Wine Post - Done a bit differently - Update

For a change of pace, I'm going to let a couple of established wine writers review two wines (from Tesco as it happens), then I'm going to try them myself and see if I agree, and if fore-knowledge of the wines makes any difference to my review. Both wines were priced €10, allegedly reduced from €19-99.

McWilliams Mount Pleasant Isabelle Chardonnay 2011 - €10

Martin Moran (MW)  - @winerepublic (quote from here)
"In the hunt for vineyard-derived quality Australians have planted vineyards in cooler climate locations and at higher altitudes hoping for finer natural acidity. McWilliams Mount Pleasant Isabelle Chardonnay 2011 is from Tumbarumba in the Snowy Mountains on the New South Wales/Victoria border. Altitude is the key here and any oak used is very subtle leaving centre stage for its chalky mineral charged flavours of peach and pear. It knocks the average €8-10 big brand chardonnay for six. "

Update  - Finally opened this tonight, apologies for the delay. This is a very well made wine. Alas, it's not a wine I particularly care for. A couple of years ago I had some very expensive Aussie chardonnays, which I also did not care for. For some reason I just don't dig this style of Chardonnay. This wine tasted quite like its more expensive cousins, so if you like this style of wine - fill your boots, lofty.


Jean Claude Fromont Crozes Hermitage 2010 - €10
David Whelehan - @Whelehanswines (quote from here)
"For those who love good Northern Rhone Syrah, this will not disappoint. Made 90% from Syrah, 10% from Marsanne & Rousanne. This could be most simply described as a dark berry brooding wine perfect for winter. The aromas are of black fruits with some spice and savoury notes. The palate is rich and round with an attractive spiciness and the finish is very impressive ending on some really ripe and generous black fruit flavours.  Alc 13.5%"

Update  - I have to agree with David W, this turned out to be delicious, although it did take a while. After a couple of hours in the decanter it was still a little rough and ready, but by the end of the night this developed into a nicely balanced, rich and juicy wine. Good value at €10, but I don't think I'd pay 20 notes for it.



Also -  today is Day 4 of No Beer September (started on 2nd Sept) and so far so good. I will be sampling various ciders (craft and otherwise) over the next while and will update with the results.

Wine Australia Yarra Valley Tasting

Last night myself and a couple of likely lads had the pleasure of attending another one of John McDonnell's Ozzie tastings. This evening it was the turn of the Yarra Valley, a cool area just north of Melbourne. John was joined by Phil Sexton of Innocent Bystander/Giant Steps wines.

Phil gave us a potted history lesson on the Valley e.g.

• Viticulture only really started there in the 60's.
• The Wine output of the valley is tiny by Australian standards.
• There are approx 600 vineyards and about 120 producers.
• In terms of temperature the Yarra is warmer than Burgundy but cooler than Bordeaux
• Bushfires in 2009 nearly destroyed the entire crop.
  

We started with a glass of Domaine Chandon NV - I liked this a lot. It was toasty and creamy and I'd have been hard pushed to differentiate between this and Champagne in a blind tasting. Fool your friends for the modest price of €20

The main tasting was divide into the sections by varietal; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz.

The Chardonnays

2009 Innocent Bystander Chardonnay (€14-99) - Big fruity nose, quite acidic and citrusy on the palate. Not subtle but tasty.

2009 PHI Chardonnay (€32-95) - Lovely, much more depth of flavour, less sharp and a bit minerally. Twice the price of the wine above though.

2008 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Chardonnay (€30-00 - pictured) - Best chardonnay of the night for me. Lots of fruit, big round flavours, smooth and a huge finish.

2006 Yering Station Chardonnay (€18-99) - Soft and creamy, again lots of acidity here.

The Pinot Noirs

An interesting tidbit from Phil - "Pinot Noir expresses its origin ruthlessly" i.e. you can't make Burgundy anywhere else. Terroir is King.

2009 Innocent Bystander Pinot Noir (€14-99) - Sweet on the nose, quite acidic with some nice berry fruit. Good value at this price.

2009 Shelmerdine Pinot Noir (€22-95) - We all loved this. With some gentle acidity, this was oaky, smokey and very long. Very good value for this complex wine.

2008 William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot Noir (€49-99 - pictured) The star of the night for me. This guy only makes Pinots, nothing else, and it shows. A supple perfumed nose, raspberry fruit and some gentle tannins made this one special. The most Burgundy like - and yes, also the most expensive, I'm not a cheap date.

2008 Yering Station Pinot Noir (€18-99) - Not bad, plummy and oaky. Perhaps suffered in the tasting from following the William Downie.

The Shiraz's

2008 Innocent Bystander Shiraz (€14-99 - pictured) - A gem, with 2% Viognier this was sweetish but not sickly, very tasty. Phil maintains this is the only Shiraz on the night to taste of Pink peppercorns, as opposed to white.

2007 De Bortoli Shiraz Viognier (€30-00) - A little bigger and rounder than the Innocent Bystander but not enough to justify doubling the price, in this blogger's opinion.

2006 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier (€18-99) - perfectly fine but I didn't think it was as special as the brochure made out. Tasty and rich though.

2004 Harry's Monster Giant Steps - (€18-00) - This is a very unusual blend of 25% of each of the following, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Petit Verdot (I think). This was fantastic; big, bold, fruity, tannic. I'd love to get more of this but I don't think it's imported to Ireland, boo!

Lastly we had a 2009 Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato, which I thought (sorry Phil), was vile. I do like me a sweet wine but I just couldn't get behind this highly original concoction. However I was definitely was in the minority, so what do I know.

