DotW, MadMolly, Sherry, Boerewors, Boxer, New Ins and Car's the Star

Rather a lot of articles in tonight’s Sheldon’s Times. It is Sherry week next week, Amanda is running some Sherry and food matching sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, details below. We have a sausage-and-wine matching article to get you in the mood, a revisit to a bottle of Aussie Shiraz, a handful of interesting New Ins and a super DotW. We are also introducing MadMolly, a new neighbour in Shipston – rush along and pick up some goodies quick. On you go!

Dog of the Week

This is Ollie the spaniel. I took a number of pictures of Ollie when he visited the shop, but this one stood out because of the human nature of his eyes. How characterful. And he was pretty well behaved on the visit. I have another great shot of him licking his lips as he finished off a treat.

Many thanks to Paul and Laura for bringing Ollie in to see us. It is only the second time we have had the duo of DotW and Car’s the Star from the same owner in a single edition of Sheldon’s Times, scroll down to see where Ollie spends his travel time.

New Kids on the block – MADMOLLY

It is great to see we have a number of new shops opening up in Shipston. An indication of the vibrancy of our smart little market town. Tonight we are shining a spotlight on MadMolly, the shop that has “lovely things for lovely people”. You will find MadMolly on Market Place, opposite Turners (the excellent fruit and veg shop with the superb fish counter) and just down the road from Taste of the Country. MadMolly’s official opening was yesterday, so dive in quick and snaffle the lovely items they have on show. I’ve been in this afternoon and there are some super bits in this beautifully styled shop.

The shop is creatively named after the two daughters of the owners – Madeleine and Molly, not I hasten to add because Molly is mad. Here’s wishing Katherine, Steve and Ali the very best of luck with this exciting new enterprise. A pleasure to have you join us in the town.

Sherry Week

Amanda has decided to have a little fun next week:

It is International Sherry Week next week.
Come and experience how different Sherries match beautifully with food at one of our fun and informative sessions on:

Tuesday 9^th November at 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Wednesday 10^th November at 1.30pm – 2.30pm

The price is £10 per session please book in advance by calling Sheldon’s on 01608 661409 or emailing Amanda at amanda@sheldonswines.com. Places are limited.
“Salud”

Food and Wine matching – South African choices

A couple of weeks ago our friends at Paddock Farm butchery in Brailes highlighted a new sausage in their newsletter. If you are not subscribed to their newsletter you can do so here:

Paddock Farm newsletter sign-up

The sausage was Boerewors, a South African style of sausage usually served as a wheel (a bit like a Cumberland). Boerewors is primarily a beef sausage, and the chaps at Paddock have added 10% Tamworth pork and seasoned it with coriander, nutmeg, allspice, salt and pepper.

Keen to give these new sausages a go I purchased a couple of half wheels and pan fried them on Monday night.

The obvious choice to go with the sausage was a good quality South African red. One wine I have been wanting to (re)try recently is Stars in the Dark, a 100% Syrah produced by Minimalist Wines. Sam Lambson from Minimalist is an obsessive, producing tiny batches of excellent juice. As previously reported, the first batch of Stars in the Dark disappeared from our shelves within days of arrival. Thankfully we have been able to replenish stocks so once again have some bottles available.

When we poured the wine the aromas came out of the glass instantly. Cherry, plum and blackberry mostly. The nose promised much and we weren’t disappointed when we tasted the wine. Oodles of fruit dominated the wine, with a touch of pepper characteristically found on high percentage Syrah wines. The fruit intensity was amazing, and the balance perfect. Not too alcoholic either, at a cool 13.5%. This is a fruit-forward expression of Syrah, perfect for those who don’t like things overly complex. And a perfect match for a spicy, warming sausage. We polished the sausage off with boiled tatties from the garden and a truss of roasted tomatoes from Turners. Delicious. And great to be able to source everything on the plate locally. I can highly recommend the combination for a South African night at home.

Mollydooker ‘The Boxer’ revisited

Amanda has been the grateful recipient of an older vintage of one of our shop favourites, here is the write up.

A few weeks ago we a mentioned a comparative tasting of a Northern Rhone Syrah and the Australian Mollydooker Shiraz. The following weekend one of our lovely readers, Richard Dear, popped in and presented me with a bottle of Mollydooker that he had in his collection from 2004. Richard had read Sheldon’s Times and remembered that he had bought some Mollydooker ‘The Boxer’ in the past. The packaging was identical. As a special treat I took the bottle to the next course tasting session and we made a comparative tasting note. The aroma of the wine was great – stewed red fruit and spice and showed great promise. Sadly, the aromas didn’t extend to the palate, which had retreated mainly to alcohol and just a trace of the original powerful fruit. It was a really interesting experience and a huge thankyou to Richard for being so thoughtful. The Level 2 group were thrilled to have the opportunity to try an older version of the same wine.
I would like to encourage this behaviour from our lovely readers and next week I will be sampling Vintage Champagne……..

Amanda x

New Ins

A few New Ins this week, some returns to the portfolio, some new bottles too:

White:
William Fevre Les Clos Grand Cru (Chablis) – £109

Red:
L’Hospitalet de Gazin 2009 (Pomerol) – £45
L’Hospitalet de Gazin 2010 (Pomerol) – £45
Sociando Mallet 2010 (Haut Medoc) – £55
Cantemerle 2010 (Haut Medoc) – £55

Sweet/Fortified:
Quady Elysium Black Muscat (California, sweet) – £ 13.50 per half bottle

Car’s the Star

A Tesla Model X. For sure when the time comes for a change (I have a Honda, so it may be another 10 years) I will go all-electric. The recent fuel shortages confirmed for me some of the benefits of going electric. We had a number of smug customers in the shop who were waving at queuing traffic at petrol pumps as they glided past with no more than the pleasurable whirring from the electric motor.

Many thanks to Paul and Laura for bringing Ollie’s travel kennel in to see us. I am sure he appreciated the eco-decision you have made. Much quieter and more pleasurable than a noisy petrol or diesel powered kennel.

Here concludes another edition of Sheldon’s Times. The weather looks set to continue as it has been this week – chilly in the nights, chilly in the day too! Tomorrow Amanda, Trish and I will be here to serve you in the shop. We’ll have the radiators on to make it a little less chilly for you.

Shane, Amanda, Jude, Esther, Nigel, Trish and Carol

Your Boerewors-loving, MadMolly-shopping, Ollie-adoring wine team at Sheldon’s Wine Cellars

News

DotW, MadMolly, Sherry, Boerewors, Boxer, New Ins and Car’s the Star