May June Came Together in Portugal

As the Bank Holiday Mondays clashed with our first Mondays of the month meetings we had both our May and June meetings on Monday May the 29th. I know. The First Monday became the Last. It worked!

Portugal was introduced as a land of extremes from wet in the Minhos to baking and often too dry down south in the Algarve. Everything goes in between and Louise Wilson's fabulous book 'The Wine Lovers Coloring Book' was used to illustrate the regions!!! I kid you not. The book was very popular on the night ...  well done Louise. Mind you, the wines weren't half popular as well ....                                   Another great tasting at the AC Wine Club

   

   
WHITE WINES

Quinta da Lixa Vinho Verde 2015

We began with a Vinho Verde from O'Briens Wines €12.50. Surprisingly some club members didn't like this style. Thought it had the whiff of something unpleasant ....  Comments were disparaging towards the bouquet as not suiting a Club Tasting but would do very well on the patio, beside a barbecue on a very warm day. Positive , I'd say! (I know what they mean because in blind tastings its that whiff that often gives this wine away .....)

Crisp style of wine with exact acidity, long flavours from a lot of fruit and a pleasant touch of sweetness ( fact sheet says this is a dry wine...!?). The very obvious petillant hung around as a bubble corona in the glass. Sunny day wine made from a blend of Alvarinho, Loureira and Trajaduro. Gave us a great opportunity to talk about the Grapes of Portugal.

Monte Velha 2015 An Alentejo White from Esparão
A wine made by Australian and long time Portugal resident David Baverstock. This is modern Portugal where white wines are crisp, clean and essential summer time fare! I like nearly everything bottled under the Esparão label but keep coming back to Monte Velha as a really fine 'teaching wine'. In the warm (and warming!) Portuguese sunshine its not easy to coax freshness from its grapes and keep them that way all the way through to the retail shelf. The grapes here are the Antao Vaz, Roupeiro and Perrum (Palomino). Antao Vaz is THE white grape of the Alentejo. Remember it because its a winner!

Boas Vinhas 2011 Dao

Whites from the Dao region (just south of the Douro) tend to be rare beasts (in Ireland) these days. This fella is a tad old bit that in itself has advantages. The grapes used here are the Encruzado and Cercial Branco. The former of these is a specialty of the Dao region and gives its wines quite a rich assortment of perfumed fruits but also a sort of resin or a wood-sap quality. The Cercial is used mainly for acidity, bulk and light perfumes. A bit of age brings out the resin style as a nuttiness and this wine excels in this regard. Really good for creamed pasta dishes and lightly roasted meats

RED WINES

Opta Dao 2012

Interesting that member (in good standing!) Br liked this because it resembles a St Emilion. Good call. It has developed an earthiness with age. Made from Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro and Tinta Roriz it has a bricked ruby of medium depth, a red-fruit earth bouquet and a soft rich palate. I always find wines from Dao interesting

Distributed by Classic Drinks

Segredos de Sao Miguel  Alentejo 2016

Fabulous wine. Ripe fruit bursting from the glass. Agents Grace Campbell tells us that this is Ireland's leading wine from Portugal. We could all see why. It really is a wine you would want to purchase a second time. Acidity is excellent, tannins are soft - very much a 'smooth and silky' number as stated on the Corkscrew website who are selling this RIGHT NOW at only €60.00 for 6 bottles! where they show you the most recent Gold medal this wine has won

Pocas Vale de Cavalos Douro 2013

This is the unfortified Douro Superior red wine from Port House Pocas Junior. It is one of the wines that shows ho far the Douro has progressed with its unfortified offerings. This si  sensational in that it has an absolute presence and a really enormous 'fruit - quality - structural ratio'.  A classic blend of the Port grapes Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca it's a classy and very rich style. Sipped on the terrace this is the complete accompaniment to a 'summer holiday novel reading session' as the sun sets and a light chill enters the patio...! 

Colours of Portugal       R- L: Alentejo, Douro, Dao. 

HAPPY SUMMER  EVERYONE

THE AC WINE CLUB BREAKS NOW UNTIL AUGUST

Take to the Slopes with the Wines of Austria

         My latest column for Checkout Magazine was on the Wines of Austria. I opened with, 'A few years back I was presented with a cd by Austrian wine producer Willi Opitz titled ‘The Sounds of Wine’. It was a recording of his wines as they fermented in his cellars in Illmitz near the Hungarian border. Clearly it was unique!

         This month the AC Wine Club had a look at five wines from Austria. Unique. It's a word that sits comfortably alongside most of what Austria produces. Others are Interesting, Quality and Very Food Friendly.

The white Gruner Veltliner makes up about 30% of the Austrian trade. While its hallmarks include crisp, fine acidity, peach blossom and a spiced, long finish this months' two wines from Laurenz V showed just how versatile it's wines can be.

