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”.

TxB have one of the most geographically diverse portfolios and having recently added a wine from China, I was really keen to try it. It was the Cabernet d’Est from the Chang Yu winery.

The grape

A couple of interesting things about it. The grape is Cabernet Gernischt, touted as an indigenous Chinese variety, but it’s thought to be a cross between Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The varietal became extinct in Europe around 200 years ago. Its roots are Franco-Austrian, having been brought to China from Bordeaux by Austrian, Freiherr von Babo.

The place

The place is Ningxia, China’s newest winegrowing region, located in Central Western China on the fringes of the Gobi desert, just south of Mongolia, watered from the Yellow River.

At an elevation of 1,100m (comparable to Mendoza in Argentina) the area is characterised by warm days and cool nights, perfect conditions for growing grapes.

The wine

What did it taste like? Actually, quite like a cross between Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon! It has all the hallmarks of the elegance and structure of a Cabernet Sauvignon dominated left bank Bordeaux and the lovely green “fraîcheur” of a Loire Cabernet Franc. The tannins are fine, still tight, and there’s a little bit of spice behind the austere fruit.

Very impressed with it and if you can get your hands on it, a great way to toast Chinese New Year on Monday, 23rd January, The Year of the Dragon.

Gan bei! 干杯

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.

I had bought it about a year ago and as luck would have it, I interviewed the man who made the wine, Samuel Guibert, two weeks ago. Read the interview here.

Having chatted to Samuel Guibert about the winemaking philosophy at his property, I was keen to seek out the finesse, complexity and balance which he had told me about. It wasn’t hard to find.

After a good 6 hours in a decanter I served it up with a simple enough dish from the south of France, cassoulet.

Samuel had told me that it was quite “atypical” of wines from the Languedoc. And he was right, this had many of the hallmarks of a classed growth Bordeaux and to me, justifies the accolades, comparisons and hyperboles like “Lafite of the Languedoc”.

Why is it like a Bordeaux? It’s a red blend, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, but it has a whole host of other red varietals in there too (Merlot, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Syrah and another 9 in smaller quantities).

Despite or because of this unusual blend, it truly does match the best of the Bordeaux. And seen in this light, it’s a bit of a bargain.

The 2006 (if available) and subsequent vintages sell for around €38 where many Bordeaux will sell of upwards of €80 (not counting the first growth craziness).

The 2008 is currently on sale from rednosewine.com and curiouswines.ie has the 2009, both good vintages according to the vintage reports on Mas de Daumas Gassac website.

With food?

Perfect with lamb, game or the big bird at Christmas. My cassoulet was a little too rich for it.

Bierzo has also has at least one tenuous link with Ireland, it shares the same annual rainfall as the eastcoast. This is definitely “Green Spain”

Wines are typically fresh, fragrant, with good fresh vibrant fruit and a savoury bite. Brambly is a good word to the describe them.

In terms of availability. There aren’t too many on the Irish market . From memory the following are good buys from independents (though Superquinn and M&S are bound to have decent ones too):

• Tilenus
• Petalos
• Cuatro Pasos
• Manium
• Uttaris
• Xestal

La Mano Mencia

So, it was with great surprise and delight that a sub-€10 Mencia has made it to the independent trade.

Available from Curious, Simply, Red Nose and Cases (and potentially a few other spots) for €8.95.

What is it like?

First off, that lovely lavender and “garrigue” smell you get from the Languedoc. Lots of lovely brambly fruit and a greeny freshness that Cabernet Franc fans go mad for.

Delicious stuff and a real bargain to boot. Get your mits on this and discover what Mencia is all about.

Ireland joins the rest of the world in celebrating International Grenache Day on 24th of September.

Why an international day for Grenache?

Grenache is arguably one of the greatest grapes, yet it remains one of the most under-appreciated. It’s a core constituent in the Rhone, with the standard Cotes du Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape, in Rioja, and Australian “GSM” blends and all over the south of France.

So, it’s a great grape and deserves to share more of the stage along with Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz.

While the first day was celebrated around the world, it has taken Matt Nugent, wine journo with the Mail on Sunday, to spearhead the celebration of this great grape.

So, what’s happening? Quite a lot, actually. First off, there’s a masterclass, with Yalumba’s Jane Ferarri and Toni Batet Collado from Torres take to the stage for a day of fun – and education.

