A Taste of Italy

I'm back in the land of the living, just, and I give thanks, as a devout Pastafarian, to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I'm back off the wagon. It was truly the driest weekend in living memory.

Anyhoo, we having a little soirette this Saturday, to celebrate a variety of milestones, mine not the least, but especially my old friend Edwaf returning home for the weekend from Chicago (Thanks Jess!!). JK while not yet "there" will also be a guest of honour.

As the winebore in residence it would ill behoove me to serve anything other than various fine wines. I have in stock, a Monbazillac (to go with the Fois Gras) and some Bererac Sec (fish course) from May, along with some nice bubbly as an aperitif. I wanted some nice red for the main, so I went to O'Brien's with Little Bill on Saturday in the midst of the aforementioned drought.

I had thought Bordeaux or Italian, and as usual any decent Bordeaux was out of my price range given the volume I needed to buy. So Italian it was. The helpful chap recommended this Sangiovese or this Valpolicella Ripasso based on my specifications.

I went back tonight to buy both to taste them but they only had 2 bottles of the Tuscan in stock and won't get any more of it in time for the big event. The suggested alternative, a Rosso di Montalcino, along with the Valpolicello Ripasso were duly purchased, see picture above.

I decided, rather than try them on consecutive nights to open both tonight, and do a direct comparison. The Valpolicella Ripasso tasted quite sharp initially but after 30 minutes or so in the glass it evolved into a big, tannic beast, delicious but maybe not a party wine.

The Rosso di Montalcino however was a much more balanced if lighter wine, perfectly balanced and wonderful - we have a winner.

That's it for now, I'll let you know on Sunday how it all went.

Hiatus

I'm back to being the elephant man so no more jar for a few days - see here.

Tesco Tautavel

I wrote this earlier in the week...

Last but not least I also picked up a Tesco Tautavel 2005, a snip at €10-79 (I hope), it's an Appelation Cotes Du Roussillon Villages Tautavel Controlee by Gerard Bertrand, phew. Don't know much about Tautavel except its in the Languedoc and Dunnes used to sell one for €8-50 (half price, they said) which was delicious but it absolutely had to be decanted for best effect.

Name: Tesco Tautavel 2005 Gerard Bertrand

Year: 2005

Price: €10-79

Notes: I loved, loved, loved this. Similar to the Dunnes version, this needed some time in the decanter, but boy howdy it was worth the wait. The first thing you notice is the spiciness, followed by some fruit and a wash of soft tannins. A lovely and complex wine and great value for a tenner.

John Wilson's Favourite Australians

John Wilson's Favourite Australians

Tuesday 24th November

6.30pm - 8.30pm

The Function Room at Fallon and Byrne,

11-17 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2

John McDonnell from Wine Australia has asked me to give a shout about the above event which I hope to attend. John has invited me to many wine events and due to a variety of people letting me down 8-) I have been unable to go to any of these, d'oh. Either way here is the skinny from John Mc

"During the summer I gave John the task of pulling together his selection of Favourite Australian wines.

The task wasn't to draw up a list of Australia's best wines, but as John says,

"My first criteria for choosing these wines was very simple; would I be happy to share a bottle of any of them with my friends? The answer had to be yes. The list is certainly not a definitive gathering of the greatest wines of Australia, although I have included a fair number of these. It is my personal choice of the best Australian wines I have enjoyed over the last year."

The task is now complete (with a final count of 70 wines) which covers all styles, regions and prices.

John and myself will host a tasting of all these wines on the evening of Tuesday 24th November in Fallon and Byrne.

Places cost 20 Euro and are available from our office on ireland@wineaustralia.com or 065 7077264.

(This could be the event to take away all those Christmas buying and present selecting challenges.)"

Well there you have it, what are you still doing here? Go drink some wine or something.

Invisible airwaves crackle with life

or something. Lots to get through so let's get this moving along fairly lively.

