Red Wine of the Year

Red Wine of the Year

Schutz Barossa “Red Nectar” Shiraz 2006
Way out in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, Tammy Schutz has been working her family vineyards and quietly producing a tiny quantity of sensational red wine. Full bodied, with velvet, rich and smooth black fruit, chocolate and spice, this is a wonderful wine to partner steak or beef dishes.

A wine that wears its name well..Red Nectar indeed!

On promotion for a limited time only.

White Wine of the Year

The White Wine of the Year (as voted by our customers..)

Masi “Masianco” 2010
A fantastic blend of Pinot Grigio and Verduzzo grapes,
from sunny vineyards close to Venice.
The Verduzzo grapes are given a short appassimento (drying period) to concentrate flavours before pressing and the resulting wine is absolutely luscious and chock-full of fantastic flavours and aromas.

On promotion price for a limited time only!

Catherine Fulvio Visit

Catherine Fulvio Book Signing & Wine Tasting

Thanks to everyone who attended our tasting night with Celebrity Chef Catherine Fulvio. It was one of the best nights we’ve had for a while.

We were absolutely delighted to welcome Catherine as our guest and she was in fabulous form, giving out plenty of cooking tips and tricks and insights into her excellent book “Catherine’s Italian Kitchen”

The Italian-style nibbles went down very well (Thanks a million to Hajni and Mary for all the hard work and preparation!)

On the wine front I selected a dusky range of Italians and the wines we tasted were:

Whites
San Giorgio Prosecco RRP 11.95
Pasqua Pinot Grigio 2010 RRP 10.95

Reds
Borgo Cipressi Chianti 2009 RRP 12.95
Nespolino Sangiovese / Merlot 2009 RRP 11.95
Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2008 RRP 15.95

The San Giorgio Prosecco went down very well, it’s a lovely easy drop and a good wine to kick off any party or celebration. This one is quite fruity, not too dry at all and there’s a decent bit of fizz going on. It’s screwcapped too, which is handy if you you need to crack open a few bottles in a hurry! It will be great “warm-weather drinking” in the months to come!

The Pasqua Pinot Grigio was very typical in style, light, crisp and fresh with lots of pear fruit character and a “dangerous gluggability”

The Borgo Cipressi Chianti 2009 (Cypress Village..named after the beautiful cypress trees so typical of Tuscany) was the first red in our line-up and is a good example of benchmark DOCG Chianti. Tasty cherry fruit and spice with a nice bite of acidity, this is a wine designed in wine heaven for Italian cuisine. Works great with pasta dishes in tomato sauce.

The next red Nespolino 2009 is from the Emilia Romagna region (near Bologna) and is a super example of modern Italian winemaking.
It’s a blend of Sangiovese (the Chianti grape) and Merlot, a bit of a turbo-Chianti and delivers great colour, a lovely plummy nose and bags and bags of flavour. A great new wine which we’re delighted to recommend.

As one or two tasters pointed out we’d saved the best until the end with the Masciarelli 2008.This is a damn fine Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ,from one of the best local producers and the wine punches well above its weight pricewise. A wine to try with meaty food.

You can check out all the details about Catherine at www.catherinefulvio.com and find out about her cookery school in Wicklow at www.ballyknocken.com

Wines of the Year

Wines of the Year

Its that time of the year again where we ask you to vote for your favourite wines of the last twelve months.

We will then count up your votes and put the winning wines on promotion in the shop, to “spread the good wine news” to all our customers.

We’re looking for your FAVOURITE RED and FAVOURITE WHITE.

Here are some popular wines which may help jog the wine memory..

Reds
Twiggy / Lavignone Barbera d’Asti / Zenato Ripassa / Mas Laval / Mukuzani Georgian / Belleruche Cotes du Rhone / Red Nectar / Kalleske Pirathon / Chocolate Block / Casa Patronales Carmenere / Marmesa Syrah / Sokol Blosser Meditrina / Dry River Shiraz / Il Bucco Montepulciano / Vina Plata Malbec / Antares Merlot / Devils Corner Pinot Noir / Millbrook Shiraz / Chateau La Tonnelle Haut Medoc / Chateau Gravier Figeac St. Emilion / Mudhouse Pinot Noir / Chateau Musar / Resalso Ribera del Duero

Whites
Berticot Sauvignon Blanc / Tsinandali Georgian / Mirror Lake Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc / Huia Sauvignon Blanc / Zenato Lugana / Fontavin Chateauneuf du Pape / Masi Masianco / Backsberg Chenin Blanc / San Giorgio Pinot Grigio / Antares Sauvignon Blanc / Martenot Macon Lugny / Mudhouse Sauvignon Blanc / Barking Owl Semillon-Sauvignon / Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc / Tamellini Soave / Pieropan Soave / Teresa Rizzi Prosecco / Martin Codax Albarinho / Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc / Prova Regia Arinto

To cast your vote just email: john@nectarwines.com

Thanks for voting!

