Three easy-to-make cocktails to while away those lazy days

First published in The Irish Times, Saturday 19th August, 2017.

This week, a few refreshing cocktails to enjoy in the sunshine. I am not usually a fan of wine cocktails; it seems sacrilegious to dilute or adulterate such a great beverage.

However, in the summer, when reviving low-alcohol drinks are essential, they seem appropriate. Gin is the great cocktail spirit, and there is no shortage of refreshing drinks to conjure up.

Elderflower & Savvy

It is often said that Sauvignon Blanc smells and tastes of elderflower, so not surprisingly, the two go well together. If you are feeling lazy, the Blossom Hill Elderflower & Lemon Spritz (5.5% alcohol), a very refreshing summery glass of wine, is an easy alternative.

Ingredients:
One  bottle of chilled inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, Chile or elsewhere;
150-200ml elderflower cordial;
1 750ml bottle of chilled sparkling water;
Two unwaxed limes (available in Marks & Spencer) or unwaxed lemons;
Ice.

Method:
Mix the cordial and wine together in a large jug, add sliced limes (or lemons), sparkling water and ice, tasting as you proceed, until it seems right. Serve with a sprig of mint.

Rebujito

I adore all kinds of sherry, and fino is a fantastic summer drink. However, fino’s 15% alcohol means a certain level of restraint is required. Rebujito is the favoured fiestas drink in Andalucía, and could not be easier to make.

The fino featured below is exquisite, and possibly wasted here. You could buy a bottle of Tio Pepe for the cocktail and save the Callejuela for a treat before dinner.

Spirits writer David Broom recommends using fino sherry instead of vodka for a lighter Bloody Mary, which worked very well. Alternatively, you could make a  P&T – a white port & tonic, garnished with lemon and mint.

Ingredients:
One bottle chilled fino sherry;
1 750 ml bottle of chilled sparkling water;
Ice;
One lemon.

Method:
Mix roughly equal quantities of sherry and sparkling water (some people use fizzy lemonade). Add a few cubes of ice and a few slices of lemon. Garnish with mint. Gin is a great summery drink, whether mixed with tonic water, or in a classic Tom Collins. This recipe, courtesy of Susie Atkins in the Telegraph, is delicious.

Ingredients:

50ml gin;
Two sprigs of fresh mint;
1cm slice of cucumber quartered;
100ml Elderflower pressé (or cordial mixed with sparkling water);
Ice;
A sprig of mint and slice of lemon to garnish.

Method:

Put the two sprigs of mint and slices of cucumber and gin into a cocktail shaker. Muddle (or bash) them around together for a minute, strain into a tall glass, add elderflower pressé and a few cubes of ice, and garnish with lemon and mint.

Bargain Wine:

 Costa Fresca Sauvignon Blanc 2016, San Antonio Valley,
14%, €13.30

 A very attractive Sauvignon with rich textured tropical fruit and great intensity for a wine at this price. Stockists: Marks & Spencer.

 Lone Kauri Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2016, Marlborough,
13%, €14.99 – €10 on promotion

Elderflower aromas and  rich gooseberry fruits; classic Marlborough Sauvignon. Stockists: SuperValu.

Callejuela Manzanilla Fina NV,
15%, €17

 Mouth-watering and fresh with citrus fruits and subtle green olives and almonds. Perfect on its own or in the Rebujito above. Stockists: World Wide Wines; Green Man Wines; Redmonds; Whelehan’s; 64 Wines.

 Boyle’s Small Batch Irish Botanical Gin,
40%, €24.99

 Excellent award-winning gin (made by Blackwater distillery) full of fruit, vibrant juniper and elderflower. Stockists: Aldi.

Time to go on the dry and roll out the Riesling

First published in The Irish Times, Saturday 4th August, 2017

As we move into full summer mode, it is time to return to one of the great loves of my life, Riesling. If you are beginning to suffer from Sauvignon fatigue, or tiring of tasteless Pinot Grigio, then this is the time to acquaint yourself with one of the world’s great wines. Dry (and even off-dry) Riesling is fresh and aromatic, perfect for drinking with or without food during the summer months. The wines usually have a class and complexity that leaves the two aforementioned grape varieties trailing in their wake.

Germany is still the best producer of Riesling in the world. A few words worth remembering here; trocken means dry in German, so you can expect these to be fairly dry or bone dry. A Kabinett without the word trocken will be off-dry, but don’t let this put you off; this is a classic style that the Mosel region does really well. The wines can be exceptional. But the fashion in Germany is for trocken, so most wines will be dry.

