Random reds on the Ballyogan Road

Well it's been quite a while since I did a wine post (I've done a few beer posts) and given that I started my blogging career in wine it ill behooves me to ignore it now. I checked my "cellar" last night and all I had on the top shelf (day-to-day drinking shelf) and all that was there was bottle of Montrachet and various bottles of cheap/old non-vintage Champagne..

So I popped into Molloys on the way home from work and grabbed a couple of Reds on special offer. I was looking for a Chateau Boucarut but there was none to be had. So I got the bottles at left. They are:

Jerome Quiot Cairanne 2010 €11.99
I had this once before, a couple of years ago and I didn't like it, but I only found this out after I got home so, here's hoping it has got better since.
Update - we drank this but we didn't love it. It was a bit sharp or something. The flavours didn't really hang together, so it wasn't a particularly pleasant experience. I hope I remember this before I buy it a third time..

Sancho Garces Rioja Crianza 2010 €11.49
I'm always on the lookout for a nice Rioja so here's hoping... 
Update - Liked this. There was plenty of fruit, plenty of oak and a nice finish. Good value as priced.

By the way, Molloy's have a couple of very good Irish beer offers at the moment, if that's your bag.

Bekaa's it's there

I picked up the wine at left in Molloy's earlier tonight. It was right beside the Chateau Musar, but that was €28, which was a bit out of my price range so I grabbed its neighbour a Chateau Ksara 2010 Reserve du Couvent, a snip at €12-95?

It's a blend of 40% Syrah, 30% Cab Franc and 30% Cab Sav, and I have to say, 1 glass in, I ain't loving it. It's got that Chilean, oaky, cab savv'y, dry,  blackcurrant thing going on, with a little bit of sharp acidity.

It's possible that this just needs more time, but I doubt it, because I triple decanted it. Bottle to decanter, decanter to bottle, bottle to decanter, all done through my VinAire, to no avail.

I won't be buying this again. if this style finds you agreeably then by all means fill your boots, lofty. I'll be over here, drinking something else, probably this lovely Ribera, also from Molloys and only 4 cents dearer.

All right, Pilar?*

So I ended up in Molloy's** on the Ballyogan road tonight, on the way home from work; I had been instructed by Herself, under pain of extreme displeasure, to pick up some vino.

I have pretty much stopped buying Ribera, the stuff I have been seeing on the shelves is either expensive or is, and tastes cheap. So it was a pleasant surprise to see a 2006 Crianza for a mere €12-99. I have had some bad experiences with old Spanish wine of late, so it was a bit of a punt.

Long story short, this wine is rather good. There is quite a bit of acidity but also lots of nice fruit and a lovely finish. There's lots of life left in this old dog - see Molloy's page here. It appears from this page to have been reviewed in the Sunday Times back in May and was then well regarded.

That's two for two this week, btw. Last night Herself, with assistance from Garrett in Baggot Street Wines, chose a fantastic Argentinian Malbec, one Don Tiburcio.

That's all for a while, we are off to sunny Amsterdam next weekend, to celebrate Herself's no particular birthday, at all. I don't think we'll be drinking much wine; probably lots of beer and "coffee". Evening all.

*That's a very old reference, Marcoos.

**They have a cracking selection of craft beers, I bought a couple of Avalanche ales from Fyne Ales.

A Molloy's Quartet

From looking at the blog it appears I haven't shopped in my local Molloy's for about a year. The quality there has been variable but always worth a punt so these are the wines I picked up. Three are new with the Trapiche Malbec being an old favourite of ours, although we haven't had this vintage before so here's hoping.


Moulin De Gassac 2009 - €6-99
Tor del Colle Montepulciano Riserva 2007 - €7-99

Trapiche Malbec 2010 - €10-39
*Update* Hmmm - we used to like this wine a lot, maybe 5 years ago, now; not so much. "It's not you, it's me", might be appropriate here. Our tastes may have changes more then the wine, I found this a little sweet and cloying, drinkable but not great.


Chateau Du Donjon La Pujade Minervois 2010 - €11-99
*Update* The most expensive wine of the bunch and well worth the price, this one. The back label made lots of grandiose claims IIRC (alas I threw it out), but these were pretty much borne out by the product, which was a tad unusual. Lots of interesting flavours, chocolate not the least. I'll be getting more of this.


Updates to follow as they are drunk with the Minervois currently in mid-decant.

Jerome Jerome...

Just back from Molloys where I was buying some cheap beer for poker in the sticks. As always when I'm there I picked up a Trapiche Malbec which we are now sucking on, lovely as usual. It's a good bet for Old World junkies who want to step over to the dark side and also a cracker for those who haven't made the leap from the Americas over to Europe yet.

