Wine with Leslie: Organic wines — made with care and taste great
Organic wines: available in independent and small off-licences
As you may have heard, the Government will be introducing Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) on all alcoholic beverages, likely to take effect in January 2022. I thought you should know that it will have practically no effect on the wines, beers or spirits that get featured on this page.
The price floor below which wine cannot be sold is to be €7.40 and besides maybe Aldi’s Toro Loco Rosé I don’t think I’ve ever featured a wine below this price. I have certainly never featured a gin, vodka, poitín or whiskey costing less than €22, nor a 500ml beer costing less than €1.70.
Yes, I regret that people on very low income will be affected and I would prefer if a ban had been introduced on below-cost selling, but in practical terms I doubt that MUP will affect anyone reading this page.
Consumers are not stupid and I cannot see anyone buying a wine for the new minimum price that was once sold at €5.99. I suspect many of these entry-level wines will be delisted — or at the very least their quality will be improved.
The independent trade (both importers and retailers) should find it easier to compete and from the wine lover's point-of-view this is a good thing as it is the smaller importer and retailer that can take a chance on smaller producers and ferret out the exotic and the unusual, the organic and the natural.
Supermarkets have little interest in importing an Agiorgitiko from Greece or a Refosco from Northern Italy or an Orange Wine from say Slovenia. There are many shoppers that only visit their local independent off-licence at Christmas or to buy a present but I’m hopeful that MUP may help entice them to drop in on a random Tuesday for a €9.99 wine to match their fish and chips or their pizza.
All my recommendations this week are from small independent importers who do not sell to supermarkets and, of course, none of these wines will be affected by the introduction of minimum prices. There is no particular theme for these choices except that all are from lesser sung European wine regions, they are organic and made with care and they taste great. As you would expect they are available from neighbourhood Independent Off-Licences so you are keeping your money in the community if you choose to buy any of them.
Stockists: Bradleys, 1601 Kinsale, Drink Store, Independents, Corkscrew, siyps.com.
Uclés is a small region in Castilla-La Mancha in Central Spain south-east of Madrid — another of those small Spanish wine regions producing great value wines with little fanfare. Bright red berries with darker cherry and cranberry on the palate and a crunchy herb tinged finish. This works served a little cooler should you want to drink it in the sun.
Stockists: L’Atitude 51, Green Man Wines, Bradleys, World Wide Wines, Baggot St. Wines, Le Caveau, Redmonds.
Sicily’s Cataratto grape is producing some great value wines these days — often fragrant and supple despite the grape’s workhorse reputation and always fairly priced. Peach and lemon oil aromas, textured and creamy with herbal touches and a crisp fresh finish. The Ciello Rosso is also worth a look.
Stockists: Quay Co-Op, Fields Skibbereen, Mortons, Vintry, Good Food Store, Organico, Little Greengrocer Kilkenny, marypawlewines.com
I’m a fan of Albet i Noya wines — from their fizz to their finer reds — all of which punch above their price range. Based in Penédes in Northern Spain they are a long-established organic producer and this is a fine example of Joven Tempranillo. Sweet blackberry and blueberry aromas, red fruits hit first followed by fuller tasting darker fruits and a bramble, cassis finish.
Feuduccio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2017, Italy — €23
Stockists: Whelehan Wines whelehanswines.ie
This progressive producer is treating his Montepulciano with proper respect and has even aged it in expensive French Oak so there are warm vanilla toasty notes mixed in with the berry fruits and soft plum aromas. Fleshy and rounded on the palate with delicious soft juicy fruits and a pleasing lightness of touch that does (as they claim themselves) make you think of Burgundy.
Stockists: Mannings Ballylickey, Little Green Grocer Kilkenny, Mortons, marypawlewines.com
From a desert region of Navarra with scorching days and cold nights perfect for developing thick-skinned juicy berries that retain their acidity. A blend of fragrant spicy Garnacha and dark brooding Graciano with aromas of sweet cherry, blackberry and red currants, mouth-filling, bright red and darker fruit flavours but also poise and elegance.
Stockists: L’Atitude 51, Bradleys, Deveneys, Mitchell & Son, Green Man Terenure, Le Caveau, Kilkenny lecaveau.ie
Morgon is perhaps my favourite Beaujolais Cru village, partly I think because it tends to be a little more nervy and fragrant than the others. Jean Foillard is one of the ‘gang of four’ that helped turn the region’s fortunes around by growing organically and focusing on quality. This is packed with soft berry fruits and has beautiful weight and texture. Also, watch for their Salvaje and Fiesta.
Lineman Electric Avenue #2 Extra Pale Ale, 5.3% ABV, 440ml — €4.49
Stockists: Matsons, Bradleys, Vintry, Independents, beercloud.ie
Indie Beer Week 2021 (indiebeerweek.ie) runs from May 17-23 —celebrating the best of Irish Independent brewing with a series of online tastings in association with BeerCloud.ie & Craic-Beer-Community.ie.
Many old favourites of this column feature including West Kerry Brewery, Black Donkey, St. Mels, Kinnegar, Cotton Ball and dozens more. Lineman is featuring their Foreign Extra Stout and by the time this appears Electric Avenue #3 will have been released but please don’t miss #2 if you spot it. Pouring a hazy dusky gold with bright tropical fruit and gooseberry citrus hop ripeness — zingy, crisp and delightfully fresh, this might be the perfect springtime beer.
