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A weekend’s drinking and tasting.

Posted by on June 27, 2016
A weekend’s drinking and tasting.

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Napareuli Seperavi 2012, Marani, Georgia
13.5%
Not available in this country, but a very enjoyable interesting wine, with strawberries and red cherries mixed in with tobacco and an earthiness.

Flor de Crasto 2014, Douro
€12.95 from Wines Direct. Decent well-made wine with dark fruits and a good tannic structure. Somehow lacking excitement though. But ok at the price.

Tio Pepe Fino en Rama, Gonzalez Byass
Lovely vivid tangy dry sherry with delicious lightly toasted almonds and sourdough yeast (I’m making a lot of bread at the moment). Sadly all gone now; it lasted ten days, something of a record in this household. €18.99 from Bradleys, Cork, Winesoftheworld.ie and probably a few other specialist retail shops.

Palmento Vino di Anna, Vin Rosso
No vintage (although the XIV in the corner would indicate 2014), no regional indication, but it is made by Vino di Anna, the winery on Mount Etna owned by Anna Martens and Eric Narioo of UK wine importer Caves de Peyrenne.. Light slightly fizzy juicy strawberry fruits, with a nice earthiness. Pleasant interesting wine; just not quite sure I would pay €30 for it. Under Coravin, so I’ll try it again later.

Fattori Sauvignon Vecchie Scuole 2015, Sauvignon delle Venezie IGT, Terrini Vulcanici
Delicious fresh dry Sauvignon – this will certainly make it as a Top Drop white later this week. €19.95 from Grapevine, Dalkey.

Primitvo Lamie dell Vigne 2012, Masseria Guttarolo, Puglia
This too will certainly feature as a wine of the week; delicious complex powerful wine that was an utter joy to drink. €24 from Mitchell & Son, Green Man Wines, Terenure and Sheridan’s Cheesemngers.

Pinot Nero dell’ Oltrepo Pavese Poggio Pelato 2013, Tenuta il Bosco
Good concentration of leafy tangy plum fruits with a dry plumstone finish.
Enjoyable wine, but just didn’t have that sweetness that makes Pinot Noir so delicious. €16.95 from Fresh outlets.

Viognier 2015, Pays d’Oc, Delas
From one of the leading northern Rhône producers, an uncomplicated easy white wine with ripe, almost sweetish peach fruits. Light for a Viognier with 12.5% alcohol. Imported by Febvre, but not sure about retail price.

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Midsummer Wines – the red wines of the Loire Valley

Posted by on June 26, 2016

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First published in the Irish Times, Saturday 25th June, 2016

As I write, it is a beautiful bright morning, with sun streaming through the window. This being Ireland, all may have changed by the time you read this, but the last week has been dry and sunny most of the time. These days I tend to drink lighter, lower-alcohol red wines throughout the year. But once the sun comes out, I find it difficult to think about big, beefy red wines.

Once the temperature starts to rise, the red wines of the Loire valley come into their own. Usually low in alcohol, with a mouth-wateringly refreshing bite, they have a lightness and vibrancy that seems to epitomise summer. In fact, virtually all of the Loire wines, white and rosé too, fit the sunny category.

I serve the reds cool, or even lightly chilled, to big up the refreshing acidity. This week, three of four wines hail from the Loire, one from the obscure appellation of Cheverny in Touraine. Here pinot noir is blended with gamay (a Loire version of the rarely seen burgundian “passetoutgrains”) and sometimes cabernet franc too. Gamay and pinot noir from the Loire can be very good, and the region is also home to most of the world’s great cabernet franc, one of my favourite grapes. Even the best wines, from Chinon, Bourgueil and St Nicolas de Bourgueil, are low in alcohol and perfect for summer. Touraine and other areas can also be good, and less expensive too. The key is to buy from a ripe vintage – 2014 was good and 2015 excellent.

Other names to look out for include all forms of Beaujolais, or Mencía-based wines from northwest Spain. From Italy, barbera, dolcetto and valpolicella can fit the bill, but check the alcohol levels before buying. Ideally you want a wine at 12-13 per cent. Cerasuolo di Vittoria is expensive but light and delicious.

Australian pinot noir fits into the same category, as does German spätburgunder. From Austria blaufränkisch and zweigelt are light and tasty. For value options, Chile is now producing some very good pinot noir. Some are a little high in alcohol but should be light in body.

The mere mention of the word lambrusco is enough to bring on a hangover with some wine drinkers. Memories linger. The good guys have always produced delicious wines, none more so than that featured today. Their website suggests you drink this delicious sparkling red at about 14-15 degrees with all manner of charcuterie as well as ravioli and risottos.

