Something for the weekend?

The wedding, I'm happy to say, went well; the weather held off, mostly, and the wedding wines seemed to go down smoothly, particularly the red. Initially I thought the white (Bougrier Sauvignon Blanc AC Touraine 2006) was a little sharp but it suited the seafood starter well. The less said about the curious incident of the allegedly punctured tyre on the wedding car the better.*

The wines at left were all bargain wines I got in O'Briens during the week. Left to right they are:

Emotivo Montepulciano 2008 - (€7-95 reduced to €6-99) - took a punt on this. Have just tried after an hour in the decanter and it tastes a bit cheap and cheerful. I'll persevere for another while to see if it improves any.

**Update** - It improved, but barely. Herself initially refused to drink it. A rare stinker from O'Briens, however cheap it was.

Ferraton Cotes Du Rhone Samorens 2007 (€11-45 reduced to €9-95) - Have bought this many times and it does not disappoint. A huge bargain. Will buy more for tomorrow night.

**Update** - Bought two more and they did not disappoint. The third was open for a day before I finished it and was quite delicious at the end.

Protocolo Tinto 2007 (€8-45 reduced to €7-95). I previously raved about the 2007 here and the 2006 here. I'm afraid to say the last couple of times I've had the 2007 I've found it a little jammy, it's still well made and has more strings to its bow than the fruit but for now I can't get past the sweetness, perhaps its needs more time in the decanter as it definitely had a smidgin more balance in the last glass.

On a whiskey note my formerly only Brother-in-law showed up at the wedding with a bottle of Highland Park 16yo for me - Many thanks JMP. And as we were left literally holding the babies at 2am on the night of the wedding we felt it incumbent on us to break the seal, and extremely tasty it was too (the whiskey - not the seal)

*Its official - I'm a tool.

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.

Wedding Bells and Funny Smells

I should firstly finish off the last two wines of the five I picked up here in Superquinn,

Domaine Sainte Croix Corbieres Las Fournas 2007- €7 (reduced from €10-99)

The Blurb said "a delightful mix of fruit, herbs and spice at a price that is a joke"

I say - Corked, even though this is a screw top, it definitely wasn't right. Will try and get more today if there is any left.

Domaine de Brunely Vacqueyras 2009 €12 (reduced from €17-99)

The Blurb said "A powerful wine with redcurrent fruit"

I say - very nice but not nearly as dark and complex as the 2005 that I have tried a few times. One to keep a eye on over the next couple of years I fancy.

Next up is the red chosen for Lil Sis's wedding next month. I had a hand in the choosing of this on a hungover Saturday morning and was dearly hoping this was as nice as I remembered. It's an Olivier Ravoire Cotes Du Rhone 2007 - The House red of the Donnybrook Fair restaurant. Myself and Herself both really liked it. It's a good wedding wine, in that it's well balanced, a little bit fruity and not too tannic or wine-snobby. A good wedding wine should appeal to both the casual drinker and the wine bore, IMHO.

**Update** - Just back from Superquinn where I picked another Domaine Sainte Croix Corbieres Las Fournas 2007, a couple of the delicious Chat-En-Oeuf 2007, and a Domaine Cristia Cotes Du Ventoux 2007 (€7 reduced from €14-99). I had thought this was new to me but when I searched this blog I found that I'd had it before here, and I really liked it. So well done me.

Off to get slaughtered and watch the Leinster game...

Updates and some nice shiraz...

Hola amigos. Its been a while since I blogged at you, I don't have any excuse, I'm just lazy.

Anyhoo - I was in O'Briens on the weekend, I picked up a Protocolo for the happy couple to try but alas this was not a runner. I also picked up a delicious Chanson Macon Villages which went down better and is a frickin' steal on special at €9-99 (from €12-99).

Lastly, after a blind taste I was persuaded by my man Ramon to buy a bottle of the 2006 Bethany G6 Shiraz. As regular readers will know I have a curious and snobby relationship with Aussie Shiraz, I only like the expensive stuff. The cheap stuff I find too jammy and unrelenting.

I brought this home, we drank half on Saturday and I brought it down to the out-laws on Sunday and everyone loved it. Its big and fruity, yes, but complex, full bodied and wonderful. Its currently reduced from €17-39 to €12-95 so go try some.

Herself had a birthday also this weekend we ventured to Ananda in Dundrum with June, BigNose and BigHead. Haven't been for about a year but goddamn the food is good. Expensive but good. We necked some delicious Hugel Gewurztraminer with our food, which I think was a good match.

Next: I'm still trying to get to my nearest Aldi which I think is in Churchtown to see what it has to offer.

Pinot Time and some wedding stuff...

Last night I ended up in the lovely Ballymount Estate, tasting wines for "Little" Sis's wedding. After a couple of Sauvignon Blancs, which were zingy but perhaps not suitable for what they are serving, we tried on a Villa Masetti Pinot Grigio 2008, would be delicious with the seafood starter.

For the red, we elected to take three different new world reds home to try on Sunday with some roast lamb [the wedding main]. They are all Chilean, which may seem blinkered but it's a good starting point. A decent Chilean Red with not too much fruit and some decent structure would make a pretty good wedding wine. A wedding wine has to be geared toward the casual drinker, and to that end it has to have a good dollop of ripe fruit and it has to be balanced and not too tannic, and most of all it has to be inexpensive! Anything good you get from a wedding wine after that is gravy.

If none of them work out there are a few more options available from the same supplier and if all else fails I can think of one wine that would definitely tick all the boxes - Protocolo!

