Newsletter April 08

Misty Water Coloured Mammaries

At long last the Memorabilia section has gone live. Hooray! I have been wondering for so long what to do with this space. Then suddenly 4 different people sent me their scrapbooks – and it was obvious. David, from Scotland designed the presentation – big round of applause. I think they are soooo cute. It is difficult to get a real idea of my music career and presence in the past because the context was so important. These carefully put together books give a really authentic view; they take you right there, and are real collectors’ gems. I have not edited or changed them in any way as their value is in their genuineness. I found it so entertaining to see each person’s unique selection of material. I have always been interested in the synergy between an artist and their fan base or audience. Through this symbiotic relationship the artist develops and grows. I would very much like this area to reflect this idea - a kind of YourSpace. So anything that you have that you have felt important enough to keep over the years that captures a moment in time and want to share with other devotees please take a photo and send a jpeg or scan it on low resolution and send it to info@sandieshaw.com. I know that some people out there still have the original fan club correspondence and newsletters. Or perhaps you have a show ticket or programme, or photos of a live performance. Did you ever meet me? What was it like? Do you have a picture? All suggestions welcome.

Tasting the Earth and Stars

Those of you who have read my book, "The World At My Feet" will be familiar with the story of Jenny ‘Lemons’ my first personal assistant – the one who while touring with me secretly smuggled her Lebanese Gold stash in empty Tampax tubes and nearly got me into big trouble… Those of you who regularly read my monthly Newsletters will also be aware of my growing interest in wine over the years.

Jenny and I have not been in touch for a while now. Bumping into her again at a Nichiren Buddhist Centre I discovered that by happy coincidence, and completely independently, Jenny has also become a wine enthusiast. So much so that she now has a very famous wine shop in Wincanton, Somerset called "Divine Wines". Oh wow! I thought.

A few weeks after our reunion Jenny rang me to suggest we turn the tables and that I accompany her as HER personal assistant at an organic and biodynamic wine tasting event. Seemed like a great way to celebrate our Sixties together. I got up at the crack of dawn to join her in London, these professionals start drinking seriously early.

At the entrance we were given our badges. Mine stating, ‘Sandra. Divine Wines. Personal Assistant’. A large pile of crates containing wine glasses stood by the door. We took one each and surveyed the rows of tables groaning under the weight of their vineyard’s display of wares. "Whites first. Then the champagne. Then lunch. Then we’ll do the reds", instructed Jenny. I was eager to do a good job. So I watched everything she did and copied.

My first instruction was, ‘No swallowing.’

My second,’ Spit it in the bin provided.’

At our local chateaux and vignobles in France we just quaff it all down at once.

I soon got the hang of spitting. By the end of the day I could do it from four feet.

However when we reached the vintage organic Champagne de Fleury I broke all the rules. "Sorry. I swallowed," I admitted shamefaced. ‘L’Art d’etre naturel’ was too delicious to waste.

Jean Sébastien, with long tied-back hair, presented the work of his family with great panache, telling the story of his pére and grand-pére and uncles who had established the Fleury Champagne House in 1895. He had brought with him soil samples and his special biodynamic manure in little display boxes.

After lunch with the other tasters, including a very serious young man from China who was stocking up for a wine supplier in Beijing in readiness for the Olympics, we returned for the reds. Jenny was having a good professional swig and I was doing my now very expert sniff of a full-bodied red when we both caught Jean Sébastien out of the corner of our eye. He had opened his box of ‘organic manure’ and was massaging the pooh between his fingers while holding it up to the tasters’ noses to smell. Breaking out into fits of laughter, I hoovered my wine up my nose and Jenny’s mouth burst with the strain of holding hers in. With organic red trickling down the sides of her mouth and out of my nose we looked like deranged vampires out for the kill. At least we didn’t swallow.

We took time out to watch the other oenologists. Wine buffs come in all shapes and sizes and ages nowadays. Their enjoyment and the enthusiasm of the growers is an intoxicating environment to be in.

At the end of the day Jenny and I had each tasted 146 wines from all over the world!

This tasting was put on by UK’s leading organic and biodynamic wine specialists, Vintage Roots, run by the handsome duo of Neil Palmer and Lance Piggott. If you want to know more you can contact them through their website: www.vintageroots.co.uk or on freephone no: 0800 980 4992.

So, Neil and Lance, where’s my free bottle of vintage Fleury biodynamic Champagne?