Wine with Leslie Williams: What Ireland would be like with a wine industry
With all the extreme weather events this past year it is hard not to think about global warming and to imagine what Ireland would be like with a wine industry.
If you want to get an idea you need to visit Galicia in northern Spain. This is a Celtic region with lots of green everywhere and an average rainfall similar to Ireland.
The pubs in coastal towns like Pontavedra even have music sessions just like in Lisdoonvarna or Doolin with the Galician pipes being the lead instrument.
However, Galicia gets warmer summers than we do, so grapes can ripen fully while they struggle here. The dampness does mean a lot of
Bordeaux Mixture (copper- sulphite) is needed to keep mildew away. This is the same solution our farmers use on potatoes to prevent blight.
There is much discussion about the most beautiful wine regions in the world but this part of Spain is right up there. On a recent trip to Galicia organised by O’Briens I once again found myself thinking that I could see myself living there especially given the quality of the seafood, the dairy and the beef.
Rias Baixas is granite soils and the albariño vines are trained on pergolas which create a canopy at head-height so at harvest time you can walk through leafy glades with grapes dripping gently all around.
In from the coast the river valleys create equally attractive vistas. Ribeira Sacra (Sacred Riverside) and its sister regions Ribeiro, Valdeorras and Monterrei are wine regions few of us had heard of until recently.
However, the joyous wines being made here from mencÃa and godello are finally getting the attention they deserve. You will also find loureira and treixadura and some even more obscure varieties and almost everything is worth trying.
Ribeira Sacra’s vines are on steep hillsides leading down to the rivers Minho and Sil. Everything needs to be done by hand of course but the quality of the wines is getting better and better. Monterrei looks onto the River Minho at the eastern end while Ribeiro is closer to the coast and has vines grown on the slopes of the Amoia, Avia and Barbantino valleys.
Wine education: Fionnuala Harkin of Wines Direct is teaching a WSET Level 2 course for four Mondays in a row in L’Attitude in Cork beginning on October 22 with an exam on December 3. Cost is €399. Contact: fharkin@winesdirect.ie or 086 853 3758
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Monterrei is an inland region just up the Minho river from the Condado de Tea and O’Rosal Rias Baixas sub-regions. Godello is a wonderfully expressive grape and this is fairly textbook — confit pear aromas, apple and pear fruits on the palate with a pleasing creamy, almost luscious texture, but with taut minerality and fresh acidity kicking in on the finish.
Stockist: O’Briens stores nationwide
I haven’t mentioned this wine in a few years but I notice the price is just 50c more than in 2014 – and is also on offer at two for €20 this month.
From Castilla Y Leon to the east of Galicia it is ripe and juicy with bright plum fruit flavours and balanced acidity. One for the Friday night pizza or mid-week Bolognese.
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The Vinho Verde region is just across the Minho river from Galicia and grows many of the same grapes including alvarinho (albarino), loureira and treixadura.
This, however, is with arinto one of Portugal’s best white grapes bright and fresh with a lovely salty cleanness not unlike muscadet and with more weight than you often find in Vinho Verde.
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Winemaker Sonia Costa is the third generation making wine in this lovely six-hectare estate metres from the beach in the Salnés sub-region of Rias Baixas.
Clean salty peaches and lime and lemon aromas, fruity and ripe with textured greengage and apple fruits on the palate and salty freshness on the finish. Begging for a big saucepan of fresh mussels.
Stockist: O’Briens stores nationwide
From a gorgeous estate with a beautiful old manor house often used for weddings and parties. I tasted a number of older vintages on my visit up to seven to eight years old and they were all still packed with verve and complexity.
This has bright lime and apricot aromas, lemon fresh on the palate with peach notes and a lively salty dry finish.
Stockist: O’Briens stores nationwide
The mencÃa grape is better known from the Bierzo in Castello Y Leon which produces more fleshy wines unlike the fruity, mineral and elegant wines of Ribeira Sacra.
This is aromatic and ripe on the nose with black cherry and pomegranate notes and a hint of pepper.
The palate is packed with textured bright juicy fruits and a lingering mineral-tinged finish.
