Newsletter No. 24:
31st March 2006
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Waiting for pretty much anything can be a testing
business. I can acknowledge this, despite hailing
from a country famed for its propensity to form
little (or even large) orderly queues. When that
thing is an overdue birth, it makes one as follicly
challenged as myself rather glad that more hair
wasn't on the agenda when whatever God one happens to
believe in was putting the finishing touches to one's
personal blueprint.
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All this tension fell away at 02h53 on Tuesday 22nd
March when a small wine merchant/fisherman-in-waiting
popped into the world. Now, I know that all parents
think that the fruit of their own particular loins is
the best thing since sliced chorizo and that however
(albeit temporarily) prune-like their reproductive
results, the tendency is to fawn and preen as one who
is displaying not only the best-looking, most
intelligent scrap of life , but very probably a
future Prime Minister too. Of this, as I say, I am
aware. However, I must warn those of you even
contemplating entering their own offspring into the
finals of World's Best Ever Baby competition that
they should prepare themselves for abject failure.
That particular title has already been won and the
holder of the trophy is living a very happy (if,
occasionally, damp and smelly) existence in
Wiltshire. .
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Stats:
Sex - Boy
Name - Joseph William Bowes
Weight - 6lb 15oz
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Bowes Wine and Son Ltd!
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Joseph William Bowes
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Some New Broking Wines
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We are asked with increasing frequency to sell wine
for one or another client. The last thing one wants
is to nurture - or have nurtured - cases of wine only
to find oneself unable to drink them at their apogee.
An even worse prospect would be to hang on to that
wine until it expires entirely; better yet would be
to make some money back and reinvest it in some other
hooch that will last the requisite distance.
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Some of these wines are very easy to turn over. Some
wines one could put out to tender and accept the
highest bid, so widely popular are they. But more fun
are those wines that one would never normally get to
taste in their maturity: Australian wines that
everyone drinks 4.5 seconds after bottling; good
value regional French wine that no one deems
expensive enough to cellar for any length of time.
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In any event, we are advertising a new tranche of
clients' wine on our broking page. There aren't
any French regional wines, but there are a couple of
excellent Aussies. And the obligatory claret is there
in good depth. The Rhône Valley is also
represented. Prices are keen. Provenance is tip-top.
Have a browse and let us know!
» Click here to
be taken to our broking page
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One Last Word on Burgundy 2004
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Whilst not exactly spearheading the launch of the
new-look Château of Corton-André in
Aloxe-Corton, Bowes Wine is rather chuffed to have
been rapidly off the mark in identifying the
sea-change that has occurred here. Nose to the ground
(or should that be terroir?!), we smelled the
unmistakeable scent of fine things being done with
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay where there had been no
fine things hitherto.
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Recent further grubbing about has turned up an
article in Decanter Magazine that includes
Corton-André in a list of the 10 greatest
negoçiants of Burgundy. The name may be new to
those of you who have (quite sensibly) been focussing
their collectors' eyes on the finer end of the
burgundy market, but be aware that C-A are now right
up in the celestial stratum. Here’s one last
chance to take advantage of a new-comer to the front
ranks:
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2004 Aloxe-Corton, Domaine du Château de
Corton-André £189 in bond a dozen
"There are spicy black fruits on the nose here. Some
of the fruits are dried and combined with a little
meat. The palate is cool and fluid and silky on entry
and there are black cherry bits wound through by
chunky, fine tannins. Balance is excellent and again
there's a touch of meatiness to the bramble and
cherry fruit. I found good "crunch" and lift at the
end. This is an excellent Aloxe for moderate keeping
and then drinking with extreme pleasure." Drink
2010-15
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2004 Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots, Domaine du
Château de Corton-André £300 a
dozen in bond
"In Poruzots, we find a sloping vineyard with very
stony soil and this comes across as a minerality and
crispness in the finished wine. These characteristics
can found here. This is ripe, with a bright, clean
nose of chalk and lemon pastilles. The freshness on
the palate comes across in chalky-lime acidity. This
is long and concentrated and really fine, with a
chiselled, well delineated personality." Drink
2009-13
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For sheer value for money, both these wines offer
great opportunity…and I think it well worth
supporting those wine producers who stop fannying
about and get on with making the really profound
stuff.
Burgundy offer closes Friday 7th
April
» Click here to
go to our 2004 Burgundy offering
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