    

Laurenz V, Singing Gruner Veltliner 2013

Blossom bouquet, gentle fresh fuit, rich crisp palate and a fine finish with distinct hints of spice.

Universally liked by the Club. Excellent lifestyle wine. Would be fabulous 'By the Glass' or at a wine bar lunch.

Laurenz V, Charming Gruner Veltliner 2008

Yes. 2008!  Does this grape age well and if so, what happens to it?  The Laurenz V website tells us that 2008 was a 'winemakers vintage'. It was a perfect harvest and the fruit taken for this wine from the Kamptal Region spent 6 months on its lees in stainless steel tankes before bottling.

Obvious darkening with slight tawny hints but still clear and attractive. Nose has some damp earth elements and a bit of empty cigarette box allied to a persistent ripe peach skin. Fabulous alert palate with soft fruit and plenty of it supported by a rich acidity. The finish was mellow! The middle palate here is truly fabulous. Does Gruner age? Yes it does!! Or at least this Charming 2008 has. (Distributed By Gilbey/Gleeson)

Domane Wachau Terrassen Riesling Federspiel 2015

Wachau is reputed to be one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world. Domane Wachau is a co-op in the region and takes grapes from about 400 local farmers. That sort of makes it very, very influential. Good thing then that it's wines are so good. (recently taken on by Cassidy Wines for the Irish market)

TheTerrassen series of wines are made from grapes grown on rocky sites that are in themselves too small to make a wine. (The 'Federspiel' is a local designation of ripeness and roughly translates into about a 12.5%vol potential and uses the falcon as its sigil.) 

Absolutely fabulous wines. Loads of juicy citrus fruits with an immmensely impressive, brilliant and  balanced acidity. This is all about ripeness, freshness and length and does not show any developed Riesling effects such as old cheeses etc. Very much one for New World style aficionados.

Rabl Steinhaus Riesling Kamptal DAC 2013

Imported by O'Briens Wines this is a classic where acidity meets rich ripe fruit and fair dose of ageing Riesling bouquets where whiffs of sewing machine oil fumes are noticeable. Love it. 

The term 'Minerality' is tossed around the wine trade often without having any apparent meaning. Here's a wine that might explain it! Terroir is where a wine comes from. It is the totality of its genesis. Sometimes this throws up a grape where fruit ripeness balances in with acidity in a way reminiscent of licking  freshly split limestone. I'm not talking flint here but 'tongue tingles'. That's minerality and this wine has it in abundance.   

Heinrich Red Burgenland 2015

I am an absolute fan of a number of the red grapes grown in Austria - I always hanker after St Laurent and love the Zweigelt. This Heinrich Red (Liberty Wines) is a blend where Zweigelt is to the fore (followed by Blaufrankisch and St Laurent) and shows very well with its light, almost austere, palate entry only to blossom into fresh bramble fruit. This in turn brings it back to the ripe and freshly scented bouquet. Interesting colour - rich cherry!  Really fine example of a modern wine trade. Burgenland, and epecially the Neusiedlersee in SE Austria, is home to 'ripeness'. As such, it is capable and produces some of the finest dessert wine styles in the world. It also ripens red grapes!! 

                   

The AC Wine Club meets on the first Monday of each month

Village Centre, Ardclough Co Kildare.

We know nothing. We learn lots.

Exploring Grapes in Ardclough contd.

The AC Wine Club at Ardclough           November 2016

Another great night where we explore grapes and their wine styles on the first Monday of every month.  

Essay South Africa 2014

Chenin Blanc  … with a touch of Viognier                                              O’Briens Wines

O’Brien’s Wines supply this label to their on-trade customers only ie restaurants and hotels. The name Essay is a play on the SA abbreviation for South Africa. It’s an excellent wine (as we would expect from O’Briens!) with the crisp Chenin balanced beautifully by a touch of peachy Viognier. We all ‘found’ distinct lanolin/wet wool at the edge of the bouquet – that’s good!

Paredes Crete 2015

Dafni                                                                              
Marks&Spencer        €15.00

     

This is from Greece and has a very obvious bouquet where ‘Torrontés rose petal’ meets ‘Gewürztraminer lychee’. Fabulous wine for those who like perfume! Beyond that it’s a credit to Greece (where white wines dominate local drinking patterns). Pity we don’t see more wines from Greece.

Silverleaf South Africa 2015                                                           

Dunnes Stores €8.99

Merlot  
Fabulous value. Soft and charming. Also, clean as a whistle fruit. Good to see.

  

Gianni Gagliardo Barbera d’Alba 2014                                        Independents  €26.00

Barbera

Brilliant winemaking from Gagliardo in Piedmont, NW Italy. Barbera is the grape and it’s a soft and concentrated wine with endless depth of flavours each of which threatens to be very serious but then pulls back and becomes charming instead.  

