La Bruja de Rozas « Wilson on Wines

The best red wines for Christmas

Posted by admin on December 20, 2018

This article was first published in the Irish Times, Saturday 15th December, 2018.

If Chablis and Mâcon are the traditional Irish Christmas white wines, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and St Émilion Grand Cru or Rioja Reserva are the red equivalents. Turkey is an accommodating bird and will go nicely with most wines, red or white, although I try to avoid tannic wines such as young Bordeaux or Barolo. However, you do need to watch out for the accompaniments – spicy, fruity stuffings and cranberry sauce can kill a wine in seconds. While you won’t go wrong with the above wines (although I would avoid cheap Châteauneuf-du-Pape) this year, why not expand your horizons a little to other countries and regions?

Grenache, or Garnacha, is the main component in the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and most southern red Rhône wines. In its original homeland of Spain, or in the McLaren Vale and the Barossa in Australia, it can be very good indeed. Australian Grenache tends to be light on tannins, with soft generous ripe spicy strawberry fruits; great for turkey. You could go with the excellent John Duval Plexus GSM 2015 (€39, independents), a Rhône-like blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Spain is producing some really exciting Garnacha at the moment. As a general rule, look to Navarra for lighter, juicier wines, and Madrid or Méntrida for wonderful, perfumed, full-bodied wines. See below for just two suggestions.

I am a big Pinot Noir fan, as are a number of my Christmas guests, so I suspect we will head in this direction, although I have served northern Rhône on previous occasions, most memorably an elegant, silky bottle of Côte Rôtie from Stephane Ogier (€52, searsons.com, Eldon’s, Clonmel). I have also been eyeing up some maturing Crozes Hermitage Yann Chave (€27.95, searsons.com, plus independents). You can find very good Pinot Noir from various countries, most notably Germany, Oregon, California, New Zealand, Germany and Australia, although it is hard to beat red Burgundy at its best, as in the Volnay below.

Unlike turkey, goose welcomes tannins and eats them up, so a Barolo, Barbaresco or Bordeaux would be ideal. However, steer clear of red cabbage if it has lots of sugar, vinegar and spice. The same goes for duck, although here a Pinot Noir would also work nicely. Vegetarian dishes with mushrooms, or stuffed peppers, courgettes and aubergines are all very red-wine friendly, including wines with some tannin.

If you live near Loughlinstown, a quick fix Christmas pairing from Whelehan’s would be the fruit-filled Rula Albariño (€14.95) and smooth, full-bodied Domaine de l’Amauve Côtes du Rhône (€16.50). For a German Pinot, try the rich fruit-filled Bender Pinot Noir (€18.25, winesdirect.ie) or the spicy Stepp Pinot Noir (€22.50, Marks & Spencer), or the Becker Family Pinot Noir (€22, independents).

Tandem Inmune Garnacha 2016, Navarra

14%, €15.95

Fresh, smooth, crunchy, savoury dark fruits with a lovely herbal touch. A very good match for the Christmas turkey and stuffing.

Stockists: O’Briens, obrienswine.ie

La Bruja de Rozas 2015, Viños de Madrid, Commando G

14.5%, €26

A wonderful full-bodied wine with fresh, fragrant red cherry fruits and fine dry tannins on the finish. With turkey or duck.

Stockists: Kelly’s, Clontarf, kellysofflicence.ie; Clontarf Wines, clontarfwines.ie; The Corkscrew, Chatham Street, thecorkscrew.ie; Green Man Wines, Terenure, greenmanwines.ie; 64 Wine, Glasthule, 64wine.ie.

Giant Steps Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2017, Australia

13.5%, €29.99

A richer style of Pinot, with succulent red cherry fruits and a very attractive earthiness. Perfect with duck, goose or turkey.

Stockists: Blackrock Cellar, Blackrock, blackrockcellar.com; Grapevine, Dalkey, onthegrapevine.ie; 64 Wine, Glasthule, 64wine.ie; The Corkscrew, Chatham Street, thecorkscrew.ie; wineonline.ie

Volnay 1er cru Cuvée Blondeau, Hospices de Beaune

14%, €52.50

Youthful ripe dark cherry, with a touch of smoky new oak, underpinned by good acidity. If you are having it for Christmas, decant half an hour before dinner. Perfect with turkey, goose or duck.

Stockists: Marks & Spencer

Tags: 64 Wines, Clontarf Wines, Ely 64, Giant Steps Pinot Noir, Green Man Wines, La Bruja de Rozas, Marks & Spencer, O'Briens Wine

Posted in: Irish Times

My wine weekend – Babette’s Feast and more

Posted by admin on March 13, 2017

Two bottles at home over the weekend, but scroll down for the wines we consumed at my mother-in-law’s version of Babette’s Feast.

Occitania Mauzac Blanc 2015, Limoux, Ch. Rives-Blanques is made by a very nice Dutch-English couple, the Panmans, who have now been joined by their son. The wines were shipped by Febvre & Co for years, and James Nicholson I think. Now it is with Alken Brothers, a firm set up by Anthony & Gregory Alken. Not sure of price yet, but a delicious wine and quite unusual to see a pure Mauzac. Most of it goes into blends or the local fizz, Blanquette de Limoux. Floral, herbal nose, quite rich tropical fruits with yellow apples too, and some peach. All held together very nicely by good acidity.

La Bruja de Rozas is made by Commando G, three young winemakers who each work in different wineries, but come together to produce a series of wines. They argue that Garnacha, as traditionally grown in the Vinos de Madrid region, south of the capital, can have something of the perfume and elegance of Pinot Nojr. It does, with plenty of alcohol and body too. This is a single village wine, from granite soils at 850 metres. Lovely wine, violet aromas, strawberry fruit, excellent mineral backbone and good tannic length. 14.5% Around €25 I think.

Babette’s Feast – in the late 1980’s, my mother-in-law, who is Danish, entertained guests to a re-creation of the menu of Babette’s Feast, a short story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was made into an Academy Award winning film in 1988; if you haven’t seen it, it is well worth doing so, especially if you like food. My mother-in-law recently offered to cook the menu once more, and I volunteered to provide the wines. It was a hugely enjoyable evening, with excellent food. I’ll do a full blog on it shortly, but the menu runs as follows: Mock turtle soup with Amontillado sherry, blinis Demidoff (with caviar and sour cream) served with vintage Veuve Cliquot; quail en sarcophage (stuffed with foie gras, and encased in puff pastry with a truffle sauce) accompanied by Clos Vougeot. Then follows Baba au Rhum with Sauternes, and fruit and cheeses with port. It all finishes with coffee and Hine Grande Champagne Cognac. As you can see from the lineup below, I allowed myself a certain latitude with the wines, Clos Vougeot Louis Latour 1845 being scarce on the ground, but we were served excellent renditions of every dish on the menu.

Tags: Babette's Feast, Babettes gæstebud, Ch Rives-Blanques Occitania, Commando G, La Bruja de Rozas, Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs 2002

Posted in: Blog