Red Hook Winery in Brooklyn - A Model for Dublin?

On more than one occasion I've wandered into the world of wine making projects where the 'winemakers' don't have to invest a lot of money - they just need an awful lot of enthusiasm. One of these is Crushpad.  

Crushpad operates as a kind of a self help knowledge based winery where all you need to do is to turn up with some money and tell the good folk what sort of wine you would like to 'make'. They will then devise a wine making plan. This will cover everything from sourcing the grapes for you (before they have even begun to grow) all the way to barrel type and length of ageing etc. You can even design your own lable! Then you sit back and watch from a distance or get your hands dirty and get involved. It looks great.

An Irish Vineyard - Longueville House, Mallow, Co Cork

Crushpad, and a few others like it, are very different to using a home winemaking kit! Crushpad is very professional. Mind you, it's hard not to be impressed by some of the amateur wine making Clubs out there. Have a look at the Vancouver Amateur Wine Makers Association.

Then there's the garagistes. Ah, now this is where I feel more at home. I don't know why.. Maybe I reckon this is the loner. This is the guy who explores the outer reaches and comes home to tell the tale. Romantic? Sure, isn't that what wines are all about......

The term 'garagiste' refers to winemakers who set up a small winery, often in a garage, and set about making a wine according to a strong winemaking philosophy. So they might equally be referred to as micro wineries, protest wineries or even geek wineries! As with everything it all depends on how the wine turns out! Thus the extraordinary Chateau le Pin may be a garagiste in Pomerol as might Red Hook Winery in Brooklyn!

I have never visited Red Hook Winery and I have not tasted any of their wines but I love their story. Take the following extract from Food and Wine magazine, "  At most wineries, the winemaker isn’t likely to get run over by a bus. But not long ago at Brooklyn’s new Red Hook Winery, Robert Foley was forklifting a bin of grapes down the street when a city bus appeared from around the corner and came straight at him. “I see the driver, and he’s looking at me like, what are you doing?” Foley recalls. “But he stopped. And I say, ‘Hey! I’m forking here!’ ” Located in Brooklyn’s rough-and-tumble Red Hook area—in a ramshackle factory that was a turn-of-the-century bordello—Red Hook Winery is the most unexpected example yet of the urban winemaking trend.

Urban Wine Making Trend. Doesn't that have an alluring ring to it? But where would we get the grapes from? Red Hook is lucky that it can source its grapes from nearby Long Island. Close is good. It not only allows you to oversee the quality of the grapes as they grow but you get to know the grape growers and so influence the style of grape that you actually need. Close to source also allows you to transport the harvested grape in premium condition with a great deal of speed to the winery.

Excuses. Excuses. There's a winery in Alaska! Surely arranging transport is only a logistical thing and gets you over the hump of having to use inferior and expensive home grown grapes. Look at the Australians. Don't they transport grapes thousands of kilometres?

How much would all this cost? Could we get it together in Dublin? Well, that depends on how many people are involved? A Club? mmmm Not sure.

I can rememebr years ago being mightily impressed by Dr. Billy Christopher's 'Blackwater River Winery' across the road from Longueville House near Mallow. He was a garagiste who also grew his own grapes - up to three hectares at one time. Today the flame is carried by David Lllewellyn Jones out in Lusk in North Co Dublin. He not only makes wine but has his Lusca label on sale. Drop into the excellent Wines on The Green on Dawson Street for a look at one of the bottles. (Not cheap; and I haven't tried it yet!) For a more detailed account look up an excellent blog on Lusca at ValleyFogBlog.

Earlier this year Lar Veale video blogged, on Sour Grapes, a tasting of Chateau Amurensis from Longueville House in Mallow. He found it was 'pretty awful' even though he commended the effort! I'd have no interest in putting out something that was ' pretty awful'! But then why can't take a lead from some of the excellent 'Country Wines' that are already made here. (I put wine in italics because the EU defines wine as being made from freshly gathered grapes....) Have a quick look at Wines of the Glen where gooseberry, blackberry, Strawberry and ginger feature strongly.

If we can make quality 'wine' from gooseberry, whiskey from grain and stout from roasted barley then it shouldn't be beyond the pale to put a half decent bottle of wine together!! 