Wines over Christmas..

Happy New Year from Nectar Wines!

I hope you all enjoyed lots of tasty wines over the Christmas season.
It felt like a bit of a relief to finally get to Christmas this year, after all the economic woes of 2010 and tough wintery weather.
Thanks to everyone who braved the arctic conditions and fought their way down to Sandyford Village for some wine.
It’s certainly the first time we’ve had customers in the shop decked out in ski-wear!



Christmas Day wines in the McGrath household were..
Jeio Prosecco
San Giorgio Pinot Grigio 2009
Les Laquets Cahors 2001

The whites were beautifully chilled..out the back garden in the snow!
Wines were all very enjoyable I have to say.. although discussions concluded
that the Cahors (Malbec) was maybe a bit full-on and heavy for the Turkey and Ham.

There wasn’t a drop left all the same.Definitely a great wine for steak or beef..

Still not sure what’s the perfect wine for Brussels Sprouts..any suggestions?

Other wines I enjoyed over the holidays were:
Barista Pinotage 2009
a fab new South African wine which has that lovely “coffee and chocolate” thing going on..

Parrell Montsant 2006
a lovely full oaky red from the mountains near Barcelona D.O.Montsant, a lively blend of Garnacha, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet!Needs a breathe to open up but there’s lots going on in the glass..

Mas Laval 2006
One of my absolute favourite French wines (I selected it for my wedding last summer) a beautiful rich and smooth blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. You just don’t find wines like this from New World wine regions. Spellbinding!

Our tastings will kick off again in a few weeks..details of our first theme and special guest to follow..

Keep an eye our for our Australian Wine Sale..coming soon!!

China Sichuan

I had another wonderful evening recently at my favourite Chinese Restaurant - China Sichuan. This is quite simply one of the best places around Dublin for great Chinese food and if you haven’t been I heartily recommend it. Great food, quality wines and friendly and efficient service.

I’ve been going to China Sichuan for a few years now and happily followed the guys and their smashing food, from their original base in Stillorgan to their new, modern and stylish restaurant down in Sandyford.

Most times when I go, I end up ordering my favourite spicy dumplings dish for starters - "Hon Yu Guozi"-Poached dumplings, in a hot & spicy red oil broth. They’re really good and so tasty I find it almost impossible to resist ordering them!

One of my favourite mains is "Haozan" Rib Eye Beef-tender pieces of mature rib eye, pan fried in Sichuan pepper sauce, with garlic shoots. Other dishes I’ve enjoyed include their sea bass and tea-smoked duck which are both excellent.

A recent wine discovery in the restaurant was that good Pinot Noir matches very well with Chinese beef dishes. They had a lovely Burgundy (available by the glass!) which went very well with my rib-eye beef dish.

On the dessert front, I thought you couldn’t beat their Banana fritters until I tried the caramelised Apple fritters which the waiter serves up to you hot,fresh and syrupy at your table. I’m not sure if its always on the menu but snap it up if you see it. Great stuff altogether!

For more details check out www.china-sichuan.ie or phone 01- 2935100

Five Years Trading in Sandyford!

We're celebrating five years trading in Sandyford Village!

We’ve sniffed, slurped and tasted a fair number of wines over the past five years
in search of true wine “nectar”(I did a rough calculation and I frightened myself
with a "wines tasted" figure of approx 2000 wines..)

A selection of random highlights..

- Being interviewed by Eddie Hobbs about “wines for investment” on the TV

- Getting our fourth Bridgestone Guide plaque in a row in 2010

- Having a “Sideways” inspired California tasting where we had a “Merlot ban”
and a “shrine to Pinot Noir”

- Getting up early on Wednesdays for a year (Ouch!) to present the weekly WineSpot on Country Mix 106.8fm

- Our Millbrook Wine Dinner in Ballyknocken House and Cookery School (with Celebrity chef Catherine Fulvio)

- Hearing some amazing customer feedback on the Sokol Blosser Oregon Pinot Noir!

- Welcoming various winemakers from Barossa Valley, Minervois, South Africa etc..to the shop, in particular cult winemaker Troy Kalleske of Kalleske wines

- Landing wine from Georgia in the shop! I imagine it’s a long old
spin from Georgia to Sandyford Village!

- Wine trips to Portugal, The Rhone Valley, The Languedoc, Hungary,
Priorat and Tuscany in search of vinous treasure

- Our Icon Wine Tasting where we tasted Barolo, Meursault, Cloudy Bay,
Chateau Musar and some other wine “big names”

All of this would have been impossible without the support of our customers,
so I’d very much like to say a massive “Thank You!” to everybody for helping us along the way…

Here’s looking forward to the next five!

Hopefully we have plenty of fun “winetimes” ahead…

Yours in Wine,

John McGrath

Nectar Wines
Sandyford Village
ph 01 2944067