The other wines featured today would also be perfect with all forms of cold pork, from ham to salami to patés, chicken dishes, tarts and pies, as well as more full-flavoured fish such as tuna and salmon.

DSCF6528Domaine Bellier 2014, Cheverny
12.5%
£9.99/€14.99

A delicious delicate blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay with seductive light red cherry fruits.

Stockists: jnwine.com

ImageLes Granges 2014, Domaine Baudry, Chinon
12.5%
€19

Delicious lightly peppery crunchy redcurrants and cherries. Yum!

Stockists: Grapevine, Dalkey (onthegrapevine.ie); Red Island, Skerries; Cabot and Co, Westport (cabotandco.com); No.1 Pery Square, Limerick; McCambridges, Galway.

DSCF6624Concerto 2014 Lambrusco Reggiano, Medici Ermete
11.5%
€24.50

Effervescent raspberries and other juicy red fruits. Summer in a glass.

Stockists: Sheridan’s; Mitchell & Son; Green Man Wines.

ImagePinot Noir La Roncière 2014, Val de Loire
12.5%
€14.95

Light, floral and refreshing, with earthy dark cherry fruits. Serve cool.

Stockists: Whelehan’s Wines, Loughlinstown.

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Cured Egg Yolks

Posted by on June 24, 2016
Cured Egg Yolks

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I can never resist a recipe for preserving anything, so this one for cured egg yolks, from last week’s Guardian Food intrigued me. I enclose the recipe below; it is very simple. However my cured eggs just tasted very salty and sweet and stuck to my teeth. Possibly they weren’t dry enough, but grating them was difficult and made no difference. Chopped hard-boiled eggs easier and probably better.

Grated cured egg yolk – from the Guardian, Saturday 18th Jun, 2016.

While waiting for these TwinnyDip beauties to cure (four days – making this recipe by far the longest prep the Swap has thus far encountered), I was plumping for the expedient simplicity of Lauren Kisby’s rosti (to follow) as winner. But then, when the yolks were at last ready to grate and sprinkle, their glowing canary hue lighting up my kitchen, I was torn. For flavour and looks, it is the perfect garnish. I used it to make a homemade furikake (savoury rice topping), adding yuzu chilli flakes, black sesame seeds and tendrils of nori. I was so excited, I had to call my mother.
Makes 4
220g sugar
275g salt
4 large egg yolks
1 Combine the sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
2 In a small, lidded container (big enough for all four yolks to sit in one layer without touching each other), spread half the sugar-salt mixture. Carefully make four egg yolk-sized hollows in it. Then, one by one, separate the eggs, setting the white aside. Place a yolk in each hollow, ensuring they stay intact – be very careful not to break the yolks. Ensure there is salt and sugar all around each yolk, then sprinkle the remainder – very gently – on top of the yolks, to cover them completely. Cover the container with the lid and refrigerate for 4 days.
3 Take the container out of the fridge and carefully take each yolk out, removing as much of the sugar-salt mixture as possible. Run each yolk for no more than a couple of seconds under a cold tap to remove any excess sugar-salt mixture stuck to the surface of the yolks. Pat dry carefully using kitchen towel. Grate on the fine side of a box grater atop seafood, soups, garlicky braised veg, bitter leaf salad – essentially, wherever a poached egg might do. The cured yolks will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

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Fratelli Barba Colle Morino, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2015

Posted by on June 24, 2016
<strong>Fratelli Barba Colle Morino, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2015</strong>

DSCF6594Fratelli Barba Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Colle Morino 2015
€14 from Sheridans Cheesemongers.

Light – a mere 12% – and refreshing with clean pear fruits and a dry finish. It is so much better than most of the confected sub €10 Pinot Grigio on the market and worth the €14 price tag.

It is not often anyone gets excited about a Trebbiano from the Abruzzo. The grape variety is renowned for tasting of very little, and yields in the Abruzzo tend to be high, further stretching any available flavour. I cannot pretend that this is a brilliant life-changing wine; it did however make for very pleasant drinking on a summer’s evening.

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Nero d’Avola 2014, Sicilia, Feudo Arancio

Posted by on June 24, 2016
<strong>Nero d’Avola 2014, Sicilia, Feudo Arancio</strong>

DSCF6500Nero d’Avola 2014, Sicilia, Feudo Arancio
13%
€15 from Wilde & Green; Rua, Castlebar; Mitchell & Son, chq, Sandycove & Avoca, Kilmacanogue.

Seductive rounded juicy ripe dark fruits with a smooth finish.

