During our last Artisan wine tasting held in Dublin last March, Pascal Verhaeghe introduced his last creation to the tasters, a port-like Malbec, made from a rigourous selection of his best grapes. The wine was Malbec Vintage 2010, and it was extremely well received by both the trade and the press. It has now arived on our shelves and you can find it here.
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Our shop will be closed all day on Saint-Patrick`s Day, we will re-open on Tuesday at 10.30
Online shopping is open 24/7 :)
We wish you a very happy Saint-Patrick`s Day!
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Tomas Clancy recommends three of our wines in this weeks Business Post.
The Sunday Business Post – Sunday February 19, 2012
Tomas Clancy
3 Wines to try, buy and put by.
To Try: Domaine Olivier Leflaive, AC Saint-Romain 2007 (90)
Millions of years ago, Saint-Romain in Burgundy was a 100ft deep lake with a small island at its centre. Today, the water is gone, the edges of the lake are cliffs-and the island is an odd cylindrical mountain in the middle of a small canyon. Unfortunately, the area`s wines have never matched the brilliance of the landscape - until now. Biodynamic winemaker Olivier Leflaive is admired for his brilliant Puligny-Montrachet and his class-leading Meursault wines. The Leflaive family have been producing wine in Burgundy for 16 generations, across five centuries, and so have an intimate knowledge of the land. They have found a Meursault-lite sweet spot in Saint-Romain, the golden, toasty brioche notes flicker among evident minerality and a touch of nuttiness in this medium-bodied wine. It is startlingly familiar, with a tiny twist. Well worth investigating for a glimpse of Leflaive genius at decent prices.
To Try: Guy Allion, Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, Val de Loire 2010 (89)
This wine is produced under the Terra Vitis ethic that began in the Beaujolais region 20 years ago as part of the general French movement, Lutte Ralsonnee (`reasoned struggle`). Terra Vitis takes a global view of the vineyard, its management of waste waters, wildlife and air quality. It is an, approach based on reason, not faith. Guy and Dorothée Allion`s small estate minimises strategic intervention in the vineyard and studiously avoids chemical additives. The results speak for themselves here - this is a super smart sauvignon blanc that is crisp to the point of steely sharpness, bursting with gooseberry, peanut and nettle notes. A clear and startlingly well-priced competitor to New World sauvignon,
TO PUT BY: Domaine Meyer-Fonne, Riesling Katzenthal 2009 (91)
At 100 years old, Meyer Fonné is an infant in Alsace terms where, after 400 years of ownership you are regarded as still getting to grips with the region. While Burgundian winemakers may be seen as picky about understanding their terroir, Alsace winemakers are close to mania. Thus Alsace winemakers are at the forefront of many natural, biodynamic and lutte raisonée approaches to wine. One of Alsace`s finest estates, Meyer-Fonne is a hand-crafted, meticulously organic, natural yeast ferment hotbed. The results on their own should provide converts. This is a strenuously organic; gloriously dense, complex Riesling.There is incredible minerality, then touches of nut, a hint of lime and licorice, then a floral waft, before diving into the flicker of paraffin. All this in a three-year-old wine, meaning the 2006 is now on fire. Another two or three years and we can hope to see a similarly triumphant evolution.
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Natural Beauties
Organic, biodynamic and “natural” wines, often with deliciously pure flavours, are finally making an impact says Mary Dowey
An emerald army is on the march. Where once there were only a few mavericks – avant-garde guerrillas sporadically unleashing esoteric bottles on a wary public – there is now a well-organised militia storming the wine trade’s citadels: restaurants, shops, online retailers. Green wines – organic, biodynamic or “natural” – are finally here in force.
“The huge interest they have stirred up in Paris and London is definitely spilling over into Ireland,” says Pascal Rossignol of Le Caveau in Kilkenny, who has built up the most exciting selection in the country. “Some of these wines may seem a bit funky but people love them because they have so much personality.”
In my experience, many (but not all) have strikingly pure flavours, with a kind of inner vibrancy that makes them dance on the tongue. As purity underpins the methods by which they are made, they may be chosen for health and environmental reasons as much as for taste.
