When a good deal is not a good deal

So one of our discount German stores have just announced their latest offers, and they include a range of “wines”. I’ve decided to question the word or term “wine” in this instance. Here’s the maths:

• Sale Price              €3.16
• Ex VAT                  €2.60
• Minus Excise       €0.14

Within that 14c there is a budgeted cost for

1. “Wine”, or the liquid within
2. Dry goods: labels, corks, glass, boxes
3. International Shipping and internal freight

At what point do we just decide to throw away everything that is unique about wine, and just start making alcoholic grape juice? Do we really want to continue this race to the bottom? Will we decide to stop when all recognizable quality is finally eradicated from all wines? When all quality producers are out of business? When all choice and uniqueness has been eradicated in favour of lower-priced, soul-less wines?

Most of the trade here has worked hard the last 30 or so years educating and helping improve the Irish palate, so it is difficult to see a 21st century version of 70s Yugoslavian wine re-appearing.

 

Just landed: Recession proof Prosecco!

Just landed as of today and ready to woo you, it’s our new Prosecco! Produced by the esteemed organic/biodynamic prosecco powerhouse that is Perlage, this one is made from organically grown grapes and is bottled under a super convenient screwcap. Fresh, lively and absolutely delicious it is also very keenly priced, with an RRP of just €12!

 

Chateau de Mayragues

Back in Easter I visited the Tarn region (Gaillac to be precise) of France with my wife and two good friends – we rented a farmhouse among vineyards and spent most of our time eating, drinking and playing this awesome card game called Pit. That and making sure we took in some Pro D2 rugby – Albi v Racing Metro. I got to see the legend that is Andrew Mehrtens play which pretty much made my holiday.

Anyway Gaillac is a pretty traditional wine region (the first of the Gauls apparently), using primarily local grapes such as Loin de l’Oeil, Mauzac, Ondenc as well as Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet for the whites; and Duras Fer Servadou, Braucol with Syrah, Cab Franc, Gamay and others for the reds. Taking into account the relatively large size of the appellation and the wide selection of permitted grapes there were many different styles, and many different qualities. What struck me though generally was the health – or lack of it – in the vineyards. With no leaves on the vines it was easy to see the problems with soil erosion due to heavy handed use of chemicals.

By complete accident one day we happened on Chateau de Mayragues, the only certified biodynamic producer in the region. Aside from being a stunning Chateau, the owner Alan Geddes is a scottish born astro-physicist who has become a huge supporter of biodynamics. He believed that a lot of Steiner’s principles of biodynamics could be explained through astrophysics and an understanding of the relationship between the earth and space. Heavy stuff but ultimately fascinating. His wines were superb! The show stopper for me was his white 2005 Clos des Mages Blanc. It had been open, with no vacuum seal, for four days and still tasted fresh. I didn’t, and still can’t, understand how that was.

To come full circle I brought a bottle of it home and had it with some Sea Bass, crushed caeser potatoes and rocket salad. Beautiful. I was so wrapped up in discussing biodynamics at the time however that I didn’t write any notes. I think it cost around €9 at the cellar?

2005 Chateau de Mayragues, Clos des Mages Blanc

Out of the frying pan, into my glass

 

Ramón Bilbao: Winery of the Year 2009, among other things

Bodegas Ramon Bilbao has been awarded the title of “Winery of the Year 2009″ by the Grupo Gourmets (Gourmets Club). It is the only prize in the winery category of the Gourmet Awards and the result is made from the votes sent by the readers of the Gourmet Wine Guide.

This prestigious award follows some other recent awards: Mar de Frades, Albarino won the White Wine of the Year award at the 2009 Nariz de Oro awards, and Ramon Bilbao’s own flagship wine, Mirto, won the Spanish Trophy at the 2008 International Wine Challenge.

 

Bousquet expands into Maipu

It’s been a pretty remarkable few years for Domaine Jean Bousuqet – from fairly humble beginnings in 1997 DJB have grown to be the number one Argentinian exporter of organic wines. Increasing demand for their wines worldwide have prompted the team to purchase a 72 hectare vineyard in Maipu, Mendoza which is planted with Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Maipu is a well regarded region for Malbec and work is already underway to acquire organic certification for the new vineyard.

