Bubble Brothers - Cork wine merchants
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Never mind the bolas
I've been meaning to announce the arrival of Alessandro Speri's Argentinian Malbec, a sumptuous red wine I promised a while ago. It's here at last and I'm absolutely delighted. We stock both cuvées: the Prodigo and the Prodigo Reserva, and Bubble Brothers heartily recommend them.
In fact, we recommend them a whole bunch more than the May edition of Decanter, which arrived this morning, does. The Decanter tasting panels don't usually get it badly wrong, but either there was hessian-tongued bostoonery in the air the day they made their selections from a hundred and twenty-three Arg. Malb's, or else the wines that scored higher than Speri's are simply egregiously magnificent. Decanter gave the 2004 Prodigo Reserva three stars (recommended) and 14½ points, and the 2004 Prodigo two stars (fair) and 13¾ points. In my view, both wines was robbed.
I'll try to get my hands on a bottle of some of the wines that got a higher score, and report back. Good job we don't pay too much attention to critics. Neither should you.
In case you're wondering about bolas, I thought that's what everyone thought of when they thought of Argentina, after football and possibly the Falkland Islands depending on your vintage and provenance. Apparently not.
In fact, we recommend them a whole bunch more than the May edition of Decanter, which arrived this morning, does. The Decanter tasting panels don't usually get it badly wrong, but either there was hessian-tongued bostoonery in the air the day they made their selections from a hundred and twenty-three Arg. Malb's, or else the wines that scored higher than Speri's are simply egregiously magnificent. Decanter gave the 2004 Prodigo Reserva three stars (recommended) and 14½ points, and the 2004 Prodigo two stars (fair) and 13¾ points. In my view, both wines was robbed.
I'll try to get my hands on a bottle of some of the wines that got a higher score, and report back. Good job we don't pay too much attention to critics. Neither should you.
In case you're wondering about bolas, I thought that's what everyone thought of when they thought of Argentina, after football and possibly the Falkland Islands depending on your vintage and provenance. Apparently not.
Labels: argentina, bolas, ireland, malbec, Prodigo, Speri, wine
¶ Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
the fillet of cheese
With regard to the day that's in it, here are two more clips of the Thirsty Trav'ler in the Emerald Isle. Bubble Brothers obsessives may catch a glimpse of the English Market shop.
A Toast to the Sea
A Stout Meal
New blogger is sulking more than the old one used to about embedding these, so please accept the lazy links instead. And bon weekend.
A Toast to the Sea
A Stout Meal
New blogger is sulking more than the old one used to about embedding these, so please accept the lazy links instead. And bon weekend.
Labels: bubble brothers, ireland, st patrick's day, stout
¶ Saturday, March 17, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Back to square one
Haven't done a jazz birthday for a bit. Charles Kynard today, rare groove fiends. Nice.
I don't see our wines mentioned too often on the Supervalu blog (because there isn't one, ahem - (picture of Glenda the greengrocer for the Blogorrah boys on the Supervalu website, though)), but in anticipation of that happy day, I'm getting my retaliation in first. What was probably the very first post on this blog mentioned a tasty but pricy
Bordeaux Supérieur offered to us by Château Pierrail, which I had to politely decline. Anyway, to cut to the chase, lo! and behold, there it is in Supervalu, smashed down from twenty euro to fifteen ninety-nine. Now I don't know what got it there: if it was Mme Demonchaux's persistence, or the supermarket buyer's reckoning that a big hefty red with Bordeaux on the label couldn't hurt - but at the sale price it's value, I reckon.
In other news, we're working hard on the consequences of our trip to the Loire wine fair, with samples turning up from day to day and restaurateurs gnashing their teeth to get new wine lists put together.
Iki beer is looking more and more exciting as we go along. There's a container coming in next week, and the press are starting to take an interest now that customers in Dublin are enjoying the refreshing change, &c. &c.