The Gloss, April 2012
Browse page 4 of our Italian section, and you will discover two brilliant wines from Alesandra and Carlo Venturini of Monte dall`Ora, a tiny biodynamic estate in the Veneto - Valpolicella `Saseti` and their Amarone della Valpolicella.
On the same page, you will find three wines made with passion and care by Vittorio Innocenti - Chianti dei Colli Senesi; Rosso di Montepulciano and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
Another super estate from the Loire has also been added, Jo Pithon`s PITHON-PAILLE wines: the two Anjou `Mozaik` - the white (Chenin Blanc) and the red (Cabernet Franc); Another Anjou white, Coteau des Treilles, a Chenin grown in a southern-exposed, single vineyard, reminescent of a great white Burgundy - and the delicate and sweet Coteaux du Layon `4 Vents`, just to showcase yet another side of what Chenin blanc can achieve in its homeland of the Loire Valley.
and finally, just as we thought we had found the best Cru Beaujolais ever with Jean Foillard Morgon `Cote de Py`, we tasted the amazing Didier Desvignes` 2009 Moulin a Vent `Clos les Charmes` during a visit in January 2012 and boy, what a wine!.. we brought in some in bottles, and some in magnums, just to be sure.
Happy browsing!
Easter arrangements:
Shop
Good Friday: Closed
Easter Saturday: Open 10.30 to 6.30
Easter Sunday: Closed
Easter Monday: Closed
Online browsing and shopping is open 24/7 :-)
We wish all our customers and visitors a very Happy Easter!
More artisan, low intervention wines, all the way from Yarra Glen, Australia; Colchagua and Maule Valleys in Chile, Mendoza, Argentina and the Loire Valley… here’s the list:
Anjou blanc ‘Haut de la Garde’, Pierre-Bise: A racy, mineral, Savennières-like Chenin blanc
Cheverny rouge, Clos du Tue Boeuf: Thierry Puzelat’s light, red berry scented Gamay – Pinot Noir from the Loire
Le P’tit Tannique Coule Bien, Puzelat-Bonhomme: Another Loire natural wine from Puzelat’s stable; as original and digestible as always
Cinsault ‘Quella’, Louis Antoine Luyt: A Chilean Cinsault, natural, full-bodied, unfiltered and pure fruited
Carignan Reserva , Villalobos ‘Wild Vineyards’: Carignan from Chile? ... Yes, from wild, almost untended vineyards and only 12% by vol.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Familia Cecchin: From our favourite organic estate in Mendoza, Argentina; Classic Cabernet with lovely natural freshness
Carignan, Familia Cecchin: And another South American Carignan for good measure, round and mellow, sweetly-fruited and full-on flavoured
Bobar Syrah, Tom and Sally Belford: Organic Syrah from Australia, Beaujolais-style carbonic maceration, and only 12%. Quite different
Glass act: Pinot Noir
... Of the 21 we tasted, these four, all from New Zealand Marlbourough region, were out in front of the pack:
Framingham Pinot Noir 2009, Marlborough:
Ernie Whalley says: Smart and understated. More nuances of flavour than most of the others in the tasting. Impressive length.
Martin Moran says: Chock full of smooth cherry fruit, with supple tannin and great length. Try it with duck.
SIVER, 17/20
THE SUNDAY TIMES – Sunday February 19, 2012
Rioja, from Spain, gets my vote as the wine world’s most polished diplomat, writes Ernie Whalley. Feted in the 1960s, it was feted as the answer to the escalating prices of "Left Bank" Bordeaux. Rioja suffered a quality dip as it rose in popularity, but this has since been overcome. The wine`s producers have created some big, powerful reds in the recent past and even though they have throttled back a little of late, the wine still wins hearts. Don`t be bamboozled by the hierarchy, though. The best crianzas, which are aged for at least two years, are better than the worst reservas, aged for three or more. Gran reservas, at least five years old, are a case apart and should be judged against one anotber. Quality varied widely in the 22 reservas we tasted, but these four are very good indeed:
Hacienda Grimon Reserva 2005 - SILVER 17/20
Emie Whalley says: Remarkable wine, no sign of fruit fade. If you like the walnuts, marzipan, truffles and other savoury things ageing confers. this is the one to buy and lay down.
Martin Moran says: A keeper. This has the fruit, spice and structure to last for years; or drink it now with pink lamb.
Read the full article online here.
