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”.

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.

If blind-tasted, I would have placed it somewhere between Chassagne & Puligny Montrachet, i.e. richier creamier styles than your benchmark Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. While the grapes are grown further north (around 400km), up on the North Island’s Hawke’s Bay, that only accounts for part of the difference.

The real difference starts with the Easthopes, a couple who make the wine from the vineyard to the winery, the differences between this and the sauvignon blanc we’re used to couldn’t be starker.

In the vineyard

The place itself, quite a bit different from Marlborough and what that means for the plant. Warmer, different soils (and all the other “terroir” stuff I’ll spare you from right here).

Add to that, the viticulture and the careful hands-on management of the vine, from pruning to careful handpicking and grape selection.

In the winery

Fermentation happens spontaneously – this means natural yeasts rather than innoculation. Many wineries use this technique and it means ceding control to Mother Nature in many respects. You’re not sure when fermentation will start, nor when it will end. You’re also not 100% sure what flavour it could add to the final wine.

Next, fermentation occurred in oak barrel rather than stainless steel (the norm for zesty fruity whites of New Zealand).

This next piece sounds gross to the uninitiated, but the fermented wine is then allowed to rest on the dead yeast cells, the lees (the cheating* cheese-eating surrender monkeys call this “sur lie”).

Through fermentation (conversion of sugars to alcohol), the rising alcohol kills the yeast cells and they fall to the bottom of the tank. The wine is stirred (bâtonnage) and this ultimately gives the wine a great creamy texture.

What the wine actually tastes like

First off, nothing like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I was expecting a richer style but within “typical” Sauvignon Blanc parameters i.e. somewhere within the spectrum of cut grass, nettle, capsicum, gooseberry, passion fruit.

What I got was a lot different. Wet slate, unripe mango, mint, flint, minerals, cream. These elements of the overall tasting experience don’t do it justice.

What I will say is that this wine may be made from Sauvignon Blanc. This wine may be made in New Zealand. But it’s both different and better than the sum of its parts. It is a great white wine. And, if I can future-gaze for a moment, I can predict that this will become one of the great white wines of the world, if the owners and all involved continue to make it (and I dearly hope they do).

From Easthope’s understated website, their “hunch” outlines their ambition,

We wanted to know what would happen if a carefully selected Sauvignon Blanc vineyard was afforded the attention to detail normally reserved for icon red vineyards.

We also wanted to know what would happen if this fruit was hand picked, whole bunch pressed, fermented and matured with indigenous yeast in used French barriques, with little intervention.

The result is the inaugural release of The Gatecrasher Sauvignon Blanc. It proves that Sauvignon Blanc, if managed meticulously, has a greater role to play in the ultra-premium wine arena from the New World.

I really enjoyed this wine for a number of reasons. The first, an most important, is taste. Secondly, though, it made me reassess what New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can be, and what you can get out of the Sauvignon Blanc grape, if you really try hard.

Availability

Not much, by the looks of it.  There were only 1,500 bottles produced. As luck would have it, The Celtic Whiskey store has some in for €33, on offer at €29.99.

When @winealliancemoz mentioned he had a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc coming in, I wondered if there was any  room in the market for another one.

Turns out there is.

Little Beauty’s winemaker is Eveline Fraser, formerly head winemaker at the famed Cloudy Bay. That’s a good calling card for starters.

Nice front & rear aspect

The label, too, is a winner for me, with a glossy front and well formed behind, replete with QR code. Deserving of a Harper’s Wine & Spirits Design Award in 2010.

Whether QR codes will gain any traction is open to debate. They may languish down there with RSS, unless a new generation of smartphones has QR readers built into the camera. And the masses figure out what they are.

Nonetheless, the nerd in me loves it. The URL and QR code have the potential to take you beyond the label and learn a little bit more about the wine. Good old brand engagement.

What about the wine?