I also picked up a Jerome Quiot Gigondas (at right), the last time I had a wine from this producer I apparently didn't like it, but hey, I'm not one to hold a grudge so roll on Saturday night (baum). I can't find the review, I'm not even sure if I wrote one. Nuts.

**Update - found it - at the end of this post. For those who cant be bothered clicking, it read "The micro review is - NO. Drinkable, but very average, not worth 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.

The Last Day of Summer

I suspect the above title is probably true so it's just well we spent last Sunday sitting in the sun drinking wine. Herself, the in-laws, June & I sat out for the afternoon happily tippling, well, all except June and Granny G who were driving, boo.

June had brought the Rosé, at left, from a wine shop in Lucan (June - which one?) and it was very pleasant. I can't go into that much more detail as, while I remember it being delicious, I couldn't tell you what exactly I liked about it. That probably says more about my lack of wine experience with Rosé than about the wine itself. I only ever drink Rosé on hols, typically during the day and that's the best (and probably only) time to drink it.

After a little of this (very little left!), which we had with a BBQ'd butterflied leg of lamb from The Market*, we finally got around to opening the last of the three wines I bought in Molloys last week.

Name: Oyster Bay Pinot Noir

Year: 2007
Price: €16-49
Notes: This is one of the more expensive wines I've bought of late. As I explained I've left Burgundies/Pinot Noirs largely untouched. The style isn't really my bag but I decided to take a punt on this as I'd tasted it before and remembered liking it. This was a lot fruitier than I remembered and I suspect is equivalent to the New World Shiraz vs Old World Syrah in that the NZ style is fruitier and more upfront that the Burgundy equivalent. I liked this, but I didn't love it and it's not cheap. Give it a go if you like this style, its well made and moderately complex for a New World wine.

*The Market is a posh-ish shop just opened in Belarmine, they have a cracking butcher (Lawlors) and I'm gonna go back and try a few of their wines.

Molloys Wine & Beer

Went down to Molloys on Thursday as promised to see what I could find of the wines I used to get when I frequented it, back in the day. I picked up the following (L-R):

Oyster Bay Pinot Noir 2007 - €16-49. This, as you can see was not cheap, but it should provide a reasonable alternative to expensive Burgundies as mentioned in the last post. I've had this once before and really liked it so here's hoping its worth the cash.

Vitae Sangiovese 2006- €12-50. We used to drink an awful lot of this and loved it. I was a bit apprehensive on opening this last night. oftentimes you come back to a wine you loved and are disappointed, either your palate has changed, see this post, or the wine isn't as good as it used to be. We were not disappointed. The bitter cherry flavours were in abundance, along with some other fruit, and it had a decent level of complexity and a long finish. Again, another wine I'd recommend with food, rather than without.

Trapiche Malbec 2007 - €10-99. Another old family favourite. We used to drink this by the bucket load but I have been unable to find it in a long time. This was my first Malbec, I can't remember if I bought it on spec or on a recommendation. Either way I'm hoping it won't disappoint.

I also bought a couple of "premium" beers to try from Shepherd Neame, both a snip at €3-29. I drank the Spitfire last night and it was indeed delicious. The blurb on the site says "In the mouth, the finely balanced flavour opens with a blast of rounded malt before the rousing, almost spicy hops follow through to provide a complex, multi-layered finish." Sounds about right to me.

I'll try the Bishop's Finger tonight and let you know, it's 5.4% abv as opposed to the Spitfire's 4.5 % abv so we'll see if that is a noticeable component in the mix.

**Update - The Bishop's Finger was delicious, stronger (duh) and a little more fuller flavoured than the Spitfire.

Molloys, Cheap Beer & The Sad Tale of the Adelaide hills

Have just come back from Molloys in Ballyogan. I used to get wine here regularly back in the day but for no good reason I haven't been in ages. I wasn't there to get wine as I have a few stragglers from recent trips that need drinking first. I was there for some beer, cheap beer. Molloys duly obliged, 4 cans of Karpackie for €5. I've had this before, it's not fabulous, but if it's cold it gets the job done.

Molloys will be the venue for my next purchases of wine. They stock the divine Trapiche Malbec, the yummy Vitae Sangiovese and the expensive but lovely Mara Valpolicella Ripasso (June, I brought this to your BBQ - Did you like it?)

On a crappy and unrelated note I will be unable to attend the Adelaide Hills wine tasting this Thursday due to circumstances beyond my control. I was looking forward to it but will hopefully make the next WineAustralia tasting.