Cruz de Piedra Selección Especial

The most wonderful thing about being a non-wine producing country is the variety our merchants can put forward for us. Hypothetically anyway, in reality lots of us could find our favourite wine on a shelf blindfolded. Variety hasn't been a by-word for the Irish wine trade, save now it seems certain people are all ready to shake things up.

Power & Smullen Tasting Event: Portugal

Relatively a new comer to the Irish wine market, Portugal, seems intent on blazing a trail straight to our hearts. It's now common knowledge that for quality and value, Portugal is leading the way, and  rather conveniently, I just so happened upon a Portuguese tasting hosted by Lucan Wine Merchant, Power & Smullen only a short time ago.

Ara: A Pathway to Marlborough

While New Zealand is a toddler in the world of viticulture, Marlborough is younger still and yet despite this, it has managed its fair share of veterans. None more noted that the creator of the Marlborough's first "Grand Cru" estate, ARA, Jeff Clarke. Despite, Marlborough's haphazard discovery as a terroirist dream as recently as the late sixties, Jeff has a long history of involvement in the budding Kiwi wine industry, punching in well over 50 vintages with the Kiwi wine industry. To boot, he's ex-Penfolds and has been at the helm of Brancott during what could be called it's quality peak. Think you'll agree this guy doesn't submit to the term green.

Reasoned Riesling Reactionaries

Nothing is beyond the  repertoire of armchair activists such as ourselves here at Empty. That's right, we said it, armchair activists.  Bugger that, while Germany, is and always will be one of leaders  for propagating the quality of the wino's favourite grape we have to all dust ourselves off and realise, the Aussies really have led the charge on getting Riesling noticed. Not mentioning them, is by our books, rather uncool. So we did what any self respecting wino aficionado would do. We answered the four questions we shouted at our computers in the wee hours of this morning. Where's Australia? Where's Austria? Where's Alsace? Where's the Kiwi's? (Also watch out for some of the Riesling that sadly doesn't make the Irish market; USA, Chilean etc.)

Question Time With Empty

It's a good simple and concise question that John Wilson summed up recently by pointing out had we always used Stelvin we would never move to cork, yet is the answer really that simple? Having sat down to do a blind tasting of a wine Shane had left, I was presented with a dull and dead nose and a palate of harsh acidity... A fault no less, the blind tasting had been oxidised. Provoked by this and indeed the impending arrival of guests and Shane himself, I decided while the topic was hot and many opinions could be had, that I ought to crack open a pair of wines I had picked up in The Corkscrew Wine Merchants on Dublin's Chatham Street. What was so interesting about this? They were both the same vintage no less and to boot one was under cork and the other under Stelvin. 

Empty's Full Glass on Wine Australia

Rob and Shane give a post-mortem on Monday's wine Australia trade fair marking any notables from the day. Comments on the master classes, the Riesling table. We'll also be updating this in the near future with a podcast of the opinions of the guys. For now read way! Hope you enjoy, and as always comments and debate welcome!  

A Stickie Situation....

In the wake of Wine Australia, I have been rather predictably on a bit of an Aussie trip. Cabernet being the main offender for the moment. However, it would be a blatant lie to insinuate that this is something rather new for me. Last year, maybe that was the case, but now, I am the right-proper Aussie pusher. So in the interest of critical thought, I decided I'd have a go at something a little different. The "Stickies". No, not those of the northern variety; I am, mind you, rather gangly and the only possible outcome ensuing such a feat would be the repeated hurting of myself. Fearing for myself as I always do,  I felt happening upon a safer plan of action the better option. Thus, the Australian dessert wines, which just so happen to also be called "Stickies". These little buggers are unpopular by the very nature of their existence, they are after all dessert wines. Which shouldn't in our ideal world matter, it is after all just another style. Yet the game is as always played through the  eyes of the consumer, and guess what, we are a rather prejudice aulde bunch. Like to believe it or not. 

