Ottomarzo 2012, Tenute Dettori, IGP Romangia Rosso, Sardinia

Ottomarzo 2012, Tenute Dettori, IGP Romangia Rosso
14.5%
€29.50
Available from 64wine, Glasthule

Stunning wine. Mellow ripe soft dark fruits with hints of liquorice, warm earth and herbs; full and rounded, voluptuous and warming with real complexity.

I would suspect this would go nicely with most red meat dishes. I had mine with roast autumn vegetables (sweet potatoes, butternut squash, shallots, peppers etc.) with a cashew nut dressing; it all worked very well.

Tenute Dettori are pretty hardcore natural winemakers. The back label to this wine boasts ‘No synthetic chemicals, yeasts, emzymes, or any other winemaking aids. No wooden barrels, no fining and no filtration. Every bottle can be different. Leave to oxygenate in the glass. Their website explains that in 2008 they preferred to lose almost their entire crop to mildew rather than spray. ‘It is better to lose a season’s grapes than pollute the earth’. All of their vineyards and wines are monovarietal. The Ottomarzo is made from the Pascale grape. It doesn’t appear my new edition of Oz Clarke and Margaret Rand’s book, Grapes & Wines; in the Oxford Companion the entry merely states ‘Sicilian speciality dark grape’. According to Wikipedia, Pascale di Cagliari is grown only in Sicily and usually blended with other grape varieties. I really enjoyed the Tenute Dettori Cannonau, but was less sure about the Vermentino.

El Grano Chardonnay 2012, Poda Corta, Curico Valley (Organic)

€15.90

Available from Le Caveau, Kilkenny; Baggot Street Wines; Blackrock Cellar; 64 wine, Glasthule; Green Man Wines, Terenure.

Very nicely textured wine with subtle toast, grilled nuts and tasty ripe tropical fruits.

With lightly spicy chicken or prawns.

Chile produces some pretty good Chardonnay, but its not every day that a proprietor pulls you over to urge you to try one. But this happened to me recently, and I now know why; this is a very well-made wine with some real interest. As an aside, it is getting hard to find a Chardonnay with oaky flavours – all of the Aussies and Chileans seem to have gone down the lean and crisp route. It is nice to have a Dolly Parton every now and again, although this does not qualify. This wine is made by Frenchman Denis Duveau who sold his property in the Loire Valley and instead began advising producers in France and elsewhere. In 2002, he set up a winery in the Curico valley in Chile, determined to make terroir-driven organic wine. The Chardonnay stands out as something special.

Tenute Dettori Vino Renosu Rosso NV, Sardinia

€17.50

Available from 64wine, Glasthule.

A fascinating and intriguing wine – warm, earthy and herby, with soft ripe red fruits – plush and rounded yet light and elegant at the same time. It tasted even better the next day.

I imagine something Italian and homely – sausages with lentils or beans

Allessandro Dettori, based on the island of Sardinia, is committed to non-interventionist natural wine making, using organic grapes, wild yeasts, ageing in cement tanks and using as little sulphur dioxide as possible. This is made from Cannonau, aka Grenache, something of a speciality in Sardinia. I am not a fan of all natural wines but I really enjoyed this a lot.