Years ago the brothers and myself ran The Vintage Off Licences. Up until about 1990 we sold oodles of wine making kits and the equipment to go along with them. At the time noone seemed to think there was anything inheranty wrong with at least trying to make your own wine. Surely the same philosophy applies to the garagiste? Have a look at Red Hook and look further into Brooklyn wine making via the Brooklyn Winery.

Anything is possible. That's the way to look at 2011.

Happy New Year folks.

Gran Reserva from Valdepenas revisited

I wrote a blog recently about how idiotic wine labels are becoming in relation to the use of the terms Reserva and Gran Reserva. My interest on the day in question had been piqued by a label I had bought in Superquinn for €6.00. Castillo Santa Barbara, Valdepenas, Gran Reserva 2001. At the time I thought it had been a Superquinn direct import. I was wrong. It's not! 

The thrust of my argument was quite simple - namely, producers and supermarkets are in cahoots in designing labels that help to sell the wine but don't necessarily use terms that have any real meaning, or offer any real help, to the confused consumer. Thus 'Reserva' and 'Gran Reserva' need to be treated with both respect and a great deal of caution.

It wasn't my intention to bring one particular wine into the argument but, as I say, it was the one on the desk at the time. I thought about it later and felt that I may have been unfair to the wine from Valdepenas. After all the Gran Reserva status on that particular bottle has been granted, and guaranteed, by the regions wine regulator. So, I went out and bought two more bottles and contacted the importers to see if they would allow me to look at a library bottle of the same wine. Can't judge a wine on one bottle alone .... even though this is done all of the time. No probs. I received my library bottle and I purchased two more - one from Lucan and one from Blackrock. I was pleased to see that a library bottle was available - (I know for a fact that most importers not only don't store these but don't even take samples of bottles from their imports to check against them!)  

The tasting:

Each one of the bottles tasted here was very different to the bottle that I tasted a couple of weeks ago. The corks were different. These corks didn't 'bounce' out as the previous one had, were printed in reverse to the previous one and had a lot of smooth coating on them. Note: there are differences in the colouring of the labels that are on sale.

Library bottle was the best. It showed good tawny and bright flashes of mohogany hue. Balance was in the heart of the wine with a medium to good length showing some spice and a degree of vanilla of (presumably) American oak extraction. A good all rounder, on the light bodied side but showing interest and quality.

Blackrock bottle (sitting in Dublin for the last nine months): bit dull, ruby medium depth. Good, well defined berry nose; fine 'tasty' body medium depth. Some vanilla and spice at finish. Short to medium length.

Lucan bottle: Clear and bright ruby with flashes of mohogany; medium depth; interest on bouquet with vanilla and spice character tucked in with a rustic and youthful fruit. Good length to finish. Will be appreciated by the consumer as a well made and satisfying wine. 

  

Conclusion: There is absolutely nothing wrong with this wine whatsoever. It will and should sell well. It does not, however, seem to travel as well as one might wish. It needs time to settle after it travels. One presumes therefore that each of the two wines bought today will develop as the library sample has. In that case they will develop well over the next year.
This settling difficulty may be due to the age of the wine (nine years is a long time..) or the fact that it has been put on sale shortly (too soon, but can you blame importers at this time of the year?) after its arrival. There is no doubt at all but the bottle I reported on two weeks ago was either a rogue bottle or was suffering from travel fatigue. It showed little signs of what the wines opened today are showing. Ah, the joys.

A small and perhaps significant point is that the cork was so different in the wine two weeks ago. - see photo's below. Corks do make a very big difference to all wines - they make all the difference to some.



'Yesterday' - 'Library' on left 'Blackrock' on right.





Two weeks ago



Health Benefits of the Grape in a Cream

I came across Emina Cosmetics yesterday. I know. You think I was on line window shopping for my wife. I don't think you're right, but you never know ..... once those key strokes begin.....

I have always been a sucker for looking into the health benefit claims made by some wine producers. I have followed up grape bath therapies and once reckoned I felt better after drinking a glass of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon as opposed to one produced across the mountains in Argentina. This was because the grape in Chile was reckoned to have more anti oxidant flavonoids associated with it than th'other! Nonsense of course. I'd probably have to drink a distilled tankers worth every day to come close to the levels needed to make any real difference to my health and then I'd be killed by the alcohol and all the other bits in the first place. I felt better because one wine was deemed to be healthier than the other. What if the good things in the grapes could be extracted and applied in the form of a cream instead? 

