Wine with Leslie: Bougie Bordeaux wines, including a fruity red at Dunnes for under €9
Vineyards of Saint Emilion, Bordeaux Vineyards in France in a sunny day
As you read this I am somewhere in a field in Laois — and if you too are at Electric Picnic (or know someone attending) then make sure they head to the Drinks Theatre and Theatre of Food in the Mind Field where there will be tastings and discussions all weekend.
I will be in a pink shirt and white trousers for my (Barbie-influenced) rosé wine event.
Electric Picnic is the official end of Summertime in my mind, so this week I have turned my thoughts to Autumn.
The perfect grape variety for Autumn might be Cabernet Sauvignon, especially as it tastes of the blackberry fruits that are abundant on all the hedgerows at the moment.
Of course, Cabernet works in Winter and Spring (and who is going to turn their nose up at a glass of Bordeaux with a barbecue steak in mid-Summer), but I think Autumn is best.
I like my Cabernet and my red Bordeaux served at around 14 Celsius or so (others prefer 16) which happens to be almost exactly the average temperature in Ireland in late August-September.
My selections this week are all Bordeaux, so are a blend of Cabernet and Merlot, but even if the Cabernet is a small component you can always taste it (and the two grapes are related).
I also have my first Australian Cabernet recommendation in a while in the form of Wynns ‘The Gables’, a gorgeous pure example of Coonawarra Cabernet.
Coonawarra has a strip of terra rossa (red soil) which is rich in iron oxide and forces vines to dig into the earth to reach water and other nutrients.
Cabernets from here seem to have more elegance and fragrance than elsewhere in Australia — don’t forget that Penfolds Grange almost always has a small proportion of Coonawarra Cabernet added.
Wynn’s importer Findlaters invited the revered and much-lauded Senior Winemaker Sue Hodder over recently to present some older vintages of Wynns ‘John Riddoch’ and Wynns ‘Black Label’, and it was fascinating to hear her talk about the various harvests and to taste the older vintages of these two icons in all their minty dark chocolate and sweet blackberry glory.
John Riddoch will cost around €105 but Black Label is around €50 (WineOnline.ie have the 2017 at €50) and both age gracefully for decades if you have room in your cellar.
This is reduced from €11 for the Dunnes French sale and is one for your Tuesday Spag-Bol rather than the Friday night Sirloin.
Young and fruity with a touch of coffee and liquorice on the nose and some crunchy dark fruits.
One of a few bargain Bordeaux in the Dunnes Salem— Ch. Les Maurins (€8.40) should also be worth a try.
This is one of the best deals in the SuperValu Wine Sale — a solid Médoc Bordeaux from an estate overlooking the Gironde Estuary, just 30 minutes north of Bordeaux.
Dark purple colour, youthful and vibrant with dark black fruit aromas plus a hint of cedar — ripe and juicy with grip and weight but also supremely drinkable and tasty.
This is the second wine of Château Pierrail and reduced from €20 in Dunnes’ Autumn French Wine Sale.
Located in the far east of the Bordeaux AOP almost in Bergerac. Black fruit aromas, ripe dark berry fruits with a pleasing chocolatey ripeness and good concentration and texture — while drinking now this should soften and develop over the next 5 years.
Wynns (founded 1891) make a number of iconic Cabernets on the famed Terra Rossa soil of Coonawarra.
The Gables punches well above its price point with aromas of mint and eucalyptus mixed with dark chocolate and blackcurrant — supple dark berry fruits on the palate mingle with fine-grained polished tannins, layered, complex and gorgeous.
The 2nd Wine of Château Smith-Hauts-Lafitte, a Cru Classé icon of the Pessac-Léognan south of Bordeaux.
From a great year, this is still young and bright with taut, dried red fruits, cherry skins and ripe blackberry fruits on the mid-palate and a touch of spice and mint on the finish. Decanting wouldn’t hurt.
This estate is in the same hands as Léoville-Poyferré and Moulin-Riche which I featured back in April this year.
St. Estephe wines are often a little slower to evolve but this is already showing lots of charm and elegance.
Bright cherry and blackberry aromas with pencil lead touches, structured dark fruit flavours but with poise and layers of ripe bramble fruits.
Seamus Heaney died ten years ago on August 30, 2013 so it seems appropriate to feature a beer with his name.
Heaney's niece Suzanne makes this with her husband Mal McCay on their farm just outside Bellaghy Co. Derry using spring water from their own source. Heaney grew up in Bellaghy and often wrote about the area.
There are several Heaney beers worth trying and limited editions appear regularly.
This is a Wit beer (white beer) style brewed with wheat and barley plus coriander seeds, orange peel and hops.
Hazy pale gold colour with aromas of citrus, orange zest and baked banana - crisp and refreshing with a pleasing peppery spice tang.
