When Julian Alubaidy (now @curiousjulian) left Bubble Brothers, I felt they had lost their soul, their online one at least. Julian wrote what I think was the first (and finest) wine blog in Ireland and after his departure, it fell silent.

I’m sure they were getting on fine offline, but there was certainly a void for wine drinking digital natives. So, I was delighted to see them take on Paul Kiernan, one of the most entertaining wine writers of the new generation. Where others assume tacit knowledge, Paul manages to inform while being entertaining. Thus, a terroirible beauty was born.

But what of the wines of Bubble Brothers?

Paul kindly sent me what they refer in “the trade” as samples. A Pinot Blanc from Alsace and a red from Ribera del Duero. I had these over the weekend with some friends and tried to match them with food.

1. Domaine Eugène Meyer Pinot Blanc 2009

The Pinot Blanc went with a lobster thermidor. Before you cry rich wine snob, lobsters are €5.99 in Lidl at the moment so the only rich thing was the sauce  (see the recipe here). I’d normally go for a rich buttery Chardonnay or perhaps a Viognier with this kind of dish, but the mustard and lemon juice give it that little bit of bite so I felt okay going with the Pinot Blanc.

It’s an organic wine. Sorry, a wine made from organic grapes. Tastewise, it was all about green crunchy apples. Not much florals going on as you’d get with many from Alsace. There was also a nice minerality and a very decent length – so not at all unlike many unoaked Chardonnays.

Currently down to €13 (from €16) and available online here.

2. Bodegas Pingón Carramimbre Roble, Ribera del Duero 2010

Next up was the wine with the “noughts and crosses”. Made from Tempranillo, known locally in Ribera del Duero as Tinta del País.

Roble is Spanish to oak, but not much – it spends only 4 months in barrels (Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva will spend incrementally more). And it’s all the better for it. Concentrated fruit, great freshness too and a nice long length.

This went with a cassoulet I made, or “meat n’ beans” as my two year old daughter called it (the meat n’ beans recipe is from Rick Stein’s French Odyssey).

Nice match too.

Yours for €15, available online here.

Food & wine matching: a sport not a science

Now, while I did make an effort to match the food and wine, it’s not a science, it’s more of a sport.

Ernie Whalley put it better, “Wine & food matching is like marriages, 5% made in heaven, 5% made in hell and the rest can be made work”.

Sherry, of course. And probably Port too. Talking to some wine merchants, and this is the only time they sell any of the stuff. If I were to pick one, I’d go for a Sherry. The great thing about Sherry is that you can go from bone dry to sweet, it’s literally a world of discovery. I’d go with a dry Puerto Fino sherry, perfect as an aperatif and available just about everywhere from independent wine shop to supermarket. Look out for Lustau.

Bubbles must make an appearance. There’s plenty to choose from. Tattinger has been walking out the door at Tesco where they have it down to €25, sometimes back to €60, then back to €30. That’s a bit of a bargin. But even at €25, you can get two bottles, almost. of Jacob’s Creek Sparkling. Blanc de Blancs is the ultimate crowd pleaser and perfect for parties.

Hosting a party?

For a ridiculously drinkable red, La Mano from Mencia (the grape) grown in a place called Bierzo in northern Spain. Not massive on the wine scene here, so you’ll pick up some novelty points. It got the brambly fruit and the rustic spice which will appeal to Cotes du Rhone lovers too. At €7.50 it’s also the wine to replenish your cellar with after the seasonal depletion. 

If there’s still a deal on (and even if there isn’t), try the Shiraz or The Fergus (a blend) from Tim Adams from Tesco. He’s a top bloke and makes great wine. See the interview I did with him last year.

For the white, I’m a fan of Le Courlis Sauvignon Blanc from The Corkscrew. There’s an interesting story behind this one. The winemaker and owner, Aynard, sent me some samples about two years ago now while I writing for the Tribune. He was looking for an Irish importer so I brought the bottle over to the lads and we tried it together. It has been continuously selling out since then. If I’d just become that importer, I’d be doing quite alright now.

As for fizz, look no further than the above Jacob’s Creek. Available in most convenience stores and supermarkets.

What to drink with the big bird?

For starters, whatever it is, it must be paired with Gavin Quinney’s Chateau Bauduc Bordeaux Blanc Sec. Austerity used to be a good word before the recession hijacked it. The French were the best at it, keeping overly generous tropical flavours in check in favour of elegance and complexity. While the French were at that, along came an Englishman and began to show them what’s what. A really stunning Sauvignon Blanc, quite unlike any of the new world styles we’ve grown accustomed to. Favoured amongst Gordon Ramsey, Rick Stein and TV’s Oz Clarke. This is a million miles from Oyster Bay and it’s all the better for it too. Down to €11 at the moment.