That's what they do at Emina Cosmetics in the Ribera del Duero in Spain. Here's what they have to say:

The pholifenols are among the most effective natural antioxidants in botany. They are found mainly in the skin and seeds of grapes, especially in the variety Vitis-Vinifera-Tempranillo from the Ribera del Duero. Owns a patent ESDOR own extraction of polyphenols developed at its facilities in Valbuena de Duero (Valladolid, Spain).


Polyphenols have a very high antioxidant capacity, greater than other known antioxidants like Vitamin C, and concentrated in neutralizing free radicals by blocking the effect of skin aging. Its clinical evidence are numerous:

1. Polyphenols have anti-inflammatory action.
2. Fighting varicose dermatitis, varicose ulcers and vascular retinal disorders.
3. Block the carcinogenesis process in the state of prevention, initiation, development and progression.
4. Slow cellular aging that causes degenerative diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.
5. Retard aging of the skin, improve elasticity, increase cell vitality, reduce the effects of oxidative stress and protect the skin against external aggressions.

Big Claims: Looks good : Yeah I'm sure she'll like it! I'll let you all know if it works ....when it works ... the anti ageing is really for me....

 

Yesterday I read a fascinating piece in Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages titled,  'A minor whine to Bettane'. The author, Richard Hemming, is a Master of Wine student. He took a Frenchman, Michel Bettane, to task for questioning, in this month's The World of Fine Wine, the competence of  'the next generation of wine writers [who are] so accustomed to entry-level wines that they cannot understand what makes "great" wines different and worthy of a higher price tag'.

It's a great whine. I give it a capital W. Student of Master of Whines. Mind you Bettane seems to have coined the term Master of minor wines! Now, there's something an MW student wouldn't like to nose too often. Ah, I love it.

Bettane is clearly lucky enough that he can earn a crust writing about 'great wines'. His problem is that he thinks other wine writers are not genuine unless they can do like wise. Maybe he should realise he is writing for The World of Fine Wine. It's actually relevant that he knows his stuff. Is it so relevant that the rest us muck savages should be equal in our knowledge? A valid question not easily answered.

I once knew a man who had the opposite problem to the one Bettane is questioning. That is, this guy knew his wine only from the top down. We would have endless discussions about the merits of really well made entry level wines.This friend of mine was of an age and an experience that he just could not taste, appreciate or understand primary fruit aromas. Would I, therefore, have allowed him to write about entry level single varietals. Of course I wouldn't. Would I say he should not write about wine. NO. It would be equally silly to be so dismissive. His knowledge, experience and understanding of exceptional wines was incredable. Mind you, both in his time twenty years ago and now today his audience was small and elitist. Nothing wrong with that. It's the way it is : supply and demand. 

But back to Bettane and the Hemmingwhine. There is an increasing number of wine writers being published around the world whose sole credentials is that they have a lot of time and cash at their disposal. So, we see broad sheets cancelling their staff wine writer contracts and buying wine columns from the professional classes. Is wine writing the sum of the total bottles consumed; the sum of the total wine tastings attended; a reflection of the size of your personal wine collection; a god given right to people who pass exams?? Well, it shouldn't be. But increasingly it is and we have one column after another and another and another where 'analysis' is based on a tasting note or a wine makers quote. The net result is that everything in the wine trade is rosy. Sure any fool can do that.

Rather than question whether the new breed of wine writers are au fait with 'fine wine' Bettane might have questioned why he considers writing on entry level wines only as being in some way wrong. After all, this is what people actually drink, like and want more of! These are the wine trade. The problem is, noone wants to write about them!! All we read about are either offthebeatentrack and so hardtofind wines or new finds by our intrepid scribes. How about all of the stuff that we have moving off the shelves in pallet loads every hour of every day? How about that Bettane? Can you appreciate these wines at all? Maybe. Maybe not. But I won't criticise your credentials as a wine writer if you cannot.