 

More friends for our Spanish wines

It seems that Tom Doorley is not alone in his appreciation of our Spanish wines as we had a couple of wines reviewed from the Wines From Spain: The Rising Stars 2009 tasting held on September 3rd. Once again it was a great event, this time held in the wonderful Ballroom of the Shelbourne Hotel. Both Martin Moran MW of the Evening Herald and Katherine Donnelly of the Irish Independent were struck by Carchelo and Arrocal respectively:

“My first Jumilla, 20 years ago, came in a Tetra Pak and was cheap and not very cheerful. Boy, how times have changed. This Monastrell/Syrah/Cabernet blend is rich and silky smooth and the price is as sharp as the cool label.“
- Martin Moran MW, HQ Food & Drink, The Evening Herald (17.9.09)

“A blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from Spain’s Ribera del Duero. Layers of ripe, dark fruit, such as plums and blackberries, topped up with plenty of soft spice, wrapped in sleek tannins that will go down well at any table.”
- Katherine Donnelly, Irish Independent Weekend (12.9.09)

 

All good in suburbia

At VinItaly last year  I was introduced to a jovial German fella by Peter Zemmer, our producer from the Alto Adige. This guy is a pretty serious German wine broker and it turned out that he had often holidayed in Schull and was a big fan of hurling. Honestly I’m constantly amazed at how in the oddest of places I am reminded of my nationality. I was in a remote forest park in Honduras in January and went white water rafting – the instructor was from Derry.

Anyway I explained to him that German wines – despite their consistently remarkable quality – were too much of a niche for me when you considered all my other currently stocked niches: USA, cru Prosecco, biodynamic wines etc. I love a niche as much as the next guy, but sometimes I do have to put on my business hat…

So about a month later I received samples from Weingut Hofmann in the Rheinhessen! I really don’t like producers incurring the cost of shipping samples without my request as it’s a hugely expensive process, and always advise potential suppliers against it until I have checked out the other elements and made sure that their product could potentially fit into our portfolio. Naturally I informed my contact that I was not actively looking for German wines, and that the samples would be joining the far end of the que.

Well I got around to one or two over the last while, and on Wednesday night I decided to crack open this bottle as it was a rare sunny evening on the suburban decking and we were cooking Sea Bream with a sweet pepper salsa:

2007 Hofmann Riesling Hundertgulden Trocken

Hofmann relaxed on the deck, soaking up the summer vibes

Simply put it was awesome. A hugely complex wine with wonderfully layered crab apple, honey, quince, slate and satsuma flavours. Phenomenal length, concentration, balance and restraint. One of the best whites I’ve had all year.

By the end of my glass my eyebrows were cramping from spending so much time raised.

Summer has been relatively kind to us so far, and here’s to hoping we get a few more days where we can toast the sun, dine al fresco and be fortunate enough to have some great juice on hand. It’s just a pity that there isn’t more of a market for German wines here.

 

Sampling: Alpamanta Estate

Alpamanta Malbec

 

Last year I was contacted by Andrej Razumovsky of Alpamanta, a brand new estate in Mendoza, Argentina. Now I get a lot of emails and phone calls looking for business, but what interested me in his estate was that they were practising biodynamic viticulture. There are quite a few organic vineyards in Argentina due to a positive combo of altitude/rainfall/vine health that often renders chemicals un-necessary. 

The estate was only founded in 2005, and the wines are being made by the world-renowned Alvaro Espinoza. There’s lots of info anyway on their beautifully produced website. I received samples (admittedly quite a while ago) so last week I was able to taste the Alpamanta Estate 2007 Malbec and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, and I’ve got to say that the wines were excellent. The Malbec was the winner for me,  just take a look at my glowing notes:

“…soft and luscious mouthfeel; deep plummy flavours are balanced by a refreshing natural acidity, and ripe fruit tannins are supported with judicious oaking which weighs in on a long finish that’s packed full of ripe blackberry and mulberry flavours. Excellent balance throughout, and very enjoyable.”

This is really good juice, so hopefully we’ll see it available in Ireland some time soon (*wink wink)

 

It’s back on

Right this blog is open for business again. That’s only two false starts – third time the charm!

 

Tuscany: like Salem, circa 1692

In what seems to be an un-ending barrage of wine confiscations in Tuscany, officials have stepped in and confiscated wine made under the San Gimignano Rosso DOC. This comes on top of the ongoing dispute over Brunello di Montalcino and the threatened US embargo, and the recent confiscations of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Althought the amount of San Gimignano confiscated is small at only 30hl (4,000 bottles), it was originally reported in the Italian press as 60,000hl of Vernaccia di San Gimignano – a slightly different proposition. This has spooked some importers, with reports of German agents now looking for certificates of authenticity to accompany their orders. The tabloid-style reporting coupled with the ongoing political battles in Montalcino could really threaten to destable this key region’s exports.

I can guarantee you however that our Tenuta San Giorgio ‘Ugolforte‘ is 100% Sangiovese Grosso. And delicious.