20% OFF Languedoc & Sth Africa
May 4th, 2012
May is here and we can start to dream about the summer. We will be offering a little sale for the merry month of May and offering 20% off on some of our favourite Languedoc wines. I watched the film Invictus this week, so I will also throw our Paarl Heights wines from South Africa into the sale.
The Gassac Collection
Gassac Classic Red @ €7.19 (normally €8.99)
Gassac Classic White @ €7.19 (normally €8.99)
Guilhem Red @ €7.99 (normally €9.99)
Guilhem White @ €7.99 (normally €9.99)
Albaran Cabernet – Syrah @ €9.59 (normally €11.99)
Elise Merlot – Syrah @ €9.59 (normally €11.99)
Faune Viognier @ €9.59 (normally €11.99)
The Reserve the Gassac has been renamed Pont de Gassac and is also on offer for only €11.99 (normally €14.99)
The Red is fantastic and we still have a little of the Reserve white left over, but this is also on special.
The Best of the Rest
Grandiose Cabernet Sauvignon
Corbieres St Lucie
Malis Cotes de Roussillon
Delsol PicPoul de Pinet
Agnel Minervois
Chateau Calce Cotes de Roussillon Villages
Star Buys
Dignite Syrah
Mas de L’Ecriture ‘Emotion‘
South Africa
- The vineyards of South Africa
We are also offering Paarl Heights Shiraz and Chenin Blanc on offer. €7.19 (normally €8.99)
Don’t forget, all of the SALE wines count towards the Loyalty Card points.
Have a great Bank Holiday.
A Guest Blogger – Forever Young
April 12th, 2012
I grew up in Cherrymount on the outskirts of Clonmel and have great memories of playing football on the old tennis court and buying sweets on a Saturday morning in Deccies shop with my 50p pocket money. I lived up the back of the estate and my cousin Alan lived in the front. Conor O Mahony made up the trio of Cherrymount Musketeers.
Bob Dylan & The Nationalist
As we grew older we went in different directions and lost touch as childhood friends often do. Conor is sadly no longer with us as he died unexpectedly of Sudden Cardiac Death following a football match in Dublin in 2006. However it turns out for as much as we had in common as kids, we had a lot in common as adults. We both play guitar, love Bob Dylan’s music, travelling and we both have been known to write our thoughts on paper and The Nationalist have been kind enough to publish them.
I was living in Paris when Conor’s travel journey was published in the Nationalist so it was not until I read the book that has recently been published that I knew about his articles. His father Brendan (of Clonmel Travel fame) walked a part of the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain to raise funds for CRY, a charity that raises awareness, offers support for families and also offers access to Cardiac screening for anyone who might feel they are at risk.
Brendan gathered all of Conor’s travel diary entries and added his own section on the Camino and a book that celebrates Conor’s life and raises money for a great cause was born. The book is called Forever Young, after one of Bob Dylan’s songs. It is one of Conor’s ( and coincidently one of my ) favorite songs. I have played and sang this song to my kids when they were small babies. I also made a promise in 2004 to walk the Camino someday, but that’s a story for another day, and involves high heels.
With kind permission from Brendan and Margaret, Conor’s parents, I am going to share one of his articles with you, where he visits a well known winery in Australia. To set the scene, he is backpacking his way up through the Hunter Valley with a bunch of people of a certain age who are enjoying life. Conor’s piece starts here.
Conor’s Wine Trip
“I’m on the OZ Experience bus, which will take me up the east coast, but inland, rather than on the coast, if you get my drift. But first we are heading towards a spot, more a region actually, a place that is famous for its wine – Hunter Valley. I have run out of superlatives for the scenery
The Hunter Valley could be described thus! Grapevines rolling over verdant hills, like well-drilled infantry and all in the cause of wine. I never thought I’d see where, for example, Rosemount wines were made. It has the familiar logo on the gate and on the way in we pass Lindemans and Coopers as well. As it happens, our guide John has factored in a tasting at Rosemount. Better still we are taking a tour around and the tasting and lunch will follow for those who want it.
