Have you no morals man!?

Joe Gilmour Thoughts

He came in about seven-thirty. A regular customer, 60ish maybe, with the vibe of a geography teacher and a shy, gruffish character. Fino sherry was his thing, a few half botles a week. This evening was different though, he’d clearly been drinking heavily and swimming deep in what could have been a Mike Leigh film or a night reading about all the sorrow and inequality in the world. He was eyeing up our expensive wines, of which we had a lot in our Kensington shop. He was angry, very angry indeed.  “How can you sell a wine for £1,000?” he …

Joe GilmourHave you no morals man!?

Schueller Slyvaner

Joe Gilmour Thoughts

This pandemic has felt at times like running the latter stages of a marathon. In particular the feeling when someone says “not far to go now!” and you run on for another 5 miles and then some other perky guy says exactly the same thing. You want to stop, catch your breath and say – someone said that five fucking miles earlier! Thankfully, wine has been a constant source of solace through some of the bleaker evenings of the past year. A nice American emailed a while back suggesting that drinking a bottle of Schueller was a thrill-ride.   In …

Joe GilmourSchueller Slyvaner

Recent Drinking

Joe Gilmour Thoughts

2018 Rozas 1er, Commado G Having slept in a vineyard myself when my bike broke down in Southern France, I enjoyed reading about how the two founders of Commando G, Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia would sleep in their camper van in the Rayas vineyards. When they finally plucked up the courage to ask for a tour and various geographical features were pointed out, they must have looked between themselves and thought ‘yeah, we pissed against that tree’. Whether sleeping in a vineyard achieves the same feat of psychogeographical osmosis as listening to self-help cassettes in your sleep, I don’t …

Joe GilmourRecent Drinking

Wherefore art thou Pierre?

Joe Gilmour Thoughts

They seek him here, they seek him there, the wines of Pierre Benetiere, they’re never there. To the dedicated followers of Northern Rhone fashion, Benetiere came upon us quietly. Me, I heard there was a tiny producer making wines from the south of the appellation, that had a Burgundian tendency that recalled the best work of Jean-Michel Stephan. After selling parcels of the 09 and 12, you could count me in. But the flow of wines stopped. After chasing the agents for some time, I spoke to the buyer who could no longer offer the wines. Why? Benetiere couldn’t be …

Joe GilmourWherefore art thou Pierre?

Paul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc

Joe Gilmour Thoughts

There aren’t too many Puligny producers actually based in Puligny – something to do with the high water table. One of the oldest and most classic is Paul Pernot – Their gothic labels capture their philosophy well. It is a style like Ramonet I think,  the acidity is always vibrant, and the wines age very well, but it never tends towards the super crisp, almost tart style that is en-vogue in some places. As Jasper Morris MW notes: “At present, 80% of Pernot’s wines are sold on to extremely fortunate Negociants in Beaune. However, the 20% that Paul retains and …

Joe GilmourPaul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc

Coronavirus Drinkathon Part 10

Joe Gilmour Thoughts

There was a certain amount of ribbing when an old colleague contributed his blog post ‘Make mine a half” it is true. What sad specimen of manhood couldn’t drink a bottle of wine over two days we reasoned. Roll on ten years, and I can see the logic. Sometimes a half bottle is what you want for an evening. Just a glass or two. So then, what am I doing drinking a magnum on my own tonight? God knows. 1989 Chardonnay Domaine Rolet About 6 months ago I brought a large consignment of magnums from Rolet in Jura from 1988 …

Joe GilmourCoronavirus Drinkathon Part 10