Wine with Leslie: Selections for the last sips of summer from €12
Pic: iStock
The last weekend in August always has a touch of melancholy surrounding it.
We know that summer is officially over in a few days' time, that the kids are due back in school, and that we should be thinking about the winter — but it is just so hard to let go of those summer feelings.
The evenings still have a bit of length in them, and the air still seems warmer — yes we will probably have showers this weekend — but I bet we will also have sunny spells and maybe there is the chance to crank up the barbecue one more time.
With this in mind, I recommend some wines suited to barbecues and picnics this week.
One sign of Autumn is the annual wine sales, and O’Briens, Dunnes Stores and SuperValu all have offers beginning next week, with some good wines on offer.
This is a huge tradition in France with all the supermarkets there having a Foire aux Vins with amazing value to be found.
For many years in the 1990s and early 2000s, we would holiday in France in early September and could take advantage of these sales while also clinging on to summertime for just a bit longer.
If you are going by car to France in the next few weeks do have a Google of ‘Foire Aux Vins’ before you go and you should find recommendations from all the French wine writers and PDFs of the sales from the different supermarché.
I have always found the best value in E. Leclerc but you should also check in on Géant and Intermarché.
Selections this week are all from France and include the return of an old favourite — Colombelle from the Plaimont Co-Op in Gascony in the Gers Department of South-West France.
I visited this Co-Op in September 1994 on my first holiday in France in my early 20s — I think Colombelle cost less than €2 back then. My other selections are from the three upcoming wine sales mentioned above.
Besides these suggestions watch also for some fine wines on offer in O’Briens such as Fourcas Hosten 2012/17 for €25 and Les Charmes de Kirwan 2019 for €34.
Dunnes, meanwhile, has Lions de Batailley 2017 for €31 and Ch. de Pez 2019 for €44, while SuperValu has Tour Baldoz St. Émilion 2020 for €30.
I last mentioned Colombelle in 2014 having first tasted it in 1994, we have had a long, pleasure-filled relationship.
Colombard can be rather light and insubstantial but the grape always tastes floral and peachy in Gascony and combines well with Sauvignon - this is delightfully fresh and zingy with a grapefruit tang and lingering tropical fruits. Delicious!
Thick-skinned earthy Tannat is the local red grape in Gascony, found in Madiran and Côtes de Saint Mont.
This is pleasingly pale but with more heft than the colour implies - red fruits and pink peppercorn aromas, lively and fresh with spice on the mid-palate and lingering floral and pepper touches.
This Loire wine region is around 50 minutes north of Sancerre with a similar terroir, yet it always seems a little more floral than its more famed cousin.
This is on offer next week in SuperValu(reduced from €17) and has honeysuckle-tinged apple aromas, pear and apple flavours with lemony acidity and a washed stone finish.
Burgundy prices have soared in recent years so finding anything worth mentioning under €25 is a struggle.
This is reduced from €20 and does indeed taste of Pinot Noir from that famed region with bright juicy red fruits, raspberry fruits and a touch of clove.
Serve cool for best results, perhaps with some mature Durrus or an omelette.
This is reduced from €21.50 from Monday (and may already be reduced in stores).
Fleurie is always a pleasure and does seem to live up to its floral name - this has rose petal touches and red fruit aromas, lively black cherries on the palate with strawberry and red currants mixing with crunchy cherry skins.
Serve cool, around 10 or 12 C.
I rarely feature Supermarket Châteuneuf-du-Pape as I’m often disappointed with the price-to-quality ratio - most times you are better off with a Gigondas or Cairanne instead.
This is much better than average and tastes as a Châteauneuf should with soft plum fruits, ripe savoury cherry flavours and a pleasing weight and roundness balanced by texture and spice.
I think I mentioned this in 2018 or so but I’m featuring it again as I think it is probably one of the best cream liqueurs on the market.
Cream is sourced from five Cork farms and the whiskey is also sourced in Cork. I like that you can actually taste whiskey in this unlike in its more famous competitor.
Butterscotch and soft caramel aromas, textured and complex with vanilla whiskey spice notes on the mid-palate and lingering coconut and cream flavours.
Try adding to a cappuccino, latte or affogato; pour over ice cream or use to make espresso martinis. Recipes at fivefarmsirishcream.com/recipes.
