Alvaro Palacios. At home in Rioja.

Alvaro Palacios. At home in Rioja.

Decanter Man of the Year 2015.

Me, and a tub of Alvaro's favourite grape

Wine drinkers can be a bit like race-horse followers. When betting, the race horse fan may follow the form, may follow the trainer, maybe the jockey, maybe a combination. Wine drinkers too have their favourite region, a favourite grape, and sometimes a favourite wine-maker. Quite a few these days are following ace Spanish winemaker Alvaro Palacios (quite a few of his wines are imported by Classic Drinks).

“His pioneering nature helped to rescue both Priorat and Bierzo from oblivion,” said the April 2015 edition of Decanter when they named him their Man of the Year. His current focus is on the family vineyard in Rioja Baja. He is out of mainstream Rioja, away in the far eastern corner, in what he calls “Garnachaland”. “And I’m so happy about that.”

He sure loves his Garnacha as the following quote from The Finest Wines of Rioja shows. “Through its behavior, we can see that Garnacha is a very Spanish variety - perhaps even more than Tempranillo itself. It likes the sun, the heat, the stress from drought.”

“Alvaro has great affection for his vineyards and a relationship with the wines and the soil. That is where his passion lies. His great joy comes from growing old vines and maximising their ability and expression”, according to Ana Fabiano in Rioja, a recommended book on the region.

In the hilly vineyards of Priorat, he made his name with L’Ermita, “widely considered to be the most important Spanish wine of the modern era”. Made some money too with it: this will cost you a four figure sum! Not bad going for the seventh son of a family of nine. Fortunately for us, his Camins del Priorat and a few others are much more affordable, as are the majority of his Rioja wines, including the gorgeous pair below, so different to any Rioja red I’ve tasted before.

Palacios Remondo La Vendimia 2014, 14%, €17.99

Stockists: Ardkeen Quality Food Store, Co. Waterford. Baggot Street Wines, Co. Dublin. D6Wines, Co. Dublin.  The Wine Centre, Co. Kilkenny. Number 21 Off Licence, Co. Cork

Every now and then, a wine comes along and makes your tastebuds sit up and notice, makes you sit up and notice. That’s what happened when I was introduced to this amazing opulent  blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha from the far eastern corner of Rioja. The unusual element here is that there’s 50% Garnacha in the mix. Here too, in the area around the town of Alfaro, is where the first Rioja grapes are harvested each year.

Ruby is the colour of the Vendemia, perhaps a shade darker than most of the other young Riojas I’ve come across the past few weeks. There is rich mix in the aromas, fruit (cherry, plum), mineral, even herbal notes, also hints of vanilla. A soft mouthfeel, the wine is pleasant and full of fruit, no shortage of acidity, fine tannins, some spice too and a good finish as well. Very Highly Recommended and leaves me looking forward to their crianza.

Palacios Remondo La Montesa Rioja Crianza 2012, 14%,  €23.99

Stockists: Ardkeen Quality Food Store, Co. Waterford. Carpenters Off Licence, Castleknock, Co. Dublin. The Corkscrew Off Licence, Co. Dublin. Jus de Vine, Co. Dublin. Matson's Wine Store Grange & Bandon, Co. Cork. The Parting Glass, Co. Wicklow.

Named after the hill side slope (1800 feet) on which the fruit is grown, this unfiltered blend of Garnacha (70%), Tempranillo (25%) and Mazuelo (5%), is another gem from the Alfaro region of eastern Rioja, “a wine that invites you to enjoy life” according to the winemaker.

Ruby is the colour and there is a complex aromatic mix of fruit (cherry) and floral elements. With rounded fruit flavours and an immediately compatible mouthfeel, it flows smoothly across the palate, great finesse and elegance enthral and all before a stunning finish from a terrific wine produced from a year of “austere weather conditions”.

Just looking here at the winemaker’s notes and would have to agree: Perfect by-the-glass on its own or when paired with flavourful cuisine, La Montesa is a welcoming wine from Rioja that is sure to please both the novice and the true wine connoisseur alike. Very Highly Recommended. Lets hope Alvaro's love-affair with Garnacha continues.

Recent Rioja posts: Rioja Rocks and also Rioja whites.

Taste of the Week. Wilkies Tumbes Chocolate Bar

Taste of the Week

Wilkies Tumbes Chocolate Bar

“The chocolate we produce at present is made from single origin organic criollo cocoa beans from Peru.  Criollo beans are considered a delicacy.” And this one, with beautiful flavours and smooth velvety texture, is certainly a delicious delight for the chocolate lover and is our Taste of the Week.

