Cheer up Charlton

Chatting to Curbs

After the pessimistic hysteria among Charlton fans yesterday following fake news about the sale of the club, I felt that I needed to find some new way of cheering them up.

I recalled that when I was Alan Curbishley's kit sponsor, I used to send him the occasional crate of champagne.  It went down quite slowly as he only opened it when Charlton won.

I also recalled that Super Hoops fan and Charlton scourge Lord Young of Acton also celebrates their successes with wine.  Sometimes he settles for a bottle of plonk at £40, but the rare thrill of a QPR victory is celebrfated with a £80 bottle.

This is pretentious nonsense.   I don't claim to b a win connoisseur, but I do have shares in a vineyard in Charlton territory and I was one of the 'angels' that provided the capital to set up Naked Wines.

The Moneda Palace

Admittedly there are truly exceptional wines.  On my first visit to Chile I was invited to meet the Minister of the Presidency at the Moneda Palace and I was served the best glass of red wine I have ever tasted.

On my second visit I was invited to the Palace to meet the then president, Michelle Bachelet.   Because of the importance of our relations with Chile (think Falklands) I had to be briefed by the UK ambassador.   I was interrogated quite brusquely by one of his aides and the ambassador suggested I should buy myself a bottle of wine from the shop round the corner.  After discovering that the lowest price was three fgures in US dollars, I made my excuses and left.

The president turned out to be very friendly and I was served an even better glass of red wine.  The president asked if I had ever been to Buck House and I said that I had been invited to garden parties twice.   She then mischievously asked. 'Did the Queen give you a tour?', but I explained that it didn't work like that.  'Well I am going to give you a tour of my palace; which she promptly did. 

I am sure that a lot of Charlton fans likely to celebrate victory with a few beers, each with their favourite tipple.  As I only drink zero alcohol beers these days I can't help there.

What I am going to do for each Saturday is recommend a competitively priced good quality wine from Aldi or Lidl or occasionally from Tesco or Sainsbury's.   (I am shareholder in the two latter supermarkets).

Finally, can I give a recommendation.   I have dealt with Stone, Wine & Vine for longer than I can remember: https://www.stonevine.co.uk/

They are not cheap, but their sales offer great value as they offer 'damaged' quality wines, e.g., with distressed labels at knock down prices.