Today’s Movies & Booze continues our theme of lesser known grape varieties and wine styles.
This week both wines are from France and showcase some unusual grape varieties from the South West of the country. These wines are brought into Ireland by Pascal Rossignol of Le Caveau and are mostly available through independent off licences. Le Caveau’s wine shop in Market Yard in Kilkenny is situated at the entrance to the car park area beside Kytlers Inn and is worth a browse, especially if you are in the market for unique and interesting wines.
2013 Domaine de Ménard, Pays de Gascogne ‘Cuvée Marine’ €12.50
Stockists: Le Caveau Kilkenny, Garden Shop at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Blackrock Dellars, The Corkscrew, Fallon and Byrne, Liston’s Camden St D2, Green Man Wine Terenure, Redmonds Ranelagh, World Wide Wines Waterford, Gibneys Malahide.
Cuvée Marine is a blend of 60 percent Colombard with 20 percent of Sauvignon Blanc and Gros Manseng. This wine has a racy mineral character. It is extremely aromatic, with scents of white flowers, pear drop and honeysuckle. You will also find hints of aniseed and mint on the nose.
The palate is crisp with lots of acidity. This is a very, very fresh wine and one that will appeal to anyone who likes a lot of acidity in their whites.
Gascony is a region in Southwest France, well known for its white wines. Located to the South of Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast, Gascony was historically part of the Basque region, celebrated for its foie gras and Armagnac.
The grape variety used to make this Colombard is related to Chenin Blanc. It used to be the grape to make wine that is distilled into Armagnac, but nowadays that tends to be Ugni Blanc. Colombard has a high level of natural acidity, when blended with the two more aromatic grape varieties Gros Manseng and Sauvignon Blanc the grape really shines.
Gros Manseng is a very aromatic grape with lots of appealing apricot and stone fruit aromas. It is a also a native of this part of France and is the key grape in the Jurançon region of South West France. Gros Manseng is another very acidic grape, as indeed is Sauvignon Blanc.
DOMAINE DE MÉNARD was founded in 1920, when Jean-François Morel, a Swiss winegrower, settled in Gascony and purchased 10-ha of vineyard. His daughter Denise and her husband Jean Jegerlhener took over the estate in 1960, they have now been joined by their son and daughter, Philippe Jergerlhener and Elizabeth Prataviera, a qualified wine maker.
The vineyard has now grown in size and is 120-ha. 90 percent of their vineyards are planted with white grape varieties. The terroir is unique, the vine rows are covered with shells and fossils. Two types of soils are found here; the Sauvignon, Colombard and Ugni are planted on shallow lime, clay and stony soils, while the Petit and Gros Manseng are grown on deeper, sandy soils.
2011 Tour Des Gendres Bergerac le Classique €15.15
Stockists: Avoca Kilmacanogue & Monkstown; Baggot Street Wines; Blackrock Cellars; Clontarf Wines; The Corkscrew, Chatham St; Farmgate Midleton; Le Caveau Kilkenny; Liston’s Camden Street D2; Mac Guinness Wines Dundalk, 64 Wine Glasthule, World Wide Wines Waterford
Bergerac le Classique is a blend of Merlot (70 percent) and Malbec (30 percent). The wine is certified organic and the grapes are grown in the Bergerac region, part of the Dorgogne region of South West France. This wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks, and then a portion of the wine is aged in barrels; the wine is neither filtered nor fined.
The nose is powerfu l- ripe small blackberries and sweet spices, the palate has flavours of ripe plums, black cherry and fruit of the forest, with hints of vanilla and spice, and with have you bounding with joy if you pair it with roast lamb.
Merlot, one of Bordeaux’s most famous red grapes, has lots of black fruits, mixed with aromas and flavours of chocolate and spices. Malbec originates in Cahors in South West France, and has low acidity, high tannins, and an inky-black color. Its aromas and flavours are of red plums, blackcurrants and dried cherries
TOUR DES GENDRES owner, Luc de Conti, is a wonderful character and farms his 54-ha vineyard in the Bergerac region.
He pratices Biodynamic viticture and the soil in his vineyards is nourished with seaweed and silica treatments to encourage microbial activity. This is a handcrafted wine in every sense of the word and great care is taken in its production.
Wine events
More information in the Wine Diary – www.jeansmullen.com
O’Brien Wines Beers Spirits consumer wine fair will take on 24th & 25th April 2015 at The Print Works, Dublin Castle. More than 40 of the world’s most renowned wineries will be represented at the event. There will be more than 200 wines to taste at Ireland's biggest consumer wine tasting event. There will be three sessions in total which the public can attend.
Friday 24th April from 6-9pm
Saturday 25th April from 1-4pm and 5-8pm.
Tickets will be €15 each, which includes all wine samples and all proceeds will go to Laura Lynn. Tickets are now available in all 32 O’Briens’ stores and through the O’Briens' website here.
