Here at Village News the girls have always enjoyed their beer. Not that nauseating yellow
fizz that gives proper lager a bad name. (It is somewhat ironic that a “lager”
that goes by the name Fosters, is advertised as a quintessentially Australian
lager, when it is not very popular in Australia and is, in fact, brewed in the
UK.) Lager belongs in mainland Europe, and if that’s one’s tipple, then that is
where one should head. No, our girls are bitter girls, so to speak, and are
well served in the Village News area with Courage, Shepherd Neame and Young’s
pubs, to name but three.
Imagine
their delight, therefore, when here at Village News Towers, we received news of
a recently-opened off-licence that was stocking approximately 150 beers from around
the world. The corner shop opposite The Bickley, that used to be Unwins, then
something else, and is now Chislehurst Wines could be thought of, by someone
who hadn’t been inside, as just another off-licence as this someone combines the
convenience of food and drink purchases under one roof at Sainsbury’s or
Morrisons with F*****s in the beer aisle and loads of wine in the opposite
shelves, but nothing much to guide them as to what to purchase, other than
price. However, even this could be a false economy. A recent survey by Wotwine organisation found that some
supermarkets seemed content to dump
average wines on customers under the guise of bargain deals. Furthermore, most high street supermarkets, including ASDA,
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Co-Op, Morrisons, even Waitrose and M & S, were judged
to have more poor value wine than good value wine. The only exceptions were,
flavours of the decade, Aldi and Lidl, where good value wine was more in evidence
than poor value.
Village News went off to Chislehurst Wines (and
Beers) as we’ve been calling it, keen to find out whether it’s possible to get
150 varieties of F*****s. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that it is. We were
greeted by manager Alya, who certainly knows her beers. We started by talking
about Raspberry Wheat Beer, brewed by Greenwich’s Meantime Brewing Company.
Small, craft breweries have seen a renaissance in recent years, and England, with
over 1,000, has the third largest number of breweries in the world, behind only
the USA and Germany. We ended up discussing Delirium Tremens, an 8.5% Belgian
golden ale that won
"Best Beer in the World" in the 2008 World Beer Championships, on the
way passing dozens of fabulous beers that we’d never even heard of.
Needing
a breather, we stuck our heads inside the humidor, housing some fabulous
cigars. We didn’t ask Alya if she was a smoker, but she certainly knew about
them all.
We then
had a look at the port collection, which was plentiful enough to have its own
shop. When it came to vintage port, what do you prefer – 10, 20, 30 or 40 year
old? Alya has the lot!
We had
the same feeling with the whiskey. 10 year old Glenlivet, 18 year old
Glenlivet, or 21 year old Glenlivet. Don’t dare go in and just ask for a bottle
of whiskey, ‘cos that’s just the start. David Beckham’s new Haig Club whiskey
is also in evidence.
Time
for some gin. Village News’ readers will know about Chislehurst’s Dom Limbrey’s
D1 London gin. Alya has that in stock. She also has Hendrick’s, Sipsmith, The
Botanist, Monkey 47.....
“What
about rum?” Havana Club, or the 3 year or the 7 year old. Then there’s the
vodka. Alya showed us a bottle of Royal Dragon, which, when shaken in the
bottle, stirs up a load of sparkly snowflakes like those Christmas scene toys
we’ve all played with, only Royal Dragon’s “snowflakes” are in fact gold
flakes!
Thank
goodness we had reached the wine! Time for some cheap old plonk – but not a bit
of it. Alya took us skilfully through a selection of some of the 600+ wines,
guiding us to some of her favourites and answering any questions we had.
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| ALYA & ROYAL DRAGON |
It was
then that we really came alive. Not just a “take it or leave it” approach, it
was time for some tastings, but not from just a couple of bottles that had been
opened days before and were lingering on the shelf. Alya has a wine tasting
machine, no less. You buy a wine-tasting card, load it with some cash, put it
in a slot on the machine and then get tasting. For each of the 16 bottles or so
in the machine (that keeps the wines fresh) you can select a tasting glass for,
typically, 30 – 45p, a larger amount for around 60p or even more for 90p or so.
This really was a revelation to us. You can be left to get on with
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| THE MAGNIFICENT WOMAN AND HER TASTING MACHINE |
it yourself with
the tasting notes, or Alya will help you to decide which ones to try. For the novice
and experienced wine-connoisseur alike, it’s a great way to try-before-you-buy.
You could go on your own or visit with a group of friends and have a group
wine-tasting session. If any reader is stuck for an unusual Christmas present, buy
them a Chislehurst Wines’ tasting card.
It’s
safe to say, the Village News team was bowled over by its visit. In a time when
the supermarkets are falling over themselves to offer the lowest price, it is
reassuring to know that in Chislehurst there is a gem of an “off-licence” or,
as we’ve now re-re-named it, “Chislehurst Wines, Beers, Whiskeys, Gins, Vodkas,
Rums, Ports and Cigars.” However, Chislehurst Wines also has some deals: at
present it is offering 3 for £5.50 beers and 30% off selected wines.
Inevitably,
whilst we were in the shop a customer old enough to know better walked in and
asked for “Four cans of Fosters.”
You
can imagine where we thought Alya was going to tell him to go. Fortunately she
didn’t.
Chislehurst
Wines will soon be joining the Village Card scheme.
See below for some upcoming events.
Chislehurst
Wines can be found at 57 Chislehurst Road, Chislehurst, BR7 5NP.
Tel:
020 8467 3528
Despite over 6,000 hits a month, our recent appeal for donations to keep us going through 2015 has resulted as at today with just ONE!
On Saturday 17th January 2015 between 10am and 12pm at Ravensbourne
School, Hayes Lane, Bromley learn to sing, dance and act with current West End
Stars.
Local Police are appealing for witnesses to a burglary where a black Cocker Spaniel dog has been stolen.
Bickley
