Four Cheap Tesco wines reviewed in 12 words

French Connection Classics - Cotes du Roussillon Villages Rouge 2009 (€7)
Awful - down the sink.

French Connection Classics - Languedoc Rouge 2008 (€7)
As above.

Les 2 Chenes Corbieres 2008 - (€8)
Meh - drinkable, just.

Laurent Miquel Heritage Vineyards Syrah 2008 (€8)
Lovely, quite lovely.

Specials From O'Briens - Updated

It's been ages, well months anyway, since I've blogged about wines from O'Briens. I have definitely been in least one of their shops during this time as I ventured into their newest premises in picturesque Cabinteely, not long after it opened.

Anyhoo, I was down in Dunnes in the Beacon buying limes, as you do, and decided to do an O'Briens special run. This is where I buy four or five reds on special from the many on display. I try to only get new (to me) wines but occasionally I weaken (viz Pic Saint Loup)

The wines I bought are (from Left to right):
L'Ostal Cazes Eclipse 2010  (€14-99 - Not on Special)
I bought this on spec as I loved the last wine I had from Domaine L'ostal Cazes, a minervois, so I had high hopes, especially at fifteen quid a bottle. We drank it last night and it was...OK. Per O'Briens site  "this is like taking what’s great about St.Emilion and the best parts of the Languedoc and mixing them both together"  for me, I think this fell between those two stools. It was perfectly drinkable but didn't do it for me, or Herself.

Domaine de Nizas Rouge 2008 (€12-99 - reduced from €15-99)
As I type we are just finishing this off and boy howdy, it is fine. I think we had a bottle of the 2007 at Xmas ( I think - it looks like they have changed the label for the 2008). Loved it then, love it now. A steal as priced.

Gerard Bertrand Pic Saint Loup 2009  (€9-99 - reduced from €14-49)
I've been a big fan of this since I first discovered it last year. This is a new vintage for me, so fingers crossed.
Sorry - I din't have my blogging hat on when we drank this so it can't have been particularly good or particularly bad, apologies.

Reserve de Bonpas Cotes Du Rhone 2010 (€8-99 - reduced from €10-99)
Liked the price and the bottle looked kinda classy...
Another OK CDR, nothing to write home about, a little light perhaps on the body/flavour side.

Domaine Condamine Syrah-Mourvedre Cotes Du Thongue 2009 (€7-99 - reduced from €9-99)
Cheap and cheerful, I guess and hopefully not too "easy drinking"...
Pleasantly surprised with this, lots of nice ripe fruit and a bit of body makes this very good value as priced and pretty decent at a tenner a bottle.

Note 1: I was experimenting with the photo - didn't really work, sorry.
Note 2: I have just noticed all five bottles are French and I don't know what to tell you about that.

Whiskey note 1:
Cragganmore 12yo 70cl in O'Briens - €55, price per litre €78.57
Cragganmore 12yo 100cl in Edinburgh Duty Free - £32, price per litre approx.  €38
I make that, less than half price - nice one.

Whiskey note 2: Bough a Glenfarclas 15yo in Edinburgh Duty Free last night, haven't tasted it yet but it smalls lovely

Superquinn Autumn Wine Sale 2011 - Updated

So I finally made it down to the Superquinn Autumn Wine sale on Sunday. It had been a busy weekend up to this, with late night Poker on Friday (I won, for a change), leading into early morning World Cup rugby watching (we lost, for a change), leading to Saturday afternoon Leinster rugby watching with Lil Bill (tm), his first live rugby match, (we won, eventually).

It wasn't all roses however, as  I had also purchased a set of shin-pads in Blackrock, for the aforementioned Bill's Sunday soccer, which I left hanging from the hook on the convenience trolley as I replaced it back at the rank. If you find them, send them my way...

Anyhoo, due to time and budget constraints I limited myself to four reds; I was trying to only buy new (to me) wines and apart from the Crozes Hermitage(which I couldn't resist), I succeeded.

