Château Simone Wooden Box

I don’t know at what age specifically you officially become eligible to appear on “Grumpy Old Men” but I suspect that I’m getting near.. or at least getting nearer than I would like. I have become increasingly irritated by the way that day-to-day products are packaged, not only the wastefulness  but the simple practicalities like having to find scissors to open a new razor, a knife to open a pack of smoked bacon or the way in which a cardboard carton of milk never opens without a bit of a struggle.

I make my daughters packed lunch sandwiches and wrap them in greaseproof paper, as this just works for all concerned and when a product packing “just works” it is a real boon and when the product inside “just works” as well it’s a pleasant exception to the rule..  however in the world of Yapp it gets even better, let me explain..

In my first week at Yapp I saw the wooden cases from a recent shipment of Château Simone – they were suitably classic in style and matched the iconic wine inside (our tasting notes start with “A rare unreconstructed historical gem that belies comparison”) and having grown up in world of Airfix WWII models hearing that this was one of Winston Churchills favourite wines just added to it’s appeal.

The wooden cases are indeed iconic but apart from keeping it’s valuable cargo safe in transit across the English Channel it’s solved many a problem at Yapp HQ. I’ve seen the wooden boxes used for filing tasting notes, storing glasses and on the odd occasion various collections of staff lunches on Yapp Sale Days. Our shop in Mere uses them to present wines but they can double as furniture too – when staff need a quick adhoc discussion gathering round a PC the boxes have been used as chairs – and still survive to support the next meetings.

So, I’m not suggesting that you buy 4 cases of Château Simone to replace your dining chairs at home but if ever you get chance to either taste (or taste again) this iconic wine or utilise the classic wooden cases that look after them both have their uses and are definitely worth exploring!

Roma Numberplate

Like many other families we found our Easter holiday break involuntarily extended due to the closure of UK airspace at the end of last week. Having had a terrific week in Rome (more of which at a later date) we were enjoying dinner in a restaurant with friends on Thursday evening (which we believed to be our last night abroad) when we received the news that a volcano had erupted in Iceland. We naively laughed off the idea that this might in any way interfere with our travel plans.

The following morning as we were due to leave for Rome Ciampino airport we discovered that our flight had been cancelled. After some frantic searching on-line we eventually managed to re-book 4 flights for the following Monday. Making the most of this setback we headed south down the coast to Sperlonga where we enjoyed a terrific weekend on an empty beach before heading back into Rome for our second ‘final night’ of the holiday. It was only on the train back to Rome that we found out Monday’s flight had been cancelled, as had the following day’s and the days after that.

The situation was beginning to look serious so we earnestly began to explore other routes home – via Corsica by ferry? by train? via France by plane? Unsurprisingly we had little joy in getting any train or plane bookings but through a friend of a friend pulling strings we did manage to locate what was possibly the last hire car available in the Eternal City. After a breakneck trip across town on the back of our friend Maura’s motorbike I reached an Avis rental office and never has a battered old Lancia looked more attractive. For a pretty reasonable 180 euros I collected the keys and a SatNav and then had the baptism of fire that is driving in Rome. I picked Pippa and our boys (Alfred 11 and William up in San Lorenzo and we hit the autostrada. Fortunately Pippa had had the presence to pack a picnic so we were able to belt north unrelentingly before an enforced overnight pit-stop in San Remo. We weren’t allowed to leave Italy with the hire car and San Remo is the most northerly outpost of Avis in the country but the office had closed for the evening by the time we arrived.

After a fretful night in the appalling Hotel Eveline (too bad to go in to detail) we dropped the Lancia off at 8.30am sharp and got a taxi across the border to Nice airport. The only car available here was a Peugot 207 for which we were fleeced an outrageous 900 euros by Hertz (at least Dick Turpin wore a mask). We then headed west then north across the autoroutes of France with minimal stops at service stations. At 9pm that night we checked into the reassuringly old-fashioned Hôtel de la Bannière in Laon, just north of Champagne.

Queues at Calais

We were up and running (sans breakfast) at 6am to honour our 9am car rental return at Calais Sea Port. On arrival our hearts sank as the scenes before us looked like something from a disaster movie. Files of coaches were backed up onto the autoroute slip road, hire cars were abandoned indiscriminately and files of foot passengers were being herded into queues. Happily the evacuation operation was being well run and within 2 hours we were on board the ‘Pride of Dover’ heading back to Blighty at a not unreasonable 195 euros all in.

