If you want to meet a modern, unstuffy, social media friendly wine maker with flair and charm you should search out Ryan O’Connell.
I met him at EWBC, Vienna in 2010 and, whilst it would be an overstatement to say that we fell in love, it is true to say that I looked out for his wines when I got back to the UK.
When I visit London at weekends I like to scoff a proper Sunday lunch. Whether I take Champagne as an aperitif depends on whether my team has won or lost. On the occasion of 15 May 2011, I lunched at Foxtrot Oscar and the fizz, Raspberry Bellini, (OK I know it is Prosecco, not Champagne) was to celebrate rather than commiserate for a change. After a 35 year “hiatus”, Man City won a trophy, the FA Cup. And yet, I then went on to drink RED wine. And on the day after a certain team from East Lancashire won the Premier League!
When you are a wine magpie like me, you tend to lose some bottles to middle age. Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs from a couple of seasons ago, found looking (and tasting) forlorn in the corner of the garage. Cheap and cheerful cherry flavoured Malbecs that prove that half lives apply outside the nuclear industry.
I dug out a few old bottles from the bottom of the rack recently and this appeared, purchased from Majestic a couple of years ago. I feared the worst. But still opened it, obviously!
I should have trusted Catena (the reliable makers) and Bibendum (the reliable importers) and, in no small part Majestic (the now evergreen but reliable retailer), who despite their various mark-ups only billed me £7.99 for this excellent wine.
Full of smooth zingy fruit, it is still quite ‘in your face’ like a New Zealand Pinot Noir, but somehow with a surprising amount of refinement. I treated myself to a bottle at about 15 degrees with beans, bacon, mustard and watercress on toast (I know what you are thinking…..phwaaaarp). YUM!
I woke up with the sweetest hangover. The type that brings hazy memories of the day before. Not caused by alcohol. Oh no, something far more important. Football.
But, one has to eat, and drink, and get on with life so, in anticipation of victory, I had booked us into Barbecoa, Jamie Oliver’s new venture in Cheapside in the City. And as a hangover cures go, you could do worse than select from the “Bites” menu. The mountain of bread with home made butter was as filling as it was delicious. A “portion” of pork crackling (£4) was large enough to serve 16 Northern beer drinkers based on the size of pub bags when I was a nipper. And needless to say the flavour and crunch was in a new class, (but I am known as a bit of a porker).
In a very twee part of London, where, in more controversial political times Tone used to live, lies a pub. Â I wonder if this was a New Labour den at some point.
Keeping my lefty tendencies to one side, (I dress to the left), I booked through Opentable and consumed a pre-match meal. Â The glorious Man City made their first Wembley visit since 1999. I made my first visit to Islington since Morgan M‘s in 2008.
The Drapers Arms has a decent array of beers, a pretty and well priced wine list, and a menu that people of my age can read without glasses, which is all too rare. A bottle of 2009 Brouilly was excellent value at £31, and once given 10 minutes in an ice bucket was very drinkable. After only 10 minutes it was turned from flabby Bazooka Joe bubblegum to tight candy foam teeth and who wouldn’t prefer the teeth?  But, why serve Beaujolais at 25 degrees in the first place?
I got reprimanded on Twitter (I am @tiptoptaps) for slagging off wine brands, when I made a curt comment about Jacob’s Creek. In response to a question from someone interviewing the head winemaker at JC, whether I had any questions for him, I put my tongue in my cheek and said “yes, could he stop?” But I am not against wine brands at all. It is a massive mistake to judge a lady by her dress sense. Even if you are desperate.
For example, I have always shown affection for scantily clad beach babes from Chilean conglomerate, Concha y Toro, and especially their sub-brand Casillero del Diablo. OK, it is not fine wine, but this cost me £6.99 from Sainsbury (available from many sources including Tesco and, I haven’t bothered to check, but presumably Morrisons and Asda too, and maybe Somerfields and Co-op). How is such a ubiquitous and cheap wine so tasty?
Put aside your preconceptions about mass produced wine. CyT keep demonstrating that large quantities of grapes can be turned into very drinkable slosh.
The Carmenère is always a bit of a bonfire night wine. Autumn fruits and the smell of real wood fires. Make sure you stick it in the fridge for 30-40 minutes before drinking to maximise the flavour (see WART).
My mate Paul gave me a bottle of wine and told me that it is never wise to look a gift horse in the mouth. So let’s take a glance at its teeth then!
I am in the envious position of having tickets to see Elbow in their home town on 25 March. So tonight, Matthew, I’m doing a bit of cramming.
Have you heard the new Elbow album? It was released today and I downloaded it from iTunes for the princely sum of £10.99. Listening to it now, I am not yet totally enamoured. But that almost certainly means that, with two or three more listens, I will love it. Guy Garvey’s sharp “northern” lyrics combined with soulful melodies seem to appeal as much to men, as to women, despite the music being a bit soft for Northern blerks. I’d like to see Guy proclaimed King of Manchester and maybe I’d share a curry with him at Akbars, the most royal of Manchester Ruby restos.
The self proclaimed King of Beaujolais, Georges Duboeuf, sent me some Brouilly, via the Wine Society who debited my account to the rather commonly sum of £8.75. Château de Nervers, Brouilly, 2009, is from a legendary Bojo vintage. Do you believe the hype?
Do you prefer penguins or skateboarders? Personally I am a penguin man, although this caused a bit of controversy when I reviewed Hawksmoor. I did, though, fall in love with the beef. But, having revelled in Hawksmoor’s meat, I felt obliged to sample what most London foodies consider to be the competition in the steak stakes, Goodman.
I’ve been a W man for so long that people are starting to call me George Bush. So, when will you believe my double dip recession prediction? You might have to admit defeat at the end of Q1 2011, if GDP growth is negative for the second quarter. But I must admit that even I thought that interest rates would have to start rising before we took the second dive. If all it took was a VAT increase, then we are potentially heading for more of a “plummet”, than a “dip”. All of which leads me to continue looking for best value wine.
And that sometimes means belief in your future health by investing in en primeur wines.
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