I don't see our wines mentioned too often on the Supervalu blog (because there isn't one, ahem - (picture of Glenda the greengrocer for the Blogorrah boys on the Supervalu website, though)), but in anticipation of that happy day, I'm getting my retaliation in first. What was probably the very first post on this blog mentioned a tasty but pricy
Bordeaux Supérieur offered to us by Château Pierrail, which I had to politely decline. Anyway, to cut to the chase, lo! and behold, there it is in Supervalu, smashed down from twenty euro to fifteen ninety-nine. Now I don't know what got it there: if it was Mme Demonchaux's persistence, or the supermarket buyer's reckoning that a big hefty red with Bordeaux on the label couldn't hurt - but at the sale price it's value, I reckon.In other news, we're working hard on the consequences of our trip to the Loire wine fair, with samples turning up from day to day and restaurateurs gnashing their teeth to get new wine lists put together.
Iki beer is looking more and more exciting as we go along. There's a container coming in next week, and the press are starting to take an interest now that customers in Dublin are enjoying the refreshing change, &c. &c.
Labels: beer, bordeaux, gnashing, iki, ireland, Supervalu, wine
¶ Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The love bug again
Not another plug for our Valentine's offer on this sunny day; rather some seasonal good news and a reminder that we do work hard for your pleasure. We are about to hold a formal tasting of some new wines from Chablis (for which the internet, for what that's worth) seems only to have ecstatic praise. We were certainly very much impressed by the one bottle we did open following a recent visit by the winemaker to Cork. The photo, full of the promise of spring, is from his vineyards. Now we have some prices to reckon with and current vintages from our existing supplier, we're in a position to decide if there's room on board for another Chablis chez Bubble. I theenk so, but you'll have to wait and see.
Not another plug for our Valentine's offer on this sunny day; rather some seasonal good news and a reminder that we do work hard for your pleasure. We are about to hold a formal tasting of some new wines from Chablis (for which the internet, for what that's worth) seems only to have ecstatic praise. We were certainly very much impressed by the one bottle we did open following a recent visit by the winemaker to Cork. The photo, full of the promise of spring, is from his vineyards. Now we have some prices to reckon with and current vintages from our existing supplier, we're in a position to decide if there's room on board for another Chablis chez Bubble. I theenk so, but you'll have to wait and see.
Labels: Chablis, ireland, ladybirds, tasting, wine
¶ Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Australia tasting
Wine Australia decided to hold a tasting in Cork as well as in Dublin this year, and we went along to see what was new and meet some winemakers and generally get a taste of the competition's wines. John McDonnell, who is Wine Australia's representative here, is a charming host and there's no doubt an enormous amount of work went into putting the show on at a second Irish venue. 
Tempranillos, Sangioveses and Barberas rubbed shoulders with the more familiar 'Australian' grape varieties, while many of the winemakers using the traditional grapes seemed keen to emphasize the specific regional characteristics of their wines. It hasn't all been plain sailing for Australian wine lately, and there was plenty of evidence of suppliers facing up squarely to the challenges of too much competition and climatic upheavals.
Tempranillos, Sangioveses and Barberas rubbed shoulders with the more familiar 'Australian' grape varieties, while many of the winemakers using the traditional grapes seemed keen to emphasize the specific regional characteristics of their wines. It hasn't all been plain sailing for Australian wine lately, and there was plenty of evidence of suppliers facing up squarely to the challenges of too much competition and climatic upheavals.Labels: Cork, ireland, tasting, Wine Australia
¶ Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Fragrant, snorting cave bear WBW 29
The idea of Wine Blogging Wednesdays is that you try a bottle of whatever's nominated and blog about it, then some long-suffering person collates the entries to the common weal. This time, number 29, the wine has to be biodynamic, and Jack and Joanne of Fork and Bottle are the long-suffering, &c.
After the disappointment of yesterday's corked bottle, I'm delighted to report that a second foray into the cave yielded a perfect example of Christine and Eric Saurel's Montirius Vacqueyras 2001.
The Saurels' gaff at Sarrians is not so very far from the Chauvet Cave, which is where prehistoric man, insufficiently civilized to make wine, used to keep instead a stock of gigantic furry beasts to see him through the winter, TGIFs &c. You can see some of the graffiti here.
