Any Zork's in Ireland?

I came across a Zork recently on http://www.whywineblog.com/ You might be forgiven for thinking I'm confusing Star Wars with wines! Maybe you all deal with Zorks every day. It's been a while since I've seen one.

This is a Zork

 

The Zork is a wine closure that proves a point I've been at pains to preach for a while now - there are a lot of different closures out there and closures will continue to develop. We have not arrived at an end point simply because screwcaps or Stelvins are so good. whywineblog tells us that the Zork, 'consists of three parts: a robust outer cap providing a tamper evident clamp that locks onto the band of a standard bottle, an inner metal foil which provides an oxygen barrier similar to a screw cap, and an inner plunger which creates the 'pop' on extraction and reseals after use'.

Excellent.

One of the wines in the brilliant, and ongoing, Discover the Origin series of Burgundy Wine tastings I've been presenting has an equally unusual closure. The wine in question is the excellent red Domaine de Clos Saint Louis 2008 Fixin. It was sealed with a Gual Seal. Thanks to Niamh McNamara, who attended the Dublin course, I received a link to a website titled www.techniquesinhomewinemaking.com that explained this seal very well, 'This synthetic cork—marketed under the name Guala Seal Elite—is the work of the Guala Seal Group, an Italian company specializing in all types of closures, and consists of three main components, best described by the Italian Wine News (http://www.winenews.it) website as: a (polypropylene) chassis, that guarantees elastic memory and the adherence of its mechanical properties; the body, with its properties that make it impermeable to gases (particularly oxygen); and a “shield”, which is in contact with the wine itself and protection against any interaction with other elements'.

This is a Gual

It works. This wine is now four years old and is being shown all over the world, and at home in Burgundy at the BIVB's School of Wine, as being an excellent example of what Fixin does best. The wine is vibrant and fresh with taut red berry and raspberry primary fruits set into a tight and succulent palate. Well done Clos Saint Louis.Well done Gual. 

Now, can anyone direct me to a Zork?

Fenn's Quay at last - worth the wait!

You know how you see things on Twitter and blogs and then say something like, 'next time I'm down there I'll definitely drop in'. Well, after a fantastically successful Discover the Origin Burgundy Wines Seminar yesterday, at the impressive River Lee Hotel, I dropped over for a quick bite to Fenn's Quay (Thanks to everyone who came along to the seminar - more on that later...)

Fenn's Quay has haunted my Twitter account for quite a while. A place I wanted to get to. Finally....verdict..... Excellent. Had the Fenns Quay Salad followed by a Pan Fried John Dory and a cup of coffee to die for. Then drove home to Celbridge. 

Good day all round. Must make it back again soon.

 

Lightly peppered with firm skin and chunky flesh - Good old John  Dory at Fenn's Quay yesterday.

 

Tim Adam's at Tesco - an Easter Bargain!

Every now and then a real bargain comes along. Real means it's not  fake! I cannot stand supermarket offers that say a wine is now only €6.99 down from a whopping €13.99 and on and on  .... it takes me forever to work it all out.

What's a Real Bargain? This is what a Real Bargain is..

    Very good Winemaker

        Very good Wine

            Very good Price

                Simple really

Tesco began it's Spring Wine Festival yesterday and I'll review the whole shooting match next week. Right now though I just have to let you know that they are selling three different Tim Adam's wines for only a tenner each. 

Very Good Winemaker

Tim Adam's will be in Ireland next month when he will give, in association with Wines of Australia, a Masterclass Riesling tasting at Ballymaloe (with John Wilson of the Irish Times in the Chair). See my blog on this last month - Ballymaloe Hosts Riesling. He will also give a similar Masterclass to the trade at Fallon and Byrne. See my blog from last year Tim Adams and the Clare Valley - How does He/They do it So Well? where I report on a tasting he gave in Dublin in 2010 - From Clare to Here - and on my own visit to his vineyards in the Clare Valley, again in 2010.   

