French, Spanish and Italian from Baggot St Wines

Between the travel and the whatnot I realised I probably wasn't going to make it into Baggot St Wines anytime soon, so I sent Herself in. Her instructions were as follows, ask "the man" for three reds priced between €12 and €15 and I would blog on them.

La Vendimia Rioja 2010 - €12-99, was first up. I should have told Herself not to buy Rioja; we drink a lot of this Consejo De la Alta (currently the 2005 vintage), and we love it. A young, moderately priced Rioja wouldn't stand up well to this, and so it proved. While there was nothing wrong with the wine, it didn't do it for either of us. It was bit light with not enough fruit, oak or "oomph"...

La Chappelle de Bébian Coteaux Du Languedoc - Pezenas 2007 - €16-99 was next up. Slightly outside the price range but highly recommended by our man in the shop. We cracked it open on a quiet Saturday night with June and ended up having it with Thai food as I had just dropped our only bottle of chilled white on the tiled floor. Anyhoo - this was fabulous; subtle and fruity with some surprising tannins creeping in towards the end of the bottle.

Baglio Del Sole Nero D'Avola 2009 - €11-49 was the last wine on the same evening and while our taste-buds were probably not at their best we both really enjoyed it. Light and a touch fruity but nicely balanced; probably a wine we should have drunk earlier in the evening but it still worked.

On the whole a pretty good showing, especially as if I had been choosing the three reds I wouldn't have picked the Rioja that I wasn't keen on.

Coincidentally, as I write this I am sipping a Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 from Chile, also from Baggot St wines. I am on the record as rarely liking this country/grape combination (except for a fantastic and expensive Domus Aurea), so I was presently surprised by this. It has the requisite blackcurrant and tannin wings but there is enough in the middle to make it work as a whole.

Trying Tesco

I haven't bought any significant amount of wine in Tesco for a good while; for the last while anytime I've been there shopping and have browsed the wine, I find there's very little I'd want to try. I used to drink a lot of their own brand wines, particularly from Italy and the Rhone. I guess I must have overdone it because I went off them, and to this reviewer's eye they don't seem to add new stuff that often.

Anyhoo, I was down in Dundrum today in a hurry and grabbed the three suspects in the picture at left. The top shelf in my "cellar" is empty apart from a Pink Elephant Rosé and an "invisible" bottle of Ogio Primitivo (long story, but at €6 odd in Tesco it's great value)

Note: I lost the receipt, so all prices are approximate.

We recently sampled one of Laurent Miquel's "Grandes Cuvées",  the  Bardou St Chinian Syrah 2007 (approx €12), on special from Dunnes and it was divine. I can't find this wine, a Heritage Vineyards Syrah 2008 on their website, so I am not sure where it fits into the Laurent Miquel  hierarchy. I'm enjoying a glass right now as Ireland struggle to come to terms with Slovakia. I'm rather liking this, it's not terribly complex but it is exceptionally well balanced and very tasty, another classic old world syrah.

Next up is a Piccini Chianti Reserva 2008 (approx €8), I had this once before in June's and loved so here's hoping, especially at this price.
**Update - eh, this was fine, not sure I'd buy again, even at this bargain price.

Lastly, a rule breaker. I have a rule never to buy cheap Bordeaux or Burgundy as it is never worth it. I bought a Chateau Haut Langlade 2008 (€10 reduced from €20) from the Montagne St Emilion region. If this is a genuine €20 bottle then this may be a good bet.
**Update - decent, but again nothing to write home about, more of a generic French red than any particlular Bordeaux-like qualities, but not bad for a tenner.

Site news and Links

Site news first -

I'm heading back out to parts foreign next week, last time I was did this I decided (after a while), to put the blog on hiatus, as I felt I couldn't deliver the quality of content I wanted, given the time, travel and work pressures. Until I get stuck into this next project I won't know the answer to the question of whether or not I can I feel I can usefully blog. In the interim, here are some links...

Kevin Ecock waxes lyrical on the En Primeur system here.