The Italian Job: Tenuta Santini Toscana Caricello 2006

Having found myself at the hands of a rather nasty bottle-shocking of travel from Maynooth to Monaghan over a tedious repetitive money-leeching meaningless "religious ceremony". I decided post-confirmation Rob was going to need something rather nice to cheer him up. Unfortunately, I was in Monaghan, and while it is where I hail from, it is the greatest hole on earth when it comes to wine, or so I thought... 

Beating Putin one glass at a time: Georgian Wines.

To quote someone in the business "What the industry desperately needs is a new grape". Oddly this was said in relation to Gruner Veltliner being grown in New Zealand, which is all very well and good, but if you will, allow me to take us all a little further abroad. Georgia, a tucked away corner that has been producing wine for about 8,000 odd years. How could a region this old have something new to offer you may ask? Simple it has over 500 indigenous grapes.  

Drag Queens: Meursault, cheap and aged

A proper smoke shrouded slut this, offering everything up. At a first glance it seems it's put on a few years too many for a Supermarket own brand, yet with some reading up on the vintage, the Meursault seems to have come from a golden year. This seems to be yet another find in what can only be described as year already ear-marked for aged wines of fantastic quality and knocked prices. 

Secrets De Chai, Saumur Blanc, 2010

Chenin Blanc, one of the wine worlds real under dogs. Disregarded by many with out a second thought. Written off without a chance, a bit like the blues was. Why the comparison? Well, I'm listening to the blues right now. And having just knocked in my final year project, a report on working memory and wine, I have stumbled on the multiple effects of music on wine perceptions and if I wanted to pair this wine with music, it'd B.B. King.   

An Irish Twist, El Commandate Wines

Cold and biting as the morning wind in Dublin was, it could not detract from warm welcome offered by Tom Lynch outside the traditional meeting spot of Dublin for strangers, Beweleys. Coffees poured, Tom opened on friendly terms, producing two bottles of his wine, from his bag as a gift. I wondered as to whether these would play up to the same standard as two Bronze medallist wines he and winemaker David Kingsbury have already been behind  (The 2009 Malbec and 2010 Chardonnay for those of you who are unfamiliar with the wines  won the aforementioned medals at the London wine fair. No small feat, not to mention this was their first entry). A friendly laugh and an acknowledgement the he has still yet to enter the wines, something he also adds he ought to do. 

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.

Conde De Valdemar Crianza 2007

Conde De Valdemar Crianza has long been a favourite of mine for many reasons. The has always been of exceptional quality, even in ropey vintages, such as 2006. When it returned to my local I wept with joy. Well, not really that would be a bit odd. I did however, purchase a bottle.

Chablis, Risk, Betrayal, Revenge; The Important StuffJ. Moreau & Fils, 2009, Chablis

A long overdue review and return to an old favourite for me occurred last night. I had a little date with RISK and wanted to numb the sting of rent week, so off to my now empty “cellar” (Thanks to two oxidised wines in one night), and fumbled about my stock, a Geil Pinot Noir (Review sometime soon I hope), an Alsace Pinot Blanc, a Segada, a Cluzan, a port and finally the last of my stock an interesting looking Chablis. 

So as we set off to conquer the world, the cards were dealt, dice rolled and cork popped. No sooner than I had my arse handed to me and had been kicked off half the globe did the whack of a clean cut, mineral laden pear extravaganza. Suddenly it didn’t matter that I was banged up in Australia. Suddenly that choke point on the board which meant I could hang on until the wine was gone and then break out and head for France for more in was looking a whole lot better. However something was bothering me, maybe it was the big blue army amassing in South and North America, maybe it was everyone else’s desire to avenge failings of their own lives on me, nope, it had to be something else. It was. It was a taste that was bugging me and not showing me who it was. I began to concentrate on other things, like the beautiful notes of peach, violets and apricots washing up and down my tongue in a wave and receding back to give way to room to the finish much like, a crisp acidic finish of lime and the length was as long as it took me to get back into the game (Which was rather long). 