Left to Right we have:

Chateau Lorgeril Cabardes 2008 (€9-00 - reduced from €11-99)
I suspect this wine is from the same producer as one of my "go to" wines from Dunnes, Chateau de Pennautier, although I can't find it on the Lorgeril website. Confidence is moderately high.
**Update - Not bad. A little rough and ready initially, but rounded out over an hour or so to be a chunky, if unsubtle red.

Etienne Barret Crozes Hermitage 2009 (€11-00 - reduced from €14-99)
Loved this in the 2010 sale, so there's that.
**Update - Meh. Not much going on when opened, and we hoped it would improve in the decanter but alas, no. Lots of tannins but not much else. All the lovely fruit from the 2008 seems have evaporated.
A disappointing vintage, it seems

Longue-Dog 2009 (€8-00 - reduced from €11-99)
I am a big fan of this producer's other, also punningly titled, wine in the sale "Chat En Oeuf", and had high hopes for this.  I cracked it open on Sunday, and it proved delightful. It tasted a little light at first but over an hour or so it developed some lovely complexity and soft tannins. Very good value as priced.

Collioure Cuvee Des Peintres Rouge 2009 (€10-00 - reduced from €14-99)
I really liked the white from this producer last year but I think this is the first time the red has been included in the sale. A punt, therefore, by definition; but an informed one, nonetheless.
**Update - Loved this. Well balanced and moderately fruity with a little spice. Will buy this again, methinks.

**Update 2 - I ended up in Superquinn again today, cos I like their fish, and the nice man behind the counter cleaned and descaled the fresh sardines I was buying, but I digress. I perused the remnants of the sale and grabbed a Domaine La Brunely Vacqueyras 2010 (€12) and Charles Vienot GSM Rouge 2010 (€7)

More From Dunnes (and me)

Apologies folks for the delay in posting - It's been a hectic few days in Casa di Willie. There were various entertainments on last week, literally as soon as I got back from parts Foreign. Herself had bought some Protocolo 2009 for entertaining purposes from O'Briens and I was pleasantly surprised. The last Protocolo I tasted (2008) was a little jammy for my tastes, compared to the original 2006 which I loved and of which I still have one in my "cellar". It's possible of course that the wine doesn't exhibit that much annual diversity and "it's all in my head" but hey ho that's the beauty of the web - anyone can write any old crap and call it Gospel (and I do...)

Anyhoo - I decide to pay one last visit to Dunnes in the beacon to a) get some more of the lovely Priorat and b) to have a butchers at any other wines I might have missed. As it happened I was just in time as there were less than 10 of the Priorat left, so I grabbed a few and have added one to my "cellar". Note: yesterday I discovered a large cache of the Priorat in another Dunnes, which shall have to remain my little secret.

I also picked up the following (prices are approximate as I threw away the receipt and can't find the prices online - boo)

Florentina Chianta Riserva 2007 (?9-99?) - I like Chianti generally so...

Laurent Miquel "Bardou" Saint Chinian Languedoc 2007 (?13-99?) - One of Laurent Miquel's "Grande Cuvees". Per the website this is a "Syrah based single vineyard Saint Chinian from a selected block named Bardou on his reputed family-owned estate. The site has very poor ,stony soils and the vines are about 26 years old (see photo). This unique terroir coupled with a windy, dry microclimate means that yields are low (approximately 30 HL/Ha) and the fruit is intensely flavoured and concentrated. Aged in French oak barrels (both new and 2nd use)." Sounds interesting.

Xmas cheer from O'Briens - Results Part1

Hola Amigos, apologies for the delay. Between work in Edinburgh, Xmas shopping and working from home this week (Best Decision EVER) I haven't had much chance to blog. Anyway - below are some micro reviews of a those wines that I have sampled out of the dozen odd I got on special in O'Brien's last Friday week.