First we are shown the Hunter Valley ‘cellar door’ tasting. This is an Aussie tradition – you just drive up to the door of these huge warehouses and there is a sham inside who will give you a free tasting of the vineyard’s produce. It’s all done very informally but in that curious Australian way also all very professional and sales oriented – as Kenney Everett would have said ‘in the nicest possible way’. The guy who is doing the tasting is a dyed in the wool denim clad workmanlike Aussie – nothing poncy about this operation – all about good wine and very much to the point He places a couple of bottles of red and white on a barrel top tables and a sheila – Aussie affectionate name for a young lady places glasses and pours.
We have had a few glasses of Rosemount – the red Shiraz is cheeky with big fruit flavours – and the Semillon white is a fruity little wine with overtones of slate and lemon. I’m getting the hang of this wine lark. Some of us are feeling no pain – it’s 11 o’clock in the morning – because we ignored the advise to spit the wine out after tasting it – I mean imagine telling anyone, especially an Irishman, to spit out good – very good – free wine into a spittoon? ‘No way Bruce’ as they say in Queensland. Eventually we reluctantly left this cellar or even stellar experience and went on with the tour.
The most popular brands are the ones we know at home: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Semillon, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. The Aussies were crafty because, rather than do what the French do and name the wine after a region or vineyard, they label with the grape variety and this along with hi tech production saw Australian wines take off in popularity worldwide. Now we got down to the nitty gritty. Our wine lecturer, Sheila is an expert on wine, how grapes are grown, picked, processed, turned into wine, bottled and sent to points of sale worldwide.
Major wine producers from abroad now own Australian wineries, and Australian companies have taken controlling interests in wineries in countries such as France and Chile. The oldest grapevines in the world are here in Australia. Many of Europe’s established vineyards were destroyed by disease in the 1800s, but the vines brought to Australia survived. Funny how a quirk of fate can work in a positive way for some. Wine production here is different. There are no big wooden vats and no wooden barrels, these are used later to age the wine.
The Australian theory is: sell it young without pretension, so instead there are huge stainless steel vats in which the wine is stored. There are no chemicals added but Sheila tells us about bouquet, nose, taste for different parts of the tongue and the one I liked best: ‘length’ of the wine – this is the mmmm and tongue and lip smacking exercise that goes of after the wine is swallowed.
She also reveals that the secret of Australian wine success is control. The wine is popular because only sugar is added. Resident chemists analyse the wine each year and make sure the quality, taste, colour are the same. This may sound boring but it’s what happens to the bulk of the wine and the success is due to the fact that if you drink a 1995 bottle of wine and like it and you buy a 2002 bottle, the experience and the taste is going to be the same – the exact same.
Then our hosts decide to test us and have a competition. They bring out ten glasses of red wine and tell us that only one is a Rosemount ‘Who was poyin’ attinshun?’ Sheila asks. The prize: a bottle of champagne for the table. I got nominated to represent the group mainly because I was still able to stand up and wasn’t hammered like the rest of the crew. I hammed it up and did all the things were told on the course. I stuck my nose way down in each glass and took a mighty sniff. Jilly Goulding and Oz Clarke would have been proud of me. I bigged the whole thing up by saying stuff like
‘ I’m getting blackberries and wet hay with a hint of under the bed socks’ and ‘there are strong overtones of charred rashers here with a tinge of dry cow dung and maple syrup and just a hint of fresh mango and ‘mmmmmm slurp slurp – magnificent length on this one.’
This was eliciting cheers and guffaws from my coach companions and smiles from Sheila. Then I laid it on them. I had come to the eighth glass in the row. I recognised the colour and, when I sniffed it I knew, it was the same Rosemount Shiraz that is always on our table at home for Christmas, weddings, birthdays etc. I didn’t even have to taste it.
‘That’s the Rosemount’ I said. Sheila said ‘But yew hivvint toyasted it’
‘I don’t need to’ I replied cockily. ‘That’s the Rosemount Shiraz, Sheila.’
