SAUVIGNON BLANC: KIWIS OUST CHILE CHAMP

M & S SAUVIGNON BLANC, LIMARI VALLEY (CHILE) 2008, 13.5%, €13.99


I chased this one down because it was a Decanter Regional Trophy winner for a Sauvignon Blanc at less than ten pound sterling.

Colour was very pale and the nose was herby and grassy, green fruit. On the palate, there is a good balance of fruit and acidity. It is tingly and refreshing, savoury too, with a fine dry finish.

Other Regional Trophy winners I found to be quite impressive but there was a tinge of disappointment here. Nothing at all wrong with the M & S offering, I hasten to add, but it was unlucky to follow an outstanding Sauvignon Blanc, a 2010 Neudorf from the Nelson area.

The Chilean might have won on price – the NZ comes in around the twenty euro mark – but was otherwise outclassed. By the way, the Neudorf didn't figure at all in the Decanter list from New Zealand.

The New Zealand edge is further underlined by the fact that Decanter awarded their two international Sauvignon Blanc trophies to the Kiwis. Waimea Estates (Nelson), also available at M&S, took the honours in the under £10.00 category while Vavasour (Awatere Valley, Marlborough) won the over £10.00 trophy.

A nod is as good as a wink. And I've given you three!

A DRY PX

A DRY PX
Marks and Spencer PX2010, Elqui Valley, Chile, 13%, €10.49, 4 stars




Hit the jackpot, well a small one, when I dropped into Marks and Spencer (Cork) yesterday and bought myself a bottle of their PX 2010.

I had been looking out for a half bottle, thinking the wine was a dessert type. But no, the Pedro Ximenez comes from the Elqui Valley in north of Chile and is quite a dry white. It has an ABV of 13% and costs €10.49 for a full size bottle.

The colour is a pale honey and the nose is pleasantly aromatic. It is fresh, fruity and yes dry, with an easy going mouthfeel; very refreshing with an excellent finish. Well worth the money and an instant favourite in this house. Four stars.

It won a Gold in the White section of Chile in the recently published Decanter World Wide Awards. Marks also have another Decanter regional winner: their Sauvignon Blanc from the Limari valley 2008. I also picked up a bottle but haven't tried it out yet but am looking forward to it!

TOP NOTCH SANTA RITA RESERVAS

FIRST CLASS SANTA RITA WINES

Carlos (right) and yours truly at Isaacs

Carlos Gatica, Chief Winemaker with Santa Rita, the second biggest wine producer in Chile, was in Cork yesterday and brought a strong line-up to the Gilbeys Wine Tasting Lunch at Isaacs.

Many of you will be familiar with the Chilean winery’s 120 series and Carlos referred to the story (with a strong Irish connection) behind the 120 and you may read more on that here.

Santa Rita’s current mission though is to “educate” their Irish sellers, including hotels and restaurants who were well represented here, in an effort to broaden the appreciation of the better Santa Rita wines and particularly their reservas.

The introductory handshake was a very pleasant concentrated white: the Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2010. This was accompanied by a selection of tempting tapas.

Could have happily stayed with those tasty bites but move on we did and Carlos then presented their 2009 Gran Reserva Medalla Real Chardonnay,

This has quite an intense bouquet and is a well balanced wine with silky texture and went down well with a warm salad of Marinated Chicken, smoked bacon and rustic potatoes.

Now it was on to the steak and the first of the reds. This was the superb Pehmén Carménère 2007 made with grapes from an old vineyard in the Apalta Valley. Aging is in 100% French oak barrels for 18 months. Really liked this flavoursome persistent wine.

The cheese made its appearance as it was time for the piece de résistance: a vertical tasting of the classic Casa Real. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon “seeks to obtain the maximum expression of the Alto Jaheul terroir”. New French oak barrels are used.

Many of you will know that vertical tasting means tasting the same wine from different years. The vintages at Isaacs were 2007, 2002 and 1999. The still young 2007, marginally higher in ABV @ 14.5%, was of excellent quality, the fruit concentrated after a good year, but was overshadowed by the other two.