By lunchtime we had docked at Dover and after a ridiculous schlep on foot across town to Dover Priory station we caught a high speed train to London Saint Pancras. After that it was a relative doddle with a tube to Paddington, train to Westbury and taxi home to Frome, Somerset. I then had the unenviable task of heading out to Bristol airport to pick up my long abandoned car. Seldom has it felt better to eat at our own table and sleep in our own beds but it was a Herculean effort to drag ourselves out of bed to get to school and work on Thursday morning. There’s nothing like travel to make you appreciate getting home and when a neighbour asked the boys if they’d had a good holiday they replied ‘yes great thanks’.

We will send a bottle of Yapp Champagne to the reader with what we judge to be the most arduous return voyage as a result of the Icelandic volcanic eruption and disruption.

E-mail your story to: sales@yapp.co.uk by May 17^th.

Jason Yapp

Gilles Dumangin

Designed by Inigo Jones for James I and being the last building that Charles I walked through to his execution on the scaffold outside, Whitehall’s Banqueting House is steeped in history. The surroundings of the Main Hall are truly majestic, with a Rubens painted ceiling looking down over proceedings below it is perhaps apt that in more recent years, this has been the home for The Champagne Bureau’s Annual March Tasting.

With over 70 producers in attendance and each one showing a selection of three champagnes, it is thought to be the largest Champagne tasting in the world. It is certainly always much anticipated and well attended. This year I was helping ‘our man in Champagne’, Gilles Dumangin, present his wares to the great and the good of the UK Wine Trade; the wine journalists, the bloggers, fellow merchants, sommeliers and anyone else who could get their hands on a ticket. It is ironic that this is the event that all the Champenois look forward to travelling to as it is the only time that they get to try each other’s wines on such a scale!

The current economic situation had done nothing to dampen people’s enthusiasm and this is reflected in the fact that although imports have dropped in the U.K., we are still the largest importer of Champagne in the world. It is when people are more considered with their spending that it becomes even more important to make sure that what is available is of good quality and value.

Once again, out of the champagne that I had a chance to try, it was the Grower champagnes that stood out best. When up to 50% of the retail price of a ‘Grand Marque’ champagne can go towards marketing and promotion, it is little wonder that the actual product can often fail to live up to the price tag. This made it all the more refreshing that our Dumangin range was so well received on the day. Indeed, it was interesting to see how quickly our Grande Reserve NV was consumed by fellow merchants at the exhibitors’ lunch in the vaults below. Every exhibitor had donated two bottles each for the lunch and by the time I made it downstairs for a bite, the Grande Reserve had long gone!

Gilles is proper récoltant manipulant (a wine-maker producing wine from their own vine holdings) based at Chigny-les-Roses on the Montagne de Reims – as was his great great grandfather Hippolyte Dumangin the first of his forebears to bottle his own wine.  The three champagnes that we were showing were:- Brut Grand Réserve Premier Cru NV, a rich, full flavoured champagne with delightful toasted notes and elegant, smooth finish (£25.50 per bottle); Brut Premier Cru Millésime 2000, a corking vintage which is just coming into its own. Great structure with great balance of mineral, citrus and delicate fruit.  Long refreshing finish that leaves you wanting more! (£30.75); Brut Rosé Premier Cru NV, mouth-filling berry flavours, well balanced with crisp, developed finish (£28.50).

Following an extensive and extremely informative morning tasting of J Dumangin Fils Champagnes, some colleagues and I entertained Gilles Dumangin to lunch at the beautiful Howard’s House Hotel in the quaint Wiltshire village of Teffont Evias.  Neither the village nor the hotel could have looked more stunning on such a glorious Spring day and I felt sure we would be in for a most enjoyable interlude.

Our attentive host, Noele Thompson, brought the menus to us in a comfortable ante-room and, while we made our choices from the short but wonderfully varied menu, we were delighted to hear another party of diners ordering a bottle of Gilles’ Grand Réserve Champagne.   Deciding, though, that we had had our fill of Champagne for one day, we ordered a bottle of 2007 Vouvray Sec from Domaine Champolou which pleased everyone and, with subtle honey nuances that made it seem almost off-dry, it was a sublime pairing with my starter of Twice-Baked Blue Cheese Soufflé with a walnut and poached pear salad.  There was much praise from my colleagues for their starters too and these included a Leek Risotto topped with breast of local pigeon and Home Cured Salmon with a smoked salmon mousse.

The dining room at Howard’s House is small and well-appointed and looks out onto the walled garden and terrace.  Both made an idyllic picture in the sunshine and I could see why the hotel is a popular venue for weddings.  Chef Nick Wentworth’s ethos is to cook simply with the very best of predominantly local ingredients which are sourced from the hotel’s own potager garden and from a stable of impressive local suppliers and we could certainly see this theme coming to life at our table.