A good all-rounder to partner most roast or grilled red meats.

Fuedo Arancio is owned by Mezzacorona, a large company based in Trentino, right up in the north-east of Italy. I have always been very fond of the Fuedo Arancio red wines; the Syrah, at the same price as the wine above is usually very good value. Nero d’Avola is a grape native to Sicily. Ten years ago, it was seen by many as the best the region could offer. The wines tended to be big, oaky and alcoholic. Then along came Nerello Mascalese and Frappato, two varieties that produced more elegant wines, and Nero d’Avola got lost along the way. However, provided the winemaker doesn’t try too hard, they can make very good, balanced fruit-filled wines. As with the wine above.

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l’Acino Toccomagliocco 2009, IGT Calabria

Posted by on June 23, 2016
<strong>l’Acino Toccomagliocco 2009, IGT Calabria</strong>

DSCF6597l’Acino Toccomagliocco 2009, IGT Calabria
13.5%
€26 from Sheridan’s Cheesemongers; Mitchell & Sons; Green Man Wines, Terenure; Blackrock Cellar.

Light and refreshing with earthy cherry fruits and some dry tannins on the finish. Intriguing stuff. I tried it with grilled pork chops that I hade brined with fennel seeds and garlic; it worked very well.

This wine is made from a completely unknown grape variety grown in one of the more obscure regions of Italy. The grape is Magliocco (no, me neither) and the region Calabria, the toe of Italy, sticking out towards Sicily. Most wine here does not make it to DOC status and is simply blended with lighter wines produced in the north of Italy. However, every now and again, you come across a really interesting wine, usually made from a local grape variety. L’Acino was set up by three friends, one a lawyer, one a film director, the third an historian. They bought some old vineyards, planted a few more, all with ancient local grape varieties. The results are very promising.

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Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2015 Etna Bianco, Sicily

Posted by on June 23, 2016
<strong>Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2015 Etna Bianco, Sicily</strong>

DSCF6724Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2015 Etna Bianco, Sicily
€25 from On the Grapevine, Dalkey; 64 Wine, Glasthule; Corkscrew, Chatham St.; Green Man Wines, Terenure; Baggot Street Wines.

Soft ripe pear aromas; beautifully balanced wine with clean minerals and pear and a subtle pear skin texture, with a hint of toasted hazelnuts, finishing very dry and long – an excellent evolving wine with fresh elegant precise flavours.

Lightly flavoured seafood dishes (prawns with pasta?) would allow this to show off nicely.

The wines produced on the slopes of Mount Etna have been the talk of the wine world for the last decade. A few determined wine geeks, followed by an ever-increasing horde of producers, have established, or re-established ancient vineyards, largely using indigenous grape varieties. The results have been spectacular; I intend writing an article for the Irish Times over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, I feature one delicious white wine, made from a blend of Carrica, Catarratto, Grecanico and Minella.

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Eight Green Bottles – a weekend’s drinking

Posted by on June 20, 2016
Eight Green Bottles – a weekend’s drinking

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Before the health brigade get going, this included Thursday, there are two of us and, as you can see, not everything was finished! From right to left.

Domaine Begude Le Paradis Viognier 2015, IGP Pays d’Oc, Organic

I don’t think the agents (O’Briens) are importing this, but they should certainly think about it. Just what you would expect from a cool-climate Viognier; lovely clean peach fruits, good acidity and a crisp dry finish. It doesn’t have the richness of Viognier from warmer climes, nor the bitter fruit-stone finish, but this is a very well-made refreshing wine.

Le Mas 2014, Coteaux du Languedoc, Domaine Clavel, Organic
€14.70 from Wines Direct

Jean Clavel was one of the great personalities of the Languedoc. His son Pierre now produces the wine. This is a lovely easy-drinking fruity wine, warming, lightly spicy with plums and a tannin-free finish. Great value too.

Domaine des Nugues 2013, Beaujolais Villages
€16.75 from Martin’s, Fairview & 64wine,Glasthule.

A delicious Beaujolais, humming with elegant crunchy red fruits. A wine of the week in the Irish Times a few weeks back.

Vouvray Sec le Haut-Lieu 1990, Domaine Huet

Dug out from the cellar and should have been dug out years ago. Old, madeirised and past it, unless you are into very orange wine.

Stemmler Carneros Pinot Noir 2012, USA

A present from my sister, who lives in California, last year. Nice wine – meaty, even v slightly bretty?, with clean ripe juicy plum fruits. Quite substantial and concentrated. very enjoyable with my roast chicken.