Spuds? from The Grapefruit here.

I bought lots of this lovely CDR, courtesy of SourGrapes here.

Also, I have been planning to try the new wine shop which replaced Oddbins on Upper Baggot St, cunningly called "Baggot Street Wines", as herself is based nearby and I believe some of the Oddbins staff are involved in the venture. Best wishes to them...

A long night's journey into day

We've now been down in the "sunny" South East for a week and it's been a mixed week, wine-wise. However, June and BigNose arrived down for the night and they brought with them a veritable cornucopia of wine. June picked up hers in Power and Smullen in Lucan whereas BigNose bought his in Greenacres in Wexford town.

Anyhoo, Herself provided some Dublin bay prawns and some nice fillets of beef (which YHB BBQ'd inexpertly) and the wines above were dispatched in order (left to right) on the night.

June is on a Riesling kick at the moment (as am I) and BigNose followed suit with this Dr Burklin-Wolf Riesling Trocken 2009 - We all liked this, some nice zingy citrus and a good length.

Next up a "Lucan" Riesling - a Kayena Vineyards Tamar Ridge Tasmanian 2009 Riesling - which we also liked but this a much lighter, crisper wine; probably well suited for quaffing in the sun.

June's next offering, and the first of the reds, a Cabanon Cuore Divino La Botte 18 2006 an unusual (Cab Sav only) Italian which apparently was the last Pope's favourite tipple. I liked this but I was expecting something bigger and bolder; this was quite restrained. Very nice, though. I can't work out from the label where it is from in Italy...

BigNose's last contender was a Saint Cosme Cotes Du Rhone 2010 from Greenacres, priced at a modest €13-99. I gave out last year about the prices in Greenacres but they do seem to be now offering more moderately priced wines. This particular CDR was very pleasant with some nice fruit.

The last wine of the night a Navajas Crianza 2007 from Rioja. Alas, it was late in the night when this was drunk and I don't really remember what this was like. I expect it was perfectly fine but at that stage of the evening I can't be sure...

All in all a very interesting wine evening, thanks to our guests for the various wines. I intend to carry out a full scale recce of Greenacres during the week and will report back anon...

Note: Also from Greenacres but beyond my everyday budget was a Setriolo Chianti Classico 2006, which we had in a friend's house on Thursday evening and it was fantastic.

Sundry Summary Judgements

I noticed today that I have teased you (all tens of you) with the promises of opinions on various wines and then shamefully, not delivered. So here are some very quick reviews...

1) Some Lidl Wines from this post..

Lidl Cotes Du Rhone Villages 2009 - €5-99
Drinkable, but not great.

Lidl Chianti 2007 - €4-99
Piss, poured down sink.

2) Some white wines from the Superquinn €5 bin-end sale from this post.

Chalkers Crossing Hilltops Semillon 2008 - Nice, crisp and refreshing.

Il Nicolaio Soave Classico 2008 - Full and "luscious".

3) I meant to post on this but forgot.

Tesco Finest Alsace Riesling 2009 - €8-99 - Awful, tasted burnt and chemically. I hope this was "off" in some way, as it was undrinkable.

4) Bought a Puccini Memoro - €8-99 in Tesco yesterday. I've had a number of their wines and they have been generally good and are often on special in Tesco. I couldn't find a grape or a region on the bottle, and with good reason - It's a bit of a mongrel, using 4 different grapes (40% Primitivo, 30% Montepulciano, 20% Nero D'Avola, 10% Merlot de Veneto, from 4 different regions (Veneto, Abruzzo, Puglia and Sicily). I'm finding it a bit jammy in Shirazzy way, but Herself is loving it, so there you go.

5) Stocking up with plonk to bring to the sunny southeast, got a few random bottles in a Superquinn on-line shop plus another random few (including some of this) in Dunnes.

A Blur of Scotch Whiskeys

I looked for the collective noun for Whiskey on the interweb and all I could find was a "blur" of whiskeys, which makes sense, I suppose. Anytime I have had occasion to open multiple bottles things have tended to get a bit blurry.