If you fancy the robust and warming embrace of a cave bear but don't know where to get your hands on one, you could do worse than invest in a bottle of this magnificently robust and warming blend of Grenache and Syrah. It's not the more expensive Clos Montirius Vacqueyras that Gary Vaynerchuk is tasting here; last time we sampled the two side by side we felt that the plain Vacqueyras represented better value. This vintage weighs in at fourteen and a half per cent alcohol, and although it's obviously a big wine, it's in perfect balance and has much sweeter breath (a little chocolate-y) than Ursus culpaeus can ever have had. The real pleasure for me was in the vibrant, muscular pulse of cherryish fruit that pushed through the darker flavours and dense structure of every mouthful. You won't be surprised to know that the finish is long and assertive.
On a food and wine matching note, this Vacqueyras was very nearly as satisfying with my hurried plate of egg (daughter's, discarded) and chips as a hot cup of tea would have been. More thoughtfully paired, and brought up to its optimum temperature, it could hardly fail to be sublime.
As for the biodynamics, as I've said before, the Saurels are not doing it for fun, or as a way of differentiating their wine from their neighbours', &c. One look at their website should make that fairly clear. I don't think you can taste biodynamicity, (though organic wines do generally seem to me less fuzzy-tasting, sometimes a little briefer in the finish, than their conventional counterparts) but at the same time the utter commitment of Montirius to making the very best wine possible in accordance with a set of non-commercial principles (of course they do have to run a business, too) is no bad thing in my book. Of course it wouldn't matter how organic or biodynamic they were if the wine were horrible.
After the disappointment of yesterday's corked bottle, I'm delighted to report that a second foray into the cave yielded a perfect example of Christine and Eric Saurel's Montirius Vacqueyras 2001.
The Saurels' gaff at Sarrians is not so very far from the Chauvet Cave, which is where prehistoric man, insufficiently civilized to make wine, used to keep instead a stock of gigantic furry beasts to see him through the winter, TGIFs &c. You can see some of the graffiti here.
If you fancy the robust and warming embrace of a cave bear but don't know where to get your hands on one, you could do worse than invest in a bottle of this magnificently robust and warming blend of Grenache and Syrah. It's not the more expensive Clos Montirius Vacqueyras that Gary Vaynerchuk is tasting here; last time we sampled the two side by side we felt that the plain Vacqueyras represented better value. This vintage weighs in at fourteen and a half per cent alcohol, and although it's obviously a big wine, it's in perfect balance and has much sweeter breath (a little chocolate-y) than Ursus culpaeus can ever have had. The real pleasure for me was in the vibrant, muscular pulse of cherryish fruit that pushed through the darker flavours and dense structure of every mouthful. You won't be surprised to know that the finish is long and assertive.
On a food and wine matching note, this Vacqueyras was very nearly as satisfying with my hurried plate of egg (daughter's, discarded) and chips as a hot cup of tea would have been. More thoughtfully paired, and brought up to its optimum temperature, it could hardly fail to be sublime.
As for the biodynamics, as I've said before, the Saurels are not doing it for fun, or as a way of differentiating their wine from their neighbours', &c. One look at their website should make that fairly clear. I don't think you can taste biodynamicity, (though organic wines do generally seem to me less fuzzy-tasting, sometimes a little briefer in the finish, than their conventional counterparts) but at the same time the utter commitment of Montirius to making the very best wine possible in accordance with a set of non-commercial principles (of course they do have to run a business, too) is no bad thing in my book. Of course it wouldn't matter how organic or biodynamic they were if the wine were horrible.
Labels: biodynamic, ireland, montirius, rhone, saurel, ursus spelaeus, vacqueyras, WBW, wine, wine blogging wednesday
¶ Thursday, January 18, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
I bet not one of you ignorant blackguards knows what a Yeat is
The title, before anyone takes offence, is my garbled recollection of what Joe's comment here helpfully reminds me is an episode from Spike Milligan's war memoirs.
Just to let you know that I'd dearly love to go and listen to Paul Muldoon (that's the Blogorrah link again) lecturing on Yeats at UCC this afternoon. Can't see I'm going to manage it though. Grrr.
If you're able and willing to go, here's the link to the UCC page.
Just to let you know that I'd dearly love to go and listen to Paul Muldoon (that's the Blogorrah link again) lecturing on Yeats at UCC this afternoon. Can't see I'm going to manage it though. Grrr.
If you're able and willing to go, here's the link to the UCC page.
Labels: ireland, muldoon, poetry, ucc, yeats
¶ Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Ruth in urbe, and our man in Mallow
People are always asking if we "do tastings", and I can answer that question in two ways...
