual drinks and placing them in catagree. For example a bottle of wine at the supermarket witch is at the £5 mark if this bottle fills the right standard to be on a low tax band it should but if it has found out to be of low querty of drink it should be higher tax. Now I don't wont this to be a snob thing on good/bad wine it should be as easy as compeering a 2 letter plastic bottle of white lighting with a bottle of Pedigree but this is some thing whitch should not be dune by bureaucrats but by the W&S industry with the health pros.

What ever happens this is short term. To take some thing what has grown out of 12 years of Labour I cant help think we need to educate children not just by nagging them of the danger of alcohol but of what acceptable behavior of drinking and its etiquettes. Also the fact we seen our police tide down with red tape witch stops them getting on the street to stop bad behaver and when they are not being back up by the law. If some one found with a hand gun they can get 3 mouth what are the courts going to do with drunken kids smashing windows a finger shake? It is not as easy to just slap new laws down we need to change the way some people drink.

Brown and his Darling wine tax hike

decanter.com have got a great story in the same line as my post last week about how the Government is taxing out the W&S industry and 7500 W&S jobs are at risk. Read it here and here and here.

If you work in the industry or just enjoy a wee tipple now and then sign the petition by the drinkers alliance to save you some pennys and save some jobs.

Internet sales up but wine sales down!

Just read on SkyNews that wine sales are down after the Christmas boom by 62%. This is what we fought would happen as the post Christmas figures are always high as people seem not to spend on luxury goods after the festive time due to diets and gilt. This year its a bigger fall due to the rotten recession as people put wine lower and lower on there shopping list.
Will Gordon Brown have a Wine and Spirits bell out? Maybe for whisky if it ever needed due to it in the PM and Chancellor constituencies. Even that all we ask for is to drop big duty on W&S (apart from Whisky as it already has it). The lower VAT was canceled out by the increase of duty you pay for your favorite drop. Aswel it keep your Saturday tipple down it will also save hundreds of jobs.