BTW - this will be of little interest to the non whiskey drinking oenophiles out there, but I wanted to write a bit about the eight different single malts I picked up as I made my weary way home every week from Auld Reekie, over the last few months. Also, I don't think wine and whiskey are that dissimilar in terms of the effort and time required to produce a drink of great quality.

My intent was to buy something I had not tried before, at least every second bottle, to force me to try some new styles and producers. I also decided to buy the standard (youngest) expression of each whiskey. In terms of cost, apart from the final two bottles (£38), all were around the £30 mark. See below for how successful this experiment proved to be.

The whiskeys in the pic above are in purchase order (l-r) with the first purchase, a Cragganmore 12 yo, now sadly finished.

Caragganmore 12yo
Very smooth and very tasty. A good whiskey to give to a non regular whiskey drinker.
Experiment? Yes
Hit or Miss? Hit

Talisker 10yo
Perhaps more of an acquired taste than above - it's a little peaty, a little salty and I think rewards the more adventurous drinker.
Experiment? No
Hit or Miss? Hit

Old Pulteney 10yo
A lighter, sherried cask style of whiskey for when something sweeter is required.
Experiment? Yes
Hit or Miss? Hit

Caol Ila 12yo
I bought this because I had a bottle of the 18yo some years ago and it was fabulous, not overly peaty but rich and complex. The 12yo expression tastes a bit bland for me. There is some peat going on but not much else. Disappointing.
Experiment? Yes
Hit or Miss? Miss

Glenmorangie 10 yo
The standard exoression from this distillery is wonderful - Incredibly rich, spicy and complex on the palate.
Experiment? No
Hit or Miss? Hit

Highland Park 1998
I couldn't find the standard 12yo so I plumped for this Airport only "1998" (there is also a "1994" and a "1990"), assuming erroneously that it would be the same or within spitting distance of the 12yo (which I love). Alas, I was mistaken. Jim Murray, in his "Whisky Bible" 2011 finds it "pleasant but disappointing by HP standards". It just doesn't do it for me. It tastes like a photocopy of the 12yo. I made the mistake of reading this review before trying it and so it's entirely possible I am not giving this whiskey a fair go, but the damage is done now.
Experiment? Yes
Hit or Miss? Miss (mostly)

Dalwhinnie 15yo
Another fantastic Highland single malt. Warming, smooth and another whiskey to tempt the non-whiskey drinker with.
Experiment? No
Hit or Miss? Hit

Dalmore 12yo
I tried this immediately after renewing my acquaintance with Dalwhinnie, and it came off as a little rough and ready. However I did sample it again a couple of weeks ago and it performed much better on its own. It's not a subtle whiskey - big, bold and fiery. If this is your style of single malt then fill your boots, lofty.
Experiment? Yes
Hit or Miss? TBC

Note1: The Dalwhinnie, the Cragganmore and the Talisker and part of Diageo original "Classic Malt" range, which I was unaware of. Not a bad place to start, as it also includes Oban 14yo (Fantastic), Lagavulin 16yo (A peaty monster), and Glenkinchie 10yo (perfectly fine)

Note2: Apologies for the blurry picture, it wasn't intentional. I had to use my old smartphone as my brand new super duper HTC is in being fixed (long story short - great multi media device/crap phone performance).

A lidl on the side*

Now that I am returned to the blogging game I felt it was time to get back to my roots (and my second ever post, indeed) by visiting Lidl and seeing what they had to offer the bargain hunting wine buyer. A lot of same old wines are there; some I have tried, some I wouldn't try and I bought a couple of wines that are new to me.

From Left to right they are:

Lidl Cotes Du Rhone Villages 2009 - €5-99
No particular Village is mentioned here and no producer either, so I'm hoping this is one of those undiscovered gems...

Lidl Chianti 2007 - €4-99
This appears to be from the same producer as the extremely cheap (€3-29 and up) Lidl Montepulciano that I find eminently drinkable but others disagree. Worth a punt for that reason alone.