No...
No...
we don't:
always have a bottle on the go at our own shops (English Market and Wine Depot) as, while this isn't a bad idea in principle, it needs to pay for itself, and achieving this is harder than you might think;
run night-school type wine-tasting courses along the lines of those organized by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, overseen here by the Wine Board of Ireland. They do it extremely well, and impartially, at a fair price, in Dublin and usually in Cork too;
open bottles for prospective customers who aren't sure if they'll like a wine or not before buying it. Word would get around.
always have a bottle on the go at our own shops (English Market and Wine Depot) as, while this isn't a bad idea in principle, it needs to pay for itself, and achieving this is harder than you might think;
run night-school type wine-tasting courses along the lines of those organized by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, overseen here by the Wine Board of Ireland. They do it extremely well, and impartially, at a fair price, in Dublin and usually in Cork too;
open bottles for prospective customers who aren't sure if they'll like a wine or not before buying it. Word would get around.
However, yes...
we do, from time to time:
draw attention to ourselves with a portfolio tasting such as last October's Big Wine Event (more photos and so on of that still! to come) in Cork's Clarion Hotel, providing a tasting opportunity for all interested parties, trade and public;
"do tastings" by prior arrangement for groups, generally those who are happy to provide a venue and meet a reasonable fee;
"do tastings" at our retail customers' premises in the hope of promoting their interests along with ours.
There's one of this last kind today! Owing to the wounded-gastropod progress of some connection in the world wide web this morning, what should have been an advertisement now becomes old news, but here 'tis anyway:
You can try some of our wines today between 12 and 2-ish at URRU Mallow, the newly opened specialist food shop built on the success of URRU Bandon, and run by Willie Healy, brother of Ruth. Our new recruit, Cyril Besnard, who really knows all the details about wine that I pretend to and then look up later, will be promoting two red and two white wines from our range. Cyril is hoping to fill the shoes, if not the beret, of Godefroy Baijot,
who you can see here and who I hope will forgive me when he returns to Ireland in a week or two to do some business for his new employer in the Languedoc. It's Jean-Marie Rimbert's hat.
who you can see here and who I hope will forgive me when he returns to Ireland in a week or two to do some business for his new employer in the Languedoc. It's Jean-Marie Rimbert's hat. Hello to anyone who's reading this following Blake Creedon's very kind words in today's Irish Examiner. I feel that if Darina Allen is permitted to "tickle our palates" (online, I mean), Blake should be too; and I mention this because it seems only fair, and also because it would be very beneficial to the paper too if there was a way of referring electronically to Blake's expert and amiable column when I'm writing to customers, suppliers, the readership of this blog, &c. &c. I'd be very pleased to get a weekly tip-off for a good bottle from the Examiner's website, and I'd be more pleased than that if I could get it sent to me as an RSS feed. The BBC's website explains what RSS is about pretty clearly.
Labels: blake creedon, courses, ireland, irish examiner, rss, tastings, urru, wine
¶ Friday, January 12, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Strewth, mate!
What I should have recommended as an all-purpose Christmas wine was our Little Yering Pinot Noir 2003 from Yering Station. It's easy, lightish and very tasty. I took a bottle home last weekend and it was three-quarters gone before you could say knife, which is always an indicator of a wine that I can recommend to anyone. The price is right, too.
However, the future is looking other than rosy for the Yarra Valley, whence cometh the aforementioned. First of all there have been drought and frost, and then along comes an outbreak of phylloxera, the vine-munching insect whose specific name, vastatrix, devastating, is spot on. Here's the Australian phylloxera website. And here's a local article that mentions Yering. I'll be writing to Brett Fleming, our contact, to find out what he thinks the future holds. Meantime, try, and enjoy, the Little Yerings (there's a Shiraz-Viognier, too) while you can.
UPDATE 16/01/06: I've heard from Brett, and perhaps things aren't as bad as they seem. I look forward to meeting him in a few weeks' time and may have more news after that.
However, the future is looking other than rosy for the Yarra Valley, whence cometh the aforementioned. First of all there have been drought and frost, and then along comes an outbreak of phylloxera, the vine-munching insect whose specific name, vastatrix, devastating, is spot on. Here's the Australian phylloxera website. And here's a local article that mentions Yering. I'll be writing to Brett Fleming, our contact, to find out what he thinks the future holds. Meantime, try, and enjoy, the Little Yerings (there's a Shiraz-Viognier, too) while you can.