Palha Canas, 2007, €13.95

Seeing as this week has been wine filled I felt it was okay to treat myself to something I personally had tucked away for a month or so waiting to open. Why was that such a treat? It’s coming from one of those few wine countries that I have always felt I get a bargain from, Portugal. Now dust off the images of port and Christmas for just a second. Because what you can be exposed to in this gem of a region if you simply take that first leap is truly quite astounding.

 

I could rant and rave for an extended period about why this is; however there is a better way - to let you read about my little treat for the week.

Let’s start popping the cork on this review, nose of a valop styled cherry assault the nose but not aggressively offing more of a velvet blanket to fall head first into. Things left curious by an underbelly of thick plum. This entire nose starts to take a berry like-structure and the juice of the wine can literally be detected vividly on the nose. Vanilla begins to start puncturing the fruit so prevalent on the nose. This is where in my experience of Portuguese wine, things liven up and they begin to distinguish themselves from the pack.

Berry notes started to become more distinct and developing into a riper red currant. Now excitement gets to me and the nose starts to dance with my fancies,. A mature cheddar giving grain to the nose, and a cider box smell that I am sure one of the team is obsessed over. The ashy tobacco lingers for a while, giving away the great depth this wine is hiding, and in a final swoop the wine already steals my heart, a new appearance on the scene blackcurrant evolving and existing alongside the redcurrant.

Swirling the glass, I finally pulled myself from the nose and was rewarded with a silky smooth cherry dominating the palate and having the nose mimicked with plum forming a core to the wine. The spices started to dance on the palate now too- cinnamon, a dominant one, its presence adding a wood sweet life across the palate. The tobacco developed and cheery filled the voids at the edge of the palate, vanilla began to cream up the alongside the notes of cinnamon.

A mild tannic structure had been forgotten as the fruits and sweet spices danced the palate fixating.

A textbook bargain from the Portuguese. Giving itself away at €13.95, from the Mill Wine Cellar. Something that tickled my tastes, and that I strongly advise tasting.

Score: 79


Rob

Ferngrove, Shiraz, €12.99

 

So enter another Auzzie poised to steal me and my little old world heart away to the great down under. Punching in at €12.99 this little wine offers a tight entry level to the world of austrialian shiraz, or so it seemed. 

Montezovo, Bardolino, 2009, more commonly referred too as drink up.

The Corkscrew, €12ish quid

Truth be known I have been awash with disappointments with wines of late a corked Spanish wine being replaced only to be found on its last legs, fruitless, empty, and bitter ready to turn over to a vinegar. Bordeaux with honourable exception has become a stalwart of disappointment for me, anything and everything that it has thrown my way failing to live up to even basic expectation. Outside that safe haven for the pretentious and over-paid France was failing again, now in Cote D’Oc, a Cab Sauv, which opened with so much freshness turn to a decaying hunk of meat within 20m minutes not too long ago to add to all this.

Santa Digna 2009, Gewürztraminer, €9.95

Mill Wine Cellar, €9.95

Ring the bells the Chilean prejudice is well and truly dead. An interestingly clean and clear straw gold filled glass seems like it has been the straw that broke this camels back. Something that’s rather not the norm this Chilean, with what can only be described as pungent aromas leap from the glass and there is no difficultly in there location but there is a lot going on in the glass.

5 wines to try

Shoo Fly, Chardonnay, 2009


€13.95, Mill Wine Cellar
Chardonnay as it should be, beauitful soft and full bodied, with a strong body of melon and elderberries both on the nose and on the plate. The wine opens with peach and minerality showing and developing, grapefruit makes an apperance on the palate. Not the most complicated wine but extremely tasty, offering a lot of taste and a good interesting cool-climate chardonnay from the adelaide hills a region fast stealing my heart. Advice would be to find a bit of spare change and add it to the ten quid bottle you normally get and try this wine. Tis an award winner after all having the title of best white wine on the Irish Market under €20, not a bad reputation to have mind you.