The very elegant and concentrated 2002 (14.4%) was perhaps my favourite. Well balanced with ripe flavours and tannins, it has a full body and “a sleek finish”.

No vote was taken but the number one choice was the 1999 (4.3%), an “opulent” wine from an “opulent” year. The winemaker’s comments covered it all: "As a terroir concept, the 1999 vintage has been undoubtedly considered as the maximum expression of a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon to date.”

Maipo Valley

Interesting to note that Santa Rita has a presence in six wine areas of the country, allowing it to grow many different kinds of grape and expand its portfolio. Some of their areas are north of Santiago de Chile, some to the south (Carlos lives in Curicó), some are close to the coast, others in the foothills of the Andes. The valleys are Limari, Casablanca, Leyda, Rapel, Maipo and Apalto.

Credit to Gilbeys for putting on this excellent event “the first of many around the country”. Well done also to Carlos for his descriptions and humour and for bringing such a stunning selection to Isaacs.

KINSALE'S WINE MUSEUM

KINSALE’S WINE MUSEUM

At Desmond Castle

St Patrick sipping!

In the church of St Patrice in Rouen (France), there is a 16^th century stained glass window* showing the Irish patron saint having a glass of wine at Tara in 433 while the High King looks on anxiously. Maybe it’s the King’s glass?

On the 17^th of October, 1710, Jonathan Swift wrote to Stella from London: “I dined today with your Mr Sterne ...and drank Irish wine”.

In 1780, John Windham recalled visiting Cork city: “There are no hackney coaches but there are plenty of chairs or sedans. ...These vehicles are extremely convenient for the followers of Bacchus who has a great number of votaries in this city.”

These anecdotes show that there has been a long association between wine and the Irish so it is no surprise that the Irish went abroad some of them became involved in the trade. The most recent example I came across is the late Michael Lynch in Argentina’s Mendoza.

Loads of similar info is in the Wine Museum in Kinsale’s Desmond Castle. Maybe not the efforts of Michael Lynch, but virtually every other Irish connection, certainly before 2000 when the museum was set up, is very well covered indeed and great credit here goes to Ted Murphy, the Corkman who put it all together.

Many of you will know of the Cork family Hennessey who ended up in Bordeaux, the very same family whose name still appears on Ireland’s most popular cognac (brandy). But did you know that we were also involved in the sherry trade? Terry, for example.

The French connection is strong (and getting stronger in places like Provence and the Languedoc) but the Irish were also involved in wine in America, Cronins and Foleys in California for example.

And not just North America. Some of you may be familiar with the popular Chilean wine: St Rita 120. In the early 19^th century, freedom fighter General Barnardo Higgins (father from Sligo) and 120 of his men (including General John McKenna, another Irishman) took refuge in the St Rita cellars during the battle of Rancagua. The wine is named in their honour.

Many many connections and loads of interesting facts and also some memorabilia. I could go on and on but, in fairness to Mr Murphy, I think anyone interested in wine should take a trip down to Kinsale and take your time as you wander through the two rooms that make up this museum. Highly recommended and the admission at three euro wouldn’t buy you a glass of wine in any of the town's restaurants.

The three euro will also get you into the castle which was originally built about 1500 as the Kinsale Customs House, one of its tasks being to collect a tax based on the tonnage and quality of the wine. In 1497, the English king granted the local Earl of Desmond the right to take one cask from every shipment for himself!

Occupied by the Spanish during the Siege of Kinsale in 1601, the most famous event in the castle’s history came in 1747 when 54 prisoners died in a fire. Most of them were French seamen and the castle later became known as the French prison.

·          There is a reproduction (photo above) of the window in the museum, donated by the Irish John and Eithne Lagan of the Xanadu Winery (Margaret River, Aus.). By the way, I love their Next of Kin wines (available via Bubble Brothers).