If you're as old as I am, you may recall Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont. In 1991, Mr Lamont (nowadays Lord Lamont) was lambasted for seeing 'green shoots of economic recovery' at a time of deep recession. He also got bad press for buying what was reported as 'cheap Champagne and cigars' from a branch of the off-licence Threshers, using a credit card that was over its limit. This suggestion of personal financial mismanagement led to questions about Mr Lamont's suitability as Chancellor, and a Threshers branch manager was subsequently fired for spreading false claims about what the Chancellor had (or hadn't) bought. We'd like to make it clear that should Rachel Reeves choose to shop at Uncorked, none of us will be leaking to the media. (Got that, team?) Nor will we be name-dropping any of the celebrated people who may (or may not) have shopped here. Famous people welcome here.
It could be you
For the last six months or so, we've been running a monthly draw to win a magnum of Champagne. Entry criteria are simple. You need to make a purchase in store, and you need to be on our mailing list. If you fulfil those two criteria, your name is on the list. The more purchases you make, the more times your name appears on the list, and we draw a winner at random at the end of the month. The prize has usually been a magnum of either Billecart-Salmon Le Reserve or Louis Roederer Collection, according to what we have to hand. Previous winners have been both seasoned Uncorked customers and first-time buyers. Congratulations to this month's winner, Max, who takes home a magnum of Roederer Collection!
Industrial architecture and the winemakers' wall
When we prepared to move from Exchange Arcade to Copthall Avenue back in 2022, we got tailor-made fittings: the racks, desks, shelves and the health-and-safety-risk ladder were all made specially for us. And have you clocked the internal window with engraved grape variety names? That was removed and transported from Exchange Arcade. But smart fittings aside, making use of the industrial architecture of the site was also part of Andrew's plan. So wires, pipes and fittings are on show, and as well as the breeze-block-back-wall, there are unfinished surfaces with builders' scribbles. One customer admired our new shop and said, unkindly, 'It looks lovely. When are you going to finish it?'
Anyway, we've recently been using the bare concrete surface of one of the pillars to collect the signatures of visiting winemakers. We call it our winemaker's wall. It's still early days, but have a squint and see if you can spot any faves. Good luck - it turns out that winemakers rival doctors for poor handwriting.
While we're on the subject of industrial fittings, you may have noticed the loudspeaker on the back wall. When there are no customers in the shop, Andrew likes to use it to shout at us: 'Put some welly in it, you lazy slobs!'
Bah humbug
I usually call this section 'What have we been drinking?' but as my colleagues refused to play ball this month, I'm calling it 'Bah humbug' instead. I can, however, tell you what I've been drinking. I've been wowed (once again) by the value to be had in France if you step beyond the most celebrated appellations. Exhibit A is from the village of Brouilly, in Beaujolais. 2023 Château des Tours Brouilly Les Tours is Gamay in all its red-fruit-and-rosemary glory - it's how Cru Beaujolais is meant to be (never mind the nasty nouveau toilet cleaner stuff). The Beaujolais authorities are examining a proposal to designate some vineyards as premier cru. If that goes through, then the Les Tours vineyard, which is high up on the Brouilly slope, is also high on the list for promotion to premier cru. Well, try going into another wine merchant and asking if they can sell you a Burgundy premier cru for £21.95/bottle. If you like you can film the results and upload them to our YouTube channel.
Exhibit B is a dry Vouvray, and it's 55p more expensive. The Clos Rougemont vineyard is within the grounds of the Abbaye de Marmoutier, in the outskirts of the city of Tours. The vineyard has long been venerated as a great site for Chenin Blanc, and the Abbey allows family winery Vigneau-Chevreau to farm and vinify. 2023 Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Clos Rougemont does almost everything a white wine can do: it's got a honeyed acidity with bright citrus notes (I wrote lime and pomelo) followed by a creamy, leesy mid-palate and a salty finish - just great stuff.
What's new?
South Africa is well-represented in our newest acquisitions. Paulus make textured expressions of Chenin Blanc from old vine sites in Swartland and Stellenbosch. Winemaker Paul Jordaan used to be Eben Sadie's winemaker, and the Paulus style is very Eben Sadie (but cheaper). These wines were a big hit on Thirsty Thursday tasting last week. And while I'm anything but a South Africa specialist, even I'd heard of and enjoyed the wines of A.A. Badenhorst, so I'm delighted to see them on the shelf now. We don't have many wines from Languedoc, so we were doubly pleased by how much we liked the Les Caizergues red and rosé - and they're both very keenly priced! From Spain, we've got another great Gredos red on the shelf, the Zeta from Pegaso – and at only £23.95 a bottle, there's no excuse not to try one. And if you like mature wine, keep a close eye on the shelves and on the website. I can barely keep up with the turnover in mature Bordeaux just now.
Incineration by mistaken identity
Next month Uncorked goes to Bordeaux to taste the 2025 vintage. We'll go in two shifts, so Zoë and Neil will go in the primeurs week to do all the tasting heavy lifting, battling against hope round the dreaded Bordeaux ring road as we try to keep on schedule. The following week, after the public tastings have finished, Ed and Andrew will go and sit in deckchairs outside Grand Mayne, drinking daiquiris and maintaining those all-important 'personal relationships'.
After last year's difficult 2024 en primeur campaign, Neal Martin published a damning article about Bordeaux pricing on vinous.com. While his article met with widespread praise in the UK, it went down like a bucket of sick in Bordeaux. Unfortunately misspelling Neal Martin's name, one négociant we deal with wrote to tell us that the Bordelais 'wanted to burn Neil on La Place de Bordeaux', so I (Neil) got a proper shock when I opened my email. I hope for a warm reception in Bordeaux, but not that warm. Early reports on the 2025 vintage are excellent, and we'll naturally keep you posted.
Hope to see you on Copthall Avenue soon. /NT
