Jean Smullen looks at some great value wines for the new season
Movies & Booze Friday 23rd August, 2019
As French Wine Sale season arrives, we’re taking a look today at all things French. There are two wine sales starting in early September in SuperValu and Dunnes Stores and both have plenty to offer. SuperValu has a comprehensive range of wines and they will also introduce 12 Special Guest Wines for a limited run for the duration of the sale they include : From Burgundy, 2017 Andre Goichet Mercurey Les Doués 2017 Château du Cray, (Sale price: €15) from Beaujolais, 2018 Andre Goichet Moulin à Vent (Sale price: €12) From Loire 2016 Mégalithe Sancerre (Sale price: €22) from Cotes de Gascogne 2018 Domaine Laffitte Sauvignon Blanc (Sale price: €8) and 2018 Domaine Laffitte Rosé (Sale price: €8) 2017 Domaine Laffitte Malbec (Sale price: €8) from Burgundy Cremant de Bourgogne Simonnet-Febvre (Sale price: €19) from Alsace 2018 L’Ami des Crustacés Pinot Blanc Classique, Gustave Lorentz (Sale price: €15) from Languedoc 2017 Cersius Rouge, IGP Coteaux de Béziers, Alma Cersius (Sale price: €10) from the Rhone 2015 Châteauneuf-Du-Pape Domaine St. Patrice (Sale price: €30) and from Bordeaux 2010 Chateau La Garde Red, Pessac Leognan (Sale price: €30)
I really enjoyed the 2017 Meursault from Louis Latour, it was like meeting an old friend again. Meursault tend to be very rich and ripe, the most sublime example of the Chardonnay grape. The 2017 Louis Latour Meursault, is a stunning wine, from a very ripe vintage it was fruit focused, very soft in style with a really delicate use of oak. This was a standout star for me. Make sure you snap it up at this price (Sale price: €42). The French Wine Sale will be available in all SuperValu stores nationwide and online at www.SuperValu.ie from Thursday 5th September, until Thursday 26th September 2019.
The Dunnes Stores French Wine Sale features many of their core range of French wines as well as some serious gems that are worth taking a look at. Some of their key producers include Pierre Ponelle (Chablis), Pascal Jolivet (Sancerre) and Laurent Miguel (Languedoc). Dunnes also offer a range of fine wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone and South West France in their sale which starts on Tuesday 3rd September. One of the wines from the tasting that I really liked we are tasting on Movies & Booze today.
1620 Malbec (Lorgeril) IGP Pays D’Oc (sale price) €12.00
Stockists: Dunnes Stores, Nationwide
Maison Lorgeril, a family enterprise, was founded in 1620 in the South of France, between the Rhone Valley and the Pyrenees. Since 1987, Nicolas de Lorgeril, from a tenth generation family of winemakers, and his wife Miren de Saint Chamas, have been expanding their business beyond Chateau de Pennautier the family’s historical birth place. I was lucky enough to stay at the Chateau in 2014. The Chateau is one of the few palaces to be found in the South of France and its claim to fame is that it houses the travelling furniture of King Louis X111 who visited the family in the 17th century. Lorgeril makes, blends, ages and distributes a whole range of Languedoc & Roussillon AOP wines.
1620 celebrates the fact that the Lorgeril family have lived in the Languedoc since that date. Malbec a French grape which originated in South West France is usually low in acidity, high in tannins, and has an inky-black colour. Aromas and flavors of red plums, black currants are common.
This wine offers a lovely explosion of fruit, it has a good firm tannin and is very well made. As Autumn arrives and we get into slow cooking a beef stews this is a perfect wine to match with any hearty stew. Great value at this price, snap it up!
2017 La Grivelière AOP Côtes du Rhône €13.99
Stockists: Independent Off Licences, Nationwide
If the finest reds of the north come from Bordeaux and Burgundy it is the Rhône that puts the south of France through its paces The vineyards of the first planted over two thousand years ago, stretch from Vienne in the North to just below Avignon (125 miles to the South). This makes the Rhône valley the biggest French region after Bordeaux and the Languedoc for the production of quality wine.
The Côtes du Rhône wines account for 75% of Rhône Valley wines. The ysold 365 million bottles of in Rhône wines 2018. The Côtes du Rhône AOP quality levels start with the regional Côtes du Rhône wines of which this is one. Then you move up a level to Côtes du Rhône Villages and then the Cru wines from specific regions.
For the red wines made in the Rhône, Grenache, originally Spanish grape variety, is the main varietal. Grenache is known for it's brawn rather than its beauty. When blended Grenache adds a note of interest. Grenache give soft red fruit flavours. Wines from the Southern Rhône tend to be Grenache predominant. The warmer climate of the Southern Rhone means that blending is essential. A host of grape varieties are used in the Southern Rhône, (they allow up to 21 under the region’s wine laws) but the reality is that most Rhône wines are predominantly Grenache mixed mainly with Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvèdre. i Mourvèdre is another Spanish grape variety, it adds alcohol and tannin with a sort of gamey flavour when young. Carignan, another Spanish grape was introduced to France in the 12th century, it is a late ripener and performs best on poor soils. It adds freshness to the blend.
2017 was a good vintage for Côtes du Rhône . It was quite warm and had low rainfall. Hot dry weather meant good quality grapes and rich tannins.
La Grivelière is a very traditional Côtes du Rhône it is made from Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Mourvedre. This wine has been aged in oak for six months and has soft tannin and ripe red fruit. It will work well with a diverse range of food style. For vegetarians this would be lovely with roasted Aubergine and root vegetable, slow cooked with cherry tomatoes. It would also work well with slow cooked lamb with roasted vegetable.
Wine Diary https://jeansmullen.com/
September is back to school month and it’s the same for anyone interested in wine. WSET celebrates 50th years of wine education this month with events in Dublin and Cork. If you want to learn more about becoming a professional wine taster then go along to Tindal Wine Merchants WSET wine event in the Westbury on September 12th. It is free of charge but you must pre-register.
Premier Wine Training, O’Donovan’s Cork Wine School and Wine Tasting Ireland all offer a range of wine courses starting in September. More details in the wine diary
