Wine with Leslie: German wines starting at €10 at SuperValu
Silhouette of a young woman drinking wine for Feelgood
I’ve been set a challenge this weekend - to find a wine match for the Saba Spice Bag and some other Asian treats. If you happen to be at Electric Picnic on Sunday you can come along to the Drinks Theatre in Mind Field and see how I get on.
David Whelehan's wines will be competing with Sake imported by Colly Murray of Retrovino who supplies many of Ireland’s restaurants with his wines and Sake. We shall also be seeking a match for Birgitta Curtain’s Smoked Salmon and I’m putting my money on Riesling.
I know that Germany's wines and Riesling, in particular, has a reputation for being sweet, but only a small proportion of the Riesling in Ireland has residual sugar, and any that do are generally balanced by matching acidity. Riesling really is an excellent food wine and I wish Irish people were more receptive to it. If you do want to explore the grape a little can I suggest you look to Alsace and the New World, especially Australia's Clare and Eden Valley as these tend to be almost exclusively dry in style.
The Finger Lakes Region near Lake Ontario in New York State is another excellent place to explore but it is tough to find - I have relied on American friends to bring me back bottles over the years. Until recently, however, as one importer has taken a risk and imported the Dr Konstantin Frank range - thank you David Whelehan of Whelehan Wines. The Finger Lakes are remarkably similar in climate to some of Germany's great vineyards and the wines are comparable.
Wines this week are all Germanic in style and I’ve included a couple from Albert Glas in the Pfalz as SuperValu has around ten of their wines in their current French and German wine sale. Most are guest wines and have not been imported before. There are a couple of off-dry wines including a Spatlese Gewurztraminer and a selection of Rieslings and Riesling-blends.
Finally, Curious Wines in Cork have some good Rieslings on offer at the moment also including the Kloster Eberach Steinberger range which have a 20% reduction, and O’Briens September Sale also has a smattering of Rieslings on offer, some under €15.
Grauburgunder is the German name for Pinot Gris (or Pinot Grigio in Italian) but as per usual this is made in the richer Alsace style rather than the light simple style we expect from Italy. Cool fermented with lots of lees stirring this has peach and tropical fruit aromas, a dry and rounded palate with a lemon-lime freshness and a prickle of spritz.
One of a number of Albert Glas wines on offer in SuperValu this month - the black label wines are from their premium range reduced from €20. This pours a fashionable pale pink with bright cherry aromas with a touch of watermelon, fruity and fresh with crunchy cherry skins on the finish and best served cool.
From cool climate vineyards in the Pfalz with ripe red fruits balanced by more acidity than you find in most rosé - at just 11% abv this is perfect for lunchtime. Onion skin pink in colour with spiky red berry aromas, red currants and cranberries on the palate and pleasing crisp acidity. The Schiefer Steillage Riesling is also worth trying.
I find this vintage label charming as it is pretty much the same as when the wine launched in the 1970’s. This is reduced from €22 and is a bit of a treat - bright apple and floral aromas, juicy and zippy with lemon curd and apple notes balanced by granny smith apple acidity. Try with a Thai Green Curry or a Spice Bag.
A single vineyard wine from the oldest riesling vineyard in the Eden Valley (1847), just to the north of Adelaide and bordering the Barossa Valley. Ripe apple aromas with a touch of gunflint, lively and juicy with honeysuckle and lime essence balanced by stony acidity.
This might be a first for this column as this is the first Finger Lakes Riesling I’ve found in Ireland. Finger Lakes are come from a cool climate not unlike the Rheinessen in Germany and this is delicious - bristling with apple and lime acidity, flinty and crisp and lingering baked apples and peach notes.
Mescan from the foothills of Croagh Patrick is the creation of Bart Adons and Cillian Ó Móráin who mainly specialise in Belgian-style beers (Adons is Belgian), but more recently introduced the Seven Virtues Series to broaden their range. As well as this dry-hopped lager watch for a Baltic Porter, a wild yeast lambic and one-off limited editions.
This is bottle conditioned and pours a (very) pale hazy gold. Aromas of sourdough bread with background citrus and noble hops also evident - crisp and textured with pleasing weight and complexity a world away from a commercial lager.