After Germany, Austria, Australia and Alsace all make very good dry versions. The Austrian wines tend to be a little more full-bodied, but it depends on vintage and winemaker. My favourite region is probably Kamptal, but many other Riesling aficionados prefer the richer style found in the Wachau.

National grape

Most parts of Germany produce a decent Riesling; it is their national grape after all. The Mosel and Rheingau are probably the best known, but the Rheinhessen, Nahe and Franken all offer wines that are every bit as good. Each region produces wine with its own distinctive style, while still remaining unmistakably Riesling.  Most decent retail shops now have at least one German or Austrian Riesling, including some of the multiples. I would steer clear of those under €10, unless you want to relive past experiences with Liebfraumilch and other sweetish nasties. The best German and Austrian Rieslings are in great demand at home and abroad, so sadly, the best do not come cheap. However, the overall quality is both very high and consistent. As Riesling ages very well, don’t be too concerned if you are offered wines that are two to three years old. You should be in for a treat.

The lighter off-dry wines of the Mosel are perfect deckchair wines, for sipping in the shade, on their own, or with a few nibbles. The bigger, drier trocken wines fit this bill too, but are also very much at home with seafood and white meats. My own favourite match is with fresh Irish crab, but Riesling also makes a great partner for many Asian foods, sushi and green curry in particular.

Four Rieslings to try

 Wehlener Klosterberg Riesling Kabinett 2014, Markus Molitor 10%. €26.95

Pristine, lightly honeyed peaches with a clean mineral core, the off-dry finish perfectly balanced by the lively acidity. Stockists: Searsons, Monkstown; Baggot Street Wines.

Platin Riesling 2015, Niederösterreich, Jurtschitsch, Austria 12.5%. €22.50

Bone dry with delightful rich apricot fruits  cut through with citrus and spice. Stockists: Quintessential Wines, Drogheda; 64 Wine.

Riesling Trocken 2016, Wagner Stempel, Rheinhessen 12%. €20

Succulent, mouthwatering peach and pineapple with a fine crisp dry finish. Stockists: Avoca Rathcoole; Drinkstore; Sweeney’s; Jus de Vine, Portmarnock; Martin’s, Fairview; Clontarf Wines.

Dr L Riesling 2015, Loosen, Mosel 8.5%. €14

Lean, clean fresh green apple and pear fruits with an off-dry finish.

Stockists: Morton’s, Ranelagh; Jus de Vine; Nolan’s, Clontarf.

The World of Rosé

First published in The Irish Times, Saturday 22nd July, 2017

I cast my net fairly wide to find some nice rosés to drink over the summer months. Last week, I focused on the trendy rosés of Provence. Today, a wider look at the world through pink goggles. Often ignored as simple and frivolous, particularly by men it must be said, (isn’t wine supposed to be fun?) rosé is the essence of summer, great for sipping in the shade on a hot day, or with light salads and cold meats and fish. It comes in all shapes and sizes, from the palest, lightly tinged, almost white, to deeply-coloured salmon-pink wines. Colour is not always an accurate guide, but generally the deeper the colour, the more fruit and flavour in the wine. Rosé varies from delicate to powerful, and from bone-dry to sweet. It also depends on the winemaking.

 The most common way to make a rosé wine is to leave the grape skins in contact with the freshly crushed juice for a short period; this can be anything from two to 12 hours. It is possible to use any red grape but some are more suitable than others. Grapes with thick skins can add too much colour and unwanted tannins very quickly. Once removed from the skins, the wine is then fermented as a white wine. A second closely related method is saignée, French for bled. For this, a winemaker bleeds off a small amount of free-run juice from freshly crushed, but unpressed red grapes. The resulting rosé wine can be very good, and the bonus for the winemaker is that the remaining grapes will have a higher concentration of colour and fruit for a red wine.

Dollops and charcoal

Two other, less common, methods are blending and charcoal. Blending simply means adding a small dollop of red wine to white. This is banned in some countries, but widely practised for Champagne and other sparkling wines. Although this method is dismissed by some, it certainly makes for some very good pink Champagne. Charcoal is occasionally used to remove colour (or off-flavours) from a wine. The problem is it removes some of the fruit as well. One last method, rarely used, and very hard to control, is simply fermenting red and white grapes together.