Rizzardi Pinot Grigio 2009 - (€10-99 reduced from €11-89). I didn't love this, this time around, for some reason. Perfectly fine but nothing to write home about.

Clos Du Val Zinfandel 2006 (€15-99 reduced from €22-95). I have been wanting to try this for years and at this bargain price it was sold out when I got everything else. However, I popped in between snow showers on the off chance and got lucky. The girl in the shop said it was her favourite wine so I was sure not to be disappointed, but I was. Again, there was nothing wrong with this wine, some fruit, reasonably balanced but not a world beater and definitely not worth 20+ euro, but may be worth a punt if you like your U.S. zins.

Ferraton Plan de Dieu Cotes du Rhone Villages 2009 - (€9-99 reduced from €12-99). Very nice indeed, we both liked this a lot. Nicely balanced and a big finish.

Domaine De Nizas Coteaux de Languedoc 2007 (€12-99 reduced from €16-45) Bought this as a punt and lucked out. An elegant and exceptionally well balanced wine, great value as priced.

Mas Belles Eaux Les Coteaux Languedoc 2006 (€13-99 Reduced from €19-45). Fruitier than I had expected this was still a classy wine. Big and bold and not for the faint of heart.

Gerard Bertrand Pic Saint Loup 2008 (€9-99 Reduced from €14-45) Another two bottles drunk and still performs very well. Would be a perfect wine to entertain with over Xmas.

Rizzardi Tacchetto 2009 (€12-99 Reduced from €16-99) This the only wine on the bunch to date that I didn't like at all. It reminded me of a cheap, new world cab sav. From looking at the reviews on this page on the O'Briens site, I seem to be in the minority, so I just don't know what to tell you.

That's it so far. As I drink the rest of them I'll let you all know how I find them.

Looking forward to Xmas eve, we'll start with a bottle of Bollinger NV, and then the second last bottle of June's wedding gift, from the depths of my "cellar", a Chateau Chasse Spleen Moulis-En-Medoc 2000.

Xmas cheer from O'Briens

I have bought precious little wine of late, most due to weather related difficulties; being stuck in Edinburgh or trying to get there and the associated knock-on effect onto my free time. I got stuck in Edinburgh Airport on Thursday night so I did some research on the OBrien's website. I noticed they had 150 wines on special,and I haven't stocked up for Xmas, so I went along yesterday armed with a printed wish-list.

I didn't get everything I wanted and I bought a couple of wrong-uns (so to speak) but on the whole I think It was a successful trip.

First the whites:
Schloss Schönborn Riesling Trocken 2006 - (€16-95). I had intended to buy a slightly different Riesling from this producer, which was on special but ended up with this which is not on the O'Briens website (that I can find). Everyone raves about Riesling, I've been underwhelmed with the last couple of (reasonably expensive) ones I've had, perhaps this will change my mind.

Rizzardi Pinot Grigio 2009 - (€10-99 reduced from €11-89). I've had this a couple of times (different vintages I suspect) and really liked it.

Now the Reds:
Clos Du Val Merlot 2006 (€15-99 reduced from €22-95) Had another bottle of this recently and can't praise it enough. A slightly fruitier version of a good Pomerol at a fraction of the price. I had intended to get a bottle of their Zinfandel also but it was all gone - alas.

Ferraton Plan de Dieu Cotes du Rhone Villages 2009 - (€9-99 reduced from €12-99). I've drunk gallons of their other CDR "Samorens" and this had a good write up so...

Ferraton Le Grand Courtil Crozes Hermitage 2007- (€26-95). This was a mistake. I had intended to buy their cheaper Crozes Hermitage "Le Matiniere", on special at €13-99. I'm sure it will be nice (If I don't return it) but the plan was to only buy from the specials.

Domaine De Nizas Coteaux de Languedoc 2007 (€12-99 reduced from €16-45) Bought this purely from the blurb on the website, but I do think there is huge value in Southern France.
Have just dcanted for drinking tonight - will update tomorrow.