Firstly I made a quick pit stop at the new Off Licence in the Village (the Vineyard) and had lovely chat with the(I'm guessing French) chap inside who I presume is the boss. He recommended the wine above a Morellino Di Sansano Serpaia 2007 , priced on the not inconsiderable level of €16. This is 100% Sangiovese from Tuscany. I liked this but I didn't love it, it was perfectly fine, some nice cherry bitterness and a decent finish but for the money I expected a little more.

I was also recommended the Altitude 450 Cotes Du Ventoux for the visit of the Outlaws, "lil" sis and the flyboy on Sunday which I had intended to pick up on the day. Unfortunately I had to work all day (mutter mutter) and I had to pick up spuds and ginger and a couple of other things on the way so Tesco was the only place for me (Ever tried buying root ginger in a Spar/Londis/Centra?).

The wine above was on special offer and me being a dedicated bargain hunter (cheap) I got three. Tesco Cotes Du Rhone Villages Reserve 2007, our guests all opined in the positive and I liked it too. A little lighter and fruitier than recent Rhone wines we been drinking, this went well the leg of "lamb chicken" ( Little Bill only eats chicken- beef chicken, lamb chicken, bacon chicken, pork chicken - you get the idea)

Last but not least I also picked up a Tesco Tautavel 2005, a snip at €10-49 (I hope), it's an Appelation Cotes Du Roussillon Villages Tautavel Controlee by Gerard Bertrand, phew. Don't know much about Tautavel except its in the Languedoc and Dunnes used to sell one for €8-50 (half price, they said) which was delicious but it absolutely had to be decanted for best effect. Anyhoo - back to Kenny Powers.

Saturday Morning

Hola Amigos,

it's been a while since I blogged at ya, things have been busy. Last night I was at a "do" at a corporate headquarters where we were served some OK chardonnay and an indifferent Minervois. It was a moderately sized "do", maybe 50 people, so was not terribly surprised at the quality of the vino on offer. The last bottle of the Minervois was off though, which was then poured into our glasses by the otherwise very professional waiters. Is it unreasonable to expect each bottle to be checked? Perhaps.

Big news locally, a new off licence has opened up nearby in Stepaside Village, attached to the new Loughlins pub (used to be the old Mountainview Inn). I'm gonna go down later and check it out. I Fancy a big bloody steak tonight so will try to pick up something to go with it.

Lidl Montepulciano to Bombay

After our traumatic move back to the mountains we couldn't be arsed cooking so we opted for the best Indian food available in Ireland (IMHO) - Bombay Pantry. Our nearest is on the Grange road, right beside a big Lidl which fortuitously was still open when I arrived to collect the hot curries. I had literally 3 minutes so I ran in and grabbed three bottles of the Lidl Montepulciano (€4-79)!!.

I have tasted it a couple of time before here and here. It's pretty decent and at this price, its a no-brainer. They are also selling Tyskie for €1-43 a bottle - very good value.

Last post I mentioned that we had bought an own brand Minervois in M&S, it was OK, drinkable but not memorable, I'd do a full review but I can't be bothered, it's late and I'm back to work in the morning. Gah.

NOBby and Big Ears

Had a lovely evening yesterday at NOB and BigEars house in the country, well not really the country but Meath. We had a large selection of wine both provided by our gracious hosts and brung along by June, BigNose, and BigHead. The occasion was to celebrate June's "Hitchhikers Guide" birthday and a good time was had by all, although I'm not as good at Wii bowling as I think I am, particularly at 1-30 in the morning after all the wine below.

We started off with a home town favourite, a Rioja, specifically a 2004 Marques de Riscal Reserva, which I really like and never disappoints, with lots of vanilla and oak.

Next up was one of mine. I had brung along a couple of bottles of the Malbec at left from Oddbins, Herself had bought one for a girly night and liked it so I got a couple to go with the beef I was told we were having. As with a lot of recent wines I initially thought this was a "two pronger". I envision two prongs of flavour and a gap in between. The two prongs being fruit and tannins, but no harmony or balance to the wine. I expect this was not unrelated to the wine not having a decent chance to breathe and it did improve over time. Although that time was short as each wine was swiftly dispatched by the thirsty mob.

Next up was BigNose's contribution to the evening, a Tour Des Gendres Bergerac 2007. He wasn't impressed with it but I though it was a fine if a little dry, but perfect with food. Off to Italy with us next for a Villa Antinori 2005, as supplied by BigHead although he denied brining it, for some reason. This could be described as an affordable Supertuscan, with some red berries, soft tannins, a well balanced and delicious wine all round. They also make the Santa Christina Sangoivese which I see everywhere and this appears to be the next wine up from that.

Next up was June's wine and I think, the star of the evening for me. There were a number of d'Arenburg wines knocking about on the night ( I gave June a bottle of 2005 The Sticks and Stones), and she in turn brought along a 2001 Bonsai Vine, a Grenache (70%) Shiraz (25%) Mourvedre (5%). This was quite jammy and sweet with a very New World style, light years from its Rhone cousin. I have previously opined that a wine that jammy can only work if the sweetness is balanced by some depth and structure, and this was. Not only that, this wine felt very well made, if that makes sense. As usual d'Arenburg doesn't disappoint.

I think that was it on the wine front, there was also Baileys liqueur and some Quilmes beer from Argentina that was nice but bloody expensive from Oddbins. You think I'd have learned after the Krombacher mentioned in the last post.

Our Sunday night wine, an own-brand 2007 Minervois, was brought to us by Marks and Spencer, the number 7 and the letter Q.

El Quintanal Ribera Del Duera 2007 Liveblog and more...

I'm back - in liveblog form. Tonight it's a Ribera from Oddbins. I was out getting the fish and chips and popped in to pick up a bottle for tonight. The most promising was a Chianti but it seems I've been drinking nothing but for the last couple of weeks so I passed on it. Then I saw this fruity little number...

7-30 I've just opened and decanted this, smells fruity.

8-30 First taste - not great. Quite fruity and a little cheap tasting. Hope this improves...actually I don't think it will, down the sink it goes - sorry Oddbins. Hmmm- no other red in the house, I need a plan B.

9-00 When I said there was no more red in the house I was being truthful, however I knew that M&J's stash of vino is secreted in the shed. Last time I blogged on one our their wines here I really liked it. Tonight I found a Chateau Rocher Lideyre Cotes de Castillon 1999 (not the last one- don't worry). However the last time we tried this particular wine I thought that it was just on the edge of drinkability and on the way slowly out. It's still a little cool although I've been warming it on the stove, and its very earthy. More anon.

9-30 Yummy - Cashel Blue and Carr's Nibbles with Black Onion seed and Rosemary - kudos to Granny G for the crackers.

9-32 Way to bury the lede, dummy. Back to the wine. Very unusual colour, almost brown in the glass. The wine is pleasant, some of that Bordeaux minerality and some nice tannins. I expect it'll get better as it warms up but I'm pretty convinced that its past its best, that's my excuse for nicking it anyway.

10-00 Herself is a mine of information. "Earthy" has been updated to "Very Earthy". Me - as anticipated the wine is showing a little more complexity.

While I'm here I have to say 2 things about Oddbins:

1) I'm disappointed with Oddbins stocking such a cheap tasting and unimpressive wine, they are generally much better in their selections. Note: I bought this on my own without any advice or lack thereof from the staff who are almost always very well versed not only in wine but in Scotch also.

2) They really know how to charge for their beers. I suppose its because you're a captive audience at that stage. I bought two 500ml bottles of Krombacher (try it, very very nice), for the immodest price of €2-99 each. I know its a "premium" lager but still...

10-45 Time to wrap this up, this is a nice wine, on its last legs but still drinking. No movie to go with the liveblog tonight, for a change, watching the Late Late til JRoss comes on. That bird with the house on her head sure sung purty.

J&M - I'll make it up to you at Xmas with the finest wines known to humanity, and lots of Whiskey too.

Twitter!

I've started tweeting. My twitter name is, predictably, @willieswineblog.

Now I have to find fun and interesting things to tweet.

You know I will, so go and follow me - now!

Wednesday - Chianti Overload

First off - lets deal with Chianti I got in Tesco that I mentioned to in my last post.

Name: Famiglia Terracia Chianti Riserva

Year: 2006
Price: €6-99 (Reduced from €13-99)
Notes: This started off with one main characteristic- acidity and a little of that cherry bitterness. Two, two main characteristics - acidity, bitterness and a gentle hint of tannins. Three - its chief attributes were acidity, bitterness, tannins and some fullness of flavour. Amongst its weaponry were numbered - acidity, some cherry bitterness, a hint of tannins, some fullness of flavour and a decent balance. Crap Monty Python rip-offs aside this was very good value at the price.

Next off - I have decanted another bottle of this Chianti a short while ago, what I enjoyed last week (from Oddbins) all the while being a tiny bit dubious about it in a way I couldn't quite articulate. I'm not going to liveblog again (Ed. - phew). But I am going to have a little tipple right now...

Hmmmmmmm - inky purple in the glass, it's a little sharp with perhaps a suggestion of tannins. Could be to do with the fact is hasn't been decanting that long - time will, literally, tell.

On a not-really-related note we had food again from Kanum on Mespil road last night, and I have to say this place is almost certainly the best Thai food in Dublin, and if not that then definitely the best take-away Thai food in Dublin. Along with "Little" Sis and the flyboy we had a green curry, a yellow curry (best - yellow - curry - ever), a duck stir fry and a prawn thing. All were superb. It's also very close to Beshoffs chipper, it's no wonder I'm short for my weight.

A trip around France - of sorts.

Last night we had the Bergerac six over for dinner in our town pad, homemade (spicy) tomato and roasted pepper soup and a bastardised Jamie chicken stew, made with a proper organic chicken. I think a lot of this organic business is a bit of a con but this chicken definitely used to run around the outdoors and tasted as such, but I digress - there was a wide variety of wine sampled.

After the obligatory beer - Carlsberg Export*, we had a bottle of Gavi of which my brother had given me a half dozen of a while back, we all liked it although opinions ranged bizarrely widely on the sweetness or lack thereof, we agreed - let's all drink more white.

After this I decided we should drink the Lynch Bages 2001 which I'd got from BE here. Again we all liked this but perhaps we were a little disappointed, while it was lovely it wasn't the ultimate expression of the Bordeaux craft, I blame myself, for some reason.

I was supposed to take delivery of 6 Argentinian Malbec and 6 Jacques Boyd but that seems to have fallen through so I had some of this handy, which we had next and which stood up well after the Lynch Bages.

Next up was a 2002 Pecharmant, from the 2008 Bergerac trip, which BE had brought over a couple of. We agreed that it seemed a little thin after the Bordeaux and the Rioja, however myself and Herself are finishing off the second bottle now and it definitely has gained some complexity after being open for a while.

BigBog had brought along a Burgundy (and a Sancerre), a Satenay 1er Cru La Comme 2006. As I have often avowed, it is virtually impossible to get good cheap Bordeaux or Burgundy, and this confirmed it. It was delicious and a welcome change of pace from the very full bodied wines we'd been drinking up to this.

I'd like to say that this was all we had to drink on the evening, so I am going to say it, that's all we had to drink, no more beer, Beaujolais, Balvenie or Macanudos. Definitely not.

We did watch BE's wedding video, all 2+ hours of it, at my insistence. As expected my speech was short, my voice squeaky, my pace too fast, only partially rescued by a closing joke cribbed from a wedding book which depended on having adequate comic timing, which I possessed by virtue of being a lot more sober that I intended, resulting in my feeling as nervous as I actually was as opposed to hiding my insecurities behind a haze of 2006 La Fleur D'Armens.

Anyhoo, tomorrow I intend to drink a Famiglia Terracia Chianti I got in Tesco yesterday at at 50% discount, (€13-99 reduced to €6-99), allegedly.

* This beer, a slightly stronger version of the standard brew is for sale in various Tescos for approx €6 for four 440ml cans. I love this beer and have bought it a few times, however....

For some reason whenever I buy it I get charged €6 per can, it must be in the computer wrong, which is fine but it's been this way for at least 9 months. Only that I'm tight and always keep an eye on the tab I might have paid over the odds on more that one occasion.