Petit Fumé, Michel Redde et Fils, 2010

€16.99, Mill Wine Cellar
We have sun, we need a crisp clean cut white to celebrate, look no further than Petit Fumé, made by Michel Redde et Fils, this Sauvignon Blanc is what you need, Sauvignon Blanc has risen to popularity of late- especially with the rise of New Zealand wine. While New Zealand is now regarded as the King of Sauvignon Blanc, I feel that this title is fairly undermining of the French examples, we have loire producing some of the most crisp examples of this vartiel, so looking at this pacticular bottle, we have a crisp and clean experience. Brilliantly structured, fresh apple and minerality notes, finishing with acidity to clear the palate after each mouthful. The nose is especially inviting on this, best when just slightly chilled to take the acid edge off. While slightly expensive, this bottle and grape has finally come into it's own, rarely failing to impress. What we're talking about here is a sleek stylish examof what is now just a bulk grape; it has distinct fruit notes and subtle hints to leave you curious. Its greatest drawback (being students) is the price. However remember it is on offer, so it’s well worth picking up as a treat, and in this weather the wine will be one of the most refreshing things on the shelf

Santa Digna, Cab Sauv Res, 2010

€9.99, Wine Mill Cellar
Sun seems as though it would like to stay and as a ritual in it's honour (and as a hopefully attempt to persuade it to stay for a short while longer) I thought I ought to toast to it this weekend. Now we have offered you our white wine selection, but despite two of my bigger predujices, the first that chilean wine will dissappoint and the second that Rosés are a stupid idea and are boring wines  of my own I decided I'd give the following wine a bit of a test drive. So the wine up for tasting? Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, 2010, from Santa digna, chile. So starting out with low expectations, opening the bottle, I was suprised to be greeted by a more than pleasant raspberry and subtle strawberry nose, beckoned by this I knocked a bit into a glass give it a bit of a swirl and slurped me some Rosé, and for the second time in not so long chile has surprised myself. So with this we were looking at raspberry, strawberry, bit of early minerality of a very flithish style. As the wine opened up we started to see the fruits develop a little, we started to get grapefruit and the nose turned slightly Sauv Blanc with gooseberry. What was the biggest slap in the face was how refreshing the wine tasting despite the fact it weighed it at a burly 13.5% alcohol. That fact showed the quality of the make of the wine we were dealing with, that combined with the full body of the wine. I'd have given it a 7, fresh wine, felt a little green at points but nothing overly officious to the palate!

Max Fred. Richter, Mosel Valley Riesling, 2009

€14.99, Corkscrew
A lovely example of Mosel Valley Riesling. Crisp and refreshing as all Riesling should be, it is sweet with a Clean nose, the wine is extremely complicated with melons, pear, apple and a slight hint of citrus making up the main fruits of the wine there is a nice touch of clove to the wine and everything seems to have a thin blanket of honey coating it. To boot it even has a foral smell as it opens which does not get lose on the palate, despite the mass arrays of smells and tastes each one is well defined. Leaving for a truly enjoyable wine that seems to wreak of a come hither note.


Leyda Reserve, Pinot Noir 2009

€14.95, Mill Wine Cellar
New world wine is a bit of a new thing for myself only letting go of my predjuices against many regions. However one predjuice has managed to last the test of time Chilean wine. That is until recently, so recent in fact it was this week, when I found a bottle of Pinot hiding behind large quanities of Shiraz from the same nation. Single vineyard always a good sign. Opening the bottle I was greeted by a warm smelling wine, nice mind you, slowly this developed into a nice red fruit and tobacco form, living up to the warm cilmate Pinot reputation of packing a punch, not only that but this also as it opened smelt meaty, and on the palte started to minic this and also add a sweet red pepper undertone. It kept opening up as the night progress and showed signs of the red berries and other red fuits as well as the prevelant tobacco smell and palate, all in all? A wine well enjoyed.