Back to the wine. All the hallmarks of what made Marlborough burst onto the scene about 15 years ago. Passionfruit, gooseberry, citrus, refreshing zestiness. Notably, this is a 2009 and the extra year in bottle has allowed all the flavours to mellow and integrate. In terms of texture, there’s a little bit of creaminess which is really nice. It softens out all the bright tropical and citrus flavours. It may be down to some lees stirring or partial malolactic fermentation.

A benchmark Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and along with Kevin Judd’s Greywacke (also ex-Cloudy Bay), one of the top to come out of New Zealand in the last year or two.

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.

They are looking for wines for their customers rather than looking for customers for their wines.

What do I mean by this? Bear with me for a tick. The greatest trick the recession ever played on us was for us to start equating cheap with value. It must be all those big red or yellow call outs from the supermarket aisles influencing us.

However, what the The Wine Alliance have shown is that with the wines they bring in, they can source wines to enable the retailers they supply to go toe-to-toe with supermarkets on price, while crushing them with quality.

If you’re still reading, well done you!

Here’s a great example of what I mean. It’s the Beso de Vino Macabeo 2009, from Cariñena in Spain.

The wine review bit

Viura or Macabeo (same grape, different names) is a little bit of an odd grape. You’ll sometimes get it as part of a blend in Rioja or with Verdejo in Rueda. You’ll also get it as part of a Cava blend, but it’s rare to see it tout-seule. It’s better as part of a choir than as a single.

But the Beso de Vino is well able to sing solo, and what a song.

Lovely zippy citrus to start to which is added a nice savoury edge and lovely creamy texture. When I think of the style, I think of the love-child of a Clare Valley Riesling and a nice creamy Chardonnay from McClaren Vale.

The geography lesson bit

Cariñena is in Aragón, one of those autonomous regions we don’t hear too much about, until they ban bullfighting and then they just go back to being autonomous, until they come together to win the soccer world cup under the Spanish banner. Anyway, there are many other very decent wines coming out of Cariñena, red and white, and I recommend you check them out. Beso de Vino is a great place to start.

The hyperlinks to more information

If you want to learn a bit more about the producer (set up in 1997), the vines and the product, then I suggest you take the information super highway over to the Wine Alliance site – a site that demonstrates what all importers should be doing – giving great detail, bottle shots and availability of their wines. Heaven for an out of work wine journo who likes to blog from time to time.

I picked it up when on a recent business trip to Boulder, Colorado for about US$18 from Liquor Mart there.

What’s Liquor Mart? It’s the size of a supermarket, stocked with an infinitude of great wines, beers and spirits. Even with a shop of its size, the staff are knowledgeable, many having worked a stint or two for wineries.

On getting back to sunny Ireland I let it lie for the last 6 weeks to settle, not wholly intentionally. All the vibrations when flying can unsettle a wine, causing something called “bottle shock”, where the aroma and taste of the wine can be dulled.

Without further ado, how was the Three Rivers Chardonnay?

Lovely fresh aromatics, hints of hazelnut, crunchy green apple and some tropical notes. Gorgeous creamy texture along with flavours of pears and pineapple. A dab of spice and buttered toast from oak finishes it off nicely. Went really well with roast chicken. A really well made Chardonnay and as good as the great Chardonnays coming out of Australia, and some place called Burgundy.

So, don’t fear the oaken Chardonnay people! When done well and with a light hand it’s majestic and the king of white wines.

An an aside, I’ve seen a couple of people decry the lack of US wines on Irish shelves. The US, California in particular, has a reputation for expensive wines, but I think that’s lazy journalism.

However, I do agree that we have a pitiful selection from across the pond. Looking at the selection in Liquor Mart and some of their keen prices, there’s no reason why we can’t enjoy more wines from the US at a decent price.

All it takes is an adventurous importer to get a selection in and then convince us to buy it (okay, that last part could be a bit tricky). But it’s already being done.

O’Brien’s is a good example of this in action with their Clos du Val range. Their Chardonnay was on what seemed like “permanent offer” for €17 (a steal), but has recently crept back up to €23. I saw it in Liqourmart for about US$18.