Mas Belles Eaux Les Coteaux Languedoc 2006 (€13-99 Reduced from €19-45). Robert Parker gave this 90 points, who am I do disagree?

Gerard Bertrand Pic Saint Loup 2008 (€9-99 Reduced from €14-45) Another wine I had again recently and it was delicious as usual. I bought two.

Rizzardi Tacchetto 2009 (€12-99 Reduced from €16-99) Bought this one because I have liked all of their other wines that I have tried, and it's pretty good value for a Bardolino.

At long last - I get to the Sale.

I finally made it down to Superquinn in Blackrock to see what's left of the sale. I had a shopping list in my head and I would not be deterred. However, the best laid plans etc. The wine that I had been most looking forward to was the Rare Vineyards Carignan Vielles Vignes which has been getting lots of love in the press and in the blogosphere. I was a victim of its success, however, as it is now sold out, although the nice man in the shop said he thought there was some left in the Ranelagh branch.

I swallowed my tears and bought some other stuff, left to right the wines are:

Charles Vienot Macon Lugny 2009 (€9 reduced from €12-49) Had a quick glass of this before dinner last night and was impressed. A nicely balanced Burgundy.

Etienne Barret Crozes-Heritage 2008 (€11 reduced from €14-99) Drank this last night. Lots of plummy fruit, some surprising spiciness and a vanilla finish. Great value as priced.

Saumur Cabernet Franc 2009 (€7 reduced from €10-49) I have a soft spot for Reds from the Loire. If done right they can be interesting and unusual; the blurb says "This fruity wine is attractive and easy to drink" This description is often the kiss of death, but we'll see.

Rare Vineyards Malbec 2009 (€6 reduced from €9-99) I couldn't get the Carignan so I got this instead. Part of an attempt to reclaim Malbec from Argentina, I guess, it was originally a French grape - one of only six allowed in Bordeaux wines, now sadly underused in that area.

Lastly, a wine I got in the sale in an on-line shop - a Corbieres Le Fournas 2008 (€8 reduced from €10-99) as Kevin Ecock said in his review of the sale:

"This wine from the Hautes Corbieres in the South of France was sent in more in hope than expectation. After all, its a Grenache, young vine Syrah and Carignan blend. The grapes are hand harvested and there's only 25,000 bottles made each year. This is not typical supermarket fare and it would need a brutally honest, fair and experienced tasting panel to even appreciate it - dense purple, serious wine"

Firstly this is indeed a serious wine, not for the faint hearted. On the nose it was full, rich and spicy and then the fun started. Apart from the dark fruit and copious spice there was initially an undercurrent of something, maybe overripe fruit, I don't have the palate to place it. Herself did not like it, at all. After a while however, the flavours rounded out, harmonised and the tannins kicked in like a melonfarmer. As Kevin pointed out, this is not a bog-standard supermarket wine, but it's definitely worth a punt if you want to expand your horizons. We drank it without food but I think with those tannins, it's crying out for accompaniment, something hearty I would think.

We are off to Town Bar And Grill tonight to celebrate seven years of captivity. They used to have an interesting wine list, back in the day, including an interesting selection of Californian wines. I'm curious to see what the list is like after their near death and resurrection.

** Update - We had a L’âme de Familongue, Terrasses du Larzac 2006 from the Languedoc with our meal which was delightful and decent value to boot.

Gerard scores again

Point the first - Superquinn Autumn French Wine sale. All of the wines that are in the sale should be available to order as part of an on-line shop. There is a serious lack of joined up thinking when only half (I'm guessing) the wines are available. I wanted to try the Rare Vineyards Carignan Vielles Vignes and their Malbec as well (both reduced to €6), but these were nowhere to be found on the shopping site. I also ordered some of the Crozes Hermitage Etienne Barret (€11), but alas this never arrived.

