I’M OFF TO LONDON on Monday for my WSET (wine) diploma graduation ceremony.

I had a bit of luck, you may have seen online during the autumn, and managed to sneak the course’s best-overall-result prize among those who graduated in Ireland in 2011. There were just eight of us – a small field – and coordinator Dermot Nolan MW said it was a photo finish between at least four students. I’m a bit sheepish about it, to be honest.

Still, in the absence of being rich I’ll take lucky. Special thanks to co-student Beverly Matthews, co-owner of Cork’s only proper winebar L’Atitude (which she runs with another classmate of ours, Frenchwoman Emma Legrand), who gave me invaluable help with the final assignment.

Anyway, there is more than glory in coming first: the winner is also awarded the ‘Wine Australia Scholarship‘, which involves a trip to Australia in March. The itinerary, which the antipodean trade body is graciously involving me in drawing up (“are there wine regions on the barrier reef?”), lasts eight days, but we are free to add on time at the start or end if we would like to just chill out and soak up all those positive Aussie vibes.

The ‘we’ refers to fellow diploma top guns from the other countries – Canada, England, Hong-Kong, North Korea, China – where the course is run. It’s a longer list than that, actually – I don’t really know the countries. I think there will be 12-15 in the group. I’m going to spend from now until the departure date dusting off and polishing up some really great anecdotes so the others on the bus won’t think I’m too dull (“Hey – did you know that I met Michael Healy-Rae once?”).

Anyway, more details on all this closer to the time. I will probably be chronicling my travels both here and on my work blog (different content on each), so you will be able to experience it all vicariously: Paul hugging a koala, Paul next to a ‘Danger – Crocodiles!’ sign, Paul glugging Tooheys with Ayers Rock in the background.

I’ll be filling out my ‘Itinerary Planning Form’ tomorrow; I have five spaces to fill in ‘Prioritise wine regions of interest’ and five also for ‘Must-visit wineries’. Any suggestions?

I have to admit, I’m probably most excited by the bit at the end of the questionnaire that mentions potential outings to beaches, the outback, national parks and wildlife areas. After all, I can drink the best of Margaret River cab or Barossa shiraz seven nights a week here in Kinsale if I want – and I have the entire internet at my disposal to read up on any and all aspects of the Australian wine industry. But lovely Garretstown Beach is hardly ever warm enough to swim sober in, and the journey to see wallabies in Fota is a real pain.

_________________________

WINE REVIEW: IT’S A DISGRACE that this post doesn’t feature an Australian wine (that’s what happens with no editor) but, by way of placating my new sponsor and friend Wine Australia, let me announce here that we at Bubble Brothers – neck and neck with River Wines for the title of ‘Blackrock’s Most Keenly-Priced Wine Importer’ – will be promoting an icon Aussie shiraz at a discount of 38% (on 6-pack cases, delivery included) next week. More anon (follow @BubbleBrothers for details).

Anyway, the wine is an AGLIANICO – a high-quality, Southern-Italian variety. Its tannins need to be tamed by late picking and modest yields, they say, and it achieves its finest results in DOCs Taurasi (Campania) and Aglianico del Vulture (Basilicata).

The latter is Basilicata‘s only DOC, comprising 400 ha on volcanic soil at an altitude of 450-600 metres. In recent years, new French oak barrels have replaced old chestnut wood, and the wines have fetched higher prices in the marketplace.

*Grifalco Aglianico del Vulture 2006 (RP €18; imported by River Wines, Cork): Super-interesting, perfumed, sexy red. Fairly full bodied, with persistent, talcy tannins, and a delicious prune, melted liquorice, tar, raspberry / blackcurrant jam, pepper character. Every sip a joy. ★★★★⋆ (Four-and-a-half stars – outstanding-ish).

After minimal researching of wine apps I bought ‘Memorable Wines‘ (MW) back in early December. The blurb says, ‘Memorable Wines is an elegant app for quickly recording, remembering, and sharing your favourite wines.’

I’d been planning on road-testing it and doing a short review, but – like everything else – that got put on the long finger, and the review probably would never have seen the light of day had I not bitched on Twitter (I said I was going to delete the app) about a particular feature and prompted one of the MW people to pop out of the ether and ask me for more feedback on my experience.

I had to write something after that, and below are a few points on the matter.

*Easy-to-use interface.

*Where you can say how much you liked the wine the only option offered seems to be ‘Love it!’. ‘What if you didn’t love it?’, seems to be the obvious question. I’d like to be able to rate a wine on MW. Scores and so on are a bit painful (there is some discussion now about how ‘score inflation’ is making wine-scoring even more ludicrous than it already was), but I think there is a hole in any wine app that doesn’t allow the user to play the scoring / rating game.