‘Give ‘im the shimpoyin’.’ Sheila said.
I resisted the urge to waste good drink – so I didn’t spray it- I poured it and drank to Ireland and Australia and Paddy Reilly and the Fields of Athenry. Most of my companions didn’t know Paddy but they got the message with an impromptu acapelo rendition of ‘The Fields’. Another memorable day but now we’re back on the bus and heading for Nundle.”
Buy The Book – its a great read
I hope you enjoyed a little piece of the book. It’s a great read and I have it for sale in the shop. I enjoyed it immensely. The O Mahony’s paid for every bit of the production so every penny from sales goes to the charity. It is only €20 and you can also buy it online at www.cry.ie or locally in Clonmel Travel, The Book Centre, McDermotts Irishtown, Texaco on the Cahir Road and at Flahertys Mace Supermarket , Irishtown.
If Conor was still with us, I would enjoy converting him from those Rosemount wines to some of the great wines Australia has on offer. Maybe a selective tasting, including those oldest vines he spoke of – (Langmeil in the Barossa Valley is the vineyard). Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen would form the soundtrack but I am a very average guitar player, so I would let Conor hold court there. When we were kids, Liverpool won everything and Man United were a cup team. I don’t think I could resist that discussion either. I know Conor would take it in the right spirit, maybe?
New Loyalty Cards – Free Wine
April 5th, 2012
We are introducing a new Loyalty Card system and here is how it works. There are 3 levels. You get a free Silver card and every time you spend €25 you get a sticker. After 10 stickers you fill up the card and get Free Wine and a Gold Card. Once you go through the Gold Card you get more expensive free wine and a Platinum Card. The free wine at the end of the Platinum card is even better again. And yes, you can get mutiple stickers on single visits, so and €80 visit will get you 3 stickers and closer to the wine.
That means you don’t have to worry about getting the best discounts. You’ll always be getting them whether there is a sale on or not.
This will work with wines on our generic 20% sales. What it won’t work with is individual deals based on quantity – e.g. weddings at a special wedding price. ( of course you can pay full price for the wedding wines and get the cards filled as you do. ) It will work online. We will send you out the card with the order.
Life if much too short to drink bad wine.
Do Wives Listen – AKA How to store Wine
March 21st, 2012
I have something shocking to relay to all of the men out there who are in committed loving relationships with women. We are all familiar with the acquiescence nature of their nodding and smiling, as you give them some hard earned bit of knowledge that will in no doubt better their situation in life. They may not be taking us seriously at all. I don’t think they are listening.
Sharing is Caring
I am years telling my wife all about the amazing world of wine and I am generous to a fault when sharing with her all the stories and advice that I feel has enriched my life. Sometimes I would spend hours regaling her with tales from the vines. I thought she was enthralled; now I am beginning to believe that she was secretly listening to her iPod as I pontificated.
When Wine goes Bad
I came home recently to her proud declaration that the wine in the house was now on display. I wasn’t sure what this meant as I don’t have too much wine in the house at any one time. I tend to move it ‘into position’ on a sideboard ahead of future consumption, so the display part was confusing me.
Don’t put the wine in the Oven
We have a furniture piece on which sits the TV and there is a glass shelf which forms the base on which the TV sits, but there is lots more space on this surface. My wife decided to slide the wines in under the glass and beside the TV, Video, DVD, Sky Box and under a lamp. You would find it tough to pick a worse place to store wines, other than in the oven.
The Cliff House and their Wine cellar
Wine hates fluctuations in temperature. Wives do not listen to husbands. Germany owns Ireland and China owns the USA. These are all facts and one must respect facts, but we don’t necessarily have to like them. We must adapt as these facts start to affect our lives. The wines were moved immediately and the dirtiest of looks given in the direction of the decorator.
That piece of narrative leads us to the point of the article, the correct storage of wines. That wasn’t subtle at all, was it? Wine storage can be broken down into three categories, light, humidity and temperature. All three need to be controlled if you really want to keep those prize bottles. If you plan on opening the bottle before you get it home, this storage problem may not affect you. The statistics on the time between purchase and consumption is startling.