Tio Pepe Fino En Rama, Jerez

I love fino and I love the en rama style, which tends to have a bit more character.This is lovely; fresh, tangy, bone dry with almonds and citrus peel.

Verus Furmint 2014, Ormoz, Slovenia

A mere 12% but a delicious fresh fruity light white wine – will appear in the Irish Times a few weeks hence.

Dveri Pax Sipon/Furmint Ilovci 2011
€20.99 from Wines on the Green

Don’t be put off by the vintage; this is lovely wine. Will also appear in the Irish Times shortly.

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Irish Gin & Irish Tonic Water

Posted by on June 19, 2016
Irish Gin & Irish Tonic Water

First published in The Irish Times, Saturday 18th June, 2016

First the gin, then the tonic. Oisín Davis is one of the leading lights of the cocktail business in Ireland. I bumped into him at the Ballymaloe Litfest, and for the first time I can remember, he had a soft drink in his hand. The liquid in question was Poacher’s Tonic, Ireland’s first tonic water. All of these new Irish gins obviously need something to mix with, and Davis thinks he has the answer. Until now, you could only buy an Irish-made tonic syrup from americanvillage.com. Fever-Tree and other premium tonic waters have been hugely successful in the UK, so it was only a matter of time before someone came up with an Irish version.

The Poacher’s Tonic certainly went down well at the Litfest – supplies ran out the first evening, and an emergency dash had to be made back to the warehouse. It is made by Davis and partner Vaughan Yates from spring water drawn from Litterberg House in Co Wexford and bottled in nearby Enniscorthy.

“We wanted to make is as Irish as we could,” says Davis. “We got 150 kilos of Irish rosemary and shipped it to a perfumer in the UK, who extracted the rosemary essence. We use cinchona bark to make a natural quinine and add Florida orange and sugar beet for sweetness. It was a year in the making with all sorts of complications and experiments.” According to Davis, Poacher’s pairs best with gins that don’t have too much spicy coriander and cumin, and is less sweet than standard tonics.

Gerry Scullion of The Chocolate Factory has come up with his own very unique tonic water. “I make it from scratch using cinchona bark and other spices and a small amount of Irish lavender. It is also a water kefir, and far less sweet than the standard tonic (2 calories a bottle). I create the fizz by the addition of organic honey and bottle-condition for approximately two weeks.” The result is a quite delicious adult tonic, great by itself or with gin.

I received another bottle of Irish gin just after going to press with my last article. Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is the latest creation of Pat Rigney, the man who came up with Boru vodka and Sheridan’s Irish Cream Liqueur. Made in his new distillery in Drumshanbo, it is aimed primarily at the export market, but already has good distribution here in Ireland.

If you fancy trying out anIrish G&T, the Irish Gin & Tonic Fest runs from June 20th-25th, where pubs, restaurants and hotels will be serving one or more of eight Irish gins with a tonic of their choice. See greatirishbeverages.com for further details.

DSCF6621Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin
43%
€49

A very different gin with a distinctive spiciness and refreshing herbs alongside the juniper.

Stockists: Widely available including Dunnes, O’Briens, Mulloy’s, select SuperValu.

Image 2 Poacher’s Tonic Water
€1.55 for a 200ml bottle

Light and refreshing, with lovely subtle hints of rosemary. Great with or without the gin.

Stockists: Drinkstore, D7; Gibneys, Searsons; Donnybrook Fair; Bradleys.

DSCF6631Herbel Crest Irish Tonic Water
€2 for a 200ml bottle

A beautifully refreshing dry tonic with a subtle herby touch.

Stockists; Whelehan’s; The Chocolate Factory,D1; The Drinkstore, D7; L Mulligan Grocer.

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Domaine de la Chauvinière, Muscadet de Sèvre & Maine Sur Lie 2014

Posted by on June 17, 2016
<strong>Domaine de la Chauvinière, Muscadet de Sèvre & Maine Sur Lie 2014</strong>

DSCF5570Domaine de la Chauvinière, Muscadet de Sèvre & Maine Sur Lie 2014
€13.95 (2nd bottle ½ price) from O’Briens

Muscadet is so much more interesting than Picpoul de Pinet, often called the Muscadet of the south, and currently very fashionable. Picpoul is a good crisp dry white wine. In the hands of a clever winemaker, it can be a little better than that, but most of those on offer come from one large producer. Muscadet on the other hand, is also be light, crisp and dry, but it can offer so much more. The really good ones (which sadly cost over €15) have a depth and complexity you will never find in a Picpoul. The Chauvinière is made by one of the best growers in the region. It has a lovely leesy touch, some lemon zest, and delicious light apple fruits. Perfect summer drinking, and great value for money.

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