One thing in Bettanes favour is that writers of fine wine criticise and compare. It is inconceivable that all fine wine is actually fine all of the time. When it is not it it will be harshly, and at times cruelly, dealt with by those who have the experience, knowledge and skill to do so. Ignorant pretenders who muscle in to that world of wine writing will be found out very quickly and will be dismissed as being unworthy. The same should apply at all levels of the wine trade. How often do we see a wine writer advising us to avoid wines at the entry level? How often do we see entry level wines compared, vintage to vintage. Never. (well, except maybe here....)

Is this caused by ignorance incompetence, economics, editorial policies, advertising commitments? Perhaps all of these and of course the fact that the consumer just wants to be guided in the right direction again and again. You might fool the consumer once, and you might think you're a fine wine writer simply becuse you have been published but you won't keep getting away with it. You will be found out. There really is a difference between competent wine writing and the chancer. Perhaps Bettane is right but shouldn't have confined his argument to fine wine alone.

Perhaps the real danger is that the next generation of wine writers are really not accustomed to wine at all!!

New Zealand Wine Fair - Still one of the Best.

Benefits of gaining a few grey hairs include watching rugby rather than playing it and a long memory of excellent New Zealand Wine Fairs kicking off a New Year of Wine tastings. Well, it's almost that time of the year again and in 2011 New Zealand also has the Rugby World Cup! Looking good for a country beginning to shine as a red wine producer of note to match its iconic Sauvignon Blanc style.   

The 2011, and 14th, New Zealand Annual Trade Tasting will take place on Monday 17^th January, 2011 at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8. (five minutes walk from Grafton Street)

Every year the New Zealand Wine Growers, and others from New Zealand (excellent Central Otago tasting this year), travel the world to show off what they are up to. It's a fantastic opportunity to catch more than just a passing glimpse of the 2010 vintage, lots of new ideas and of course endless chat with wine makers and distributors. 

NEW ZEALAND CONSUMER WINE TASTING EVENT

6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Monday 17th January, 2011

Venue: SAS Radisson Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8.

Consumer tickets are now on sale price €15.00. (Buy 10 and get an 11th ticket free).

A great idea as a Christmas stocking filler for the wine enthusiast in your life.

To purchase consumer tickets you can use the following methods:

On line at: www.newzealandwineevents.co.uk

(Credit Card payment accepted)

Email: jean@jeansmullen.com for an application form

or telephone (01) 274 5955 or (086) 816 8468

 To pay by cheque or postal order contact: Jean Smullen

Marlborough Vineyards



The following is part of a very interesting press release associated with this years Fair:

Despite tough economic conditions, exports to Ireland of New Zealand wines are up +14% (MAT October 2010) and there is little doubt that Irish consumers are continuing to appreciate the distinctive and highly popular style of New Zealand’s ‘signature’ grape variety, Sauvignon Blanc. The 2010 vintage, which was smaller than 2009, has produced wines of intensity and regional character. However, there is also growing demand and appreciation for New Zealand’s other premium quality wines, especially Pinot Noir, and a wide range of varietals will be shown at the tasting.

In addition to the producer and local distributor tables, there will also be three ‘themed’ self-pour tables that will showcase interesting developments in New Zealand. These will be:

New Zealand Syrah – ‘The one to watch!’

New Zealand Pinot Noir – Demonstrating real regional diversity

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc – Taste the regional diversity within the sub-regions of Marlborough and other NZ regions

David Cox, European Director for New Zealand Winegrowers comments “Ireland is still seen as a vibrant market by our wineries and their presence at this trade & consumer tasting demonstrates their commitment to invest and continue to build a premium brand positioning here”. He added “the actions that we have taken to get the short-term over supply problem back into balance will result in the premium image being resumed and we are confident that trade visitors from all sectors of the on and off-trade will find real ‘gems’ that will help them satisfy the growing demand from consumers for a broader New Zealand range”. 



Lake Pukaki Central Otago

Note: I have no involvement in either the promotion of wines from New Zealand or with this Wine Fair. I just like it and look forward to it coming around again and again and again and .....

Chocolate and Wine - Brix to the Rescue?

My fall back recommendation for a chocolate and wine match has always been dark chocolate and a dense, smooth Malbec from Argentina. The main reason for this is that I like it myself! First rule obeyed. The second rule is to match like with like. Obeyed. Finally, hope that it works for others also. Problem.