* sorry.

Assorted Nuts

First off I bought a couple of reds as part of Dunnes "Mediterranean Festival", to whit-

Laurent Miquel "Bardou" Saint Chinian Languedoc 2007 (?13-99?) - Fabulous. I think this was reduced from about 20 lids and that's probably a fair price. A classic old world Syrah; long, silky and complex. A steal at this price.

Florentina Chianta Riserva 2007 (?9-99?) - this was perfectly fine, a bit of nice acidity and OK value as priced but nothing special.

Poker with the Guys last night and no wine news as such ( I broke even on the last hand of the night - my palace* of tens beating a palace of nines and a royal flush and yes - this particular variant is a travesty of the great game of Poker, with lots of wild cards). Anyhoo, we had on hand both Glenlivet 12yo and Glenfiddich 12yo and decided to do a blind tasting.

Of the five who tasted, four of us preferred the Glenfiddich, with three of the four correctly guessed its identity (YHB was sadly mistaken). I had professed previously to not really caring for the 12yo Glenfiddich, but I really liked it last night. I guess sometimes it takes a blind tasting to show one the error of one's ways...

On the whiskey front I intend to post soon enough on my various purchases while commuting to Edinburgh, and the large range of moderately priced whiskies in the Airport "duty free", from which I made my selections.

On the wine front - we are rapidly working our way through the bargains from Dunnes and Superquinn, so I think a trip to Lidl/Aldi is called for, I haven't been in ages and also, I'm skint...

*Five of a kind

A fiver a pop - cheap for most things...(Updated)

A little bird (@SuperquinnWine) tweeted on Tuesday evening that they were starting a €5 a bottle bin-end sale on Wednesday, so being the bargain hunter (read: cheapskate) that I am I made a beeline* for Blackrock yesterday. Our little bird had also helpfully included some favourites to aid selection from the long list.

When I got there I was initially disappointed to see only a selection from the list present, but I guess this was due to space constraints. My disappointment turned to joy when I spotted a certain NZ pinot for a fiver which I really liked last time out.

The rest were all punts based on recommendations from @SuperquinnWine, so I reckon I'll soon discover if our tastes are similar.

Red

Waipara Hills Pinot Noir 2008 (left) - I got a few of these to entertain with on Saturday - here's hoping our guests (and I also) appreciate the subtleties of this wine.
*Verdict - had this on Saturday as an accompaniment to BBQ'd spatchcock organic chicken and I thought it worked well. Lighter than I remembered but still full of luscious fruits.

Roureda Llicorella Priorat 2005 - I'm on a Priorat kick at the moment and this guy liked it.

*Verdict - Disappointing and a little sharp at first but after a couple of hours in the decanter it really developed into a complex beefy treat, but it really needed the time (approx two hours)

Chateau De Sours Bordeaux Rouge 2007 - I never buy "cheap" Bordeaux, I've been burned too often, maybe it's because I was brought up on the good stuff - anyhoo, I'll stick my neck out once again on this.

*Verdict - Had this "late" on Saturday and it was drinkable but unremarkable.

White

Roureda Llicorella Blanc 2005 - A white Priorat, who knew?**
*Verdict -Me and June lamped into this while herself, "slim and strawberry blonde" apparently, was putting the war paint on. P yellow in the glass, it tasted (to us) somewhat like a good Aussie reisling, which was nice.

Chalkers Crossing Hilltops Semillon 2008 - Bought based on recommendation alone.

Il Nicolaio Soave Classico 2008 - Bought based on recommendation alone.

Also

Rare Vineyards Carignan Vielles Vignes 2010 - I quite liked this before (I thought I had blogged on this previously, but I can't find it, so I don't know what to tell you...) It's not in the sale but is available for a mere €6, so I grabbed a couple.

*Verdict - cracked a bottle of this last night while I was left home alone (sniff) and as before it was very tasty and I had to stop myself drinking the entire bottle.