I did pickup a bottle of the much talked about Superquinn Calssic Collection Petit Chablis and I liked it, very lean and dry and a nice change from all the fruity white we've been sampling of late. The other successful delivery was of a Domaine Sainte Croix Corbieres le Fournas 2006, which I did not like at all last time but has been singled out by Kevin Ecock and others as delicious, so it's worth another try. The Brochure for the Sale is here.

Point the second - The title refers to Gerard Bertrand (not, alas, Steven Gerrard) whose Pic Saint Loup I have been enjoying very much of late. In Saturday's IT, John Wilson recommended his Art de Vivre Saint Chinian 2008, Réserve de Gérard Bertrand, a snip at €8-99 in Dunnes. I'm a sucker for a recommendation so I picked up a bottle on Saturday. As John said in the article "This combines a rustic touch with some attractive mellow dark fruits, and a smooth finish". I can't add much to that except to say that it was very, very tasty, and it did taste "rustic"; I'll be going back for more. Note: Dunnes (Beacon) also stocked the Art De Vivre Corbieres 2008, which has to be worth a try also.


Point the Last - I'll be attending the Wine Australia Yarra Valley Wine tasting this Wednesday 15th in Fallon and Byrne, please come and say hello. I'll be attending with a couple of burly fellows from Laois and Lisburn respectively, but don't let that put you off. I'll be the short, fat, speccy bloke knocking back the vino like it's going out of style. See you there.

Schnippets

As I mentioned recently I picked up a cracking Languedoc in O'Briens Beacon recently a Pic Saint Loup 2008 from Gerard Bertrand, and last Saturday I got to test this selection against the discerning palates of June and BigNose. I had picked up the last three bottles hidden on the shelf so I figure it's selling well with the South County Dublin wine cognoscenti. All our guests liked it a lot and it went well with the lovely Moroccan tajine Herself had made for the occasion.

At the very tail end of that night we opened the Penelope Sanchez Garnacha Syrah 2009, which I had grabbed in Superquinn in the sale for a modest €8. Given the time of night and the depth of tiredness/emotion quotient I was presently surprised that this held up well. Big, fruity and quite spicy in that Grenache/Rhoney way. It's from the Campo de Borja region of Northern Spain, which I had never heard of until now, I confess.

Lastly and in the picture at left is a Chateau La Raze Beauvallet 2005 Medoc, this was on offer in Tesco, allegedly reduced from a stiff €19-99 to a more reasonable €9-99. I have had no experience of this Chateau so I checked their website, where I learned the blend is 60% Cab Sav, 39% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot and I also learned that they haven't updated their website since the 2003 Cru Bourgeois Classification was annulled, a fascinating story as detailed by thewinedoctor here. I'm not expecting too much from this but it should be a reasonable tipple.

**Update - We Drank this on Sunday and it was very average. Bizarrely, it had a cracking nose, rich, full and complex. Alas, on the palate it was quite modest and uninteresting. Certainly not worth €20 and I'd struggle to justify it at a tenner as priced.

BTW - I'm you are a geek like me (and you probably aren't) - you'll love Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, I did.

Superquinn - Rosé and the rest

As a member of the Superquinn wine club I got an email recently about how various of the wines they sell had got on in the International Wine Challenge 2010, consequently they are having an Award Winning Wine sale with some very attractive wines at reasonable prices. So off I popped.

First thing I saw on arrival in the wine section was a man giving out free samples of a Rosé. I know Rosé can be drunk anytime but if you are like me, you only ever drink it on holiday. I have fond memories of eating sardines washed down with some delicious Minuty rosé on the beach in Cannes (before the crash, of course).

It turned out I know the man (long story). The wine itself is Pink Elephant, from Portugal. I had a taste and liked it. Crisp with some nice acidity and not too sweet, the way I like my Rosé. I got a bit of a shock when he told me the price - €5. I bought a couple straight away and we tried one later with our fish supper - very pleasant it was too. The wine claims to be ideal for spicy food and this seems to prove it.