Not all chocolate is alike and in Ireland most of the chocolate sold seems to be milk cholcolate - don't go there with Malbec!

At the recent Noffla Irish Wine Show two things caught my attention. The first was Hamlet from Cuba rolling cigars. What a name for a cigar roller! The second was that the Ampersand Wines stand was giving out chocolate. Intrigued I entered into the world of BRIX - Chocolate for Wine.



Hamlet Jaime : Cigar Roller



BRIX was formulated both as a concept and as a product by a Dr. Nick Proia, a pulmonologist from Ohio. I'm not even going to attempt to explain what a pulmon ....  is! Suffice to say that here was a doctor who liked his wine in the company of friends who thought that all the health benefits associated with wine were dashed by fat laden cheese boards. As chocolate, consumed in small amounts, has proven healthy qualities associated with it (look up the Brix website for a fascinating and detailed account of how healthy chocolate can be) the good doctor experimented with various chocolate/wine combinations. He quickly concluded that there was NO chocolate available that suited wine. 

At this point I would probably have gone back to the cheese  ...or maybe a few Tayto crisp experiments. Not the good Dr Proia. After a lot of trial and error he settled on 'a single origin Ghanaian chocolate, known for its red fruit tones, mixed with the highest quality confectionary chocolate. The result is a blend so pure in flavor that it actually enhances those nuances found in great wines, without confusing the palate'.

There are three styles of BRIX available. The idea is that Brix Extra Dark matches well with the deeper and more tannic reds, where there's a lot going on with structure and acids, such as Barolo, Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon. (Must try it with Montefalco di Sagrantino....) Brix Medium Dark matches well with  fruitier styles such as Syrah based wines, Rhones, Zinfandels etc. Finally, Brix Milk Chocolate is designed to work with lighter reds, such as Pinot Noir and dessert wines. Uh Oh....not sure about suggesting anything to go with such a catch all term as 'Dessert wines'.

Back at the ranch Mrs Ecock and her other half tried their hand at BRIX. Inconclusive is all I can say. We liked the chocolate more than the wine match - expecially the Medium Dark. Undaunted, I brought the bricks of BRIX to the penultimate night of the Kevin Ecock's Wine School. Wines on the night included a few rich reds and a slew of fortifieds. Well, it was like children in a sweet shop. What a great success. They absolutely loved it.

I had remembered to bring a cutting board and a pointy knife and explained beforehand that I was not selling anything. All I wanted was a quick Yea or Nay to the concept and another Yea or Nay as to whether they would by a BRIX at €9.99 for a brick. Once again it was a big Yea with the proviso that noone would buy one just for a night in. No, everyone saw this as something to share. Well then, what better on these cold evenings than to invite the neighbours around for a rich wine and a few wedges of BRIX. 

It's too early to ask Cheese to move along but I would say set an extra place. We have a new guest in town.

  

Support your Local Wine Club - I did, at The Silver Granite Palmerston

It was cold last night. Below zero. Iceland and Ireland have a lot in common. We should get together sometime and share a few (fishy) stories. Wonder have the rats deserted that sunken ship as they are doing here? Well, despite the cold, and a week of doom and gloom, the Cheers! Silver Granite Wine Club in Palmerston, Co Dublin met last night. It was uplifting to be in the midst of a group of enthusiasts from all walks of life, all age groups and a huge mix of wine knowledge getting stuck into a diverse range of wines. For a few hours the cold, and everything with it, was left outside.

I had been asked to present a 'Personal Picks' for the evening. The Club then sourced the wines. As it is associated with the excellent Cheers! Silver Granite Off Licence, run by Kieran Towey, most of the wines were available. (Aurelio Montes, however, may not be too happy that after changing agents recently we were unable to source a single bottle of his Montes Alpha Merlot!)

My choice was loosely based on my experiences in 2010, wines that I reckoned should be given another look, price points slightly above 'affordable daily's' (a definite benefit of wine club attendance!) and styles that are often over looked in favour of more fashionable alternatives.

The eventual line up was spectacular. Rather than describe each wine I have given the reason why the wine was chosen in the first place - you 'll just have to take it from me that each was brilliant. Having the chance to taste, and then to chat about wines like these, is the benefit of being a wine club member. Mind you, the Club then discussed their forthcoming trip to Torres at Villafranca in Spain - time I joined up myself!