UPDATE 16/01/06: I've heard from Brett, and perhaps things aren't as bad as they seem. I look forward to meeting him in a few weeks' time and may have more news after that.
Labels: Australia, ireland, phylloxera, Pinot Noir, wine, Yarra Valley, Yering
¶ Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Wine for Christmas
I have to say I don't think it actually matters all that much, once you've a glass of something you like within reach. If you've sworn and sweated your way through the production of a full Christmas feed, you may well have so much catering anaesthetic and/or endorphins on board by the time you collapse to consume the fruits of yer labours that you might as well be on the Bum Wine.
The other question is: what goes with the farrago of textures and flavours in the average Christmas dinner? If you're an accomplished enough cook to reduce the whole set of ingredients to a uniform mushy blandness, then any decent wine is going to seem great in contrast. Works for me.
On the other hand, if you do decide to do it properly and have it all under control and waft around the house like some fragrant TV übercook or -cookerin, dispensing gracious smiles, and if your guests - for surely there will be guests - are all that kind of person too, then social pressures demand you choose a bit more carefully. But I still suggest you serve what you know you really like, rather than risking money on something that ought to be tremendous but could still let you down. Discreetly oaked whites, maybe a Chardonnay, and not-too-overwhelming reds would be my choice then. Ones you've enjoyed through the year.
In the aftermath, when you're eating the leftovers, I've suggested in the past our Bourgueil, a light but satisfying red made in the Loire Valley from Cabernet Franc, but we've sold out, to several customers' disappointment, and I think I'm going to wait until our planned trip to the Salon des Vins de Loire in February to choose a replacement for that. Recent research! suggests the following as possibles: Agostino Pavia's Dolcetto d'Asti, a light (12%) acidic red from Piedmont, which would stand up well to pickly sandwiches and cold cuts generally; the same goes for Jean-Marie Rimbert's Les Travers de Marceau, in the 2005 vintage a supple and aromatic St-Chinian. I think there's great value in the remaining bottles of Goedverwacht's Great Expectations Chardonnay 2004. I thought this was terrific when it first arrived, and it's aged really well. Very easy and pleasurable drinking for the digestive days after the 25th, though you'll have to come to the Wine Depot and fight/ask me for it as there are really only a few bottles left.
The other question is: what goes with the farrago of textures and flavours in the average Christmas dinner? If you're an accomplished enough cook to reduce the whole set of ingredients to a uniform mushy blandness, then any decent wine is going to seem great in contrast. Works for me.
On the other hand, if you do decide to do it properly and have it all under control and waft around the house like some fragrant TV übercook or -cookerin, dispensing gracious smiles, and if your guests - for surely there will be guests - are all that kind of person too, then social pressures demand you choose a bit more carefully. But I still suggest you serve what you know you really like, rather than risking money on something that ought to be tremendous but could still let you down. Discreetly oaked whites, maybe a Chardonnay, and not-too-overwhelming reds would be my choice then. Ones you've enjoyed through the year.
In the aftermath, when you're eating the leftovers, I've suggested in the past our Bourgueil, a light but satisfying red made in the Loire Valley from Cabernet Franc, but we've sold out, to several customers' disappointment, and I think I'm going to wait until our planned trip to the Salon des Vins de Loire in February to choose a replacement for that. Recent research! suggests the following as possibles: Agostino Pavia's Dolcetto d'Asti, a light (12%) acidic red from Piedmont, which would stand up well to pickly sandwiches and cold cuts generally; the same goes for Jean-Marie Rimbert's Les Travers de Marceau, in the 2005 vintage a supple and aromatic St-Chinian. I think there's great value in the remaining bottles of Goedverwacht's Great Expectations Chardonnay 2004. I thought this was terrific when it first arrived, and it's aged really well. Very easy and pleasurable drinking for the digestive days after the 25th, though you'll have to come to the Wine Depot and fight/ask me for it as there are really only a few bottles left.
Labels: christmas, food, indigestion, ireland, wine
¶ Tuesday, December 12, 2006