Another fine cellar @ Ballymaloe House
Stay away from the Light Carole Anne
Let us talk of the light. The lighter the wine, the more at risk it is. Wine, if made properly, is an organic, living entity and is sensitive to change, as are we. Light and delicate wines are most at risk, which is why you will often see them in dark bottles. Strong, direct sunlight or incandescent light can adversely react with phenolic compounds in wine and create these potential wine faults. This is why ‘they’ recommend a dark cupboard, as opposed to a window display.
Humility and Humidity
I am a big fan of humility in wines, and in people. If you are as great as you think you are, we will discover it at the appropriate time. This theory applies to both wine and people and has nothing to do with humidity, which is all about moisture in the air. This is needed in order to keep wines with cork enclosures from drying out. If the cork starts to dry out, then it allows oxygen in and this is bad. Incidentally there are mixed views on the optimum level of humidity; but 75% seems like a good enough number.
Some Like it Hot
The big thing that wine does not like while being stored is big changes in temperature. Once again, the more delicate the wine, then the more sensitive it is to change. Your big Barossa Shiraz will fare much better than your German Riesling. Once again there are various figures bandied about regarding optimal storage temperatures. I like 12-13 degrees centigrade myself but you are OK at 15. The key is not to fluctuate too much. Cold is better than hot, but too cold is also bad as the corks expand and that dreaded oxygen gets in.
Wine is stored on its side to keep some contact with the cork and stop it from drying out. So that’s all you need to know on how to store your wine. All you need to do now is call down to Red Nose Wine and start that cellar. TV cabinets are not ideal storage venues, but to be fair to my wife, and her apparent dismissing of years of tutelage, when she asks my opinion on which shoes go with which dress, or when she is asking for my input into important domestic decisions, I don’t always give it 100% focus. I’m usually thinking about wine.
The Nationalist Wine Column is back
Don’t forget to log onto the blog at www.rednosewine.com/blog, visit our All New Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RedNoseWineFanPage or follow the ranting on Twitter – www.twitter.com/rednosewine
For anyone who would like more information and can’t make it into the shop, please feel free to contact me at info@rednosewine.com
“Life is much too short to drink bad wine”
A Spring Wine Sale
March 15th, 2012
As Led Zepplin once roared, its been a long time since Rock’n'Roll. We have not been as active as we might be on the old internet of late, but we had been busy finding new wines which will make their way onto the factory floor so to speak in the next few weeks and months.
Ahead of all this, we have a sale, and rather than try dump all the old stuff that we are trying to shift, we are offering some of our very best wines. First come first served.
These are the wines on Sale :
Spain
La Mano Mencia ( now €7.19 )
Pago Malarina Rioja (now €8.79)
France
Gassac Classic Red and White (now €7.19)
Grandiose Cabernet Sauvignon (now €7.19)
Clarion Rhone Red (now €8.79) / 58 Guineas Claret (now €7.99)
Malis Cotes de Rousillon (now €7.99)
Chile
Santa Alicia Merlot Reserva (now €7.99)
Santa Alicia Sauvignon Blanc Reserva (now €7.99)
New Zealand
Ant Moore Sauvignon Blanc (now €11.99)
Waihopai Sauvignon Blanc (now €10.39)
See you online or in the shop where we will have some of these wines open for the tasting.
Red Nose Wine in photos
March 15th, 2012
We recently had John Kelly, well known Tipperary photographer in to take some shot of the shop. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I talk too much, so here we go.
Postcards from the Edge
February 14th, 2012
and by the edge, I mean the Cliff Edge, and by the Cliff, I mean the Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore, Co. Waterford.
I have three small children and while this brings great joy to my life, it also takes it over on many an occasion. My youngest was born last September and she was 10 weeks early so we spent 52 stressful days in hospital with her. During this emotional haze, myself and my wife promised each other when we get through this, we would go away to the Cliff House Hotel and have the famous tasting menu. This is what makes us happy and if Sarah’s great journey wasn’t a good enough reason, then nothing would be. Christmas presents were made easy this year.