As I’m writing, Joe Ryan and his team are busy tending to their vineyards, mowing and trimming, before they cover their vines with nets. If they don’t net the entire vineyard, starlings will devour their entire crop before harvest. Such is the ebb and flow between man and nature.

Joe Ryan’s family are fourth generation New Zealanders now. His great great grandfather arrived in New Zealand in 1874. The boat ticket says he left from London, but that’s as far as Joe can trace it. He believes the family arrived in London after escaping the famine, possibly from either Tipperary, or Limerick, before seeking their fortune in New Zealand.

Gladstone, Wairarapa

Gladstone is one of 3 grape growing areas in the Wairarapa, the others being Masterton, and the more established Martinborough. Joe originally began exporting to Ireland under the Wairarapa banner, but the name is a bit of a mouthful for us (pronounced “Why ra rap a”) so they used the more local Gladstone.

Joe figured if he was going to sell wine in Ireland from an area named after a British priminister, at least it was one in favour of home rule.

Gladstone is a rural area 10 minutes east of Carterton, that only has a school and a pub, like many Irish towns, except for the shortage of pubs. It sits on the valley floor along side the Ruamahunga river. It was this river, moving eastwards over thousands of years that created the free draining stony terraces that the dozen or so vineyards here grow in.

Unlike Marlborough across on the South Island, they can’t achieve high yields, mainly due to climate, so the cost of grape production is higher per ton.

Joe shares the concerns of many of his fellow New Zealanders, with production increasing faster than their markets.

The problem of over production in New Zealand

A few years ago vineyards in Marlborough (over 60% of NZ’s production) were selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars per hectare. This attracted a lot of developers without any other interest in the industry to start vineyards with the idea of making a quick buck.

According to Joe, the over supply that has resulted coinciding with the onset of the global recession has really knocked the whole New Zealand wine industry.

The high cost of production

While New Zealand can still achieve reasonable prices for their wine on the international stage, New Zealand remains one of the most expensive places in the world to grow grapes. Why? Nature is a cruel mistress, and they have to deal with frost, fruit loving birds, higher labour costs before they transport wine half way across the world to get to most markets.

So, even if they wanted to be they probably could never compete on price.

In terms of the future, Joe is optimistic. Luckily, New Zealand has always been about quality despite many producers here being forced to currently selling below cost.

New plantings which led to the rapid increase in production have significantly decreased since 2008 when the over supply issues began. Joe sees the balance between supply and demand will return and is hopeful, like many of his peers that new wine markets in Asia will help this happen.

I’ve tried two of Ryan’s wines, both adorned with the celtic bands.

The Sauvignon Blanc 2008 was, almost as you’d expect, full of gorgeous tropical fruit, but with a nice streak of minerality, almost “Sancerresque”. Unmistakably New Zealand Sauvie but with perhaps more restraint than many Marlborough styles.

The Pinot Noir 2006 Single Vineyard is very classy. Lovely succulent cherry fruit, backed up with great acidity and a lovely silky texture. Very Elegant.

Despite the decline in popularity in recent years, Chardonnay remains one of the world’s great white grapes, capable of producing wines of varying styles, depending on where it is grown and who is making it. I think it’s brilliant and I’m currently loving new world styles.

Below, two classic French styles alongside two from the antipodes and one from the US of A.

1. Clos du Val Chardonnay, California, 2006 (€16)

This is nice rich example of Chardonnay which many producers have shied away from in recent years. Opulent, sensuous but with a perfect balance between gorgeous juicy fruit and oak, a crisp, long rewarding finish. Could easily be confused with a pricey premier cru from Burgundy. Rediscover your inner love of well made Chardonnay with this stunner.

With food? Roast chicken, stuffing or fish/chicken with rich creamy sauce

Available from: O’Brien’s

2. Domaine Maurice Lecestre Chablis 2008 (€18 approx.)

Chablis is famous for light and clean wines, a world away from the Chardonnay further south in the heart of Burgundy. Wines from the best plots In Chablis, Premier Cru and even Grand Cru are often more concentrated but are still light and crisp. This one is crisp and refreshing with a lovely minerality with notes of crunchy granny smith apples. In style, very different from the other Chardonnays this week.