*This is a myth, btw - bees zigzag all over the place.

**Obviously not me...

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.

The return of "that guy"... (Now Updated)

Howdy folks. It's been an awfully long time since I blogged at ya - 6 months to be precise. For me, the time has flown; I've been up to my furry bits in a complex IT project, which went live successfully last weekend. I still have a week to go, both tidying up and pissing up, but I should be home for good next week - woo hoo!

John Wilson's column in the Irish Times on Saturday mentioned that Dunnes are having a "Mediterranean Festival" so I stopped by their Beacon store on my travels today and picked up six reds from Spain and Italy. The French offerings didn't look particularly appetising to YHB so I passed on them.

I looked up the "Festival" on the Dunnes site for a bit more info, but the page isn't a "mind of information" as they'd say on DNS. Judge for yourself. I'd expect a minimum of a PDF or at least a more readable page. Superquinn's many and multifarious wine sales would seem to be the benchmark here.

Note: The display shelves in the shop show the notional "full" price but neither the receipt in my sweaty little fist, nor the Dunnes website can help me out in retrospect here.

Anyhoo - the six wines are:

Crossos Priorat 2008 (€12-99) - Any Priorat I've had to date I've really liked so...

Verdict - This is fantastic, big and bold - I need to buy more asap.

Arroyo Ribera Del Duero Crianza 2008 (€10-99 - John Wilson specifically recommended this so...

Verdict - Similar to the Barbaresco this was quite light in colour, but was quite fruity in a strawberry, New World Pinot Noir-ish way, strangely. Not unpleasant, but not something I would probably buy again.

Masseria Del Fauno Salice Salentino 2010 (€5-99) - I do like wines from here, they are tangy and acidic and good pizza/pasta wines IMHO, and at this price it's worth a punt.

Verdict - Only got around to this last night and it is a steal at this price, some nice acidity and a very well balanced wine for thsi money.

Il Burchino Toscana 2007 (€12-99) - This looked classy, beyond that, I don't know what to tell you. Tomás Clancy had this as his "One to Buy" last Sunday in the Turbine, although (see comments), this in not an uncontested opinion.

Verdict - We probably didn't give this wine the best opportunity by drinking after a hot Thai penang curry but even so it was pretty good. A solid chunky Tuscan, and decent value at this price.

Riva Leone Barbaresco 2008 (€9-99) - A Barbaresco for a tenner? Again, I pretty much had to. Also, Dunnes have a Barolo from the same producer for about 15 notes. Let's see how this ones goes first.

Verdict - Herself demanded another red be opened after the lovely Priorat and chose the Barbaresco. Disappointing. Quite a light colour in the glass and similarly lacking in flavour on the plate. Not offensive but a bit "meh" and not what was expected...

Campomagio Toscano 2006 (€11-99) - I hadn't intended buying two "Toscanas" [IGT] so here's hoping.

Verdict - Again a perfectly pleasant Tuscan, nothing to write home about but perfectly fine. For the extra Euro I'd buy the Burchino.

In conclusion, kudos to Dunnes for the wines, but their promotion and presentation could do with some work.

And yes - it's good to be back.

Hiatus

For various reasons - mostly job related, I'm going to take a break from blogging. I seem to be lacking that energy or passion that I used to have for this blog. I suspect the travelling and associated stress of commuting to the UK has sapped whatever surfeit of vim, zest or moxie I normally possess.

I still enjoy the wine; the seeking out of bargains, the joy of quaffing a fine claret (mostly on somebody else's nickel - I admit), and the pleasure of just writing something, and getting it out onto the intertubes for better or worse.

However, without the requisite passion, I feel I wouldn't be able to produce content that would be much beyond a list of what I've recently sampled, which wouldn't be particularly entertaining or edifying.

So until this current project is finished - approx. six months hence, I won't be doing much blogging. I will continue to tweet - http://twitter.com/willieswineblog as this seems to be a more suitable medium for the kind of contribution I wish to make...

End of line.