Weekend wine with Blake Creedon
Garlic, possibly. Rosemary, perhaps. And a classy Spanish red wine for certain.
Even when roasted and accompanied by rich roast veg, lamb is clearly a far more delicate prospect than beef, so many popular red wine styles can be a bit too much. No, a shiraz or cabernet won’t be ‘wrong’ — most wines go fine with most dishes — but the optimum wine match will be an elegant, aromatic red. I take inspiration from the great Spanish tradition which marries tempranillo and other grapes with the practice of slow ageing in oak to deliver ripe perfumed wines that’ll be perfect with your lamb. On the blog at blakecreedon.wordpress.com, I’m looking in more detail at that Spanish ageing system, the ascending order of ageing (joven, roble, crianza and reservas) and why older and dearer wines are not necessarily better.
* Australian winemaker Chris Pfeiffer has added another date to his itinerary and will be at Karwig’s, Carrigaline, Co Cork, all day today to introduce his wines.
* Fourteen of Ireland’s new wave of classy small breweries will be pouring from keg, cask and bottle at the third annual Brewers on the Bay festival at the Oslo microbrewery in Salthill, Galway, on May 5 and 6.
* On Wednesday, May 16, as part of its 10th birthday celebrations, Star Anise restaurant on Bridge Street in Cork is hosting a dinner accompanied by the wines of Massaya in Lebanon presented by winemaker Sami Ghosn. After a sparkling wine reception, each course will be accompanied by some of the upper tiers of the outstanding Massaya range. Cost €65; contact 021-4551635.
* On May 16, the Grain Store at Ballymaloe, Co Cork, is hosting a tasting led by winemakers from Germany, Alsace and Australia. Book tickets (€25) on res@ballymaloe.ie or 021-4652531. More information from Colm@Ballymaloe.ie or Ireland@wineaustralia.com.
This is my bargain buy of the week. An outstanding expressive wine, plump with red fruit, polished and garnished with vanilla and spice by its time maturing in oak and bottle, to a degree you would certainly not expect at this price.
There wasn’t room to mention all of the commendable wines featured in an eye-opening tasting of Lidl’s entire range earlier, so I promised two further Spanish hits. This is particularly good value, a gently persuasive and perfumed tempranillo.
Although Rioja and Ribera Del Duero are rightly the most famous regions, tempranillo is in fact grown all over Spain. This blend of that native grape with cabernet is rich and ripe and broad-beamed — but shares with the others on this page that delightful, uniquely Spanish tempranillo fragrance.
The Vega Real range imported by Greenlea has to be among the best value from Spain — especially costly Ribera Del Duero. The youngest of its siblings, this one is beautifully fragranced and soft. Dunnes Stores; Cork: O’Donovans; Dublin: Deveneys, Dublin 14; Savages, Swords; Hole in the Wall Dublin 7 and Martin’s, Fairview.
It’s fascinating to compare side-by-side the wines on the different rungs of age (and expense) from one winery. Of the three in M&S’s Romeral range, I prefer this middle tier over the crianza and gran reserva. Tempranillo blended with mazuelo and graciano, it’s a terrific, subtle classic Rioja.
Yet more evidence how many Spanish wines priced around the mid teens so easily outperform their equivalents from elsewhere. This is premium Rioja at an approachable price, contrasting fresh red berries with a delicious whiff of leather. Imported by Febvre, stockists include O’Brien’s, O’Donovans in Cork city and county, and Superquinn.
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