With food? Lighter salads, or oysters

Available from: good wine shops nationwide (find using wine-searcher.com)

3. Innocent Bystander, Yarra Valley, South Australia Victoria 2009 (€13-€14)

Australian chardonnay is definitely back. Yarra Valley has a cool climate which means a refined, elegant style of chardonnay here with zesty citrus and a rich texture and toasty nutty flavours and a nice minerality. Not the sappy, sugary style of old, with any richness offset with a refreshing clean, crisp precision. Class in a glass.

With food? Roast chicken or fish in cream sauces

Available from: Mitchell & Son, Drinkstore (Stoneybatter) and good wine shops nationwide (find using wine-searcher.com)

4. Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 2005 (€40)

The Aussies aren’t the only ones making classy Chardonnay. New Zealand elegantly demonstrates, again, that it’s more than a one trick pony. “It’s a field full of ponies ™” and thoroughbred producer, Ata Rangi are behind this one.

A major step up in quality and price, but it’s staggeringly good.  Peach, orange peel, toasty honied notes and all the good stuff you get with Meursault.

With food? Crab or salmon in a rich creamy sauce

Available from: good wine shops nationwide (use wine-searcher.com to find it online)

5. Chanson Meursault 2007 (€40, bought in sale for €25)

This is more restrained, more elegant than many of the overly buttery Meursaults. Lots of lovely minerality, a flavour seen throughout this week’s picks.

Pink grapefruit, brioche and honey all melding to form what is one of the best Chardonnays I’ve had in quite a while. Keep for a special dinner, and keep your eye on O’Brien’s when this can be reduced by as much as €15.

With food? Rich fish dishes or lobster

Available from: O’Brien’s wines

Over to you

What do you reckon, is chardonnay back?

Godello (pronounced “Go-day-oh”) is a grape very much on the up. It’s virtually unique to Valdeorras in the northwestern Spanish province of Galicia but there’s also some grown next door in Bierzo. Like many indigenous grapes elsewhere in Spain, Italy and Portugal, it has been brought back from near extinction. If you’re looking for something different, then it’s a must-try white.

Val de Sil, Valdeorras 2008

Expect to pay: €18

Val de Sil dates back to 1885 when grower José Ramón Gayoso planted Godello on the high, slate slopes of the Sil valley. Since then, vineyard land was sold and bought back by the original family.

This Godello has everything, lovely fruit, floral aromas, a soft mellow texture and lots of minerality. This wine has everything. A must-try.

Available: independent wine shops and from spanishwines.ie

Tempestad, Valdeorras 2009

Expect to pay: €15

Tempestad means tempest or storm, regular occurrences in Valdeorras as rain filled clouds, brought by winds from the Atlantic, and dump their payload onto the mountains below.

The climate, coupled with the steeply inclined mountains seem to provide the perfect environment for the Godello which grows here. Partial oak ageing adds to the complexity of this wine. Rich, creamy and full of minerals.

Available: independent wine shops 

Gabo do Xil, Valdeorras 2009

Expect to pay: €14-€15

Xil is Galician for Sil, the river which cuts through the steep slate slopes. But if we’re to mention names, then Telmo Rodriguez should also be included. He’s the winemaker, and one of a new generation of Spanish winemakers who are bringing little known regions and grapes to the world stage.

In his Godello, he has created a masterpiece. Rich, perfumed, tropical, silky. Another stunning example of how this small region in northwest Spain is destined for greatness.

Available: independent wine shops

Capricho, Val de Paxariñas, Bierzo 2009

Expect to pay: €17

The Capricho Val de Paxariñas is from Galicia’s provincial neighbour, Castilla y León, from another rising region, Bierzo.

Thanks to Spanish import and importer, Antonio Lorente of Vinostito, this is widely available and one of the best examples of Godello (though Doña Blanca, another native grape, makes up around 25% of the blend). Lots of tropical flavours, a little mint and a generous creamy texture.

Available: good wine shops and from spanishwines.ie