*You can spiel away to your heart’s content in the ‘Add wine notes’ box at the end … but … then if you want to read over your notes subsequently (as if) you have to click a side-arrow to see them – which is clunky. Just scrolling down would be better – there is plenty of room to include wine picture, words, and spec on the same screen.

*At the end you can choose one of, ‘At home’, ‘Restaurant’, ‘Winery’, ‘Tasting Room’, ‘Wine Bar’, ‘Friends’, ‘Family’, ‘Special Gifts’, and ‘Try It’, to indicate where you had the wine, or maybe who you had it with. I didn’t find this list very useful (how many times can I click ‘At Home’ before starting to feel like a loser?) – maybe it was crafted more with an extroverted American audience (with their fancy wineries and ‘tasting rooms’) in mind.

*Using a picture from your phone for the wine profile is very easy.

*My main gripe is that when I tweeted the details of a wine I’d just put in MW, the Twitter link just took clickers to a page that showed an image of the label shot, but no words, anywhere. I can only assume this is a glitch of some sort – surely the worded review is the key point?

All that said, I didn’t actually delete MW in the end, and used it fine for the two wines below.

Have you used MW, or any other wine app, and what features do you think should be part of a good wine app?

_________________________

WINE REVIEWS

_________________________

1. Martin Alba Rias-Baixas Albarino 2010 (Spain) -> About €14, ’1601 Off-License’ Kinsale, Rednose Wine, and other independents -> Fresh, fruity (pear, green apple), and clean. Lovely weight and texture. Dry, slightly bitter (tonic water) finish. Refreshing and invigorating. Enjoyed on New Year’s Day! **** (very good).

__________

2. Domaine Aonghusa ‘Bentouly’ 2009 (Vin de France) -> About €17, ’1601 Off-License’ Kinsale, and independents (possibly Karwigs too) -> This wine is made by an Irish trio (Pat and Jim Neville, and Catherine McGuinness) in Corbieres, but the wine can’t use that appellation as it’s 100% grenache (a minimum of 2 varieties must be used in AC Corbieres).

Domaine Aonghusa’s out-of-date, low-tech, but well-written and engaging website can be found here.

‘Bentouly’ is a real treat – full bodied and lush, with rich blackberry / raspberry jam, liquorice, clove, and menthol flavours. Exotic and full of personality. ***** (excellent)

So you probably know I’ve been working for Bubble Brothers for the past while. Here are my personal recommendations – ten reds and ten whites – for shoppers who will be in either of our two Cork city places before Christmas (tomorrow is the last day for web / phone orders for delivery, so it’s really just walk-ins at this stage).

Note that these are not wines that we have loads of and are desperate to shift, they are not old vintages / bin ends, they are not wines that MD Billy told me to plug. I am in no way trying to ‘drive sales’ here – these are just wines I genuinely enjoyed and think you might too. If you want to just walk into the shop and pick up something good – for someone else or for yourself – without having to think too much, let this list be your guide.

I’ve chosen only from those wines I’ve tried at home during my time with the company and the choices are skewed towards the price bracket (€12-€20) that I normally buy from myself. Needless to say, the selection reflects my own personal taste.

I’ve dispensed with tasting notes, links to the wines on our site, and tiresome accents in favour of just getting the post up quickly. The wines are ordered by price and not preference.

_________________________

*Red wines

1. Le Grand Prebois red (organic grapes) (VdP Mediterranean, France) €12
2. Jouclary Tradition Cabardés (Languedoc, France) €12
3. Corte Majoli Valpolicella (Veneto, Italy) €12
4. Little Yering Shiraz-Viognier (Victoria, Australia) €14
5. Perrin Vinsobres (Rhone, France) €18
6. Giravolta Primitivo di Manduria (Puglia, Italy) €20
7. Mas de Bazan Reserva (Utiel Requena, Spain) €20
8. Chateau Bibian, Haut-Medoc (Bordeaux, France) €21
9. Brightwater Pinot Noir (Nelson, New Zealand) €23
10. Brao Montsant (Catalonia, Spain) €31

_________________________
*White wines

1. Pampano ‘Inspiracion’ (Rueda, Spain) €10.50
2. Juliette Reine Picpoul (Languedoc, France) €12
3. Grand Prebois white (organic grapes) (Rhone, France) €12
4. Cuatro Rayas ‘Vinedos Centenarios’ (Rueda, Spain) €12.50
5. Chevalier Muscadet Cotes de Grandlieu (Loire, France) €13.50
6. Perrin Cotes du Rhone Reserve blanc (Rhone, France) €15
7. Contrapunto Albarino (Rias Baixas, Spain) €15.50
8. Meyer Pinot Blanc (Alsace, France) €16
9. Mas de Bressades ‘Cuvee Excellence’ blanc (Costieres de Nimes, France) €17.50
10. Acustic blanco (Montsant, Spain) €20
________________________

The folks brought me two bottles of the same Barolo from Athlone last month and, by chance, each came from a different vintage. A good opportunity to hold a modest in-house ‘vertical tasting’ (not something I’ve done before).

