Hey you warming glow of light and kindness, I hope we find you in good disposition and that you and your close ones are safe and sound?
I fear some of us may have faced tragedy or will be in the coming months, I am sorry if that's the case. These are trying times for all. I try to stay stoic but it's not easy right now. I hope you're doing ok.
So... let me try and use what I know best to bring you some well deserved light, warmth and digital cuddles.
I'm currently furloughed from Reserve Wines, a independent wine shop and bar operator based in South Manchester, UK. However I have the opportunity to use this exciting new platform to do something productive with my "free" time. I say free... with youngsters at home, this is more like an excuse to escape my responsibilities if anything :-D. Anyway, I just can't sit still so here were are! My key skill is to pick out great wines that are current, exciting and most importantly super tasty. For that, I need to taste. A lot. And lately this is not happening. 100s of people spitting wine about in a closed environment, not really the done thing right now.
Who wants to (safely) taste some wine with me?
To quote Ernest Hemingway "My only regret in life is that I did not drink more wine". In my case, I'd say "try more wines" but otherwise, my buddy Ernie nailed it. While I know a fair bit, I am forever a wine student. I'm not looking for an end goal, a destination. Rather I am on an ever evolving path of discovery. Wherever you are, we could go on this path together and have a good time on the way.
With that in mind, I am close to finalising the practicalities of sending wine samples across the UK - it's not that simple or cheap at such a small scale but we'll get there. Once that's done, I can get rolling and schedule a series of tasting evenings. If you live outside of the UK and you want to join in, I'd love to have you. I'd be happy to make some recommendations and help you identify where to get similar wines (if not the same).
What will these tastings be about?
At first, it'll be about discovering wines that are new to me but I've identified as potentially tres interesting. Many of them will be classed as premium or fine wines (they tend to be the good ones after all). South Africa is first on my list. The value and quality of the wines coming out of there is very exciting and I really want to dig in. There are also interesting things happening in Australia, France, Spain and much wilder places that I'm keen to explore too. Which means we would be discovering wines together, live. Don't worry, I'll do my research before hand and I'll be working with very good people to source these so we should manage to avoid any duds. Beyond that, if there is an interest, we could also arrange specific sessions on topics and areas you'd like to explore? In private or opened to everyone?
Is it just a tasting group then?
Not quite. Tasting (drinking) wine is very much where the fun is at but you don't necessarily need me to be involved, at least not always. I'd like to be of use to you even when we're not tasting together. If you need anything you think I can help with, I'm here for you. Hit me up. Wine and food pairing, source a particular wine, something you want to understand more about... let me help you.
I do plan to write a few articles on here that I think will be of use and in time I'd like to produce other types of content too, which may not always be directly linked to wine. But one thing at a time.
So how does that sound?
May aim is to build a community, ideally global, of wine entusiasts. And there is more to share than just wine. I love reading about interesting people's lives and businesses, I'm renewing my passion for music thanks to some recent HiFi discoveries and I'd love to share some of that with you too. So if you know someone who might be interested in whatever this is going to be, please do share the link (https://www.subkit.com/nicrezzouk) or this email and suggest they sign up. It's going to be super laid back, no judgment or expectations from me. You or they can also email me direct with the link on my home page.
And that's it for now. Exciting!
See you very soon xx
Nic