Wine with Leslie Williams: Lots to learn from Oz Clarke
I first became interested in wine in the early 1990s around the time Oz Clarke and Jilly Goolden were stealing the show on BBC2’s Food and Drink programme (the food bits were pretty awful).
Oz’s knowledge and enthusiasm mixed perfectly with Jilly’s eccentricities — the word ‘gooldenism’ is still around: an elaborate or outlandish wine description’.
These days Oz is best known for his genial Big Wine Adventure with James May and for his endless output of books.
Oz was in Dublin again recently thanks to O’Briens and he gave an erudite and entertaining talk about wine and life — don’t miss his next visit.
Some brief wisdom from Oz: it is ecologically unsound not to finish a bottle of wine; why shouldn’t wine be in cans like many of the best beers; be open to every new glass of wine but look at it with a critical eye, challenge everything; France is still the greatest producer but Italy is still lagging behind most of the New World and needs to stop resting on laurels it never had.
This last is my paraphrasing and I’m not sure I agree but it was wonderful to hear Oz explain — you will find more in his book Red and White where it seems Italy may get a bit of a kicking.
Red and White is still being written and Oz was reluctant to tie down its theme but it sounds like a series of essays on wine and life and their crucial interdependence. An essay on ‘King Cabernet’ begins with the influence on that grape and how it changed the wine world with the success of Californian wines but also how Bordeaux techniques (eg, new oak barriques) came to be misused and led to over-ripe undrinkable wines.
I have it on pre-order. Oz has written so much it is impossible to keep count but I warmly recommend his latest Wine By the Glass as an intro to wine, The History of Wine in 100 Bottles is so much more than its parts, and his Grapes & Wines (with Margaret Rand) is useful as a reference book but the knowledge is worn so lightly that it is also a great read.
Wine suggestions this week include wines Oz presented at his Dublin event, a Sauvignon Blanc from a producer I like and a couple of Austrian reds which suit the weather, one of which I had no room to mention in last week’s article on Natural Wine.
BEST VALUE UNDER €15
JJ O’Driscolls, Cinnamon Cottage Rochestown, 1601 Kinsale, Malthouse Trim, Monkstown, Vintry, Karwigs
Blauer Zweigelt (aka Zwiegelt) is a crossing of Blaufränkisch and St Laurent and widely planted in Austria. It works great chilled and is the perfect weight for this summer’s warm weather. Bright cherry and red fruit aromas with hints of spice and black cherry fruits on the mid-palate.
O’Briens
Luján de Cuyo is in the west of Mendoza and was the first official appellation in the region (1993) — grapes for this wine are grown at more than 1,000m above sea level so despite the ripe fruit there is good freshness. Black pepper and dark fruit aromas, supple juicy plum and blackberry on the palate and good concentration. Could be served cool.
O’Briens
Henri Bourgeois wines are all about flavour, I particularly like their Pinot Noir Rosé (€15.95) which is part of O’Briens’ Rosé offer (buy one get a second one at half price). This is a very solid Sauvignon Blanc with aromatic tropical tinged aromas along with gooseberry and apple, crisp and fresh and with a good linear freshness.
BEST VALUE OVER €15
O’Briens
The Piccadilly Valley specialises in sparkling wine (and resembles the Champagne region somewhat) and Croser is one of the best known producers in the region. A 60-40 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from vines planted in 1979 with good red berry fruit aromas mixed with brioche and almonds and good texture and richness.
O’Briens Also presented by Oz Clark at his event in Dublin recently this is reduced from €21 for the next couple of weeks. Crozes-Hermitage rarely gets the depth of Hermitage or Côte Rôtie but this is a fine example of what the Northern Rhone can offer — solid black fruits with touches of spicy oak character and not a little elegance. Perfect for a late summer barbecue.
Bradleys, Green Man, Loose Cannon, 64 Wines
Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe make biodynamic certified wines in a restored 17th century winery in the village of Oggau on the Neusiedlersee lake in Burgenland. This is a blend of Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt and has typical Austrian pure bright fruits with texture and concentration and a soft fleshiness — in part from the fact that no sulphur was added.
