VALENCIA / COSTA AZAHAR www.theolivepress.es FREE Vol. 1 Issue 16
Still restricted CURRENT restrictions in the Valencian Community will stay in place until July 15 due to a big rise in COVID-19 infections. Measures including maintaining a 1am closure for bars and restaurants along with 50% indoor capacity restrictions that were scheduled to end today (July 1). One minor change is that banqueting halls can reopen. Valencian president, Ximo Puig, described the latest health situation as ‘worrying’. The region’s coronavirus infection rate has virtually doubled in a fortnight to 75 cases per 100,000 people. Last weekend ‘s infection figures were the largest since late February.
Concerns
Some 52% of cases came from the unvaccinated 15 to 29 year range group. Puig said that rising infection concerns had brought forward the start of vaccinations for people aged between 30 and 39 years to next week, some 12 days ahead of schedule. “July will be the month of vaccination for those aged under 40”, commented Puig. Text messages with appointment details have also started being sent to the 60 to 65 age group waiting for their second AstraZeneca injection.
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July 1st - July 14th 2021
Plonkers! British Dad discovers teenage guests used his prized wine (worth €3,000) to make tinto de verano at daughter’s party EXCLUSIVE By Fiona Govan in Madrid
Pete Jones is one hell of an understanding father. When he woke up to discover that his daughter and her friends had imbibed his most treasured bottle of wine during a party, he didn’t hit the roof. Rather, he blamed himself for leaving the bottle of Petrus, 1999 vintage, in plain view with a bunch of teenagers in the house. “I am just gutted that after saving it for 17 years, I didn’t even get to taste it,” he told The Olive Press, shaking his head. “And the tragic thing is, neither did they, well not properly. By all accounts it was used to make a tinto de verano”. He refers to the typically Spanish summer drink of red wine mixed with casera or lemon Fanta and poured over ice as a refreshing tipple. Usually the cheapest red wine is used, often from a carton.
Party
The British father, 56, who has lived in Madrid for more than 20 years, had gone out for the evening to allow his youngest daughter Lara, 19, to host a party for her friends at home near the Fuente del Berro park. “They are all a sensible bunch and were at school together so this was a reunion because many were back in the city after the end of their first year at university,” said the Welsh
HAPPY FAMILY: Despite the loss of his treasured wine dad Pete and daughters Lara (left) and Sele are putting on brave faces restaurateur behind The Dough Thrower in Cardiff. During the evening, Lara texted her father to insist he come home earlier than planned as ‘all her friends wanted to see me’, Jones said. “I got home and the party was in full swing, I had a drink with them, did some embarrassing dancing in the kitchen, then headed up to bed to leave them to it.” He also, stupidly, left the bottle from Bordeaux estate Château Pétrus in the fridge. The famous wine maker only produces about 30,000 bottles of wine a year, and its product is consistently ranked among the most expensive in the world. The 1999 vintage can be currently sourced from vintner for a price tag between €2,500 - €3,000 “I don’t know why it was there really,” he admitted. “It used to be hidden away in the cellar, but I got it out recently to show a friend, showing off
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that I was waiting for the right occasion to open it. And I hadn’t got round to putting it back.” The story of how he came to have the bottle is a good one. “It was Christmas Eve in 2004 and I suddenly realised that I hadn’t got potatoes so dashed out to this very expensive gourmet vegetable shop that was still open nearby,” Jones recalled. “There was a long
queue and when I got to the front on a whim I asked the chap behind the till to add a bottle of wine from the top shelf behind his head. I couldn’t see the price tag but thought it would be something special to drink at Christmas.” “The man looked pleased as punch over the purchase and then added it up and I gave him my card. It was only when I looked at the receipt that I realised the potatoes cost €1,20 something and the wine was over a grand. But everyone was waiting in line behind me and I felt too embarrassed to say anything,” he confessed. “My wife, Silv, was furious of course but I explained it away by insisting it was a vintage from the year of our eldest daughter’s birth and so we could keep it to drink with her on a special occasion,” he said. But after 17 years, no occasion had yet seemed quite special enough. Continues on Page 5