Wednesday 19th May

Posted on May 23, 2010 by nealmartin

Hoorah! Day two of the London Wine Trade Extravaganza. I start off with a nifty Coonawarra seminar tutored by Andrew Caillard MW, with Sue Hodder of Wynns and fellow Antipodean winemakers in attendance. I take a seat in the front row like the classroom square and consequently I am picked on to deign the audience with my [...]

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Tuesday 18th May

Posted on May 21, 2010 by nealmartin

Hoorah! The London Wine Trade Fair in the Excel exhibition centre, somewhere in the nether reaches of East London. As usual I start by aimlessly wandering around, trying to fathom out how to tackle the plethora of wine regions and producers, even if year by year, they cater for the low-end, high-volume brands hoovered up [...]

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Monday 17th May

Posted on May 21, 2010 by nealmartin

Finish writing a couple of article for eRP on Margaret River. I pop into town to pay myself at Natwest and have to persuade their staff that no, I don’t want to use the automatic paying-in machine and I appreciate human contact, even if I have to queue for the privilege. I spend part of the [...]

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Sunday 16th May

Posted on May 21, 2010 by nealmartin

Second attempt to take the sprogs swimming and this time, nothing is going to stop us. Of course, it is incredibly stressful. We file into a “family cubicle” whereby the definition of “family” according to Guildford Spectrum swimming pool seems to be “divorced father with no kids in tow”. Daisy dons her obligatory pink seahorse swimming [...]

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Saturday 15th May

Posted on May 16, 2010 by nealmartin

There is something about public swimming pools that have thwarted my entire life, habitually shutting their doors whenever I deign them with my presence. Today is no different. For years (literally) I have promised Daisy that I will take her swimming and I have been building it up all week, idle threats of ”no swimming” whenever [...]

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Friday 14th May

Posted on May 16, 2010 by nealmartin

God I despise estate agents. Every time I give them the benefit of doubt, they annoy me, they screw up, they make excuses for their unforgiveable ineptitude and carry on as if they are your bestest friend ever. Haart had promised to call me back to arrange a second viewing and does the telephone ring? Of course it [...]

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Thursday 13th May

Posted on May 14, 2010 by nealmartin

Writing in the morning, then at lunchtime I take mum for lunch at Cafe Anglais for her 60th birthday. To be honest, I am a bit disappointed that it is virtually empty and devoid of atmosphere. Afterwards I go to La Quotidiene to work (typing up copious Margaret River notes) and then off to Ledbury for [...]

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Wednesday 12th May

Posted on May 14, 2010 by nealmartin

Wake up like the rest of the nation under Tory rule. I feel my teenage insurgency welling up inside, I can rebel against the establishment for the first time since May 1997 and Blair started inviting Oasis to Downing Street, blurring the line between “Us” and “Them” over a plate of canapes. In the morning, [...]

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Monday 10th May

Posted on May 12, 2010 by nealmartin

Out on the early train for a brief tasting with Tony Carson of Yabby Lake at “Roussillon” restaurant in Pimlico. The Pinot Noirs are generally impressive, although I am slightly distracted by someone vacuuming around my feet. Then it is off to St. John for a tasting of Tahbilk wines from their museum cellar with [...]

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Sunday 9th May

Posted on May 10, 2010 by nealmartin

Boring Sunday. Daisy and Lily insist upon wearing their reversible Sleeping Beauty/Snow White dresses. Fine, but it’s a bloody pain when Daisy wants to go for a wee. It takes hours to disrobe her gown and then put it back on (in reverse.) Mooch back into town and find myself buying a tan leather jacket [...]

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