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.

Post Holidays Blues (and reds)

Well, I'm back after a very relaxing two weeks in the (genuinely) sunny south east. We drank a decent amount of wine, all the while struggling to find a source of decent affordable wine.

Greenacres in Wexford town is exceptionally well stocked with "quality" wine but boy howdy they ain't cheap; it's like the recession never happened.

Pettits Supervalu (also Wexford town) is not stocked with wines I would buy (to put it kindly), they do the Masi range which I would have chosen if I hadn't found an alternative.

Tesco (the new gargantuan-sized shop in Wexford town) stocks all the usual suspects, if that floats your boat, I availed of some when entertaining.

Supervalu in Rosslare Harbour was a bit of a hidden gem, lots of solid wines to choose from and a couple of interesting wines tucked away, more of that below.

I'm only going to comment on a couple of the wines sampled over the two weeks, most of the rest have been reviewed here before and some I won't review to avoid insulting those who brought them down 8-)

On one particular night our guest had brought down a Woolaston Estates Nelson Pinot Noir 2005. As I have mentioned before I only seem to like expensive Pinot Noirs; pricey wines from NZ and good Burgundies. This wine proved no exception; delicious, complex and with a very long finish.

On the same night I took punt on a Concannon Central Coast Petite Sirah 2006 which I found in the aforementioned Supervalu. This was a curious wine, lots of tannins and some nice dark fruit. We had it on its own but I think it would definitely benefit some food.

The Final Three

Castillo de Montearagon Gran Reserva Carinena 2002 - €6-39. Not bad. Oaky and Rioja-ish. OK Value at this price.

Tesco Valpolicella Ripasso 2008 - €8-99. Still good. Lots of nice fruit and structure.

Tesco Cotes du Rhone Villages Reserve 2008 - €7-49. A little lighter than I remembered and very Rhoney. OK.

I'm still on my jollies and I have an excellent Golf tan - normal service will resume next week.

Half Way There

I'm officially on my jollies so I won't be doing much posting over the next couple of weeks. However we have tried three of the six bargain wines bought in Tesco last week so here is the interim report card.

Bastide de Garille Cabardes 2007 - €5-99. Solid. Some nice flavour here. Great value.

St Hallett Barossa Gamekeeper's Reserve 2008 - €9-35. Way too sweet for my palate. No finesse whatsoever.

Tesco Nero D'Avola 2008 - €5-99. Decent but unremarkable. Drinkable and decent value at the price.

Two packets of three, for the holidays.

We are off on our jollies soon and where we are heading in Ireland is not a Mecca of good wine (I think, and I hope to be proved wrong). But just in case I figured I'd get a half dozen red as emergency wines in case no decent affordable wine can be found in the locality. Tesco Dundrum normally has a few wines on special, some own-brand, some random wines from across the globe.

I picked up three of each today, The non-Tesco wines are...

Bastide de Garille Cabardes 2007 - €5-99. Regular readers will know I recently found a lovely Cabardes in Dunnes at the modest price of €6-95. Hopefully this one will be as successful.

Castillo de Montearagon Gran Reserva Carinena 2002 - €6-39. I recently had another bargain Carinena Gran Reserva from Tesco, a 2001, which was a bit tired. Worth a punt at this price, I reckon.

St Hallett Barossa Gamekeeper's Reserve 2008 - €9-35. When I saw this on the shelf it rang a bell and I grabbed a bottle. When I checked my archive I saw that I had tried it as part of a tasting back in November, John Wilson's Favourite Australians. I very much liked it then so kudos to my memory, for once.

The Tesco wines are...

Tesco Valpolicella Ripasso 2008 - €8-99. I have written about this wine on several occasions. I love it. It needs a couple of hours in the decanter but it's so worth it.

Tesco Nero D'Avola 2008 - €5-99. I had forgotten that I quite liked this the last time I tried it (unlike the 2007 which was not great). Solid but unremarkable but attractive at this price.

Tesco Cotes du Rhone Villages Reserve 2008 - €7-49. I had this once before last November, when it was the 2007 and it went well with the lamb we were having. It will be interesting to see if there is much variety between vintages.