The beans come from the Tumbes Farm and are organic.  Shana Wilkies, based in  Midleton (County Cork), ensure that the small farmers receive a fair price. Shana also use beans from the Amazonas Farm from which they make two bars; both are good but one, with cocoa nibs added, is highly recommended.

Read all about Wilkies Bean to Bar chocolate here.

Square Table Excellent(x2)

Square Table Excellent2

 Got back to Blarney’s Square Table last week, after a too-long absence, and found chef Martina and front-of-house Tricia in top form at a superb lunch with not a turkey in sight.

The lunch menu, as you might expect, is short. But very long in quality. Serving Irish and French cuisine, their reputation has been reinforced over the 18 months or so since they opened in the centre of the village.

The sun was shining but it was cold enough when we landed on Friday and so we picked the soup to start with. And the Celeriac was just the job, a big bowl of warm soup, topped with some nuts, adding flavour and a little crunch (4.75). Warmed up now and running.

We picked our two mains from the little specials board that is brought to your table. I went for the O’Connell’s fresh pan-fried hake with mustard sauce, York cabbage and smoked bacon (13.95). Fresh it surely was, white and milky and just perfect, a lovely matching sauce and every now and then a tasty touch from a bit of bacon.

And that wasn't all. We shared a side dish of vegetables, carrot and kale, all nicely cooked, not too hard, not too soft, and also a bowl of perfectly executed mashed potato.

The Cronin sisters get their beef from Macroom’s Michael Twomey, their mother’s butcher. And one could see why when CL’s Beef and Mushroom Pie (12.50) arrived in its own special pot, a nice touch on the presentation.

But no good having the classy presentation if what’s inside isn't up to scratch. The beef was just perfect, so much so you just had to stop every now and then and savour the superb flavour and texture. The overall combination was top notch.

We had been tempted earlier when we heard the list of desserts being called out but after the soup and a mega main course each, we reluctantly left the sweet stuff behind. Next time!

The Square Table

5 The Square

Blarney

County Cork

0214382825

info@thesquaretable.ie

http://thesquaretable.ie

Opening hours

Wed 6.00pm-9.00pm

Thu-Sat 12.00pm-3.30pm and 6.00pm-10.00pm

Sun 12.30pm-4.30pm.

Early bird served Wednesday 6pm to 9pm, Thursday 6pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 6pm to 7pm.

Amuse Bouche

Jacob’s biscuit and cake stand was described as follows: ‘amongst the 200 or more varieties, may be seen the well-known Cream Crackers, also Walnut Cream, At Home, Five O’Clock Tea, Arrowroot, Oxford Lunch, their new royalist ranges, the King’s Own and Coronation, ‘a rich shortbread with a glacé cherry in centre’ and so on. The backdrop to the stand was a wall of colourful biscuit boxes 7 ft (2m) high….

from The Cork International Exhibition 1902-1903 by Daniel Breen & Tom Spalding (2014)

Top Posts for Past 24 Months

Top Posts for Past 24 Months

(to end of Nov 2015)

Salmon starter at Blarney's Square Table

1- Cork's Coqbull On An Early Charge 6496

2- Happy Gaggle of Wine Geese

3- Aroi. Asian Street Food in Cork City

4- Square Table. Great addition to Blarney

5- Happy New Beer. Mayfield’s Cotton Ball

6- Top Ten Dinners & Lunches 2014

7- Dinner Supreme at Blarney’s Square Table

8- Electric. Easy to Book. Hard to Leave

9- Pilgrim’s in Rosscarbery

10- Ballymaloe Garden Festival

11- Taste of the Week. Baklava

12- Dining in Style at Pier 26

13- Thatch and Thyme

14- Son of a Bun

15- Franciscan Well Launch Brewery Tours

16- Bantry’s Fish Kitchen

17- Taste of the Week Joe’s Farm Crisps.

18- Jancis Robinson at Ballymaloe LitFest

19- Top Wines 2015

Welcome to new entrants including Son of a Bun and Kildorrery’s Thatch & Thyme. Coqbull are still raking in the hits. Hopefully, fire hit Aroi will be up and running soon. Being on the list doesn’t guarantee success. Huguenot and Pho featured here but both have closed down. Our Taste of the Week is proving quite popular with two featured above.

Mountain Cheese and Oregon Wine. Mont D’Or and Riesling. Divine.

Mountain Cheese and Oregon Wine

Mont D’Or and Riesling. Divine.

Yum!

One 500gram box of Mont D’Or (AOC) cheese from Bradley’s.

One bottle of Kings Ridge Oregon Riesling 2013 (Willamette Valley), 12%, €15.00 (reduced from 19.99) SuperValu Christmas Wines.

Sharing a half kilo of baked cheese is fun on a winter's evening as we found out this week. It is recommended for four but the two of us managed quite well, thank you!

