chez-toi

I got talking to Ian Golden from Ireland’s newest at home tasting service, Chez Toi.

Wine tastings can often happen in hotel meeting rooms with fluorescent lighting, stiff chairs. Either that or you’re on your feet. They can be tough work. With Chez Toi, Ian Golden has a different approach, bringing the wine to you in the comfort of your own home.

1. Hi Ian, you’ve an interesting concept in Chez Toi, what’s it all about?

Chez Toi is about bringing basic knowledge of wine to people, while keeping entertainment at mind. I have been to many wine tastings, and one day thought about bringing a package to people that they could have the luxury of entertaining friends at home, while having a wine tasting, accompanied with cheeses, meats and home made breads, all in the comfort of their own homes, or offices.

Given the economic times, I felt that it was suitable to keep the costs lower than one would spend on a night out, while drinking good wines and learning about them at the same time.

2.Why the wine world – I know it started in Brussels and you’ve a connection with Mitchell’s – tell me more

Well, I grew up abroad and was lucky enough to own my own pub and restaurant when I was in my early twenties in Brussels. It was easy to drink good wines on the continent as prices are so much cheaper there.

I have an Uncle who is a knowledge of wine and was always fascinated how he could tell a wine by the smell alone, and I wanted to learn that for myself. He was kind enough to open the door to me on some of his wine tastings in Mitchell’s on Kildare street.

I guess one thing led to another, and before I knew it I was learning from Dermot Nolan MW, doing the WSET courses.

3. Was there one wine that made you stop and go wow, this is more than boozy grape juice?

There are so many good wines, that it is nearly impossible to pick one single wine from them all, but I have to admit that I once received a gift from a well known Irish Director of a Bordeaux Chateau Haut-Brion 2003 that took my breath away.

I kept it for a while and then one day secretly opened it on my own one evening and it stands out to this day. That bottle I had no intention of sharing!

4. You offer a number of packages, tell me about them?

Our packages, they are self explanatory really. I aim to keep our concepts as simple as possible so that wine tasting can be open to everyone.

I have tried in cheztoi to select different countries, so that if one day a party tried an Australian theme, maybe the following time they could try and Italian theme and see the huge differences between them all.

Of course there is also the option of mixing all the wines from various countries, but I try to keep a pattern in the tastings and show people the differences you can find in one country.

5. If you had to choose or recommend one package, what would it be?

If I had to choose a package, I am a sucker for traditional French wines, and would have to recommend our tasting of ‘ La France’. While they are all good, that one is my favourite.

6. Following on, what’s your desert island wine?

If I got stranded on a desert island, and only had one bottle of wine with me, I would actually take a Sipp Mack Riesling 2007, slightly less sweet than other years. I would chill it for a day in the shallow waves and enjoy it slowly.

7. What’s the one thing you’d like to see change in the wine world, in Ireland or abroad?

One thing I would love to see change and fast, is the rip-off prices here for wines. It kills me to pay such high prices for very mediocre wines over here. Whilst I’m Irish, I hang my head in shame at the price of a sub standard bottle of wine here.

In France for €3 I can get myself a superb wine, yet here for €10 I get a very average bottle. It is the one change I would like to see.

Thanks, Ian and best of luck with Chez Toi.