Wine with Leslie: The joy of natural wines - including these hip bottles for under €15
Natural wines are a growing phenomenon in the sector - and driving debate
A few weeks ago I dropped into Frank’s Wine Bar on Camden Street in Dublin, the kind of wine bar every town needs. Not for the first time, I bumped into Enrico Fantasia of Grape Circus wines and we had a lively debate about natural wines vs. conventional over glasses of juicy ripe Monastrell from Bodegas Los Frailes near Valencia (which he imports).
It was a fun debate - once I convinced Enrico that I actually like drinking natural and low-intervention wines and was not the enemy!
We will both be expounding on the joys of fruit-driven natural wines packed with primary fruits at a special celebration of Italian food and wine on Thursday June 23rd next in Fallon & Byrne - it promises to be a fun and tasty evening with Italian wines to match classic dishes such as Vitello Tonnato and Agnelli e Carciofi (lamb and artichokes) - details below.
Enrico reminded me that I should be mentioning natural wines more often - his own range is stocked by Sheridans and good independents around the country and the good news for Cork is that the recently opened McCurtain Wine Cellar is also a fan of Enrico, so his wines are now much more accessible in the real capital.
I have said in the past that natural wines sometimes taste more of the ‘natural’ process than their terroir, but Enrico pointed out that the very same can be said of conventionally made wines - say those made with inoculated yeasts and cool-fermented in stainless steel or in new American oak - he is not wrong.
The standard and availability of natural wines has improved massively since I first began to notice them in 2013-2014 or so, but they are still tough to find outside Dublin, Cork and Galway. I include a few of Enrico’s wines below and have given a lot of the slots to wines stocked by MacCurtain St. Wine cellar which I presume Cork readers have all visited by now (get along quick if you haven’t!).
- I also include one of ‘Brian’s Wines’ below - imported by Cork-based Brian O’Connor who you will find stocked in all the hip places in Cork - and Dublin and elsewhere for that matter - keep an eye on him - www.brianswines.ie.
A celebratory Italian Feast matched with Italian Wines and introduced by myself and Importer estraordinario Enrico Fantasia of Grape Circus.
- For tickets check Eventbrite or www.fallonandbyrne.com/italian_dinner
From the Famille Guibert who make Mas de Daumas Gassac the long lived and rather legendary Cabernet-based red from the Languedoc, This is a Vermentino-Grenache Blanc blend with lively pear aromas with a touch of boiled sweets, zingy and crisp with apple drop and lemon fruits and a clean finish. The red is also solid with pleasing bright juicy red fruits.
This wine is from La Scuola nel Vigneto, a social-educational project run by two wineries promoting the teaching of winemaking traditions in Valpolicella. Almond and lemon balm aromas, textured and pleasingly weighty for the price, lip-smacking citrus and under-ripe pear on the finish - perfect for shellfish risotto or pasta. The red is also brilliant with supple and vivacious black cherry fruits.
A blend of 50% Monastrell and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from Valencia in Eastern Spain - one of the most underrated wine regions in all of Europe. Monastrell (Mourvèdre) based wines from Spain deserve to be better known and blending it with Cabernet here works better than I would have expected. This is textured and ripe with dark cherry fruit aromas and flavours and a pleasing freshness and crunch on the finish.
This will be served with ‘Risi e Besi’ (Risotto & Peas) at the Italian dinner on the 23rd June. Elevated to DOCG in 2010, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is his is one of Italy’s most historic wine regions and probably the best known from the Marches in Central Italy. Organic, minimal intervention, ozone and citrus-scented with melon and honey touches, textured and tangy.
Martin Texier is the son of Eric Texier whose wines have appeared here a few times (e.g. ‘Adele’ and Chat-Fou) but Martin is rapidly carving a name for himself on his own. This is 75-25 Cinsault-Grenache and has a pleasing lightness of touch - packed with red fruits and supple raspberry and strawberry flavours but with a pleasing cut and density. The Texier Brézème Syrah at €30 is also excellent.
Stockists: McCurtain Wine Cellar, L’Atitude 51, 1601 Kinsale, Independents.
From clay and limestone vineyards at 400m elevation. Pinot Noir is often treated rather cursorily by Alsatian producers - something I have never understood given how good Pinot Noir is just across the Rhine in Baden. This is how it should be done: bright cherry and intense ripe fruit aromas with a touch of forest floor - lively, rounded, layered and taut with lingering dark cherry and bramble fruits.
Rye River Brewing in Kildare has given themselves a bit of a makeover and released some new beers. The McGargles name is now sold as Rye River (I know I won’t miss it), and expect some new beers in the coming weeks including a seasonal Kolsch - a collab with London’s Old Street Brewery.
This new Wheat beer pours a honey gold colour with a light frothy head, tropical and citrus fruit aromas and a touch of banana, fruity and crisp with bright lemon and hops coming through and a light citrus bitter finish. What I particularly liked was the lightness of touch - this tasted more like 5% than 6.2%.
