Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Our Favourite new Bordeaux - Chateau Brande Bergere

An unscheduled visit to Huntsworth Wine in Kensington led us to being introduced to one of the best wines we have found this year. Tuggy Meyer, entertaining and knowledgeable owner showed us the Cuvee"O'Byrne " from Chateau Brande Bergere and told us it was his best selling wine in the shop (which was full to the rafters with really good Bordeaux and Burgundy). We happened to be going to Bordeaux the following week, so I set up an appointment.

















Situated a good half hour north of Pomerol, we drove deeper and deeper into the countryside until we came across a beautiful house surrounded by impeccably kept vineyards, some already harvested, others with plump ripe grapes waiting to be picked.  It is situated on a hillside overlooking the Dronne Valley. It is a small, family-owned estate, owned and managed by the charming Denis and Edith Dalibot since 1997. The estate makes 3 wines - a very small amount of a rather delicious Rose that we will look at next year and 2 reds, both Bordeaux Superieurs.



The Cuvee Tradition is a blend of 40% Merlot, 35% abernet Franc and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon - it is aged for 18 months in cement vats. It is a gentle, well-made, classic claret - ripe, soft with great fruit character and good length and complexity. An absolute joy at this price.



The aforementioned Cuvee O'Byrne (named after an Irish priest, one of the Wine Geese!) has the same assemblage, but the best grapes go into it and it gets 18 months of oak aging. this is a full-bodied and rich wine, but with perfect balance - again a great example of how Bordeaux should be. If it had Saint Emilion on the label, a wine of this quality would be twice the price.

It is an estate whose wines regularly feature strongly in the Guide Hachette, Decanter and Jancis Robinson have both given great reviews and it was ranked Number 1 of all (however many thousand) Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieurs by "Revue de Vins de France" for the 2013 vintage.

For more info see www.brandebergere.com



Friday, November 6, 2015

17th Annual Wine Fair

Hard to believe, but our 17th Wine Fair is on next Thursday, November 12th at 6pm in Fitzpatricks Killiney Castle.

We have just gone through the list and, out of about 100 wines, over 40 are new from last year. Most of our own imports are there, of course, but we have some great wines from all over the world, sourced from some of Ireland's best wine companies.

It's not only a great chance to try a huge range of amazing wines, but it is generally a good night out as well.

You can avail of great discounts too for orders on the night.

Hope to see you there - tickets are €10.