Gianni Gagliardo Barolo 2012                                                       Independents  €52.00
Nebbiolo

Barolo is the king of Italian wines. If they’re any good at all they don’t come cheap! They are however and experience in a bottle and Gagliardo’s is no exception. This wine is very modern with accessible fruit to the fore and lots of intense structure hidden well in the background. Bouquet is classic warmed asphalt and palate is rich fruit, acid, tannin and alcohol. The balance is excellent and it will keep from many, many years.

Discover the Wines of Chile was a Great Success

Our meeting last month was a great success. Kevin Ecock presented a power pointed presentation of the Wine Valleys of Chile and then guided us through the following ten incredible wines. Yes, TEN and the entry was only a fiver!

This was a sponsored event by Wines of Chile and the Association of Wine Educators of which Kevin is a keen member.

The wines were sponsored by local wine merchants and a number of national wine distributors. Each of these is acknowledged alongside their wines below.

The theme for the evening had been designed to show off the diversity, complexity, technical mastery and regionality of the Chilean wine trade. All of this was shown with regards to the differences each of the major wine producing valleys can display in a bottle of wine! Sounds complicated. It wasn't. It was fascinating.

Wine 1

Aconcagua Costa

Errazuriz Aconcagua Costa Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Cassidy Wines

This was probabaly the best wine to begin a tasting like this with. It is exceptional. Herbal and lime driven this is cool climate Sauvignon Blanc at it's best. Vina Errazuriz Chief Wine maker Santiago Francisco used this wine to show cool climate wine making in Chile in his Specialties range last year here in Ireland. The Aconcagua Costa is only 12km from the very cool Pacific Ocean.

Wine 2

Colchagua

Vina Casa Silva Reserve Viognier 2010

Febvre & Co 

For wine lovers of rich and generous Viognier. Really super ripe wine making allows the grape to express itself in a lovely, full and show-off sort of a way. It would not be possible to develop the nuances this grape shows here unless the Cochagua Valley was used with pin point precision.

Wine 3

Limari

De Martino Legado Reserva Chardonnay 2009

Febvre & Co

De Martino prides iself on being 100% organic and to only grow grapes in areas that are best suited to them ie they are terroir driven. Limari shows expertly here with its northern latitude and quick sweep to the ocean from the mountains. This does Chardonnay proud.

Wine 4:

Casablanca

Carmen Reserva Pinot Noir 2009

Edward Dillon and Co

Fickle grapes need the attention of great winemakers. Chile is beginning to find its feet with Pinot Noir in terms of finding cool growing sites and the attention of experts such as Carmen's Sebastian Labbe. This is great intro to what's happening with Chilean Pinot Noir but I have no doubt that in a short while we will look back on this as merely the beginning of something great.

Wine 5

Valle Central

Karu Merlot 2010

O'Briens Wines

It's easy to see why this is so popular with O'Brien's customers. It's juicy, full and tremendous value at €7.49. It's a fine example of how the Central Valley in Chile can be used well. Let's face we all want value but we also want quality. Chile can provide both.

  

Wine 6

Colchagua

Carmen Reserva Merlot 2009

Edward Dillon and Co.

I purposefully put this after the less expensive Karu Merlot. If you're asked to pay more for a wine (€12.99 in this case) it seems reasonable that you get an added dimension in the bottle. Chile prides itself on having multiple price points. Indeed it is now attempting to associate price points, style and places of origin into hierarchies that the consumer will recognise. Everyone at this tasting appreciated the careful use Carmen has made of Colchagua's sub appellations in bringing freshness and subtlety to the table. Couple this with some oak ageing and it all made sense! 

Wine 7

Rapel

Vina Maipo Reserva Syrah 2009

Dunnes Stores 

This went down well. No-one could quite believe that Dunne's regularly sell this for only €8.99. Vina Maipo specialise in Syrah and when this passion is combined with Rapel valley nuances the result is consistent. Lots of true varietal character with nothing forced.

Wine 8

Apalta

Santa Rita Pehuen Carmenere 2007

Gleeson/Gilbeys

Clearly a Carmenere was needed. What a great wine Pehuen is! It has a great depth of red colour and rich very dark slightly spiced dark fruits on the nose and then surprises by a smooth palate. Apalta is warm with long growing season and great night v daytime temperatures. All suited to Carmenere! 

Wine 9

Maipo

Santa Rita Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Gleeson Gilbeys

Super counter point to the Carmenere. Not many wine clubs get to see Santa Rita quality side by side like this. Very impressive. Served slightly the wrong way around but the point was well made. Maipo and its satellite the Apalta has genuine variety exploited really well by Santa Rita's talented team of wine makers.

Wine 10

Maipo

Vina Chocalan Gran Reserva Pinot Noir 2008

O'Brien's Wines

What a wine to finish off with. This is big in every sense and really should be coming from the Maipo. It's also a lot of fruit and a lot of wine making packed into one bottle. Comes across as relatively young still. Good value at the €20.00 O'Brien's sell it for.

May Meeting ran into a few fences at Punchestown!

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!

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!