(PhotoBlog) The Bordeaux Blends Of New Zealand

Very Rustic Bordeaux style, farmyard notes
http://coevintners.com/     

fair showing, out done really
Liberty Wines

Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay 2009

If you are a Chardonnay fan, this is for you, if you hate Chardonnay and think it's over done and uncontrolled and just outright sloppy, grab a mate and go halves on a bottle, pour a glass and watch as your remarks are wiped clean from your face by what can only be noted as a benchmark for legends of the wine world. Coming from an estate draped in history, with an coming first in the 1976 Paris judgement.

LIVE BLOG: New Zealand Wine Fair Radisson Blu Hotel Dublin 30-Jan-2012

Rob and Shane will be reporting live via the tweet machine on the New Zealand Wine Fair. Rob will be tweeting via @EmptyGlassIE and Shane will be on @thobiasinkblot. We have our HQ working on compling all the tweets here and updating with anything we have from the day. So watch this spot. #NZWINE

Château De Pierreux, Brouilly 2010

 I decided I would challenge a wine prejudice I have built up over the years recently. Beaujolais. Not only did I allow the challenge but I also give the wine a fighting chance by giving a healthy budget for it of around €18. So armed with my typical good will, an open mind  I set out to taste none other than a Brouilly that I had heard only good things about. Was this about to shatter my little wine world?

There is a Pint to be made here

O'Haras Leann Folláin 

This is not a beer for the faint of hearted, but for those of you who enjoy a good stout. For too long in Ireland we have been left with little but Guinness to drink as Diageo have homogenized the market. Never fear, the small Irish Brewery is here. Carlow Brewing company have been around for awhile now and represent one of the most successful microbreweries in the Irish beer revival. Their Leann Folláin is exactly as named, a big rich stout that has a hefty alcohol content to boot (6%). 

17:59 And it's Trouble with a Capital "T"

Apparently it all kicked of at just a little passed five to six in a little sleepy hollow called Kildare. No more that three minutes later our boy Arthur was hassling his rent to half a student rate in none other than the capital working out at forty five quid no less. Now the time is little after ten passed the eight and back in the Allenswood of Kildare there is trouble brewing. Today we decided we'd hand out two alternatives to the infamous Mr Guinness.    

Guest Article: the Good, the Bad and the Bitter

To change things up a bit and try some new things, a little group of us (including Rob of Team Empty) devised a beer tasting that would give us a nice range of flavours and styles. Well, we got what we asked for; a lovely variety, including a few real gems. Up for tasting we had Trouble Brewing Ór Golden Ale, Erdinger Weissbier Kristallklar, Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel, Honey Dew, and Belfast Blonde. So folks, here is my review of the good, the bad and the ugly of it all.

Ca'Rugate, Valpolicella Superiore, 2007

I have mentioned Valpol before, I have mentioned my infatuation, I have mentioned even my love of it's colour. I think now is the time to admit, I am obsessed with the bloody thing. Now, I am picky however, and have been set on many a rage by attempts that betray the grapes, the style and the very reason for Valpol. That being a wine, that is enticing, fresh and vibrant. This example, well lets say, pricey as it was, didn't disappoint.

Don David, Torrontes Reserve 2009

We'll admit without any fuss made, we tend to forget our whites here a lot. How to adjust for it? Reviewing slightly mad gems like this. This is my third tasting of Michel Torino's Don David Torrontes. My second tasting was with Thobias, and I had challenged him to blind taste it owning to his rather excellent ability to guess what's swirling about in the glass. His response for this? A Gewürztraminer? Riesling, Chardonnay? Confusion.

Quinta De Fata Reserva 2003

The first day of holidays in Portugal I decided it best to tip down to the shops for some essentials for the apartment. While perusing the shelves of a local shop (under the pretence of going to the shop for some coffee and milk), not even a wine shop I was not expecting much. However, all was not as it would seem. Normally I am used to going into a supermarket and seeing overpriced banal branded wines staring back at me, today this was not the case.

Materne Haegelin, Alcase, Pinot Noir 2009

Being the resident Pinot nut, Power and Smullen's tweet "Do have a tasty Alcase Pinot Noir fom Haegelin" sparked a unusual thirst in me, while my response was tame via the tweet machine, in reality, I was bouncing off the walls of the student gaf here in Maynooth. Having used all my muck-man skills I mastered the treacherous Dublin Bus timetables and pottered in after college one evening. Christ was I glad I bought two. This was wonderful and insanely, too young.

Corvina Veronese, Monte Zovo, 2007

If there is one grape that tickles me fancy it has to Crovina. In fact my wine epiphany happened to involve just the culprit in the form of a Valopicella Ripasso, and has been the bar all wine finds itself up against ever since. Now, this is something a little different, it's a straight Crovina, form Monte Zovo, whose Bardolino has already struck a good note with me. So how did the single varietal stand up?

The Blueberries (Empty Awards for 2011)

Here at team empty we have decided that we could kick off the new year by having ourselves a little bout of awards just to mention some of the best wines, people, producers, regions and wine businesses that we've come across over the 2011. Our format is very simple, there is a first, second and third place, see simple. That in mind, here are our Blueberry awards for 2011.