There are nine wines to be tasted as part of the master class, followed by a “free-pour” tasting of over 24 Grenache and Grenache-based wines from around the world.

The day ends with a specially prepared four-course dinner which will showcase matching Grenache wines.

Where, when and how much?

The event, to be held at Ely bar and brasserie (CHQ) in the IFSC (call 01 67 200 10 or email elybrasserie@elywinebar.com
for bookings), costs just €65 per head for the full day.

Questions or comments?

Contact: Matthew Nugent by email at winenow@gmail.com or phone 087 2255602

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.

Laurenz or Lenz Moser isn’t just The Grüner Guy, though anyone who has met on this shores will be forgiven for thinking so. On his regular visits, his trousers match the colour of his purple trimmed Charming Grüner Veltliner. Like the wine, he is himself charming.

While he is arguably the best foreign ambassador his native Austrian grape, Grüner Veltliner, he is responsible for far more than the seductive white which has been gaining ground and fans over the last 4-5 years.

At TxB International Fine Wines, he manages a portfolio of wines from around the world. Austria, of course, neighbouring Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, even China and more.

An interesting aside is the name of the company. Lenz became good friends with Bob Mondavi. Mondavi used to sign off on his correspondance, Tx B (or thanks, Bob) which provided the inspiration for TxB International Fine Wines.

I’ve had the chance to try three recently, which all impressed equally.

Charming Gruner Veltliner 2009

The label is really smart, the wine is too. It’s a firm favourite of mine since my brother saw Laurenz V. on the label and thought the similarity with my name was a good enough pun for a birthday present.

The 2009 has all the lovely citrus and granny smith apples, creamy middle texture and slightest hints of ginger and white pepper.

Available in good wine shops in Ireland for around €25

Prinz von Hessen Dachsfilet Riesling 2010, Rheingau

Prinz von Hessen is available in Ireland, I believe, but I’m not too sure about the Dachsfilet (the one with the badger). Some of the grapes are handled initially in much the same way as a red wine, being left on its skins after pressing (with reds this imparts colour and flavour, mainly). The effect is a more complex texture, a nice richness, not the searing sherbet acidity and flint you could reasonably expect to get with other Rieslings from the same region. There’s a lot more fruit too and a tingle of sweetness that lessens the impact of the lip tingling acidity.
Plenty of places have it available in the UK – search on wine-searcher.com

Enira 2008, Thracian Lowlands, Bulgaria

The final wine in the trio is a red from Bulgaria. It goes for £9.99 in Waitrose in the UK, but no Irish presence that I know of. That’s unlikely to change unless you source it in an Eastern European shop, but it’s worth seeking out.
Not a hint on the label of what grape varieties go into but from taste, it’s got to be plenty of Cabernet and Merlot. Blackcurrant, plums firm tannins, well structured. All the hallmarks of Bordeaux and no doubt, some serious investment. And it seems to be paying off. If Enira is anything to go by, if Bulgaria comes back to our shores, it won’t be at the bottom of the supermarket shelf.

Recommendation: either give this a year on its side or decant it for a few hours. This was even better the day after opening it.

What’s next for TxB? Well, a new vintage of the best Chinese wine is out soon. Now that could be interesting.

Value is a bit of a challenge to me. Does it just mean cheap (sorry, inexpensive)?

Value is “the worth of something compared to the price paid”, and the worth is judged by the buyer not the seller. So, if it’s mentioned anywhere other than a review, I’m a little suspicious.

Anyhoo, the subject of this value for money wine is the Château Boucarut Côtes du Rhône 2009 from Molloys in Dublin who seem to have undergone a rather smart rebrand, at least online.

Côtes du Rhône is the basic classified wine from pretty much anywhere within the Rhône area and it’s normally in the range between €7 and €15 and the quality also ranges.

Grape growing & wine making

The winemaker Christophe Valat has set a premium on using natural wine growing methods and respect for the environment particularly by adopting the use of organic manure and natural pest management.

The grapes are Grenache and Syrah

This can, but not always, be coupled with a premium price, but not in this case, the wine is €9.

Tasting note

Bursting with great fruit, a nice fresh acidity, a hint of the rustic and finishes with a very generous amount of pepperiness. After my first glass, I thought the pepper was a little too much, but on going back to the wine the following night, it had opened up nicely and everything was in check, and nicely balanced.

So, back to the question of value.

Would I be happy with the wine, if I paid €9 for it? Definitely.