Onto the main event. I find it a challenge matching the turkey, trimmings and a wine. Classic matches are Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, but they can get crowded out by the brussels sprouts, chestnuts, cranberry sauce and whatever you’re having yourself.

I like something a little more robust and my wine of the year has to be Mas de Daumas Gassac. At €38, it’s expensive, but Michael Broadbent has been placed it in his top ten wines of the world. That’s good enough for me. I met the affable winemaker, Samuel Guibert. He’s a regular visitor to Ireland too, so it’s definitely buying local!

From not too far away, two other reds I love are from the same stable. First, the little brother, Les Orbiers de La Peira. It was my wine of the year last year and the 2009 is arguably better. For €20, it’s hard to find better. That’s not all folks, it has a big brother, La Peira Las Flors 2008. Both hail from the little known Terrasses du Larzac appellation, uncovered for us by Gary Gubbins who has an uncanny knack of seeking out amazing wines from the Languedoc. He’s like a pig with truffles! They’re both listed here on rednosewine.com.

That’s the old world taken care of. What about the new world? I was bowled over recently by three from South Australia’s Langmeil. They have some of the oldest vines in the world.

Typically, it’s Shiraz and in particular their Valley Floor and Orphan Bank. The Valley Floor really sings and at €17 you’ve got serious quality going on. Very polished wine. A step up in price at €36 and history is the Orphan Bank.

The vines were planted in the mid 1800′s and were to be torn out to make way for property. That was until Langmeil stepped in and transplanted them to a safe place where they continue to make great wines.

Worth mentioning too, the grandfather of both is the Freedom Shiraz from Langmeil. I tried it back in May at the Wine Australia tasting. Barack Obama was in town that day and this is a wine fit for a president. At €63 (down from €70) it’s a wine only our recently retired politicians on big pensions can afford to be drinking. It would be wasted on them too, tut!

For the classic fans, I’d go straight for Mischief and Mayhem’s basic Chardonnay available from The Corkscrew. At €19.95 it’s a glimpse into Meursault, toasty, minerals, creamy. Beautiful.

Meditative reds for later

A red by the fire and a good book. The book is probably on the Kindle, but the wine is still in the glass. Not for long if it’s Zenato’s Ripassa. Normally around €20, you’ll find it in some places on offer at €15. Silky smooth. Available in Next Door off-licences and good wine shops nationwide.

The Mulley’d Wine

For Mulley’d wine, I’ve put up my lovely wife’s recipe a couple of times over the years. I may be sucking up for brownie points, but I’ve yet to taste better.

Most wines mentioned were samples. I paid for those from The Corkscrew. Disclosure: I work on the The Corkscrew’s website. Sorry, award winning website. Ahem.

Featured recently on national television, it’s no longer just a town you bypass on the way to Dundalk but somewhere worth stopping.

And if stop you do, then stop you must at Quintessential Wines on the Dublin Road.

There, you’ll find a modest but carefully selected range of wines on the shelves.

One that stands out is a Spanish wine, Honoro Vera.

She stands out initially because of her elaborate postpunk label, worthy of a place on thedieline.com

But beneath the label it gets even better. If the label manages to seduce you, the seduction continues.

She’s a Garnacha (Grenache) made from old gnarly bush vines rather than those obedient trained and trellised ones.

She’s big, round, with a sassy spiciness too.

While she’s about a tenner off the shelf, she tastes far classier too.

She is a brilliant wine and  one worth spending a night or two with.

Australia isn’t all that well known for grapes like Malbec, but over the last 10 years there’s been a quiet revolution which has brought lesser known grapes to the fore. While Italian grapes dominate the international grapes with the Pinot Grigio, Vermentino, Fiano, Barbera, Dolchetto, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo becoming more established.

Enter Malbec with its old world origins in Cahors, Loire and Bordeaux but with a new world rebirth in Argentina. But from Mendoza to Bleasdale winery in Langhorne Creek, Malbec has a new home. It’s not that new, however, having been grown there in this South Australian region since 1961.

The Second Innings Malbec from Bleasdale is a little bit different to many of the Malbecs I’ve had from Cahors or Argentina. It’s more Loire-like with brighter fruit, less weight and a freshness you’d normally get with Cabernet Franc.

Lots of bright plums, raspberries and a little bit of chocolate. I’m on the fence on whether to label it medium or full bodied because it’s intensely fresh while having lots and lots of complex flavours.

Ultimately, it boils down to great fruit and freshness, something I always look for in a red. Great wine and a different style of Malbec.