Our main courses arrived with appropriate timing and were as exquisitely presented as the starters.  I plumped for Braised Blade of Devon Ruby Red Beef with a root vegetable purée, spinach and confit shallot and I couldn’t have been happier with my choice. The beef was cooked to perfection, the texture of the meat being almost like a Boeuf Bourgignon – meltingly tender and rich.  My fellow diners reported a Fillet of Wild Halibut with fondant potato, baby asparagus and a brown shrimp dressing to be full of flavour and beautifully cooked and the Roasted Tenderloin and Confit Belly of Pork with a wholegrain mustard mash and calvados sauce both looked and smelled divine.  A bottle of Côtes du Rhône Saint Gayan, from the superb 2007 vintage, accompanied our main course and it was extraordinarily good with the beef.

As decadent and delicious as the desserts sounded, and I was sorely tempted by Rhubarb Crumble with Dorset clotted cream, we all decided to go straight for coffee, choosing a mixture of double and single espressos.  When they were brought to the table, each cup looked to have exactly the same measure but, by this time, no-one really cared and the coffee itself was as strong and flavourful as a good espresso should be. 

All in all, this had been a most delicious and convivial lunch.  In fact I can’t remember one so good in a long time. I was keen to hear that a new dining terrace opens in the garden on 1^st May and I have made a mental note to return on a sunny summer’s day to partake of a relaxed al fresco lunch with friends.

A temporary release (good behaviour, I think) from my normal Saturday shop duties at Yapp Brothers, enabled me to add a couple of extra days holiday, thus making a nice long weekend. During that time, I sampled drinks at two very different venues, so culturally different infact that I decided to write about it.

London Coliseum

Both involved a visit to nearby Salisbury; but the first experience meant taking a train to London Waterloo so that I could attend my first opera at the stunning location of the London Coliseum in St Martins Lane near Leicester Square. After taking in an initial culture fix at the nearby National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, the time was nigh to enter the Coliseum. No gladiators or lions in sight, so I made for the Dress Circle bar, (no, no you don’t have to wear a dress! then again, if it had been the weekend…..anyway I digress) where I enquired what white wines were available. The response was a Pinot Grigio, South African Sauvignon and an Australian Chardonnay – I went for the Sauvignon, purchased a quarter amphorae and passed over my denarii. No change forthcoming – which was good really as many places don’t accept them.

The Opera was the opening night of Satyagraha by Phillip Glass, performed by the English National Opera. It’s quite “modern” by most standards, and maybe not to many traditional opera-followers’ tastes, but I have loved Glass’ compositions for many years, and this was my first chance to see “live action”. His music is very minimalist and constantly repetitive but at the same time haunting, and full of passion and feeling. The Opera is the composer’s view of the life of Ghandi and the development of non-violent protest. The lead role is brilliantly portrayed by Alan Oke, with Elena Xanthoudakis giving a fantastic performance as Miss Schlessen. Even though the performance was over 3 hours long and meant that I didn’t reach home until 2am – it was well worth the late night and I shall certainly return for more.

Salisbury Football Stadium

The second part of my release took me to Salisbury again, but this time to the Raymond McEnhill stadium – the home of Salisbury Football Club. The visitors were Wrexham F.C – a team that I have followed throughout my childhood in North Wales. In their halcyon days they have beaten such sides as FC Porto, Arsenal, Birmingham, Newcastle and Middlesborough in various cup competitions, and have even reached the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, where they narrowly lost to eventual winners Anderlecht in 1976 (honestly – you can check it out!). Now however, those days seem long gone and they are languishing in mid-table mediocrity in The Blue Square Premier (non-league!) division. Mind you, given the situation a few years ago when the then Chairman was attempting to sell the stadium for housing development – we are grateful that the club still exists.

The drink of choice this time was a flagon of the excellent, locally brewed ale Summer Lightning – a straw-coloured, fresh, hoppy bitter at 5%abv. (Sorry, didn’t really look at the wine offerings – not appropriate somehow). A crowd of 948 attended, on what turned out to be the first warm and pleasant day of Spring, and they witnessed a dominant Wrexham snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, as Salisbury’s 10 men scored a disputed last minute penalty, much to the displeasure of the 100 or so travelling fans.

I’m pleased to say that I was very much at home at both (very different) venues. One of the reasons why someone follows their team or interest with such dedication, is that they hope to be present on a memorable or unforgettable occasion – an occasion when they can say “I was there”! Whether that is watching Wrexham FC trail Luton Town 3-0 with 20 minutes to go and ending up winning 4-3, or being on the edge of ones seat listening to a powerful, enthralling and meaningful aria from an opera.

Follow you passion and you will surely be rewarded. (although this might take rather a long time in Wrexham’s case!)