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Lunch with Enrico

Enrico Fantasia is one of the more interesting and engaging characters in the wine trade. Born on the island of Venice, he played French horn in the Gran Teatro La Fenice opera house in the city. Tiring of this, he ran a wine bar, and by a series of chance encounters ended up working for Sheridan’s cheesemongers in Galway, importing wine from Italy. He still supplies Sheridan’s with wine, but now runs his own wine company, Grapecircus, mainly supplying restaurants around Dublin. He is very knowledgeable about both food and wine, and even spent a few months working for Dario Cecchini, the world-famous butcher in Panzano in Chianti.

Italy is full of interesting wines that we rarely if ever see in this country. The current economic situation has made things even worse. Enrico laments the fact that the only white Italian wines that seem to sell here are Pinot Grigio and Gavi. I see most Gavi as little more than rich man’s (or woman’s) Pinot Grigio, so that says it all. Even Soave is seen as a little bit too esoteric. Why is it that we Irish don’t respect good Italian wine? It is often said that we don’t understand the food either – what Dublin really needs is one genuine high-quality Italian restaurant (London is full of them) and maybe everything would change. Enrico, however, is persevering, and with the help of Séan Gargano, one of the best sommeliers in Dublin, imports a range of really interesting, well-chosen wines. Most of them are available in Sheridan’s cheese shop in Dublin, possibly elsewhere too.

We had lunch in Dax Café on Pembroke Street, my first visit there. The place was buzzing. Over a strangely sweet salad of ham hock and other bits, followed by a plate of good cheese, we drank a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino.(Canalicchio di Sopra, €22.00 from Sheridan’s). It epitomised everything that is good about Italian and Tuscan wine; nicely concentrated with savoury dark almost bitter cherries, good acidity and a lightly tannic finish. A subtle rather than showy wine, but very enjoyable with food, one of those wines that opens out and improves as you work your way down the bottle.

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TWO SUMMER WINES

A pair of inexpensive wines from Wines Direct – usually I enjoy the white wines of the Côtes de Gascogne, and find the reds hard going. On this occasion the white was fine, but I preferred the delicious red. Wines Direct have a retail outlet in Mullingar, but most of their business is online. Their website, www.winesdirect.ie is well worth looking at; they have some great wines.

 Domaine Horgelus Columbard-Sauvignon 2011, Côtes de Gascogne

11.5%

€9.65

Good fresh easy-drinking dry wine, with plenty of Sauvignon Blanc character, and clean green fruits. Great value summer drinking.

Wines Direct, www.winesdirect.ie 1890 579 579

 

Domaine Horgelus 2010, Merlot-Tannat, Côtes de Gascogne

12.5%

€10.00

A tame Tannat – this grape is usually fairly severe and tannic, but this was an excellent light juicy tannin-free (just a little dryness on the finish) wine with amazingly supple ripe fruit. One to sip on its own or with lighter food.

Wines Direct, www.winesdirect.ie 1890 579 579

 

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A tasty white from Marks & Spencer

Saint Mont 2010, V.D.Q.S.

€10.99  13%

 

Made by the Producteurs de Plaimont, a large company based in south-west France, this is a really interesting and enjoyable wine at a very good price. A blend of three local white grapes  – Gros Manseng, Petit Courbu, Arrufiac, it has delicious peach and pear fruits, a touch of grilled nuts, good firm acidity, and a dry finish. Try it with white fish or  chicken.

 

Stockists: Marks & Spencer

 

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A Tale of Two Burgundies

A tale of two Burgundies

Inspired by a trip toGermanytasting Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), I cracked open two bottles of redBurgundyfor dinner. The first was a recent purchase from the 2010 vintage, the second an elderly bottle from the cellar.

 Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru Aux Beaux Bruns 1993, Domaine Barthod

13%

I bought six bottles of this back in the mid-90s. Having had a brilliant bottle last year, I had high hopes, which seemed dashed when I first tasted this one; quite light and acidic, seemingly past its prime. However after ten minutes it opened out into a beautiful elegant wine with delicate silky-soft red fruits and a pleasing freshness. Great wine. As far as I know, Barthod is imported by le Caveau (www.lecaveau.ie) and Nomad Wines.

 

Bourgogne Rouge 2010 Domaine Guillot-Broux

12.5%

I really enjoyed my visit to this estate, high up in the hills of Mâcon. Emmanuel Gillot-Broux is a talented and thoughtful man making some lovely sappy light reds, and rich mineral ageworthy whites. As featured in the Times, this is a lovely fresh wine with redcurrants and summer fruits. I can see it improving further over the next year. From Cabot & Co,Westportand On the Grapevine, Dalkey for around €20.

