Tasting notes: This week I am being rather specific with the
wine suggestion, due to being absolutely blown away by the bottle in question.
The 2014 Famiglia Bianchi Argentinian Malbec, which I had the pleasure of
trying recently, was a lovely surprise. It tasted quite closed to begin with,
but given some time, the complexities made themselves known and it was worth
the wait!
Theresa May has been Prime Minister of Great Britain for
just over two-months now, and has presided over arguably the most fractious
period of UK politics in living memory. After taking the poisoned chalice from
Cameron’s defeated grip, she has managed to restore relative calm in a sea of
uncertainty and negative speculation.
Comparisons to Thatcher aside, she has shown herself to be a
formidable force in Westminster already, taking no time to restructure
government departments and proclaim, wholeheartedly, that the UK will be leaving the EU…eventually.
The date on which Article 50 (the formal application for EU member state
withdrawal) will be invoked is still unknown. Former culture secretary,
John Whittingdale, told the Telegraph recently that he has urged May to
trigger formal withdrawal within the next few weeks, while May herself has said
numerous times that she wishes to wait until early next year to proceed.
On the 7th September, in the first
Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) since the summer recess, May was quick to
make clear to parliament that:
“We will not take
decisions until we are ready. We will not reveal our hand prematurely and we
will not provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the
negotiation.”
This was quickly followed by jibes from Corbyn claiming that
there was evidently an “extraordinary lack of planning” by government on how to
proceed, warning that “parliament and the public cannot be sidelined” on
matters as important as this.
Yes, open government is desirable and the transparency of UK
parliamentary proceedings is something that we should be proud of as a nation.
But it is understandable that May wishes to take her time and analyse the
situation carefully, before scrutiny and political point scoring muddies the
water.
The day after this session of PMQs, May hosted a breakfast
with the EU council president, Donald Tusk, to discuss how a positive working
relationship could be developed. The two main topics on the agenda were the
likelihood of securing a single market agreement, and immigration.
Tusk tweeted,
prior to the meeting, that he hoped to establish “the closest possible EU-UK
relations” but that the “ball” is very much in the “UK court” in terms of
starting negotiations.
Despite Tusk’s best efforts to persuade May to trigger
Article 50 quickly, May remained resolute that no formal announcement would be
made until 2017.
The pressure she must be feeling from the European
Parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, French president Francois
Hollande and other EU leaders is surely immense, and so it demonstrates great
strength and resolve that, rather than bowing to their demands, she is standing firm in her opinion that this process
should be orchestrated properly and with careful planning; in direct contrast
to Corbyn’s criticism.
May’s recent meeting with G20 leaders was similarly intense. The US refused to make a trade deal with the UK a priority while
negotiations take place and Japan issued an unprecedented 15-page warning on the
consequences of Brexit - tough day.
China is also a troublesome voice in May’s ear, especially
due to the uncertainty surrounding UK investment plans following the Hinkley
debacle. This was an early example of the caution exercised by May when it comes to
important decisions. She delayed approval of the nuclear site at the eleventh
hour, causing controversy and upset among the Chinese and the French, both of whom had already sunk billions of pounds into the
project. Admittedly, so has the UK.
It seems that May has a habit of taking a step back and
delaying decisions, but in no way should this be viewed as a bad thing. Despite
pressure from world leaders and domestic opposition, she has not relented, giving parliament the time it needs to look at the issues in depth.
Time to debate, analyse and strategize, something that has perhaps been lacking
in other, gung-ho, administrations.
On her recent flight to Hangzhou, China, recently, she spoke perceptively
about the situation, commenting:
“I won’t pretend it is
all going to be plain sailing. There will be some difficult times ahead. We
will be looking ahead to the autumn statement. So in terms of how we are going
to position things, the detail will be coming out then. What I’m clear about is
I am going to continue as we have done in government over the last six years
ensuring we are going to live within our means.”
So it seems that we
will have to wait until the Autumn Statement to hear her plan of action.
Why Malbec?
As mentioned in the tasting notes, this is not necessarily
about Malbec in general, but about a specific bottle I had the pleasure of
tasting at a lovely little place called Bakerie, located in Manchester Northern Quarter, recently.
I was lucky enough to be treated to the bottle by the
evening’s host, who took the time to talk us through what to expect, the
heritage, and the flavours to look out for. He then de-canted the wine for us,
letting us taste it straight from the bottle (which had a closed and quite tart
taste) before telling us to leave the wine untouched for ten minutes, to allow
it to breathe.
The result? A juicy, fruity wine with rich aromas of plums,
blackberries and cherries. Full-bodied and smooth.
This experience is one I think can be likened to Theresa
May’s term so far. Taking on the role of Prime Minister at such a sensitive
time required her to be strong and ‘full-bodied’, stating her intent and making
her mark from day one.
Admittedly, she has been quite closed and guarded in her
plans. No-one predicted the restructure of departments, no-one predicted
Hinkley, and people are still struggling to predict what the next step will be
in terms of Brexit. Like the wine, May's inaugural term in office has been rather 'closed' at first taste.
Having to wait for the wine to breathe at Bakerie was torturous.
We could smell the wine, we were thirsty, and - after it had been built up so
much by our host - we were desperate to try it.
When we finally got to taste it after ten minutes of
patience, we were blown away by how luscious and flavourful it was. It lived up
to all expectations and even exceeded them.
And I believe this will also be true of Theresa May.
Patience is a virtue, and sometimes a little uneasy waiting
can give/deliver the best results.
Leave it alone to breathe!
I for one will be waiting impatiently for the Autumn
Statement, comforting myself with the hope that it will be just as satisfying
as that Malbec.
Fingers crossed that the 2014 Famiglia Bianchi Argentinian
Malbec will be on the Bakerie wine list soon!
Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment