A couple of nice ones...

As I mentioned last week I got some very nice presents of wine from the guests at a BBBQ* we had recently. June's brother brought the above Super Tuscan a Malenchini Bruzzico 2003. This wine was lovely; inky purple in the glass and dark, supple and rich on the palate. In hindsight it would have gone very well with food, perhaps not pasta but something meaty.

To be honest, my exposure to Super Tuscans has been very limited so I can't tell you that this tasted like a Super Tuscan should. I would imagine if you take the cherry from the Sangiovese, and add some depth and fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon you get what was in this bottle.

Next up is a wine from the Southern Rhone, Les Amis de la Bouissiere 2008, courtesy of BigNose. This is a Grenache, Syrah and Merlot blend, the last of which I think is a little unusual for this area? Either way, this was medium bodied and full of lovely "Rhoney" flavours. Very tasty.


* the extra B is for BYOBB

La Domeliere Rasteau Cotes du Rhone Villages

As I said a couple of days ago, I got the above for €7-99 in Dunnes Ballyogan. Wine at that price is very hit and miss and I didn't have huge expectations going in. By the way, I seem to be drinking nothing but Rhone wine these days, its not intentional, I just buy what appeals to me when I'm out.

Name: La Domeliere Rasteau Cotes du Rhone Villages

Year: 2007
Price: €7-99
Notes: Very nice, a little more cherry-ish than the two recent Vacqueyras I've had along with a little spice in the mix. Another very well balanced wine that would appeal to most palates. A frickin' steal at €7-99.

Lidl Vacqueyras

The last time I bought an expensive Lidl wine (that time also by accident) it turned out well, this time I also lucked out. As previously mentioned I have had some lovely Vacqueyras of late, and I wanted to compare this wine with its Tesco equivalent.

Name: Lidl Vacqueyras AOC

Year: 2007
Price: €12-99
Notes: A warm, fruity, well balanced wine with an incredible finish. This was less "Rhone"-ish than the Tesco version, less cherries, more forest fruits (phew! - got that in). It's not cheap at €12-99 (for a Lidl wine), but it is worth it. It confirms a theory of mine that if you buy something expensive in a "cheap" shop, you tend to get quality.

Rating: 7/10 - definitely worth a punt.

Tesco Finest Vacqueyras 2007

Tonight another experiment - I going to liveblog this wine from start to finish over the course of the evening. This wine is one of Mary Dowey's 100 great wines under €12, I had it once before and liked it but had not seen it in any Tesco since.

This is the infuriating thing about Tesco, they produce some cracking Finest wines at decent prices but they are often hard to find. Bizarrely I found it in Tesco Upper Baggot St which has always had a shockingly poor selection of wines, catering mostly to the pile 'em high sell 'em cheap philosophy.

I'm not all that familiar with Vacqueyras, I know that's its in the Southern Rhone and its made from mostly Grenache. The blurb on the bottle says "A full and rich red with black cherry aromas coupled with a smooth, dark fruit and lightly spiced palate", we shall see.

7-30 pm

I'm opening the bottle, I'm not going to decant it as I would normally do as I reckon most people wouldn't decant it either and I'm aiming for some verisimilitude.

9-00 pm

First sip; cherries - check, spice - check, smooth dark fruit - not so much yet. All round though this is very tasty, nicely balanced and belying its 14% alcohol. Herself says "Lovely" and "Blackcurranty". Next up - we'll try it with Cambozola and Ardrahan cheeses.

10-00 pm

Firstly - Carr's Cheese Nibbles, delicious but deadly - you can't stop eating them. The wine has opened up a little in the glass, it's a little less spicey and a little more rounded and fruity, still very nice and a worthy foil to the cheeses.

Note: Tonight's TV is just awful, we have gone from Farah Fawcett's cancer to Jim Carrey and that's probably the best thing on! New episodes of South Park are also on but... (makes whipped sound). Roll on Jonathan Ross.

10-30 pm

About to finish this off - it's just getting better, the finish is getting longer and the balance really is remarkable, if you see this in Tesco, buy it - I think it was about €12. Perhaps that's why this is never in stock, cos it's so good?

St Joseph - Superquinn French wine sale

This is first review of four bottles of French red purchased as part of the Superquinn French wine sale last Saturday and drunk before my face exploded.

Superquinn says "from the quality conscious Northern Rhone" and "chosen from over 40 proposed wines to win the SQ seal of approval". This is a pure Syrah which in French wines tends to mean wines a lot less jammy and more austere then their new world (Shiraz) counterparts.

Name: SQ St Joseph
Year: 2005
Price: €12 (reduced from €15)
Notes: Disappointing. Very thin and acidic. No great flavour and a lackluster finish. Not worth €12 and certainly not worth €15. Surprisingly lacking in fruit given the grape in question.
Rating: 4/10.

Domaine Des Vaudois - Cotes du Luberon

This is the second of the two reduced wines I picked up in O'Briens on Saturday. We opened the first bottle immediately after two bottles of the Protocolo (below) and it suffered by comparison, but on Sunday we opened the second and found it to be most agreeable.

Name: Domaine Des Vaudois

Year: 2007

Price: €8-99 ( reduced from €9-99)

Notes: If you like Rhone wines - you wont go wrong with this wine at this price. Big and Fruity.

Rating: 7/10.

O'Briens page here