Our cheese came from Bradley’s in North Main Street, Cork, and was the famous Mont D’Or from France (there is also a Swiss version). Like wine, the French version has its own AOC and is a much prized cheese from the Franche-Comté, made with whole cow’s milk, and is generally available only from October to March.

The rind (inedible) can be peeled back and the runny cheese simply spooned out. But baking it, in its box, is the treat. Again, it is not the only cheese that comes in a box. Camembert is another and that too can be baked. Sheridan’s suggest that both Durrus (360g) and Gubbeen (450g) can get the same treatment but they don't have a box so you’ll have to improvise with a sheet of foil.

Indeed, it was a recipe in the new book, Sheridan's Guide to Cheese, that we followed (more or less) with the Mont D’Or. You simple score the top rind, add in a couple of sprigs of thyme and a clove of garlic and a half glass of white wine and bake in a pre-heated oven for ten minutes. For some reason, the ten minutes was totally inadequate and ours needed double that.

It was carefully brought to the table, the rind peeled back and then we dug in with chunky bits of Arbutus Sourdough (bought at Davidson’s, the local butchers). And then we dug in again. And again… You get the picture! All the while sipping from the Oregon Riesling.

That gold coloured wine proved to be a gem and also quite a match for the cheese. White fruits on the nose and also that petrol but reasonably muted. Palate is crisp and fruity, fresh, light and fragrant, no sign of that petrol, good acidity and a decent dry finish. Some of the fruit used comes from one of the oldest vineyards, planted in 1968, and this “adds depth and complexity to our Riesling.” A Very Highly Recommended Riesling indeed.

So there you have it. Quite a treat. And wouldn’t all three, a box of cheese, a bottle of the Riesling and the Sheridan's book be quite a present for that special someone. They might even share!

• Got a tip too from Daniel Emerson of Stonewell Cider. He suggested having the Mont D’Or as a fondue with potatoes. “It is divine.”

All Red For You. Garnacha-Syrah-Nebbiolo

All Red For You

Garnacha-Syrah-Nebbiolo

Ricossa Barola 2010 (DOCG), 14%, €17.00 (down from 22.99), SuperValu Christmas

In the Langhe hills it’s the aromas - of truffles, mushrooms, hazelnuts, coffee, and above all else, Barolo or Barbaresco wine - that sweep people off their feet. (Vino Italia).

Barolo, by the way, is a place in Piedmonte (Italy) and the grape is Nebbiolo. There is a minimum aging requirement of three years (two in barrel) and the result has been described as the king of wine, the wine of kings.

So let's be king for a day and try this vibrant ruby red. And yes there are gorgeous dark red fruit (cherries mainly) wafting up from the glass. The Riedel (Veritas 6449/67) has been made for New World Pinot Noir but it certainly works well here! The fruits are agreeably prominent on the palate but there is a great balance, some spicy elements too, a sweet and savoury experience and then the long dry finish. I really like this one, feeling rather royal! Very Highly Recommended.

Marco Real Corraliza de Los Roncaleses 2012, Santacara (Navarra DO), 15%, €15.50 Karwig Wines

Colour here is a bright cherry, long lasting legs. For me, nose is more fruit (cherry) than floral (which is highlighted on the label). Soft and full-bodied and elegant too, moderate acidity and yet, despite the high abv, the balance is fine; the finish is long and pleasant. Highly Recommended.

It is one hundred per cent Garnacha and wines made from this variety can be high in alcohol (as is the case here) and heady (not the case here!).  By the way, I had this with Poulet Basquaise and it was an excellent match.

Think I may have been fairly close to this vineyard a few years ago when I came over the mountains from France to Roncesvalles, a major stop on the camino to Santiago. It was lunchtime and I was hoping to get the  Pilgrim’s Meal but was told it was available only in the evening!

Finca Pasion Mi Fuego Syrah 2012 (Argentina), 13.5%, €13.50 Karwig Wines

Colour is a dark red (with a lighter rim) and it has ripe fruits aromas. Then you get the fruit again on the palate, spice too and quite fine tannins, a pleasant presence in the mouth plus persistent finish. Hand-harvested and estate bottled, this is easily quaffable and Highly Recommended.

Taste of the Week. Rebel Chilli

Taste of the Week

Rebel Chilli

Kick bleak mid-winter up the arse with ginger, green chilli and lemongrass.

Is your chicken looking a little sad? Your bland burger hiding between the covers? Your sandwich less than appealing?

The good news is Plain time is over. Cork’s Rebel Chilli have just the cure for your food time blues, summer or winter. Their Green Chilli, Lemongrass and Ginger Sauce will heat up anything you decide to use it on (cheese, fish, meats). It is just what you want, your mid-winter zest and our Taste of the Week.

