Some wines for you to savour!

grenache

I've tasted a lot of different wines since October, more than ever before. I live with French girls and they are always cooking. So the deal is they provide the food and we bring the wine, so i've found myself going into any and every offie during the last six months I would definitely recommend the following:


Marques de Riscal Tempranillo 2007 (Spain)



I really liked this Rueda wine, full bodied but with velvety smooth tannins on the palate and lots of dark fruits like blackcurrant, plums and cherries to taste with a medium to long finish. A hint of oak too but not overly persistent. Available for around €12 in Super Valu, Dunnes and most good independents. For value for money i'd give it an 8/10.


Pascual Toso Malbec Reserva 2008 (Argentina)



This Mendozo beauty is soft on the palate with a certain earthyness to it, vibrant flavours of raspberry/blackberry with hints of coffee too. Its no more than medium bodied and could improve again with additional ageing as its still young for a reserve wine, but it seemed rude not to drink it. Would definitely buy again! One of the best wines i've ever drank. I got this one for €15.99 in O'Donovan's in Cork but I've found out its also available in Redmonds of Ranelagh and other good independent stockists around the country. For value for money, it gets a 9/10.


Peter Lehmann Semillon 2008 (Australia)



A wonderfully refreshing change to Chardonnay, this is produced in the famous Barossa valley. The palate displays a nice balance between lively citrus fruit/honey and zippy acidity. There is also a lovely waxiness to this wine, its a perfect wine for sipping, with a just a touch of residual sweetness on the tip of the tongue. Picked it up in Tesco for €11.99 (pre budget) but i've seen it just about everywhere, including Superquinn, Supervalu, Oddbins and a host of independents. Great value wine, 9/10.


Lagar de Cervera 'Albarino' 2006 (Spain)



This wine coming from the Rias Baxias region of Galicia in north-west Spain was one i hadn't tried before so i was taking a risk, the food i was pairing it with was shellfish and it went down a treat! A very fresh, light-medium bodied, almost fizzy taste at times to it, its like someone got Gewurztraminer and mixed it with Riesling. Stringently aromatic, crisp, with a little acidic backbone, it will evelope you with a waxy aroma and a palate of peaches, apricot, pineapple and citrus character. This Albarino will go well with most white meat or seafood or is perfect for sipping on its own. A good wine, the only thing that lets it down is its short finish. Its a competitive price at €15.99 from Oddbins near Baggot St bridge in Dublin. Value wise i'll give it a 7.5/10.


Faustion V Rosé 2008 (Spain)



Anyone who's ever browsed their local offie for wine will know this one. Made from 100% Tempranillo, this Rioja rosé is crisp, lively, with clean cherry/strawberry flavours coming through and a medium-long finish. None of your sweet Californian 'white zinfandel' carp! €10.99 from Tesco but available nearly everywhere that sells wine. An 8/10 for value.


Protocolo Tinto 2007 (Spain)



As you may have noticed by now, i like Spanish wine, lately i'm really into it! This tempranillo displays an earthy-like smokiness mixed with strawberry flavours. Medium bodied with good tight acidity too but juicy enough to be appreciated by most wine drinkers. €7.95 from O'Briens, its hard to beat! Value for money is an excellent 9/10.





*If anyone has tasted any of these wines please feel free to add your thoughts, or if you want to add reviews of wines you've recently tasted, please do so below.

muckety

Great tasting notes... I'm curious as to why there are no French wines, don't the French cooks ask this question??

grenache

muckety wrote: »

Great tasting notes... I'm curious as to why there are no French wines, don't the French cooks ask this question??

Well, when i'm buying wine for dinner, they purposely ask me not to bring French wine, they've tasted pretty much every region and appellation there and want to explore what other countries have to offer. Somewhat strange for French folk given that any ones i've met before think French is best, naturellement! I'm really into Languedoc wines myself but haven't bought any lately. I do have some other old wine notes on some good French wines i tasted a year back which i will put up here shortly.

grenache

Marques De La Concordia Tempranillo Rioja 2008 (Spain)



Lots of luscious dark fruits on the nose, giving way to hints of cherries, plums and vanilla on the palate. The fruit is to the fore but you can still dectect a certain amount of oakiness to it, but not too much which is what impressed me most about this wine. Medium tannins give it a firm structure. A good long finish made this boardsie very pleased with his choice of Rioja. A really, really wonderful wine for the price - €10.50 in Tesco and most other good offies. Value for money = 9/10.



