Coffee for one

I was reading last weeks article over a coffee and I noticed that it rambled a little bit more than usual. Did the new Wednesday delivery of the paper to the people of Clonmel push me away from my normal controlled prose? An interesting and sober thought that I will ponder over my next coffee. Wouldn’t it be great to have an article about coffee? I personally love my coffee and have a very nice old style La Pavoni coffee maker that I received as a wedding present from my sister. I should add I dropped a big hint, including the model number and the best website to purchase it on via a very detailed email prior to the wedding. Ireland has greatly changed since I came from France all those years ago and great coffee is to be found all over Tipperary now. I still wince when offered instant coffee and find it hard to hide my disgust. Luckily I don’t find it on my travels as much. Some great Clonmel spots for a good coffee include Hickeys at the Westgate, Befanis, The 19th Hole and the Clonmel Golf Club of all places. Tommy Ryan of Ponaire coffee, and a member of the Tipperary Food Producers supplies the coffee and it is superb and fresh. The club are giving away free golf to visitors from September 12-18 so I hope they all try the coffee. When I am out and about, trying to flog wine, I find myself in need of a good cup, so please drop me a line and recommend some good coffee spots around Ireland or even Tipperary. I get even crankier without coffee.

Salt ( no vinegar )

That’s enough coffee talk until the Nationalist gets an official coffee writer. As the kids ( and teachers ) head back to the books this week, so will we return to our learning about wine tasting. After the rambling repose of last week, we will focus on the other basic tastes ( after sweetness and acidity ). Our tongue is put back to work once more and saltiness and bitterness are on the agenda. When we talk of food, saltiness is vital and very easy to spot. Try finding a salty wine and you could be searching for a while. According to our lady of the vine, Jancis Robinson, dry sherry, Chilean Red wine, New Zealand whites and the wonderful Syrah’s of the northern Rhone can offer traces of salt, but in essence it is exceptional to find it. Salt is one of the 4 basic tastes so is here for completeness rather than concrete wine reality.

The bitter fruit

Bitterness is the fourth basic taste and it is the flat back part of the tongue that will be most sensitive to it. It is not very common or important in wine when compared to acidity and sweetness but those of you who like your Italian reds, especially from Chianti, Barolo and Barbaresco should find a bitter taste to the wines. This is not a bad thing and the Italians are known to very much appreciate bitter wines. There is medical evidence to suggest that it aids digestion and helps the body cope with the alcohol. The next time you are tasting wine, take what you have learned about sweetness, acidity, salt and bitterness to make a calculated description of the wine you are drinking. It should help you to decide upon your favourite wine style. Therefore, when you come in and ask for a wine you will be able to tell me you want a dry wine with high acidity, no trace of bitterness. I’ll give a choice at different price points and a happy customer is born. Deciphering the style might seem impossible the first time, but it gets easier as you practice. That first time you asked to go to the toilet in Irish in school was excruciating, as the teacher usually wouldn’t let you go unless you said it right. As you bobbed and weaved on the spot trying to get the words together and your bladder about to burst, you thought your teacher a cruel person. However, it got easier to say, and to this day I can still remember, “An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas, Más é do thoil é?” It’s easy change your school pants after an accident, but look what I got as a reward. The gift of language. I am never nervous when I visit the Gaeltacht area, as I know I have the ability to politely source a toilet if the need arises. The Christian Brothers and their strict rules were behind much of my future academic discipline as well as my mortal fears. I never had a particularly bad time from them but learned early not to take them on in public. I’m reminded of Pat Shortt and his drunken bar character Dan telling the story of the two boys having the “simple auld salad” in Hassets field and the terrible beating they got. “Was it the Black and Tans Dan?” asks the barman. “No”, says Dan. “It was the Christian Brothers”. A special hello and good luck to all the children who started school today including my niece Elise, who has a wine named after her. I hope the country is fixed by the time you get out the other end.

The Tipperary Food Producers Long Table dinner was a huge success and if Tipperary beat Kilkenny next weekend, it will be even better. As I mentioned last week, I asked the Kilkenny owner of Domaine des Anges, Gay McGuiness to sponsor a case of his wine for the night, and he kindly agreed, but on condition. If Kilkenny win the All Ireland, I pay for the sponsored wine, and if Tipperary wins, he does. So, for all of you, who enjoyed this wonderful organic wine from Provence, be sure to shout for Tipperary on September 5th. Please visit the website www.tipperaryfoodproducers.com to see highlights from the night. If there are aspects of wine that you want to know about, please feel free to contact me. I’d be delighted for an excuse to write something someone wants to read.

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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”