Mitchell & Son has a new range of wines from Trudie Styler and Sting from their estate in Tuscany, under the name Beppé , including the very stylish light dry Rosato below. This is mainly Sangiovese, a grape that can produce delicious rosé.

The intriguing Vaglio rosé below is made from a bewildering array of grapes; 40 per cent Malbec, 25 per cent Pinot Noir, 20 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon with 13 per cent Syrah and 2 per cent of the white grape Torrontés. The person responsible is José Lovaglio, the son of highly regarded winemaker Susana Balbo.

Vaglio Rosé 2016, Uco Valley, Argentina

12% (€15)

 A very pale colour with delicate lively fresh juicy red fruits and an off-dry finish.

 Stockists: Marks & Spencer.

Beppé Rosato Toscano 2016

12% (€18.95)

Perfumed with lovely delicate light strawberry and apple fruits.

Stockists: Mitchell & Son, chq, Sandycove, Avoca Kilmacanogue and Dunboyne; Sheridan’s, Galway.

Massaya Classic Rosé 2016, Bekka Valley, Lebanon

13.5 per cent (€22.50)

 Complex fresh red fruits, plenty of lively acidity and a dry finish. Perfection with a plate of meze?

 Stockists: JNwine.com

Ch Haut-Rian Bordeaux Rosé

12.5% (€12.95)

 A delicious Cabernet Merlot blend at a great price. Light but full of red and white peach fruits with a dry finish. Great summer drinking.

 Stockist: Wines Direct, Mullingar & Arnott’s, Dublin.

The best French wines you’ve never heard of

On Friday the French celebrate their fête nationale, otherwise known as le quatorze juillet or, outside France at least, Bastille Day. France is home to some of the world’s greatest wines. Everyone has heard of Bordeaux, burgundy and champagne. Yet the country offers so much more than these. The real France is made up of countless small regions producing unique local wines made from grape varieties unheard of elsewhere.

I am talking about Mondeuse from Savoie; Fer Servadou from Marcillac and Gaillac; Courbu, Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng from Jurançon; Arbois from Cheverny; Savagnin from Jura; and many more besides. Add the more familiar regions, such as Sancerre, Muscadet, Beaujolais and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and you have the greatest number of grape varieties and regions known to humankind. The only countries that can compete in terms of variety are Italy and Greece.

At times it seems as if we know each and every area only to find several regions, previously known only to the wine anorak, suddenly spring to prominence. Jurançon and Jura would certainly fit this category; Marcillac and Savoie are waiting their turn, although both are available through the more adventurous importers.

The word “artisan” is widely abused, but many of these wines are made by small farmers who often struggle for recognition in a world increasingly dominated by large brands. Quality can be mixed, although the current generation certainly make better wine than their predecessors. The good producers are really worth seeking out, as they offer wines with real character and terroir (another much-abused term), often at reasonable prices.

You won’t find them for €6.99 in your local supermarket, as nobody can make a profit at this price. But spend €10-€15 and you can find wines of individuality and interest – or, for a few euro more, wines of depth and complexity. The three wines below have all of these qualities.

France also has the advantage of being close by. Shipping small quantities of wine from Australia and Argentina can be prohibitively expensive. It is far easier for specialist importers to access a few dozen cases of the more recherche French wines. Food, wine and France are inextricably linked. It is hard to think of one without the others. Each region has dishes to accompany the local wines. I know many readers have spent happy holidays meandering along picturesque country roads, discovering the home-grown cuisine. France produces every style of wine, from the lightest refreshing white to the most robust red. Anyone who claims they don’t like French wine hasn’t tried hard enough – or doesn’t like wine.

Bottles of the Week

Gloire de Mon Père 2014, Tour des Gendres, Côtes de Bergerac 12.5%, €21.50

A silky, seamless, elegant red wine awash with soft ripe blackcurrants. Perfect for a posh dinner party. From Blackrock Cellars, Le Caveau, Corkscrew, 64 Wine, Green Man Wines

Jurançon Sec Vitatge Vielh 2012 Clos Lapeyre 13.5%, €22

Unpronounceable and unputdownable. Stunning wine with rich honey, orange-peel and pineapple fruits, a strong mineral seam, and a long, bone-dry finish. From 64 Wine, Green Man Wines

Berthet-Bondet Côtes du Jura Tradition 2013 13%, €31

Captivating fino-like wine with tangy, racy, crisp apple fruits, grilled nuts and a dry finish. From the Corkscrew, Chatham Street.