Very Good Wine

This what I wrote last year and I haven't changed my mind one little bit:

Tim Adams Semillon  €17.59  I have never fully understood how this grape fell out of fashion. One day it was the perfect blending grape, the next a promising varietal and then it fell off the radar! It's a hard grape to grow well and to understand. Perhaps that's why it needs the help of brilliant wine makers like Peter Lehman and Tim Adams to flourish and to express itself? Granted this wine will 'divide the camp' but its savoury strength, stalky/woody heart and immense body feel and structure will allow this to age for a long time and to accompany big hearty meals along the way. Need a white with your blue steak?

Tim Adams Shiraz €17.59 Clare Valley Shiraz is among the best in Australia. It's soft and seductive. Perhaps it will always be overshadowed by the Barossa's reputation but to be honest this wine from the Clare suits modern lifestyles because it is so incredibly versatile. It has an expressive and big bouquet with spice and ripe berries gushing, and a soft, inviting, even alluring, palate. Soft cheese, well roasted pork with apple and even warmed salads - now there's a thought!   

Tim Adams The Fergus €14.99 Great winemakers are often defined by their blending skills rather than their handling of single varietals. (Clearly the best wine makers are adept at both....) I always have an affinity with the Fergus because of an age old association with the Fergus River in Co Clare, Ireland. Don't let a label fool you. The Fergus of the Tim Adams label refers to one of his neighbours who was particularly kind to Tim one year when he was in desperate need of healthy grapes. Look up the web site for the full story.  The Fergus is dominantly Grenache based but has Cabernet Sauvignon, Mataro, and increasingly, Tempranillo components. Age this or drink it now. Either way it is always ready to be drunk in a very immediate way.   

Very Good Price

€10.00

Leg of Lamb and a Bottle of Red from Burgundy for Easter

Wondering what goes well with the leg of lamb for Easter? A good bottle of red Burgundy does and almost every wine store can sell you one.

Lamb has a big range of exciting flavours and loads of lip smacking grease. Red Burgundy is made from Pinot Noir and this matches a roasted lamb leg to perfection. Pinot Noir responds well in the vineyard to nurture and care. That takes cash. If you want Pinot to sip on the sunny patio then inexpensive is fine but for the roast I really do recommend trading up. It doesn't have to be a lot but price, wine maker and appellation and even vintage do matter in Burgundy.   

 

Vineyards at Clos St Louis at Fixin - one of our seminar wines below

from wine-pictures.blogspot.com

 

 

 Just after Easter the Discover the Origin campaign will arrive into Cork. I will deliver the Masterclass seminar on the wines of Burgundy. Seminars in Galway and Dublin have already taken place and both went really well. All of the wines used have been sent over from the School of Wine at HQ Burgundy (BIVB) in Beaune and are absolutely excellent teaching wines. Here's the programme:

‘Discover the Origin’ is an established European Union campaign designed to raise awareness around five Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products:

Burgundy Wines

Parma Ham

Douro Wines

Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Port Wines

                              

Each product in the Discover the Origin campaign is unique to the region in which it is produced
– a gastro destination – and celebrated the world over for its flavours, history and traditions.

Our timetable goes as follows:

 

Discover the Origin 2012 – Schedule of Events

Trade Events

Date	Location	Time		Training Seminar
23rd April 2012	CORK: The River Lee Hotel Western Road	11:00 - 13:00 14:30 - 16:30		Parmigiano-Reggiano & Parma Ham Burgundy Wines
21st May	LIMERICK: The Savoy Hotel Henry Street	11:00 - 13:00 14:30 - 16:30		Parmigiano-Reggiano & Parma Ham Burgundy Wines
Consumer Event
Date	Location		Event
23 - 25 November 2012	Convention Centre Dublin		Taste of Christmas 2012

To learn more about the Discover the Origin campaign, please visit www.discovertheorigin.co.uk, where you can sign up to the bi-monthly webzine, catch up on news and apply to attend a Masterclass. You can also join us on Facebook (Discovertheorgin) and Twitter @discoverorigin. 

Seminar registration and all queries can be directed to : Chris Kelly at Chris.Kelly@fleishmaneurope.com