I should have known that Punchestown would deplete our numbers. No harm. We garnered a lot of good will by meeting no matter what.
Our May meeting was designed to support local retailers. Support in this sense meant tasting wine with the retailer in mind as much as the producer or the grape type. I think it's important to understand the difference between wine retailers and how they piece their portfolios together. I also think it's very important to recognise what an incredibly good wine retail scene there is in Ireland. We lack for nothing!! Not bad for a non wine producing, under populated, small island off the west coast of Europe.
I coupled this idea with a few grape types that we haven't looked at yet. I can sense a new Fact Sheet coming along nicely for next month!
Curious Moscato 2010 Victoria, Australia €7.99 This style of wine is all the rage in Australia. Curious
Moscato has only just been introduced to Ireland. alcohol, high fruit content, a touch of sugar and a good dose of balancing acidity. The fruit here is exuberant with loads of aromatic rose petal, rich honey dew melon, ripe peach and so on. Very well received. Suited best to al fresco barbecue dining in summer sunshine. Serve well chilled. Alcohol content is only 5% making this a wine suited to modern and busy lifestyles.
Zonin Prosecco Spumante Brut Italy Specially Selected by
Superquinn €12.00 down from €14.99
In tip top condition. This is fully sparkling, shows a fine mousse and beading. (Now we all know what these mean!) Great depth of light peach and melon to the Prosecco with rich autolytic effects punching through. ie good yeasty bread tones. Once again very well liked and reckoned to be super Value for Money.
Chanson Macon Villages 2009 Burgundy, France O'Briens Wines. €9.99 down from €11.99
This divided the camp. One half loved its nuttiness; the other was looking for more fruity notes from the
Chardonnay and put the nuttiness down to astringency. The appellation is well known for ripeness allied to delicacy and minerality. This came scross as bit stalky. Lovely presentation!
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| Sparina Vineyards |
Villa Sparina Gavi 2009 Piedmont, Italy Superquinn €12.00 down from €13.99
A wow. Well liked. Bottle is tremendous - great to see on a supermarket shelf! This shows of the
Cortese grape at its best. Has a fine depth of unusual fruit where dried peach skin meets haunting honeysuckle. Really good food wine. Needs to keep its price down to win friends. Great ambassador for Gavi.
Chanson Fleurie 2008 Burgundy, France O'Briens Wines €9.99 down from €16.99
This was a winner though many would have preferred to have had a meal with it! Not a simple wine at all but shows how interesting the Gamay grape can be. Rustic background with a firm structure married well to a bouncy fruit where soft small fruit flavours mingle - raspberry with a touch of super ripe gooseberry and a lashing of banana fool. Really good value at the price.
Torres Coronas Tempranillo 2008 Catalunya, Spain Widely Available €10.95
This came as a pleasant surprise to everyone. I was very pleased with it as a good intro to the Tempranillo grape. Most were unfamiliar with Tempranillo even though they had drunk it many times and noone associated Torres with it as a grape! A bit of education/marketing required me thinks. Classy wine maker Miguel Torres makes a simple and yet very enjoyable wine here. Some earth character mixes well with understated and soft fruity notes. Fine structure and finish. Excellent teaching wine.
Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico 2008 Tuscany, Italy Widely Available €17.99
I am a real fan of this wine. So I was thrilled to show it. Everyone appreciated it but not everyone enjoyed it - and that was the reaction I'd hoped for. This is not a wine where Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot has been blended into it to make it popular. No. It's unadultered Sangiovese bravado. Old teapot, ripe spiced wine with oodles of interesting fruti. Really classy.
NEXT MEETING: FIRST THURSDAY OF JUNE
Last Weeks Leinster Leader gave us a mention and a fresh surge of interest!