Availability

From Curious wines in Cork for €14.99 (currently down to €11.99)

* as regards the “wine of the week”, I reckon I could be done for false claims having not quite kept up with it, but some day.

This was a sample from Mitchell’s in Dublin’s CHQ that I have been storing for around 6 months now. Truth be told, I’d forgotten I had it and I discovered it while looking for a pair of socks. There must have been a good reason for storing it in the sock drawer.

I find these lost treasures from time to time in the nooks and crannies in the house or office and they’re a nice surprise.

Such is the life of a wine bloggeur (if it catches on, bloggeur could be my finest contribution to wine blogging, and by adding just one letter it elevates us above the riff raff bloggers out there. Sometimes the best ideas are often the simplest).

Back to the wine

Let’s tackle the name first before getting stuck into the wine.

Mezzacorona are the producers and Teroldego Rotaliano, the wine with the grape being Teroldego.

It’s made in Trentino, up north close to the Swiss, German and Austrian borders.

So, what is it actually like?

I imagine, as I can only speculate, what when people say things like ” Oh, I love Italian wine”, this is what they mean.

There’s great fruit, and despite being heavy bodied, a lovely acidity which keeps it tasting fresh all the way through. There’s also a bit of a bite. The tannins give the wine a nice dryness. All these virtues taken together make it a great wine, particularly when paired with red meat. Delicioso.

* One tip, decant it for an hour or two to get the best out of it.

Available from Mitchell’s and other retailers for around €13-€14.

The grape throughout is generally Gamay and the method of production is “carbonic maceration”, where fermentation happens inside the grapes, rather than in the pressed juice with the skins on top.

Fleurie is one my favourite “crus” or villages within Beaujolais and 2009 is arguably one of the best vintages they’ve ever had.

What this means for you is that you’re in for a real treat, particularly with the featured wine of the week, Château de Fleurie 2009.

It’s abundantly fruity, medium bodied (not too heavy, not too light) and has amazing freshness you wouldn’t normally associate with red wine. I defy anyone not to fall in love with this wine instantly.

With regards to provenance an l’histoire, the Château de Fleurie is a family estate close to the centre to the centre of the village of Fleurie. The Château has 32 acres of vineyards and there’s a strong emphasis on traditional techniques. After fermentation, the wine is stored in large oak foudres. Just to give you a sense of scale, these foudres are the size of the average small Dublin apartment bedroom. That’s a lot of wine. What it means is that the oak has a small bit of influence, but by no means dominates the wine.

The  understated Château building dates back to the 18th century while the Loron wine family have been making wine since 1821.

Perfect illustration of just how good Beaujolais can be. Underrated, underpriced and available at around €16 from Nash wines in Limerick.

Tómas Clancy beat me to it with his “one to buy” in last weekend’s Sunday Business Post. This was the one which came imaginatively accompanied with a small bag of fava beans from Searson’s.

If you missed the Sunday Business Post column, then what distinguishes Chianti Rufina from a Chianti Classico is where it’s made.

Chiant Classico is the heartland of Chianti country found in a large tract of land between Florence and Siena to the sound. You’ll be frequently reminded you’re in Chianti Classico country by the large signs of the Gallo Nero which seem to appear around every bend on the winding roads in this part of Tuscany.

Chianti Rufina is east of Florence and slightly higher and cooler than further south. This makes for wines of greater elegance, as least by reputation.

So what of the Corso Nero from Rufina? Lovely fruit, nice acidity which gives a freshness to it and a “grip” I associate with lots of Italian reds – great wine.

Would go perfectly with sautéed census-taker liver and some lava beans.

Goes for around €15, widely available – see here for where you can get it.

After a good old natter, a very decent espresso, I picked up 4 Chardonnays, happy to go with Ian’s recommendations. I went for an ANZAC mix, one from the up and coming Waiheke Island in New Zealand, the others from just across the Tasman sea in Australia, but from very different areas.

1. Cable Bay Chardonnay 2004, Waiheke Island, New Zealand (€20)
2. Pirie Estate Chardonnay 2005, Tasmania (€20)
3. Four O’Clock Chardonnay 2008, McLaren Vale (€15)
4. Hope Estate Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2007 (€14)

The spoiler: all four were fantastic. Chardonnay is back – you’d butter believe it and look no further than Australia and New Zealand for its resurgence.

Cable Bay 2004, Waiheke Island

Cable Bay is made from grapes grown on Waiheke Island, close enough to Auckland. Tony O’Reilly has a stake in the company. When I was last in Auckland, some irate journalists wanted to lynch him – some sort of union issue at his New Zealand Herald. Anyhoo, great to see an old favourite, back in favour, a bit like Chardonnay.

