John Key's stash
Claudine Earley
LAST week John Key came up with a cunning plan to find the money needed to invest in schools, hospitals, broadband and the Basin Reserve fly-over. He plans the partial sale of state-owned power and coal companies, along with the government’s stake in Air New Zealand.
But hold on, John, there may be another way to subsidise state spending. If we are anything like the British government, there should be a healthy stash of wine cellared somewhere near the Beehive. We could auction off the cellar rather than sell off the family jewels.
Over in London, a member of the Labour party has revealed that there are enough bottles of flash wine in the government’s collection to make a sizeable dent in the Brit’s budget deficit.
Tom Watson reckons the wine cellar contains a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1978 worth more than £2,500. “They should sell the good stuff to make ends meet,” he says. “As the economy heads back into recession nobody will serious believe that we are all in this together when ministers are quaffing wines at £200 a bottle.”
Notes have been left dotted around the cellar, making recommendations on the appropriate occasion to open a bottle. Next to a bottle of Chateau Latour 1955, worth about £1,000, is the note: “Drink on v. special occasions. Spectacular: no need now to hasten rundown of tiny stock. ‘The essence of wonderful claret’. Fresh and lovely.”
While we might not be able to find the $16.2 billion Key hopes to get for flogging of the SoEs, every little bit helps.
I’m sure MPs would be more than happy to drink in place of expensive wines ones like wine of the week: Te Mata ‘Woodthorpe’ Merlot/Cabernets 2008 ($17 at Regional). Highly rated by wine experts, this is the affordable version of Te Mata’s Coleraine ($73). While you can’t age Woodthorpe for 12 years as you can its famous big brother, you can drink it right now. It’s a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The colour of black doris plums, with floral aromas indicating the ripeness of the fruit. This wine is a must try for blackcurrant and chocolate fans.
But hold on, John, there may be another way to subsidise state spending. If we are anything like the British government, there should be a healthy stash of wine cellared somewhere near the Beehive. We could auction off the cellar rather than sell off the family jewels.
Over in London, a member of the Labour party has revealed that there are enough bottles of flash wine in the government’s collection to make a sizeable dent in the Brit’s budget deficit.
Tom Watson reckons the wine cellar contains a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1978 worth more than £2,500. “They should sell the good stuff to make ends meet,” he says. “As the economy heads back into recession nobody will serious believe that we are all in this together when ministers are quaffing wines at £200 a bottle.”
Notes have been left dotted around the cellar, making recommendations on the appropriate occasion to open a bottle. Next to a bottle of Chateau Latour 1955, worth about £1,000, is the note: “Drink on v. special occasions. Spectacular: no need now to hasten rundown of tiny stock. ‘The essence of wonderful claret’. Fresh and lovely.”
While we might not be able to find the $16.2 billion Key hopes to get for flogging of the SoEs, every little bit helps.
I’m sure MPs would be more than happy to drink in place of expensive wines ones like wine of the week: Te Mata ‘Woodthorpe’ Merlot/Cabernets 2008 ($17 at Regional). Highly rated by wine experts, this is the affordable version of Te Mata’s Coleraine ($73). While you can’t age Woodthorpe for 12 years as you can its famous big brother, you can drink it right now. It’s a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The colour of black doris plums, with floral aromas indicating the ripeness of the fruit. This wine is a must try for blackcurrant and chocolate fans.
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