Winelist: Warmer days give rise to cooler wines

With the clocks going forward, longer evenings are coming and hopefully warmer days and evenings. Given that we have already had some warmer days I’ve found myself drinking more white wine and rosé, as well as Beaujolais and lighter styles of red.

An evening tasting in Greenman Wines in Terenure with Beaujolais producer Camille Lapierre from the Cru Village of Morgon happened to be on one of the cooler evenings however, and the wines showed just as well. There is something about Beaujolais that adds cheer to a room and the wines Camille makes with her brother Matthieu typify this. The wines are organic and made with zero sulphur.

I’m not featuring their wines below as recent vintages are currently sold out. I did drink their juicy fruity entry level Raisin Gaulois Gamay in Tartare wine bar in Galway last December so that is a possibility as is Fallon & Byrne in Dublin. Lapierre’s wines are mainly sourced from the granite soils of the Côte de Py in Morgon and they are significantly better than any Burgundy I’ve tasted at the same price.

I also had the pleasure of tasting my way through some sunny South African wines with Nora Sperling of Delheim Estate in Stellenbosch. Delheim is family owned and their estate is on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain around 50km from Cape Town. Delheim was founded in 1958 and have been pioneers in the region over the last half century.

Unusually the tasting was held in in my sitting room as Nora and Lynne Coyle MW of O’Briens were passing nearby on a tour of the O’Brien’s stores. I put some Miriam Makeba on the stereo and her sweet voice made the wines taste even better. I recommend a couple below but also seek out their textured complex Grand Reserve Bordeaux Blend (€37) which is capable of ageing for a decade or two. My favourite wine of the tasting was the gorgeous Delheim Edelspatz Botrytis Riesling (€25).

All my suggestions this week should suit Spring weather and lighten your mood along with the grand stretch in the evenings; if that doesn’t work put on some Miriam Makeba — her song Pata Pata is a good place to start.