Red Nose Wine supplies a very famous wine into the Cliff House Hotel, Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc, and it has pride of place on the famous tasting menu.
I won’t bore you with stories of the infinty pool, the outdoor jacuzzi, the sauna or the sound of the sea and the upgraded room and the complimentary champagne on arrival, but let’s just say it took about five minutes to relax. I was at the Ryder Cup in the K Club and was blown away with the standards set there for organization but also seamless way everything just worked. The Cliff House is like that. Everything just works…
I should say that the aforementioned baby was with us. The others were farmed out to doting grandparents but we weren’t quite ready to take our eye off of her.
This is a run through of one of the most amazing food experiences that I have ever had. I am not qualified to say exactly how good a chef Martijn Kajuiter is, but as a lover of food, this was an incredible assault on the senses. The flavour, textures and imagination with the wide array of dishes was mesmirising. I remember working as a waiter in a Michelin starred resteraunt on the French Riviera many years ago, and my biggest panic was always learning the contents of the Amuse Bouche (in French and English ) every night. This is the little tingler for the taste buds that you get ‘before’ the starter. The translation is “mouth amuser”. Here is what we got …
The bread including Smoked Glenilen Butter, Irish Walnuts and Seasalt.
This was just an assault on the senses - scallops, sea spinach, pork, irish caviar, quail Egg, veal, foie Gras and much more
The wine to match this dish was Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc and it was a wonderful accompaniment to the many different dishes in front of us. A tip of the hat to Anke, the excellent sommelier in the Cliff House.
Fish by the Sea ... Helvick Cod with brown shrimps, Marsh Saphire and Butter Jus
to clean the palate ...
Herbs from the garden make a great sauce ....
... and Skeaghanore Duck with rhubarb, black olive, Thyme and white chocolate suits it perfectly
and so the deserts began to arrive ...
and then it was over ...
The wine matching menu was very well done and added to the whole experience. The English Pinot Gris was a real treat with the Cod. I even got a glass of Sake with the salmon dish ( I never took a picture of that dish )
The Wines
While we savored this truly wonderful meal, our baby Sarah had it to look forward to the next morning. The joys of breastfeeding. I will say that it did not affect her appetite but it did do strange things to the the nappies. My wife wasn’t drinking so at least Sarah didn’t have to worry about those side effects.
To close I will show the view from the room and possibly the best room in the hotel… I cannot recommend this enough – its a true touch of magic on our doorsteps and very well worth the trip, whether you are weather beaten parents in need of a night away, or lovers of all things food.
The view from the room
The best room in the house ?
An Ode to the Grape
February 7th, 2012
One day i woke up with an idea in my head
I was not worried what people would say or even have said
As per usual I wanted to write about wine
But I wanted it to be in 4 line paragraphs and maybe even rhyme
Grapes grow in countries with water and sun
When you ferment them, you introduce the fun
I appreciate the rhyming is childish and poor
But how else could I write a line with the word hoor.
Back to the vines and their wondrous fruit
When September comes they wear their best suit
The pickers arrive and strip them quite quick
Timing is crucial, speed is the trick
The winemaker now has a job on their plate
To control the temperature but also to wait
For yeasts to appear or nature to start
The sugar to transform to alcohol, it all has its part
“I like a sweet wine, oh i like it dry
I don’t like Chardonnay, but a Chablis I would try”
The measure of a dry wine is the sugar thats left
After fermentation, it is residual at best
So wine regions that see very little rays
Will struggle for sugar and ripeness these days
There is less to transform and little to waste
So if you like it dry, the Loire Valley’s to your taste?
I could write more and there’s more to tell
But I am listening and I can hear the exit bell
My editor is a patient man and has proven it so
But this will test him, what he will think I don’t know
So I bid you farewell and I bid you goodnight
Is poetry a good direction, will I be proven right?
We all need to try something that is new
This is my effort, I bid you adieu.