Our host also gave me a bottle of a NZ Pinot Noir to try - Kahurangi Estate 2008. This is not the kind of wine I would recommend for a wedding and indeed as I decanted it I was surprised by just how light in colour it was and I was hoping it would not be too thin and anaemic.

It turned out to be quite light, but very pleasant all round, fruity with some decent acidity and a nice change from the more full bodied wines we normally drink. I have been making [a very small] effort to expand my palate, particularly towards Pinots in all their shapes and sizes, and hopefully as time goes on I can taste more NZ Pinots and become less of a complete bluffer on them.

Post Wedding Blues

Well, it's all over. The troths have been plighted, the consummations have been consummated, the unendurable hangovers have been endured. The wedding wine went down very well, particularly the red, and it also stood up to the the BBQ food the next day too.

BE presented me with the wine at left as a thank you for being best man. Its a 2001 Chateau Lynch Bages, my favorite wine of all time. Over years I've had many vintages, '78, '82, '85, '88 and I have a 2000 in my cellar*, which June gave us , along with 5 other 2000 Bordeaux, as our wedding present. There's 3 left, the Lynch Bages, a Chasse Spleen and a Palmer.

From looking at vintage charts, the 2001 is drinking now so when BE gets back from honeymoon we will crack it open.

* it's a cupboard in the kitchen. Not ideal I know but I don't have a cellar.

Lidl & The Wine Odyssey

Last night involved sampling the wedding wines for the upcoming nuptials of BE and also a family dinner for my lovely mother-in-laws XXth birthday (Hi G! -Am I still in the will?). The night ended up with pints of Guinness and a battered sausage but that's another story.

Anyhoo - we started off the party (hosted by Herself's sister SB) with the Lidl Grand Cru St Emilion. This was OK, a little unrefined but pleasant enough, although if you are a Bordeaux fiend like me then this will probably not be your bag, but hey, your mileage may vary. It goes for about €9.

We then moved on to the Lidl Montepulciano which I reviewed previously here. Everyone loved it, it was possibly better than before, big and bold and is still only about €6 - go buy some.

A quick spin across town and we were re-tasting the wedding wines, I'm not sure what we would have done if they hadn't been up to par, but luckily they were.

The white - Chapelle d'Alienor 2005 proved to be oaky and unusual, but nice. It'll make a nice change from the usual Sauvignon Blanc.

The red - La Fleur d'Armens - 2006 was very tannic initially, although it had been open (but not decanted) for an hour. The tannins softened after a few minutes and the fruit came through. This should be a good match for the beef. GG drinks a bottle a week and swears by it so...

Next: Bought a Rasteau Cotes Du Rhone Villages on special offer for €7-99 in Dunnes tonight, will drink tomorrow and revert.

Tasting - Maison Malet Roquefort - Wedding Wine

(l-r) - Julian, Gregory, BE, GG, GS, Thomas

On the Tuesday morning at an ungodly 10am we met up with Gregory, Julian and Thomas (all probably spelled wrong) from Maison Malet Roquefort in the lovely town of St Pay D'Armens on the picturesque D936 on the eastern side of the St Emilion region.

We were taken to Chateau D'Armens where we were given a tour of the facility and then we stared the tasting at about 10-30. Much as I love wine I really didn't feel like knocking back a load of wine on an empty, queasy stomach, all of us including our two brave drivers (GG & GS) elected to spit, some with more accuracy than others, (sorry guys).

Anyway we tried three whites:

Chapelle Maracan 2007 

Chapelle d'Alienor 2003

Chapelle d'Alienor 2005

We settled on the d'Alienor 2005 as it was lovely, the 2003 was nice and the Maracan was very acidic and tart.

We tried several reds (for the wedding initially):

Chapelle Maracan Red 2005 - Bordeaux - was OK, a bit tannic for my taste

Chateau De Clotte 2005 - Cotes de Castillon - liked this a lot

Chateau Guillou 2005 - Montagne Saint-Emilion - winner of the famous blind tasting, between this and the Clotte as my choice for the wedding.

Chateau Roland La Garde 2005 - Premier Cotes de Blaye - liked it - not as much as previous 2

La Fleur d'Armens - 2006- Saint Emilion Grand Cru - second wine of Chateau Armens - I felt this didn't have the subtlety or the complexity of the Guillou, as did GS,  but we were overruled by "the boys". In fairness they are the groom and brides sister so they had the casting vote. 

Other reds we tried:

Chateau Armens - 2005- Saint Emilion Grand Cru -Liked this but at €16 was not as good value as some above.

Chateau Tertre-Daugay - 2003 - Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe - the star of the tasting for me, a divine red, complex, balanced and a huge finish. BE liked it so much he bought the vineyard (not really but he did go a little loco). I loved it but I'm not sure how much I'd buy at €18-50 a pop, given the credit crunch's ongoing direct impact on me.

Myself and GS decide to split a case each of the Guillou and the de Clotte between us, as at €7 and  €6  respectively there were a steal. 

Before we left, Thomas brought us into where they keep the barrels (I should know what this room is properly called) and gave us a taste of the 2008 Chateau Armens direct from the cask. This was a new experience for me and I suspect the guys also. The 2008 was young ,obviously, but was fresh and fruity and in my limited experience had some good potential.

Thanks again to Gregory, Julian and Thomas for the help and expertise, although BE & GG did regret their inadequately translated choice of main course in the local Relais. Described as Saucisson but actually Andouillete, definitely an acquired taste.

Thanks again to the two drivers, GG & GS for their selflessness.

Next: Lots of rain necessitates purchases of more wine...