We then had supper accompanied by a 2008 Innocent Bystander Pinot Gris and a 2006 Little Yering Shiraz Viognier. They were both fine, I wish I could tell you more about them but by this time I was famished so I concentrated more on the grub than the vino, apologies.

I did learn, however, than Pinot Gris (or Grigio) is a red grape. But when the juice is left in contact with the skins, the result is foul, hence Pinot Gris (or Grigio) grapes normally make white wines only.

Big thanks to John and Phil for a very enjoyable evening in the Yarra Valley.

**Update 1 - Kevin Ecock has posted this entry as a guestpost on his blog, thanks Kevin.

**Update 2 - Thanks to John McD for the images above.

No hugs, no learning.

Well, I've come back from battering my hangover into submission in the gym and I have a few updates and reviews to share, so let's start with...

Clos Du Val Chardonnay 2006 . This was on special in O'Briens last week (€16-95 reduced from €22-95) and as part of my drive to drink more white I picked one up. It was interesting... Lar from Sour Grapes recommended it and said it was "Meursault style - butter, nuts and brioche." This wine reminded me of Dance. I can appreciate the skill and the effort involved but it does nothing for me; similarly with this wine, I can appreciate it but that style of buttery Chardonnay is not my cup of meat, however well made it may be. I have a Meursault gathering dust at the moment in my "cellar" and I reckon I'll have to crack it soon and compare.

After the Chardonnay I popped open a Renato Ratti Langhe Nebbiolo 2008, which I had gotten in M&S earlier. I really must wine shop there more often as they seem to have a large range at reasonable prices. I stumped up €14-99 for this and was not disappointed. Nebbiolo is the grape that powers both Barolo and Barbaresco and here in its cheaper incarnation it still packed a punch. Lots of cherry fruit, pleasingly fragrant and nice integrated if gentle tannins. Quite an uncommon taste but rather emotive, one sip and I was back in Rome (not literally of course) drinking overpriced, but delicious, Nebbiolo behind the Piazza Navona.

Just back from O'Briens in the Beacon, looking for bargains and I got the following...

Bethany Old Vine Grenache 2007 - Reduced from €14-45 to €9-95

Villa Novare Valpolicella Ripasso 2006 - Reduced from €18-45 to €12-95. I love Valpolicella Ripassos, a good one will give you near Amarone quality for half the price.

Lastly in the Sunday Business Post Today, Tomas Clancy in his "to try, buy and put by" sidebar, recommends next week's Wedding white (which I helped choose) as his "to try" choice. It's a Bougrier Sauvignon Blanc AC Touraine 2006, and he speaks very highly of it, phew.

His "to put by" is another old favourite of mine the Penfolds Bin 389, a fruity but well balanced gem of a wine, sadly priced north of €30 in this republic.

Savage Flowers

We're now back in our mountain home, herself is off in sunny Rosslare with "the girls" and I'm left here on my own to mind the chiseler. No better time to post on a few wine related tings.

As I mentioned last post I wanted to get into Oddbins on Baggot street and I was presented with the opportunity with the impending arrival of B&G for a spot of Thai food from Kanum, which by the way is as good as any Thai food I've had in Dublin and is pretty good value, but I digest.

One way that Oddbins falls down I find is in the cheapish €9-€13 bracket. Supermarkets, particularly Tesco have a myriad of decent, drinkable wines in this range, and most offies have a few bottles to be had for this money. If you are entertaining, on a budget, need to buy a few of something, you don't want to spend a fortune. Hence, Supermarkets clean up here.

Long story short I bought a couple of these - Chateau de Combebelle Les Fleurs Sauvages St Chinian 2007 (€13-99) and one of these for B, a Falerio Palastri Organic 2009 (a snip at €8-99).

Note, I really bought the red to be drunk after the Thai food, not with it. For the food I bought a case of 12 bottle of Veltins Pilsener (good value at €14), this proved to be a delicious hoppy treat and more than a match for the strong Thai flavours.

Anyhoo, the wine itself was very fine. Lots of spice, some nice fruitiness, a surprising, but not overpowering amount of tannins and a long tasty finish. As I mentioned above this is more than I'd normally spend on multiple bottles but I couldn't find anything else in the shop for less money that I thought would be decent.

Lastly, I have been tempted, ever since I tried one a few weeks ago, to buy more of the Clos Du Val Merlot from O'Briens. It's still on sale at the ridiculously cheap price (for the quality) of €16-95, so I bought one to have with a (hopefully BBQ'd) steak tonight. Lar from Sourgrapes suggested I try the Chardonnay also so I grabbed one of these also. Again not cheap at €16-95 (reduced from €22-95) but if the rest of the range is a guide then it should be worth it.

On a wholly OT note, I watched Zombieland last night. BEST CAMEO EVER.

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.

Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2006

I recently had a bottle of the iconic Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc and while I really liked it I thought that €30 was perhaps a little steep. I have similar feelings about the Chardonnay. I really enjoyed it (it was a gift to Herself), I don't think I could justify spending €30 on it. Perhaps that's because we drink much more red than white, I don't know.

Name: Cloudy Bay Chardonnay

Year: 2006
Price: approx €30
Notes: This has it all flavour-wise, the fruits, the minerals, the oaty, biscuity undertones all harmonious in the glass with a long complex finish.

Rating: 7/10 (loses 1 for price)

Note: check out the overly floral and typographically challenged O'Briens review of the above here.