Not content with changing the food world with his wonderful Fenns Quay Restaurant, Kevin Crowley recently launched his own online video review channel.
Its called “Kevin’s Tried And Tasted”
Kevin is a true wine lover and its brilliant to see him launching his video reviews.
We were honoured when he choose our Burgerspital Wurzburg Silvaner Trocken 2008 to kick off proceedings.
If you missed it, check out his video review below. Enjoy.
And watch out Gary Vaynerchuk !
Chocolate eating, wine drinking, rugby watching shoe maniac recently moved to Cork.
My philosophy, when it comes to wine, is to keep it simple and fun. I’m not an expert, I don’t have a cellar and could have anything from a €7 to a €50 bottle in the house. I am an amateur enthusiast and have a limited knowledge, but to me that does not matter. I enjoy knowing a little and learning a little. The amount you know about wine in general, or a particular wine, does not mean you enjoy it more or less than an expert. For me, the most important thing is that wine brings people together. I love people, and I love wine; the two together is the perfect combination.Where do I start when describing why I love wine? I love sitting down to dinner with good friends sharing a glass or two. I love the excitement on Christmas day or an occasion when opening a special wine. Will it taste exceptional? Will we all like it? I love pairing wine with food and getting it right. I love the pop of a champagne or sparkling wine cork, as it usually means a celebration or happy event. I love that I can drink vintage Champagne with a burger and chips, or a cheap and cheerful Chardonnay with Caspian Sea Beluga Caviar!I love how the flavour of a wine evolves in my mouth from the first sip to the last drop. It is just such an amazing journey. I love how a wine can change as it opens up. Wine is a product of the landscape. Grape, soil and climate and all of nature’s gifts collude to ensure that no taste is duplicated from vineyard to vineyard, or even from year to year. I am captivated by the concept of terroir, of wine dynasties, the Widows of Champagne and even the banal topic of bottle closures. I find the whole wine industry fascinating.On holidays in Stellenbosch, South Africa a few years ago my husband and I visited a wine farm recommended by the owner of the guesthouse we stayed at. He gave us the directions, and off we went ready to taste. We arrived at the gate and had to be buzzed in. We entered a beautiful pristine farmyard and were greeted by a sheepdog on opening the car door. We entered the tasting room, overlooking the rows of vines and mountains of Franschhoek. We chatted, tasted and learned. Our host played rugby and had been to Limerick (where we are from) to play, much to our delight. We purchased some wine and headed off into the Stellenbosch valley for further delights. We only opened the last bottle recently. The memories of our holiday came flooding back, especially that evening spent chatting in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. At that point, the quality of the wine was almost irrelevant, as it had fulfilled its goal of reliving memories and happy times in a very special place.Is there a better way to end your day than with a glass of wine? So what if the wine has aromas of freshly cut grass, petrol, pencil shavings, or cat pee! So what if it scored 95 Parker points; just drink the wine you like, and enjoy it!
Helping people fall in love with their perfect wine for the last 30 years.
I was fortunate enough to study for my WSET Advanced Cert in the company of some really wonderful people, none better than the appropriately titled Manic Mammy, aka Catherine O Neill. Catherine’s blog is packed full of wonderful writing – “reviews, news, family, wine, me” as she says herself. True to form, when I asked about a possible guest blog, she agreed straight away and a day later, it landed in my inbox. Class.
So thanks a million and over to you Catherine . . . . .
One of the highlights of the recent Good Wine Show was the Grafenstuck Bockenheimer Eiswein. I thought it was fabulous: full of pineapple, peach and apple fruit, deliciously sweet but lovely and crisp too. Until a couple of years ago my experience of dessert wines was extremely limited. I had the misconception that they would taste like treacle and be over syrupy or cloying. Thankfully as result of tasting a variety of these wines, my eyes have been opened and as result am much more likely to order a glass of dessert wine whilst enjoying the occasional meal out or special event at home.
I find the different methods of production of sweet wines fascinating. Whoever came up with the idea of fermenting rotting or frozen grapes is indeed to be applauded. It is believed that the best dessert wines come from grapes that are very rich in sugar due to its concentration from one or other of the following methods:
The different sugar concentration processes and grape varieties lead to an extensive range of different styles and tastes of sweet wines.
Arguably, some of the most famous sweet white wine comes from the Bordeaux appellation of Sauternes AC. Here Sémillon, due to its susceptibility to botrytis, dominates the blend with Sauvignon Blanc often added to provide acidity and fruity aromas. Muscadelle similarly may be added to provide additional exotic aromas. The harvest in this region is often spread over several weeks as only the grapes sufficiently shrivelled are handpicked on each pass. This effort and manpower tends to explain somewhat why a bottle of Sauternes may be more expensive to alternate wines.
The way that the famous Hungarian Tokaji sweet wines are made surprised me. The nobly rotted or botrytised Furmint and Hárslevelu grapes are separated from healthy ones which are fermented to a dry white wine whilst the rotten grapes are stored and eventually pounded to a paste. This amount of this paste added to the white wine determines the sweetness of the final Tokaji Aszu wine. This process leads to fantastic complex flavours in the wine: apricots, marmalade, rye bread, caramel, honey and more. These wines are classified on a puttonyos scale which is a measure of the residual sugar in the wine. The higher the puttonyos, the sweeter the wine.
These wines merely touch the incredibly varied range of sweet wines: From Australia Rutherglen sticky to German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese to Canadian Icewine to Italian Recioto della Valpolicella and many, many more.
So g’wan, don’t take my word for it, the next time you’re in a restaurant choosing from the dessert menu, tackling a cheeseboard or perusing wine in your local wine retailer, treat yourself to a glass of dessert wine. You won’t regret it.
Photo : Copyright Lar Veale Sour Grapes
I have been a fan of Lar Veale’s wonderful blog at www.sourgrapes.ie for a while now. His lack of presence and his straightforward, no nonsense approach to wine is great to see. Lar’s website is a lovely mix of video content, prose and cracking wine information.
I first came across Lar’s site while searching for information on wine books – one of my dream combos – wine and books ! He has some great wine book recommendations, reviews and links here
Ever wondered about grape varieties. Lar has it covered. His A to Z of grapes is brilliant.
Thanks to Lar for his kind permission to use his material for this Blog post. Enjoy and check out Lar’s website here when you are finished.
Over to you Lar . . . .
In the above video, I tasted the following three Rieslings from producer, Carl Ehrhard.
All three are gorgeous, with my favourite being the Spätlese Trocken (green label).
While the sugar level is the clear difference between the wines (dry versus sweet – see graph below), it’s worth noting it’s not the only difference.
According to Carl Ehrhard’s website,
“The quality of wines is not determined by single parameters such as acidity or alcohol, but in the overall outcome of the composition!”.
Anyway, back to the Rieslings and where you can get ‘em.
They’re on sale from Karwig Wines in Carrigaline, Co. Cork – karwigwines.ie:
Because Life Is Too Short To Drink Boring Wine . . .