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Runners & Riesling

Some of you may have seen a young Swedish man on RTE news last week, proposing to his Irish girlfriend having completed the ultramarathon course in the Connemarathon. The gentleman concerned was Hakan Eriksson, who has worked in the wine business here for a number of years, and is currently with Honest2Goodness wines. As it happened Hakan had dropped me in a sample of a new German Riesling, about which he was very excited. This is the wine:

 

 Sybille Kuntz Riesling Trocken 2009, Mosel

12%

€19.99

 Classic dry Riesling; a lightly floral nose, pristine crisp green apple fruits and citrus acidity. Fresh as a spring morning and a delight to drink.

 Stockists: see www.honest2goodness.ie  

 

 

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A refreshing red form the Loire.

Domaine de la Renaudie Cabernet 2010, Touraine

12% €13.95

Possibly a bit expensive for an everyday wine, but I bought myself a half-dozen bottles of this recently and have been motoring through it at an alarming rate. It hits all the right buttons for me; first of all it is refreshing, and makes you want to have another sip, and then a second glass; it is light enough to enable you to do this without keeling over; and lastly it tastes great, with supple fresh blackcurrant fruits and a clean tannin-free finish. The perfect mid-week pick-me-up to have with dinner. The Chenin Blanc (see pic.) is pretty good too.

Stockists: www.thewinestore.ie ; Wicklow Arms Delgany; On the Grapevine, Dalkey; 64 wine, Glasthule

 

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HENSCHKE BARGAIN

Henschke Julius Riesling 2006, Eden Valley, Australia

One of the greatest Australian Rieslings I have tasted was a Henschke Julius Riesling 1997. It had wonderful mature fruit with a lovely streak of mineral acidity. This wine is not quite in the same class yet, but may get there given a few years ageing. At the moment it has light floral aromas, with crisp mineral citrus and green fruits on the palate, finishing dry. At the reduced price, it is a real bargain. I will certainly be heading off to Donnybrook Fair to buy a few bottles, and would recommend you do the same.

€16.99 down from €29.99 at Donnybrook Fair for their ‘spring clean’ sale.

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Easter Alternatives

When tasting at home, I usually taste blind (and then ‘seen’ afterwards) and try to taste a group of 6-8 similar wines at the same time. My backlog of wines had been building up, and after two days of very disappointing tastings, I really wasn’t looking forward to tasting still more wine. I understand this is not a complaint that many people understand, but tasting a series of well-made, but uninteresting wines night after night tires very quickly. Last night I found five wines supplied for a ‘Something different for Easter’ article which never materialised. We had nothing for dinner, so I bought a shoulder of lamb from my local butcher, which I roasted. Not only was the lamb magnificent – tender and full of flavour, but three of the wines were really enjoyable and each went very nicely with the lamb. So, three very different wines, each good in their own way, and perfect with Easter lamb. I also tasted a few white wines, and really enjoyed a Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley, pert of the Superquinn wine sale currently running.

J. Mourat ‘Sacré Blanc’ Chenin Blanc 2010

Fresh honey and quince on nose and palate, with good acidity and pretty decent length. A really enjoyable interesting wine at a great price.

€11.99 down to €9 for the Superquinn Spring French Wine Sale

Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2009

Light violets and red cherries on the nose; light sweet fruit with good acidity; very pleasant and refreshing, with a nice earthy note on the finish. A very Italian wine that went very nicely with the lamb.

€14.50-14.95 from Fallon & Byrne, Exchequer St; Baggot Street Wines; 64Wine, Glasthule; Wicklow Arms, Greystones; Deveneys, Rathmines; Corkscrew, Chatham St.; Nectar Wines, Sandyford; Hargadons, Cabinteely.

Castello di Potentino 2005, Montecucco Rosso

Sweet ripe cherry nose with an earthy note; on the palate, sweet old-style Italian, with tea and liquorice flavours alongside the mature sweet fruit; possibly not the most polished, with some drying tannins on the finish. Possibly tiring a little, but a wine of real character and I really liked it – great with the lamb too.

€14.10 from www.fromvineyardsdirect.com

Domaine des Hauts Châssis, Cuvée Esquisse 2010

Forward clean dark fruits on the nose; sweet and savoury at the same time, with cool just-ripe dark cherries, and a light savoury kick, and a touch of tobacco; no great concentration or structure, but a very pleasant wine for drinking now.

€19.95 from www.thewinestore.ie , The Vineyard Galway; On The Grapevine, Dalkey.

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DRINKABLE RED BURGUNDY FOR €8?

Bourgogne Rouge 2010 Les Coteaux des Anges
12.5%
€8 or 3 for €20

Lovers of Burgundy should head straight to Superquinn for this delightful Pinot Noir – light and refreshing with smooth easy cherry fruits. Given that it is not easy to find any drinkable red Burgundy at under €10, this is a real bargain.

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