I also picked up some other reds on sale. From left to right they are:

Pink Elephant Rose 2009 - €5 - As described above

Penelope Sanchez Grenache Syrah 2009 -€8 - Took a punt on this.

Waipara Hills Southern Cross Pinot Noir Central Otago 2008 - €12-00 reduced from €15-99 - Gold Medal winner in the International Wine Challenge 2010

Vina albali Gran Reserve 1999 Valdepenas - €6 - Silver, Best In Class in the International wine and Spirits Competition 2007. This wine is probably very tired at this stage (being 11 years old), and given that it is priced to move, but you never know.

Ch Camplazens La Garrigue La Clape 2007 - €12-00 reduced from €15-99 - "Trophy" in the International Wine Challenge 2010 (not pictured). I was given a 2004 of this last year and liked it. The 2007 was very different; big, bold and fruity.

We are entertaining tonight so I bought more of the Pic Saint Loup, which is a bleedin' steal at €9-99.

Results of the O'Briens jury...

We have now finished the last two (of three) wines that I picked, seemingly at random, from the various specials on offer in O'Briens Beacon.

First up (at left) is the Gerard Bertrand Pic Saint Loup 2008, (€9-99 reduced from €14-45), a Couteau De Languedoc. I knew I recognised the name, in turns out I have drunk his Tautavel many times from Dunnes and he also makes the same for Tesco Finest (I think).

This wine is a blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan and Grenache and comes from the small Languedoc Cru of Pic Saint Loup, and very fine it was too. Well balanced and elegant with a long finish, I would heartily recommend this at this, even at full price. O'Briens link here.

Last up the the La Piuma Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2009 (€7-99 reduced from €9-99). I had thought this might be a bit "cheap and cheerful", but we were pleasantly surprised; there some nice plummy fruit and some nice acidity to make this a perfect pasta/pizza wine. Very good value as priced.

Next up: lots of wines I bought in Superquinn today, including (drum roll) two bottles on Rosé.

More random wines on Special offer from O'Briens

After returning from Hols, I decided to partake of one of my favourite wine pastimes, which is going to O'Briens in the Beacon and randomly picking three reds on special. I have done this many times and the results are generally good. From let to right they are...

Gerard Bertrand Pic Saint Loup Coteaux du Languedoc 2008 (€9-99 reduced from €14-45). No idea what grapes are in this but I like the look of it.

Ramos Tons de Duorum 2008 (€9-99 reduced from €12-99). From the acclaimed winemaker Jose Maria Soares Franco, apparently. We drank this on Sunday and it was OK. Drinkable but not memorable in any way. I didn't really have my blogging hat on, I apologise.

La Piuma Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (€7-99 reduced from €9-99). Hmmm, this could be a bit "cheap and cheerful". We'll see.

Find me!

The title of this post will make sense if you read to the end. For now let's see what I thought of the final two bottles I picked up in Sainsbury's last weekend.

Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel 2007 - £8.99. I'm sure this is well made and has hints of yadda yadda yadda but it was way, way, way too jammy for me and Herself. A serious fruit bomb; if that style floats your boat then this is for you.

Chemin Des Olivettes - Coteaux Du Languedoc 2008 - £6.39. I liked this best of the lot. Plenty of fruit, good chewy tannins and some acidity all came together to form a very enticing wine. Not for the faint of heart I would emphasise, this was a big meaty wine, probably best served with a hearty dinner.

Now on to the title. I have been noticing a fall off in hits over the last couple of months so as an experiment I'm going to list the top ten Google searches at this moment in time, just to see what happens...

inverted nipples
mike miller
sertraline
andrew garfield
afshan azad
recursion
amagami ss
jaycee lee dugard
don coryell
better homes and gardens

I'll let you know if it works...

It's grim 'Oop North'

Well, I'm back. After an odyssey north to the "six counties" as they used to be known. Just inside the six counties if truth be told, the picturesque town of Newry. We needed some Gin, Vodka, Baileys (for Herself only, I assure you), so I figured I'd check out the wines and the whiskeys (which will be a separate OT post).

