This week we are looking at two completely different wines who in no way conform to what they should be. A co-operative wine from France made by a co-op that does not operate like one, followed by a top class fine wine from Australia with the unique distinction of being produced by in the Clare Valley by a man from Tipperary. How’s that for bucking the trend!
2012 Le Versant Viognier Pays d’Oc €13.99
Stockists: McHugh's Off-Licence, Kilbarrack Road; McHugh's Off-Licence, Malahide Road, Artane; Red Island Wines, Skerries; Redmonds of Ranelagh; Baggot Street Wine.
The story of the wine of Le Vignobles Foncalieu encompasses a group of over 1,200 producers/growers of over 7,000 hectares of vine who have come together to create wines from some of the largest and best appellations in the wine- producing regions centered around Gascony, Languedoc, Rhône and Provence.
I recently visited the group’s wineries in the Languedoc, a region best known for the powerful yet easy drinking herb scented reds made by blending Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan, as well as for dry and fruity styles of rosé and crisp, aromatic and fruity white wines. Wines from this region are available in a selection of price-points and styles, from consumer-led entry-level wines, to complex and structured styles in the mid-range price bracket. They also produce premium wines that prove that the cream of the crop is able to compete with Bordeaux and Burgundy at the same price-point.
They have a very interesting varietal range called “Le Versant” which was created a few years ago so that their portfolio includes a range of modern varietal wines from the sought after grape varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Pinot Noir, (their biggest seller in the range), Syrah and Grenache rosé all grown from selected key plots of land on the best hillside sites from of some of the lesser known geographical areas in le Sud de France.
A few days of tasting the wine range , you quickly realize the full extent of the Foncalieu expertise and why this is no ordinary co-operative. The group have a very outward looking philosophy and it shows. They have invested heavily and have a strict management systems in place to oversee how the wines are produced. Day to day vineyard management includes computerised plot monitoring, high tech ripeness tracking, as well as strict vine management specifications relating to pruning, green harvesting, harvest dates, etc., they certainly don’t operate like a co-operative.
The 2012 Le Versant Viognier is a IGP wine made from 100% Viognier the nose was aromatic peaches and cream with ripe lush stone fruit on the palate, there was a good weight of fruit, this is a very feminine wine, great served with white meat, salads or seafood.
2008 O’Dwyer Wines Clare Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon
Limited Edition €49.00
Stockists: Redmonds, Ranelagh; Devenney’s Dundrum; Gibneys, Malahide www.odwyerwines.com
This is a hand crafted Australian wine, made from 100% Cabernet Savuginon one of only 3,300 bottles each of which are individually numbered and packed in a 6 bottle case. This shows what Australia is capable of as a fine wine producing country.
From the Golden Vale of Tipperary to the Clare Valley of Australia has been a long and winding road for Donal O’Dwyer, who with his wife Judith, produces the prized ‘O’Dwyer’s Cabernet Sauvingon’ wines.
Born in a County famed for its dairy cows and its hurlers, Donal was educated in Clare- at a boarding school in Ennis. A varied business career followed during which he met and married Australian-born Judith and in the 1990s they lived in Brussels and Paris.
A pivotal period was their visit to the ‘Irish Wine Geese’ chateaux in Bordeaux. They dined in the iconic restaurants of the Medoc and visited Lynch-Bages, Barton, Phelan Segur, Kirwan and other Chateaux with Irish connections. Back in Paris they decided that they too would become ‘Wine Geese’ and one day produce their own wines. It was with this background and the opportunity to tread in a similar path to the famous Wine Geese of the 17th and 18th centuries, that the O’Dwyer family, in 2004, put down roots in the beautiful Clare Valley in South Australia.
They purchased a property consisting of 26 acres (10.6 hectares), of which nearly 14 acres (six hectares) are under vine. In the far southern corner of the vineyard, a parcel of very old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, aged more than 70 years, generates luscious flavourful grapes. When dry grown and hand- picked, the gnarled aged vines produce grapes for the O’Dwyer Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon wine.
Donal and Judith teamed up with award-winning winemakers David O’Leary and Nick Walker of O’Leary Walker Wines, to make the flagship O’Dwyer Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wine Events:
One of Australia’s best known names, winemaker Wolf Blass is in Ireland today (Friday 22nd) to open Tesco’s Food & Wine Village at the Food & Wine Magazine Christmas Show 2013, at 5p.m. The Food & Wine Magazine Christmas Show 2013 takes place in the RDS Main Hall, from 22nd – 24th November 2013.
For more details of this and many more wine events go to the wine diary on www.jeansmullen.com
