Wine: Aristocratico Valpolicella Ripasso 2010

Sunday, September 16, 2012

TESCO’S autumn wine festival continues until Oct 2 with more than 300 wines on offer and a further 5%off when you buy any six bottles.

¦ Being autumn, there’s also an exciting line-up of tasty wine and food events coming up. To begin with, Deveney’s of Dundrum have moved their massive annual beer festival to Dundrum Town Centre today where Ruth Deveney and co are pouring hundreds of Irish and international craft beers to enjoy with food from some great names around neighbourhood. Just drop by or see www.beerfestival.ie.

¦ In Cork, the Paulaner Oktoberfest Beag continues tonight at the former Beamish brewery in the city centre, and resumes from Thursday to Saturday next week. For information, phone 086-7248284 or see oktoberfestbeag.ie.

¦ The UK is the focus of the next beer club tasting at the No 21 Off-Licence at the foot of St Patrick’s Hill in Cork, with seven ales, bitters, stouts and lagers to try. Phone 021-4553244 or see @No21Cork on Twitter.

¦ Winemakers Larry McKenna and John Hancock from Martinborough and Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, present a tasting of their wines at Ballymaloe, Shanagarry, Co Cork, tomorrow at 4.30pm. Tickets (€15) from 021-4652531.

¦ A fascinating demo of the difference your wine glass can make takes place on Wednesday at the Miele Gallery, Citywest, D24, with a comparative tasting of Riedel glassware. Included in the ticket (€60 from 01-6125540 or www.mitchellandson.com) you get a Vinum tasting set priced at €90 to keep.

¦ L’Atitude 51 on Union Quay, Cork, is holding a Wine Fundamentals series in its beautiful upstairs room on four Saturdays from Sept 22 at 3.30pm - €25 per session or €90 for four. Phone 021-2390219, or see www.latitude51.ie.

BEST VALUE UNDER €10

Vieille Fontaine Soft Red 2010
Tesco, currently €4
Hurrah for good plain ordinary budget wines. Frankly, this is not a long-lasting tongue-teasing classic cru. But then nor are many high priced wines. And as a bonus the nose is fabulous — cooked and fresh ripe red fruits, citrus and spice. Do let it breathe for a bit. It’s a Comté Tolosan IGP (Indication G-ographique Protégée — the new name for Vin de Pays).

Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes 2010
Tesco, now €8
It’s worth repeating: Languedoc-Roussillon and the Rhône are among the first ports of call for good value wine. Like anything in life, it’ll vary from bottle to bottle, but this is a cracker. An aromatic, ripe and eminently gluggable red from next door to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, it’s the best value bottle on this page, along with maybe the two upmarket Chileans. The negotiant is Le Comte de Parm.

Chateau Cazal Viel Viognier
Tesco, now at €8
Now this is classy. Viognier can be headily aromatic, a style I sometimes like. This though is the opposite end of the spectrum and so could potentially have far wider appeal than the stereotypical viognier: It’s firm and nutty, all peach and almond against a powerful backbone of acidity.

BEST VALUE UNDER €20

Aristocratico Valpolicella Ripasso 2010
Tesco, now at €10
Canny shoppers make a mental (or even written) shortlist of good wines and keep an eye out for when they’re reduced in price. This one, for instance, is becoming one of the staples of Tesco’s up-and-down wine prices sales. Rich and powerful, it’s an excellent introduction to one of the crowning glories of Italian wine, the ripe Port-ey herb-infused ripasso tradition.

Santa Rita Medalla Real Cab Sauv 2008
Tesco, currently down to €13
There’s red and there’s red. This reserva from the Maipo region is astonishingly dense, stuffed full with ripe baked berries and intense fresh currants. Like the Montes below, it proves again when the Chileans really lavish TLC on their wines such as this — lower yields in the vineyard and special attention in the winery — they can make world class wines.

Montes Alpha Chardonnay 2010
Down from €19.99 to €10 at Tesco
A word in defence of big oaked chardonnay — there’s room for all styles you know, and especially when done this well. Aurelio Montes is one of Chile’s verified legends, and this one from the Casablanca DO is one of the stars of his portfolio — rich, round, ripe and succulent.

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