There wasn't quite the selection I had been hoping for but I think the prices justified the purchases (when you add in the 1.22 odd exchange rate). The wines I got are as follows (L-R)...

Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel 2007 - £8.99. This is supposed to be very nice if very fruity wine and a bargain as priced. Tomas Clancy in the SBPost loved the 2006, check out the article here.

Chemin Des Olivettes - Coteaux Du Languedoc 2008 - £6.39. This won a Gold medal in the decanter world wine awards and sounds like a meaty treat. I don't kn ow who the Winchester Wine School are but this is what they thought...

"One for the Worzel Gummidge fans: this is a rustic, wonderfully gnarly style of wine with flavours of wild flowers, ripe cassis and sweaty horses. Like I say, not for everyone…but the meatiness makes it very food-friendly in a classic southern French way. 7/10"

Piccini Chianti Superiore 2008 - £7.99. I have had a couple of Chiantis from Piccini and all have been very good, see here. So high hopes for this one. The bog standard Chianti (orange label) was there also at about £6-50.

Sainsbury's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2009 - £3.49. They had load of own brand wine so I picked out this as a sampler. I'm not expecting much but for about €4-50, it's definitely worth a punt.

Xmas Updates

I suppose I should start with Xmas (I'm with Futurama on this) eve and the Champers and Bordeaux duo we normally indulge in. The Bollinger Rose NV was nice but a little sweet for my taste, perhaps this is the way of all Rose Champagnes, but next year I'm sticking with the Brut.

By contrast, the 2000 Chateau Lynch Bages was a dusty delight, almost brown in the glass and, I think, drinking perfectly now. We savoured this and I even elected not to sully it with my usual accompanyment of Stilton. Its certainly in my all time favourite Bordeaux.

Christmas day morning brings me onto the wine we are currently drinking (at left). A 2002 Mas de Daumas Gassac. Supposeably this is a very famous and fine wine from the Languedoc. Alas in my ignorance I had never heard of it. My older brother handed my a mystery glass of red and challenged me to name country and grape. I said France (correct) and Bordeaux (incorrect - although it is 80% Cabernet, so I can claim partial credit) To his credit, he gave me a bottle on the spot.

I read today that this wine can be a tannic beast that needs a lot of decanting so I duly opened it at 5pm and it is quite open now (9 pm) and delicious. I read this has been confused with a St Estephe in blind tastings and I can see why although it doesn't have the minerally, Bordeaux'y depth of a fine Bordeaux. It is a fine drink in its own way, very French, nice subdued fruit, gentle tannins and a lovely balance.

I also got a few wine related presents; a subscription to www.JancisRobinson.com, the sixth edition of the Concise World Atlas of Wine, a funky tasting glass and a very fancy set of wine accessories (at left) - thanks dear.

*Update - I forgot to mention the wine we had with our Xmas Turkey dinner at the in-laws. I have made it a tradition to bring along some nice red and this year I went down the Bordeaux road. I had got a present of six bottles of 2005 Chateau Latour Carnet, website here**, I put one aside in my "cellar" and we drank the other five and very tasty it was too. Initially I thought it was a little young and tannic but it opened up nicely and disappeared fairly lively.

Big shout out the all the girls, including Granny G, for the great spread.

**Not atypically, the site is in French only.

Dunnes Tautavel and other news

I'm laid up again. This time with a nasty stomach bug/flu, looks like someone is trying to ensure I don't enjoy the celebrations for my (hem-hem)th birthday. I seem (touch wood) to be over the worst of it and while I'm not yet in the mood to drink wine I should be able to at least waffle about it.

Also (touch wood again) I'm going to finally get to go to a Wine Australia do, this one, next Tuesday. I have a long complex relationship with Australian wine which has evolved as my tastes have changed over the years as explained here, and I'm looking forward to this evening followed by Liverpool and Lyon victories in the Champions league.