Great balance between the crunchy apples, tropical fruit and zestiness and the creamy nuttiness you get from ageing on lees and judicious use of oak barrels.

Ridiculously good and chugs along nicely with chicken.

Pirie Estate 2005 Chardonnay

Piercing citrus, bone dry with lovely minerality and a lean structure throughout. Not as creamy or textured as the other three in the line-up, the oak is a lot more subtle but clearly very well made.

Tasmania has been up and coming over the last couple of years with Pirie out in front. These guys also produce one of the best sparkling wines I’ve had in a long time, also available from Simply Wines.

Sang well with salmon.

Spring Seed Wine Company, Four O’Clock Chardonnay 2008

Wow! I had great expectations of this one. Good breeding, you see with the Bosworth family behind it. They do some very decent drops under their own label. The labels for this series of wines are based on vintage flower seed packets and there are three variations. I like the classic look and it ties in somewhat with the organically grown grapes.

In the bottle, you’ll find a damn fine Chardonnay. Peaches and pink grapefruit to begin followed by a smooth layer of silk. I could of sworn there was some malolactic fermentation, which softens the harsh malic acids or oak treatment, but alas no.

The creaminess can be explained by time left on lees and perhaps that one of the batches was handled “oxidatively”. Interesting winemaking techniques.

Hope Estate Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2007

Probably the richest of all four Chardonnays. I’m thinking Burgundian elegance too. Textbook tropical fruits with peach stones, followed by the buttery brioche and hazelnut, all in a nice little bit of creamy sauce. Lots of fruit, nuttiness and texture.

I really love this style of Chardonnay, it shows great fruit growing and winemaking skill.

The notion of the terroir doing the talking is one thing, but just like the finest ingredients in food, you need a good chef to bring them all together and this is a perfect example of that.

Availability

You’ll find all four wines at Simply Wines. The Four O’Clock Chardonnay is also available from Curious Wines in Cork and Red Nose Wine in Clonmel.

The long day is almost at a close by the time we leave the busy motorway and make our way up the driveway of Viña Chocálan. Workers in the vineyard are finishing up and making their way slowly back home. We’re running late after the long day of wine tasting and driving, the weariness is setting in I wonder if we’d have been better off just heading back to Santiago to turn it.

The driveway is dusty and bumpy, forcing us to slow down as we make our way up to the winery. The slowing of the pace allows us to take in more of our surroundings before meeting our host, Aída Toro.

We’re greeted with a smile as wide as the Andes are high and all feelings of weariness fade immediately. I met her once before, in the O’Brien’s wine tent at the inaugural Taste of Dublin festival. Then, as now, there’s an amazing aura of calm about her. Even though we’re late, Aida seems in no rush to be anywhere else.

We’re shown around the winery first. As we approach, the winery looks understated and unimposing from the outside. Fitting in in rather than standing out. It’s not trying to make a bold statement, like so many others.

Inside, it’s simple and open, functional and minimalist. Built for purpose. The reception area is similarly designed. Soft wood, bare concrete. Elegant simplicity. On the top floor, undergoing redevelopment to receive weddings and other events, the large glass panes bring the outside in or the viewer outside.

Downstairs in the barrel room, where the wines rest, there’s the same sense of tranquility. No fancy fittings or ostentatious mood lighting, just a peaceful place where the wines are left to develop slowly.

I briefly wonder if we shape our surroundings or do they shape us? I suspect it’s a bit of both as the place seems to reflect the calmness I sense in Aída.

Wine making philosophy

Perhaps it’s Aída’s influence, but the winemakers we meet are equally calm and soft spoken. Their approach to their wines is equally simple. They want to express the grape varietal’s “typicity” as well as they can. Minimal intervention, respect for the fruit, confidently new world in style.

We try a flight of whites, followed by reds, 14 in all. The Riesling and Gewurtztraminer the most interesting of whites. Perhaps, the Chardonnay could benefit from some malolactic fermentation and a little time in oak barrels. From the reds, the Malbec stood out. It’s not a huge production for Chocálan. Malbec isn’t huge in Chile but from what I’ve tasted here and elsewhere, it shows real promise.

We leave, with the same sense of calm that greeted us.

Chocálan wine availability in Ireland.

Chocálan wines are available exclusively from O’Briens wine, nationwide.

I spent a week in Chile in November 2010 as a guest of Wines of Chile. My travelling companion, David Whelehan, who in his time working as Marketing Director and Wine Buyer for O’Brien’s, introduced Chocálan to the Irish market.