Rachel Allen and The Tipp Food Producers
November 30th, 2011
Top TV cook, Rachel Allen, will be making a special “Trip to Tipp” next month to host a Tipperary Food Producers Christmas Cookery Extravaganza.
Up to 500 foodies are expected at the Clonmel Park Hotel on December 7th to see the celebrity chef create special festive dishes from the best of local Tipperary artisan food produce.
Rachel Allen, who is part of the world famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in East Cork and who is well known from her regular Television shows and for her bestselling cook books, will prepare a variety of delicious dishes for the Tipperary food showcase. As well as her unique take on traditional Christmas favourites, she will also be offering exciting new ideas using the finest of local ingredients.
Cheese & Wine – Tipperary Style
Tipperary Cheese and wine will be served at the informative Christmas Cookery demonstration. Gary Gubbins of Red Nose Wine, will be giving guidance on wines to accompany the variety of dishes from the cookery demonstration. Well known food blogger Imen McDonnell, will give a live butter-making demonstration.
“I am very excited about coming to Tipperary to do this demonstration. Tipperary food has such a fantastic reputation and the local producers are doing great work to promote this wonderful asset. I will be doing traditional recipes but there will be a few surprises thrown in there too” said Rachel Allen.
Keeping it Local
The evening has been organised by the Tipperary Food Producers Network, which is appealing to consumers this Christmas to support small, artisan food producers and to shop and buy local.
“For every €10 spent with local food businesses, €34 goes back to the local economy. But for every €10 spent with large retail multiples, only €16 is returned to the local economy. We have some of the best food on our doorstep here in Tipperary and we urge local people to support their local producers,” according to Chairman of the Tipperary Food Producers Network, Pat Whelan.
“This Christmas we are urging consumers to visit their local baker, butcher, farm shops, cheesemonger, retailers and farmers markets – all who provide top quality food at reasonable prices.”
Mr Whelan said the network is delighted to have someone of the calibre of Rachel Allen coming to Tipperary to do the Christmas Cookery Extravaganza. “She is a huge supporter of local food and we look forward to seeing her put her unique twist on the ingredients we have to offer here in our County.”
The Tipperary Food Producers network has 30 members who between them employ approximately 220 people with an annual turnover of over €24m. The network includes producers of meat, beverages and bread, soup, sweets, pastry, catering, dairy, cheese, farm shops, preserves and condiments, jams, fruit and vegetables.
Special Care Baby Unit
There will be fundraising on the night to raise money for the Special Care Baby Unit in Clonmel which is terribly underfunded for the wonderful work it does.
Tipperary Food Producers
Members of the network include Cashel Blue Cheese, Crossogue Preserves, Crowe Farm Meats, Cooleeney Cheese, Cloughjordan house, Baylough Cheese, Boulaban Farm, Brownes, Fine Foods Cashel, Hickeys Bakery, Mags Home Baking, Tipperary Kitchen, Inch House, James Whelan Butchers, Oakpark Foods, Ponaire Irish Handcrafted Coffee, Red Nose Wine, Russell Catering, Seymour Organic Farm, The Apple Farm, The Cookie Jar, The Scullery, O’Donnell’s crisps and The Auld Mill Bakery.
The Christmas Cookery Extravaganza is part of a strategy by the Tipperary Food Producers Network to develop into a regional brand. It is continually highlighting what Tipperary Food has to offer, and the natural linkages food has to the social, economic, tourism and cultural aspects of life in Tipperary.
Tickets for the event on at 7.30p.m. in the Clonmel Park Hotel, Clonmel, on Wednesday December 7th, are €20. Those interested are advised to book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Tickets can be purchased from James Whelan Butchers or any of the businesses mentioned above. This is strictly a ticket only event and tickets will not be available on the night at the door.
December and Christmas Opening Hours Red Nose Wine
November 29th, 2011
We are Happy to announce we will be open all the way to Christmas ( 7 days a week ). We tried to figure out what the Beatles were on about with their 8 days, but we could not crack the Time Space Continuum. A little YouTube to ease that news.
Enough of all that – here are the opening hours up until Christmas