Firstly a quick report on the Chateau Camplazens La Garrigue 2004 we sampled last Sunday night. As the tasting notes opined, this was a fairly light wine (60% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 10% Carignan) but with plenty of cherry and herbaceous flavours. A little Chateau Neuf du Pape'y IMHO.

Next up a wine I used to drink a load of but Dunnes haven't stocked it for a while, the Gerard Bertrand Tautavel reserve 2006. Perhaps this is a different vintage to the stuff I used to drink, I can't recall noting the year. the confusing this about this wine is that it appears to be the same as the Tesco Tautavel I tried last week, albeit with a different label and a different year (2005) - see here.

The Dunnes variety is, and has always been on sale at half price for €7-99. One thing I discovered about it back in the day was that it must be decanted for a good hour. It is only at this stage that the flavours begin to emerge. I didn't really enjoy this particular bottle for some reason but I had bought three as emergency wines for Saturday so I'll try it again and see if its as good as the Tesco instance.

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.

Molloys Belles Roches Fitou 2007

This is the second of two new wines I got in Molloys last week. After the disappointment that was the Jerome Quiot Carianne (although there was a Vacqueyras by the same crowd I may try) it was with trepidation that I opened this Fitou, although I've had a few different wines from this region and they have mostly been decent so...

Name: Belles Roches Fitou

Year: 2007
Price: €9-25
Notes: I liked this, again I wasn't overwhelmed by any particular flavours, it was well balanced, a little fruity and all round very pleasant indeed. At this price it's good value and is worth a look if you are in Molloys.

Next: Dying with a cold I "somehow" caught from Herself on the weekend, we'll see.

Molloys Again...

For various time and phlegm related reasons (long dull story) my proposed trip to Lidl to buy some of their lovely Montepulciano (€4-89) went for a burton and I ended up in Molloys again. This is not a major hardship, while Molloys seems to mostly cater for the young and fruity end of the wine market there is the odd gem to be found there.

So, I obviously bought another Trapiche Malbec as well as the two wines at left. At left is a Belles Roches from Fitou in the Languedoc, made Old vine Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. Sounds interesting and potentially good value at €9-25.

At right is a Jerome Quiot Carianne, Cotes Du Rhone Villages, also made from Old vine Carignan, Grenache and Syrah as well as a touch of Mourvedre. Molloys have a range of wines from this mob so hopefully this Cotes Du Rhone Villages will be decent, and an intro into their range.

Tesco Update

A quick update on the 2 bottles from Tesco

1) Tesco Argentina Malbec Reserve 2008. (at left)

I saw this in Mary Doweys 101 Great Wines under €12. I've never tried it but as I am a fan of Argentinian Malbecs and this wine was priced at a mere €6-69, I could hardly refuse.

Initially on first taste I was a little disappointed with this wine as it tasted a little bland. However after an hour or so the wine opened up, developing some spice, some useful tannins and a decent finish. A steal at this price.

8/10 (extra mark for the value)

2) Chateau Cazal Viel Saint Chinian Cuvee des Fees 2006 (at right)

Also in Mary Doweys 101 Great Wines under €12. I have been a big fan of this wine since I saw it lauded in the Irish Times (I think) about 5 years ago. We haven't had it for a while but at €10-99 it's great value. It's from the Languedoc and is made from the classic Rhone varieties Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre.

We brought this to a friends house and drank it after a 2000 Chateau Macquin St Georges from St Georges-St Emilion which was very very good. The Cazal Viel held up well, its modern, slightly upfront style was not an unpleasant change although more of the Bordeaux wouldn't have gone astray, alas it too had been a present and existed singularly at that location.

I'll get this again a do a full review as it really is a bargain.

Note: My guest blogger June was oop North today and got me two bottles on Penfolds Bin 389, a snip at £19-99 (its €30 down here), full review to follow.