Speaking of which I recently picked up a couple of Tesco Vacqueyras 2008, I loved the 2007 but the 2008 left both myself and Herself a little disappointed. It wasn't as full and flavoursome as the 2007. That was the first bottle, so perhaps the second one will prove the the first was an anomaly.

Even More Links

Time once again for one my infrequent link posts where I link to articles on other wine blogs that have piqued my interest and they in turn link back to me (in a perfect world...)

All you ever wanted to know about wine glasses from Wine For Normal People

Cup-a-Wine from M&S is as good as you might expect from My Grape Escape

Stress is good for your wine (or something) from The Grapefruit

A new (to me) blog of video wine tastings from Kevin of Kevin's Tried and Tasted

We are entertaining this weekend (weather permitting); an old friend is visiting from La Belle France. I know he has a thing for Chateauneuf-Du-Pape but most of it is expensive and I'd probably end up with something unsuitable so I picked up some Chat-eu-Oeuf in Superquinn, which I loved last time and ticks most of the Chateauneuf-Du-Pape boxes for half the price...

Cheapest Wine EVER

Before I talk about wine of the title I should mention that I finally managed to snag a bottle of the Superquinn Classic Collection Valpolicella Ripasso 2008 (€10). Ever since I read Kevin Ecock's review of the entire range, I have been looking for this wine. I liked this wine, it had some lovely dark cherry, some nice dryness and a bit of depth. Unfortunately, to my palate, the Tesco Valpolicella Ripasso has a little bit more flavour, depth and complexity, for about the same money.

In honour of Lidl's 10th birthday in Ireland, there were various beers and wines on special offer. Grafenwalder lager (4.8%) is always agreeable especially at the bargain price of 99c.

The Lidl Montepulciano 2009, was in fact the first wine I ever blogged on, way back in March 2009 (it was a 2007 back then). I liked it then and I like it now. It's not a fine wine by any manner or means but it's perfectly drinkable and at only a fiver, quids in. The discounted price is now €3-29, yes, THREE EURO TWENTY NINE CENTS, ONLY.

Since I first recommended this wine, there has been much debate among friends, in laws etc, and there has been some hate put its way, and some praise also. My take on it is this, spend the three freakin' euro - if you think it's piss - what have you lost? We are drinking the first (of two) right now that I bought and after two hours in the decanter (recommended), it's perfectly fine.

Just for giggles, I also picked up a Lidl Pinot Grigio 2009 by the same producer, Squiggle Squiggle (see picture) for the modest price of €5-39. I'll let you know how it turns out.

A couple of nice ones...

As I mentioned last week I got some very nice presents of wine from the guests at a BBBQ* we had recently. June's brother brought the above Super Tuscan a Malenchini Bruzzico 2003. This wine was lovely; inky purple in the glass and dark, supple and rich on the palate. In hindsight it would have gone very well with food, perhaps not pasta but something meaty.

To be honest, my exposure to Super Tuscans has been very limited so I can't tell you that this tasted like a Super Tuscan should. I would imagine if you take the cherry from the Sangiovese, and add some depth and fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon you get what was in this bottle.

Next up is a wine from the Southern Rhone, Les Amis de la Bouissiere 2008, courtesy of BigNose. This is a Grenache, Syrah and Merlot blend, the last of which I think is a little unusual for this area? Either way, this was medium bodied and full of lovely "Rhoney" flavours. Very tasty.


* the extra B is for BYOBB

A gem from Dunnes

As I was perusing my blog list, I came across this article by Lar on Sour Grapes, which described a wonderful Southern French wine retailing at an immodest €6-95 in Dunnes (reduced from €9-95). Normally, this is my territory (finding good cheap wines in the Supermarkets), so duly intrigued, I bought a couple of bottles, as Lar is normally spot on in his recommendations. It's a Chateau de Pennautier AOC Cabardes 2008.

As Lar mentioned, this wine can be made using the "Bordeaux" grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cot (Malbec) AND also the "Mediterranean" grapes, Grenache and Syrah.