Laurenz V 'Charming' Gruner Veltliner 2008

In the mid eighties my brothers and I fell in love with the wines of Austria and imported a mixed container of wine from Lens Moser. It was our first import. A couple of months later the DEG scandal broke. We were caught in the cross fire. Two years later we were back  ....   this time with Italian wines! Every time I meet with Laurenz V I am caught up with his enthusiasm and with the quality of his Gruner Veltliner based wines. He has great newsletters. His work in China and association with Bulgaria should be tracked and noted for the future. Interesting stories. Versatile wine. 

The Mesh Eden Valley Riesling 2008

Readers of this blog will know that I was in Australia for two weeks this year. One highlight, among many, was my meeting with Tim Adams in the Clare Valley. Unfortunately his wines are handled exclusively by the big T and that would not have mixed well with my hosts last night! I really wanted to show a good, modern, cool area Australian Riesling that was not of the 'battery acid style' but equally was nowhere near a tropical fruit bomb style. I had been very impressed with my Yalumba visit and remembered tasting The Mesh a few months ago. It is a fine tribute to Riesling, made by Jeffrey Grosset and Robert Hill Smith. Most importantly it opened the way for me to get on with the story of Australian Rieslings.  

Vesevo Greco di Tufo 2009

I am constantly impressed by the quality of Italian white wines at the Liberty Wines portfolio tastings. This was confirmed by an excellent series of educational briefs given by the Italian Tade commission this year. I am beside myself with amusement that our shelves are full with so many very forgettable Pinot Grigio based wines when grapes such as Greco, Fallanghina and Cortese are frowned on. Time to fight back!

Louis Latour Macon Villages La Chanfleur 2008

Last year I was honored to be allowed onto the Burgundy Wines Educator Course in Beaune. This year I interviewed the very engaging Louis Fabrice Latour for Checkout magazine and later spent three days in the company of a fine negociant company in Burgundy, Albert Bichot. I am more than just a fan of the wines of Burgundy. I also, at every opportunity, want to let the consumer know why I am a fan. I want to show affordable, well made wines from Burgundy that are in wide distribution, again and again.  

The ever ebullient Louis Fabrice Latour in Dublin this year

Montes Alpha Chardonnay 2006

Aurelio Montes changed agents and relaunched his label this year. This seems to have coincided with his Montes Alpha range of wines from Chile taking a drop in its retail price. Good news? Time will tell. Montes gives his time to us generously when he visits. He is not a precious celeb and what he says is interesting. Above all he lets his wines do a lot of the talkng - and they speak well! How does he squeeze so much into his wines and not let them go over the edge?



Yours truly with Aurelio Montes - photo courtesy of Paul Sherwood photography

Louis Latour Pinot Noir la Chanfleur 2007
as above

Allegrini Palazzo delle Torre Ripasso 2007

Kieran chose this wine as my choice of the Aurelio Montes Merlot 2006 was unavailable. Seems that Montes Cork to Dublin deliveries want awry! 

Allegrini is superb. This wine is everything a good Ripasso should be - rich, concentrated, intriguing and memorable. 

Nicolas Catena Malbec 2008

This year I received a book in the post. It was 'Vino Argentina' by Laura Catena, daughter of wine maker extraordinaire Nicolas Catena. I loved the book for its personal journey through one of the most incredable wine making landscapes in the world. It brought happiness to the wines of Agentina. It bought memories flooding back of tasting some really great Malbecs over the years. The question must be asked again and again - Why do such good wines sell so poorly in Ireland? Let's all do something about it.

Vasse Felix Shiraz 2007  

When I visited the Margaret River in Western Australia this year I found wines that were alive and vibrant and bursting with soft, fresh and interesting fruits. Among many great wine makers I also met with the brilliant Virginia Willcox at Vasse Felix. Her Chardonnays are majestic. Another Cahrdonnay wouldn't work last night and while Cabernet Sauvignon in the Margaret River will probably, in the future, shine as its signature red wine I knew that last evening would finsih off with a wow by showing the Vasse Felix Shiraz - and it did!

The Brilliant Virginia Willcox at Vasse Felix

Thanks to Kieran and the Cheers! Silver Granite Wine Club for allowing me my trip down memory lane.