Even though this particular wine is supposedly made for early drinking, 2006 and 2007 are probably still too young for Barolo – especially one from a traditional house like Ascheri. Step into the fray that ‘Vin Aire‘ gadget I mentioned before. The idea is that it’s like an accelerated decanter – it can soften up and coax life out of surly, adolescent, or otherwise unruly, wines. And all in the time it takes to pour your 250ml glass.

I didn’t bother using Vin-Aire on the “06 (the superior of the two vintages) but followed the leaflet instructions for the “07: i.e. pour wine into glass A, pour wine through the widget into glass B, then sniff and drink as per usual and see if there is any difference between samples A and B.

The explosive results can be read below.

_____

1. Ascheri le Selezione di Barolo 2006 (€29.99 €19.99 O’Briens): Perfumed nose: cranberry, tree bark, vanilla. Extremely dry and acidic palate. Bitter cherry, chocolate – fairly rich for a Barolo. Drying, but pleasant tannins. Shows real complexity; interesting evolution in the glass. Probably the nicest Barolo I’ve had (there haven’t been many, admittedly). *****

_____

2. Ascheri le Selezione di Barolo 2007 (€29.99 €19.99 O’Briens): Generally speaking, the “07 was more astringent than the “06. To be expected, as younger wine and from a less favoured vintage. Lots of smoke and raspberry notes. Some vanilla again too. Striking salinity. ****

_____

And the ‘Vin Aire’ experiment? I won’t pretend I have a huge amount to say on this. There seemed to be very little difference in the two bouquets. But the palate did genuinely seem to be improved, somehow – I got the impression that the effect of the acid was diminished (though there is no reason why this would be the case). It kinda seemed fruitier too, I have to say!

I’ll give it another go anyway as it’s easier to use than my ship decanter, which in any case still has plant food residue in it from an ill-advised panic-response to gifted flowers two years ago.

Earlier this year I contributed to a wine book along with 38 or so other wine people. It is available to buy now – click here.

If I weren’t already having a free copy sent to me I would so buy it – it’s only €10.40 and features such luminaries as Steven Spurrier and lots of other wine experts you’d know if you were into wine.

Place your order tonight and ensure that you pay in €uros while they still exist – the price may shoot up to 1,000 Irish Punts by the end of the month.

Still worth it though.

Anyway – see the ‘Every Wine Tells a Story’ website for more details. Tara Devon is the lovely editor / creator.

1. Torbreck Old Vines Grenache Mouvédre Shiraz 2008 (Barossa Valley) €20 €12.99 / O’Briens.

I’ve always called this ‘Torbreck GSM’; now I see they’ve adjusted the proportions of the grapes in the blend so you’ve to say ‘GMS’ if you want to be accurate. Torbreck gives all its other wines proprietary names (‘The Loon’, ‘The Factor’, ‘Runrig’ and so on) – I think they should with this one too! How about ‘Nessie’ (founder David Powell’s people are from Scotland originally)?

The GMS is certainly worth €20 but it’s on promo so often (or I get that impression anyway) that you wonder whether many people buy it at full price or just wait to stock up when it’s discounted. I’d love discounts to be outlawed myself – I hate them. I think folk have become addicted and, speaking as someone who now works in wine, discounts are cumbersome to administer and manage (well, for us anyway with our clunky software).

‘Buy at a fair price, sell at a fair price – and forget about discounts’ – I think that would be a good motto.

Anyway, here is my tasting note, copied, pasted, and edited from the Memorable Wines app I’m currently using and will be reviewing on the Bubble Brothers blog soon.

“Burly blockbuster. Concentrated, Undoubtedly a bit Porty – fiery spirit kick! Mocha, cassis, raspberry jam. Seems (just) off-dry. Fairly easygoing tannins. Long finish. Unique wine. **** (very good).