Rosemount Estate Chardonnay 2008 (Australia)



This is a light chardonnay, made in an easy-to-drink style. Light floral notes on the nose with tropical fruits on the palate - peach, guava and melon predominantly. A well balanced wine with crisp acidity and lots of fruit in a medium length finish. Went down beautifully with the cordon-bleu my sister had prepared for us. Available in Carry Out for €11.99 and in all other semi decent offies. Value for money = 7.5/10.



Fetzer Bonterra Organic Shiraz-Carignane 2007 (California)



If you're fed up of overly-inky Aussie style Shiraz blends that try to blow your head off, then you should try a softer Californian approach. The fruit is still here, the pepperiness is there (though less evident) but its a smoother, softer, less muscous approach to blending two classic French grapes. The nose hits you with a whiff of what could be described as Turkish Delight! On the palate its dark berries - blackberries, plums, raspberries with hints of chocolate and vanilla on occasions. This wine also isn't too drying as some French blends can be, firm tannins grip your tongue and the finish is more than medium. A very good wine, organic too so less chance of a headache the morning after. Available at Fine Wines shops nationwide for €10.99. Value for money = 8.5/10



Fiordaliso Pinot Grigio 2008 (Italy)



Zesty notes on the nose introduce you to lots of citrus and melon flavours upon sipping this soft Italian white. Soft acidity to this with a decent finish. Again its pretty simple but its much better than a Tesco PG i sampled a few weeks ago at a similar price. Well worth picking up at €6.99 from Carry Out off licences nationwide. Value for money = 8/10.



Curio Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (New Zealand)




I'm always suspicious when i see wine from expensive regions such as Marlborough marked down in price. So i picked up this white with much trepidation, and was pleasantly surprised! At 12% its relatively light, but displays all the good characteristics of NZ Sauv Blanc, namely refreshing minerality and good steelyness. Added to this are a good dollop of nectarine and gooseberry flavours on the palate with a medium finish. A great bargain at €6.99, on offer at Fine Wines shops nationwide. Value for money = 9/10

Bearhunter

Grenache, re the Marlborough savvy: you'll see a lot of new labels hitting the shelves from NZ at reasonable prices. We've got a wine glut down here after three huge vintages and the economic collapse overseas. Many of them are from "quality" wineries, who don't want to devalue their brands by offering them cheaper, so some of the here-today-gone-tomorrow labels you'll find could well be from the likes of Wither Hills, Vavasour, Lawson or even Hunter's.
There are also a lot of growers getting wine made for themselves rather than selling to the wineries. Bargains galore, dig in while the prices are good. From the 2010 vintage (just finished here and glorious) prices will head north again after a deliberately smaller harvest.

grenache

Bearhunter wrote: »

Grenache, re the Marlborough savvy: you'll see a lot of new labels hitting the shelves from NZ at reasonable prices. We've got a wine glut down here after three huge vintages and the economic collapse overseas. Many of them are from "quality" wineries, who don't want to devalue their brands by offering them cheaper, so some of the here-today-gone-tomorrow labels you'll find could well be from the likes of Wither Hills, Vavasour, Lawson or even Hunter's.
There are also a lot of growers getting wine made for themselves rather than selling to the wineries. Bargains galore, dig in while the prices are good. From the 2010 vintage (just finished here and glorious) prices will head north again after a deliberately smaller harvest.

Thanks for the tip. I've tasted Lawsons Dry Hills Sauv Blanc before, quite nice from what i can remember. I shall keep a look-out.

muckety

Bearhunter wrote: »

Grenache, re the Marlborough savvy: you'll see a lot of new labels hitting the shelves from NZ at reasonable prices. We've got a wine glut down here after three huge vintages and the economic collapse overseas. Many of them are from "quality" wineries, who don't want to devalue their brands by offering them cheaper, so some of the here-today-gone-tomorrow labels you'll find could well be from the likes of Wither Hills, Vavasour, Lawson or even Hunter's.
There are also a lot of growers getting wine made for themselves rather than selling to the wineries. Bargains galore, dig in while the prices are good. From the 2010 vintage (just finished here and glorious) prices will head north again after a deliberately smaller harvest.

Thanks for the heads-up. If anyone knows which 'new' labels are from which winery please post here!