15 Mar 2006

Wine in Newcastle-upon-Tyne?

Forgive me if you feel this is an abuse of this site but I have to go north tomorrow for a few days to help my mother out of hospital and settled back home after what we hope will prove to have been a very worthwhile back operation. (Back operations sound like an unthinkably serious last resort but Nick had a similar one last year which brought him enormous relief.)

Can anyone point me in the direction of a superior wine retailer in Newcastle-upon-Tyne please?

Any suggestions sent via this link would be much appreciated. Please choose the General Enquiries option.

Thanks a lot. And please bear with me if the site is updated rather less frequently than usual over the next few days. Once back at the ancestral home I shall have to depend on piggybacking on the blacksmith next door’s wireless network from a freezing cold outhouse – oh dear I seem to remember this word has unfortunate connotations in some parts of the world. An old toolshed then. Still freezing.

Julia can't cover for me this time as she is in California collecting her award for being the top Master of Wine in her year.

Andrew Nicoll, Champagnes & Châteaux:

Wine Merchant Newcastle? It’s got to be Richard Granger (Personal Wine Merchant), West Jesmond Station (literally!) Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 3HH Tel: 0191 281 5000 Contacts: Alistair Stewart/Mark Rennie

me:

Gosh that was quick! Thanks a lot. Near the hospital too, I think.

John Reed, Aberdeen, Scotland:

Re Richard Granger Wines – you can browse his website on www.richardgrangerwines.co.uk. I would also recommend this shop as I use it when visiting family.

Phil Richardson, Newcastle-upon-Tyne:

If you are in the Newcastle area visiting Richard Granger, try paying a visit to www.newcastlewineschool.com, a locally based wine school spreading the gospel of good wine and currently looking to expand in the UK with a network of similar schools. I have included their email address above and contact details below.

Newcastle Wine School
3 Newbrough Crescent

Jesmond NE2 2DQ
tel +44 (0)191 2818045

me:

Thanks so much for telling us about your noble enterprise – more noble than my expedition to find Richard Granger which failed. I admittedly had a very short time available before collecting my hale and relatively hearty mother from the Nuffield but must have confused Jesmond station with West Jesmond I think and was directed to a distinctly dodgy corner wine store instead – and then ran out of time for tracking down the real thing.

Great shame since they have since emailed me and said they had put something rather nice in the fridge in anticipation of my visit.

Another change of plan, but for the better: My pc didn’t seem very keen on my mother’s neighbour’s wireless network, but my natal Cumbrian village (pop 45) turns out reasonably coincidentally to harbour Colin Cook, a purple pager with fully functional broadband which he kindly shared with me. Along with the reminder: What’s wrong with Corkscrew Wines of Carlisle? (Incidentally, he is very keen to discover more wine classes locally. I will draw his attention to your school though it may be just a bit too far.)

Main thing: Ma’s walking may well improve. Back in London now and she's spending the week in a local nursing home.