__________

2. Les Charmes de Kirwan Margaux 2007 (Bordeaux) €29.99 €24.99 / O’Briens.

I thought I had made a tasting note for this one too on that damned app but I see now there is no sign of it – technology strikes again! Luckily, I had the wine only last night and can remember a little about it. Hmmm, how was it again? I did get some melted dark chocolate character. What else?! Black fruit as opposed to red. Very chunky. ‘Sandy tannins’, I’m sure I typed. I think my overall impression was of yet another wine I’d opened too soon (or at least didn’t bother to aerate properly – even though Brian Clayton loaned me his Vin Aire thing and all recently). ‘Tightly wound’ was another waffley term I wrote. **** (very good)

Catherine’s friend brought a gift of Jacob’s Creek Cabernet Sauvignon to our house when she visited last Saturday – an ideal chance for me to try the sort of mass-appeal, commercial wine that I would never dream of buying myself.

Predictably, it’s perfectly fine – poor products don’t become superstar brands.

The main thing I was watching out for was loads of residual sugar – one of the reasons big brands find such favour in the marketplace is their (always unflagged) sweetness. Anyway, it didn’t seem overly fructified to me. I checked Jacob’s Creek’s website and the tech sheet, such as it was, mentioned alcohol, PH, and acidity – but not sugar.

Here is my own analysis (such as that is): good aromas (ripe black cherry, tobacco leaf). Medium bodied, seemingly-dry, palate with surprisingly assertive tannins (some press wine is used in the blend) – smoke, black fruit compote. Decent freshness.

So there you have it, my big news after months of self-imposed independent-wine-blogging exile: Jacob’s Creek makes pretty okay wine. *** (3 stars – good)

__________________________________________________

*Jacob’s Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2009: €6-€8
Available: Supermarkets, petrol stations and such like.

Tom Cannavan of online magazine Wine-Pages just beat me to a report on Croatian wines but here is mine anyway, a day late but hopefully not a dollar short. There are some differences between us actually: he sojourned in the interior of the country, I lived it up at the coast (if you can call having to be back at the apartment at 8pm for the child’s bedtime ‘living it up’; he was a guest of the Croatian government, I paid my own way (regrettably – Zagreb mandarins, if you are reading, it is no trouble for me to go back).

(continued here)

Right, here are the three reds from James Nicholson Wines. Another very strong lineup – and not a stray finger or rodent in sight.

__________________________________________________

1. Chateau Vieux Parc Selection 07 Corbiéres -> €15.95 James Nicholson {sample} -> Corbiéres is a fairly large appellation in the south of France where mostly red wine is made from mainly carignan, the high-yielding grape that was responsible for France’s ‘wine lake’ back in the 1980′s. ‘Good value’ is a phrase you often hear in association with this delimited area.

Selection is a deliciously piquant, complex red. Still youthful, lively nose of warm berries, figs and violets. Intense, juicy palate of rasping red fruit, chilli spice, orange peel and cocoa. Fairly full bodied. Huge finish. Great personality from this impressive wine. Easy to see how it won a gold Decanter medal in 2009. ♠♠♠♠

____________________________________________

2. Umani Ronchi San Lorenzo Rosso Conero 2007, Italy -> €14.75 James Nicholson {sample} -> The story here is that Rosso Conero is the D.O. (Italian appellation) and the grape is montepulciano, a mid-ranking grape found throughout central Italy and most well known as a result of its starring role in generally-rustic Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Oddly in the real world but not so much in the wine one, ‘Vino Nobile di Montepulciano’ (a Tuscan wine) is not made from montepulciano at all but from sangiovese.

San Lorenzo is rich, powerful and full bodied with oodles of baked black fruits, tar and nutmeg. Hefty tannins and a sinewy, muscular palate made it a dream match for venison sausages. Plenty of visible extract. Lots of time left yet for this delicious food wine. ♠♠♠♠

_______________________________________

3. Boekenhoutskloof ‘The Chocolate Block’ 2009 Western Cape, South Africa -> About €25 James Nicholson {sample} -> I warmed only slowly to this full-on syrah/grenache-plus-others (cab, cinsault, viognier) blend, initially thinking it a bit too much of a heavy, obvious, blockbuster that was hard to really get stuck in to as it was so big.

To say it is full bodied does no justice to this unctuous Western Cape red. Beautiful tannins, and in-your-face blackberry, chocolate, smoke and liquorice flavours. I would’ve said ‘off-dry’ (i.e. ‘very slightly sweet’) but the tech sheet says there’s just 2.8g of sugar per litre, which is definitely dry.

I did come round to it though (in terms of pure flavour it is pretty gorgeous), particularly on the second night, but felt that it was a wine to have not so much with food as instead of food. Plenty of folk like that?

I was surprised to learn that Boekenhoutskloof (drink the full 14.5% bottle and you can forget about pronouncing the name) uses neither new oak (it’s 2nd or 3rd fill) nor 225l barriques (they go for 600l) to age the Choc Block; I thought small, new oak barrels were de rigueur for premium new world reds. ♠♠♠♠

_____________________________________