Note: Dunnes are also selling the Terroirs d'Altitude Chateau de Pennautier 2006, which appears to be the next wine up the chain and I think was reduced to a very reasonable €8-99.

I liked this a lot. Lots of dark fruit, but not in a jammy way. Lots of body and a nice finish. We drank it without food and it was perfectly fine but I'd imagine it would suit a hearty dish very well. Mary Dowey actually came across this wine last year as did Kevin Ecock here.


Next up: Tonight we visit "SuperTuscany", hopefully we'll get on better than our recent visit to Barolo country.

Sorry June...

Firstly the good news...the Salomon Groovey Grüner Veltliner 2009 from Oddbins (€11-99), which I got in honour of our Austrian visitor, was quite delicious; crisp, tangy and a little spicy. We lashed through the two bottles I had bought, I wished we'd had more to go with my delicious smoked mackerel pate, which no-one ate apart from YHB, alas. I must have unique tastes.

Our guests brought a selection of wines and I shall be reviewing them as I drink them. First up is a Tesco Barolo 2005. June brought this along and was keen to know if it is any good. I have seen this in the shop and have been tempted, but it's a pricey wine to take a punt on. Tesco are very good at the moderate priced own brand reds, but can they do it with a wine from a "premium" region?

The answer is - not this time. I believe this bottle was corked, but not in the normal way. I read an article on the web somewhere recently that said there are four (I think) main ways a wine can be "corked", caused by different factors and with different effects on the taste. This wine was very sharp, almost fizzy on the tongue and very acidic. After almost five hours in the decanter it had lost some of it's harshness and you could maybe get some idea of what the taste should have been.

There's no way this wine tasted as the maker intended, ( I know Barolos historically have been huge tannic beasts, requiring much decanting, but this was not the issue here), so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and endeavour to try it again in the future. Sorry June.

You take the moon and you take the sun...

On our trip into the west we decided would try and eat seafood chowder every day, not for any scientific reason, but simply because we love it and it's not easy to get a good one in Dublin.

Day 1 - Moran's Of The Weir - Superb.
Day 2 - Oliver's, Cleggan - Very Good, more of a stew than a soup but with a great variety of fish.
Day 3 - Pub that doesn't take Credit Cards, Clifden - I liked it but herself pronounced it too salty although it did come with some mini squid/octopus tentacles.

There was also another pub in Clifden that shall remain nameless as they ignored us for 10 minutes (even when I went to the bar), so we walked out. You'd think in this day and age that pubs/restaurants would be crying out for business, alas not.

We ate a huge amount of fish but didn't drink much wine with it, (we drank mostly Guinness), the only bottle of note was a Lawson's Dry Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008 in Mitchell's seafood restaurant (have the crab cakes) which was perfectly fine and a good accompaniment to my hake special and Herself's mussels.

We are throwing a petite bbq'ette for June's brother and her Austrian friend tomorrow. In their honour I picked up a couple of Salomon Groovey Grüner Veltliner 2009 from Oddbins (€11-99). John Wilson in the Irish Times reviewed it a couple of weeks ago he said:

"A crisper style of Grüner with fresh melon and citrus fruits, and a tangy dry finish. This would be good with Asian-style prawns, scallops or sushi."

I'll be BBQing a butterflied leg of lamb, my absolute fave and I have a case of the wedding wine from Lil Sis's wedding to have with it. Its an Olivier Ravoire Cotes Du Rhone 2007 and it went well with the lamb at the wedding so...

Lastly, Superquinn mailed me to tell me about their "Great American Wine Sale", not much of interest for me I think, mostly cheap plonk. The list of wines is here if you want a look.

Lastly, lastly, we are trying a Tesco Finest Touriga Nacional 2008 (€8-99) from Portugal tonight. This grape is considered the finest Portugese grape and I do tend to like wines made from it. I do wish they'd so something about the label though, it's very bland and uninspiring.

**Update** This turned out to be a lovely drop. A bit of a bruiser, inky purple in the glass, lots of dark fruit and heaps of tannins. very nice if you like the full bodied style...