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Don’t forget we are open Saturday 22nd & Monday 24th for any last minute gifts you may need, or to top up for Christmas Day.

We’d like to thank all our customers for a great 2018 and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

BARBECUE’S AT THE READY?

I hope that as you read this article we are enjoying temperatures in the high 20’s, the sun is shining in the sky and there is not a cloud to be seen. OK, that’s a bit much to hope for, but since its summer we need to be optimistic right?

The weight of wines that our customers drink changes as the temperatures rises. Out with those oaked chardonnays and rich, robust reds – something a little more delicateis needed , where quality of fruit is to the fore rather than aged wines. The 3 wines recommended below are great “al fresco”ideas , so whether throwing some charcoal on the BBQ, or simply a glass of wine on the patio with friends, these are an ideal summer choice. All are priced at £7.99 so won’t break the bank either!

Castanzu Vermentino    –  Sardinia

This wine has a rich and spicy nose with citrus and ripe tropical fruit, as well as hints of apple. Good palate weight, with minerality. Flavours are initially light and build to a textural honeyed feel with hints of lemon marmalade on the finish.

Domaine L’Olibet Cinsault Rose               –   Languedoc

Delicate sweet spice aromas lead onto a palate which is immediately soft, vinous and round with abundant ripe fruit, lifted by a natural zing and finishing with a characterful texture and richness.

Les Cepages Oublies Grenache Cinsault   –   Montpelier

Soft and smooth, rich and chunky, this is a lovely French red. It has very natural flavours and aromas including a raspberry and cherry, hints of cloves with blackberry and custard. The palate is softer, slightly less intense, with refreshing acidity to the finish.

All wines available at Momentum Wines, 8 Mile End Business Park, Oswestry 01691 654499

www.momentumwines.co.uk

The Grapevine Column

So, spring has sprung, or at least so it would appear. My wife was commenting last week that the lambs this year have had a better time of it than their brothers and sisters of the last year or two – a short but oh so sweet existence!

Spring is a time of year when we see a shift in the wine trade. Customers stop buying bigger, heavier reds in favour of something altogether easier drinking – and oaked whites, so enjoyable during colder months, take a back seat for younger, fresher whites. The rose brigade rear their heads again – Cotes du Provence anyone? What could be nicer when the sun is out, however fleetingly. The conservatory beckons I fancy.

Momentum Wines started life, as some of you may recall, in the town centre on Oswald Road, back in 2005. Since then we have moved our business home twice – and now reside on the Mile End Business Park – opposite Morgans. Whilst predominantly being a trade supplier, supplying wines, beers and spirits to hotel and restaurant customers within an approximate 100 mile radius, we also have a retail store within our warehouse, where we welcome private customers readily. Our range extends to around 600 wines and a growing range of quirky spirits, and there is no minimum purchase, so please feel free to pop down and see us when you are in town. All our staff are WSET qualified, and can offer worthwhile advice should you want it.

We are delighted to be writing this column on a bi-monthly basis. Now we have got the introductions out of the way we can focus more on wines of interest in the column, and hope to provide an entertaining read!

Howard Jones

Momentum Wines

Oswestry

https://www.oswestry.life/

With everything that is going on in the world at present it is understandable that the money markets are in a state of flux. No more than Sterling. With the Brexit vote in June, an initial rally led to a devaluation of over 20% v The Euro and US Dollar, and nearly 30% v the New Zealand Dollar. This is naturally going to feed into pricing of all imported goods, as we’ve seen in the press with the likes of Tesco ‘Marmite Gate’ and Apple’s 15% price rise.

The majority of wine is imported from either Europe or South America, so increases are inevitable. New Zealand will be even bigger as Sterling has floundered badly against its Dollar.

Couple the currency differential to the rise in road fuel, again due to the strength of the US Dollar, and we get a double whammy. You will have noticed at the pumps the rise of nearly 15% in recent weeks, adding to the costs of all imports.

So how much is wine going to go up ?

As far as we are concerned we have enough stocks and currency to see out Christmas and New Year.

So NO increases until 2017 (Jan 9th to be precise).

If we based it on today’s exchange rate (approx 1.10 v Euro and 1.20 v US Dollar) we would see a £6.99 wine rise by roughly 45 pence – a percentage increase of 6.5%

The currency drop only affects the wine cost not the duty – which is a large part of the cost mechanism.

And New Zealand ?

Unfortunately more, a £7.99 wine would probably see an 80 pence increase or 10%.

There are so many things that affect currency trading. US Election – could be huge, the Syrian conflict and the Russian influence, elections in Europe – with right wing factions seemingly gaining popularity, the Euro ideal is starting to crack and the possible financial instability of Eurozone members, namely Greece and Italy, who are rumoured to need additional funds from the ECB.

All of those factors could benefit Sterling over the next 2-3 months, so we could see a revival of rates, which would ease the situation.

So – NO INCREASES UNTIL 2017

Makes sense to shop at MOMENTUM.

It may look like a ‘jolly’ but believe me it was a frantic 72 hours.

A 4 am start and a swift pick up of guests, the 7.25 Manchester to Marco Polo, Venice, drops us in The Veneto at 11 am local time.

An hour on a mini bus and we arrive at Botter, the producer of our Di Maria Prosecco. Their HQ in Fossalta di Piave is the industrial hub of the operation with bottling of not only sparkling wine but still wine sourced from throughout Italy.

A light lunch – if there ever is such a thing in Italy !

Then a full tasting of the sparkling wines and all the wines Botter source, bottle and distribute in Europe, about 30.

From that tasting I sourced two excellent house wines, a crisp Peccorino dry white and a juicy middleweight Primitivo red. As soon as we’ve completed pricing negociations these wines will be heading to Oswestry.

The more expensive whites were good but nothing better than what we do already, but there were 4 reds that blew me away. Especially a Brindisi Reserve Rosso that was simply stunning.

It goes without saying that the sparkling wines were superb, we also tasted a spumanté bianco which is made from the same grapes as Prosecco, but from outside the permitted region, pricing should be competitive.

A tour around the facility, and then off to the hotel. A meal at a local restaurant with Arnaldo Botter, the Chairman, then back to the hotel – early start tomorrow.

Off to Botter’s organic winery, where small production results in high quality but with such demand of this type of wine in Central Europe, precious little of it goes to export. We were lucky with the timing though and were able to view harvesting at first hand. A rarity on these trips.

The picture on the left shows the harvesting of red Refosco grapes.

With a full tasting of the more diverse and esoteric wines that are potentially going to be on sale in the UK, we finished off with another light lunch.

(Since when has 3 courses been a light lunch !)

Another mini bus ride but this time for pleasure – Venice.

I took a few people on the no2 vapporetto, which stops at all stops on the Grande Canal, and ends up at St Marks Square. A short trip around the sights of Venice and then a leisurely couple of ‘spritz’ in the shadow of The Rialto Bridge, where we meet up with the rest of the party and head to Trattoria alla Madonna for an evening of all kinds of Venetian fish, wine and grappa – far too much grappa.

A really good trip and much fun was had by all.

MB SEPTEMBER 2016