Around the World without a Duck! The Edible Atlas by Mina Holland

Around the World without a Duck!

The Edible Atlas by Mina Holland

Mina Holland doesn’t like duck! The author of the Edible Atlas worked her way through 39 of the world's main cuisines, including two regions of China, without cooking duck once! I had been checking the index for another reason but no sign of duck at all.

I did find out why though when we came to cook her A-not-quite-Cassoulet, from the Lyon area (Rhone-Alpes). This is so called because the normal duck is missing. “Expensive+greasy+cute=duck just isn't my favourite meat to cook with.”

I bought this book about a year ago and hadn't seen it since. A bit unusual, as we usually like to use the books we buy. But this was first up on a shelf and then got hidden by an increasing bunch of cook books.

But, duck or no, we are making up for lost time and so substituted pork for the duck. That was combined with all the other cassoulet regulars - cannellini beans, bacon lardons, lots of garlic, bay leave too - in the fantastic flavoursome stew. The author loves this kind of dish: “This is the food I remember over Michelin-starred meals. It is usually delicious, very often gruesome and always real.”

She recommended washing it down with a bottle of local Syrah or Syrah/Grenache blend.

but I’m following a different wine river currently. I picked mine from Rioja, where the Ebro runs through, and the El Coto de Imaz Reserva (Karwig Wines) was chosen and did the matching job superbly.

Mina, editor of Guardian Cook, covers four regions in France in the book. The others are Provence, Loire Valley and Normandy. And it was in Normandy that we found our dessert: Apple Tart Normande, a dish “in which fruit, pastry and frangipane get jiggy”. Hard to resist that.

And the different parts do jel so well together, the fruit, the shortcrust pastry and the frangipane with the almonds and a shot of Longueville House Apple Brandy (well, we had that instead of the Calvados). A whole tart is a bit much for two but it lasts well in the fridge.

So, after that year lost on the shelf, the Edible Atlas is off to a great start in this house. “Fascinating, telling some fantastic stories about a broad range of cuisines … The food cries to be cooked,” said Yotam Ottolenghi.

We are looking forward to “visiting” Europe (no less than five regions in Italy alone), The Middle East for sugar and spice and all things nice, Asia (from India to Japan), Africa and the Melting Pots of the Americas (Louisiana among them, of course). Could be quite an delicious journey, even without the duck!

Amuse Bouche

Boiling alive was less commonly used as a punishment, but it was nonetheless legalized in 1532 by Henry VIII to punish one criminal in particular. Richard Roose was a cook found guilty of poisoning the porridge of his boss, the Bishop of Rochester. He was judged to have committed treason and was boiled alive, roaring ‘mighty loud’, according to one chronicle. …. That English law was repealed in 1547.

from Heat by Ranulph Fiennes (2015)

A Pair of Primitivo. And one top Riesling!

A Pair of Primitivo

And one top Riesling!

The Primitivo grape came from Croatia and has been grown in the Puglia area for 200 years or so. It is regarded as the brother or sister of Zinfandel in California. It is an early ripener as the Italian name indicates.

Puglia is in the heel of Italy, an area called Oenotria (land of vines) by the ancient Greeks. It is flat and hot and capable of producing high alcohol wines, though these two, both from the Salento area, aren't over the top at all.

Li Veli Orion Primitivo 2013, Salento IGP, 14%, €17.25 Karwig Wines.

The grapes are hand-picked (from 11 year old vines) and collected in small cases. There is further manual selection on rollers in the cellar. Malolactic fermentation is in French oak and there is also 6 months barrel aging. Perhaps this is why it is a little more expensive than the Per Tutti.

Dark red is the colour and it has red fruit aromas. It's fruity and fresh, with some spice, a fruity aftertaste and a very good finish. Really pleasant and Highly Recommended.

Per Tutti Primitivo 2013, Salento IGP, 13%, €15.50 Karwig Wines

Another dark ruby wine with pleasant aromas of warm red fruit. A lovely full sensation at the introduction on the palate, some little sweetness, some spice evident also, fine tannins too, quite smooth overall and a longish velvety finish. Really well-made wine with a low (for Primitivo) abv of 13%. Highly Recommended.

This Riesling is Class!

Carl Ehrhard Rudesheim Urstűck Berg Roseneck Riesling trocken 2013 (Rheingau, Germany), 12.5%, €24.90 Karwig Wines.

Colour is an attractive medium gold with intense aromas (white fruit, floral too). Then the beautiful full flavours, a very pleasant mouthfeel (including a wee tingle), good acidity and a long finish. Not too much to be said, no need really, just Very Highly Recommended.