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.

www.tipperaryfoodproducers.com

We are delighted to introduce 3 new mix cases on offer this Christmas.

We are doing an Old World Budget Case, a go on and Spoil Yourself Old World case and a Brave New World Mix case.
These are all discounted and offer some of our most loved wines from around the world.

Old World Budget Case Only €89.99 ( normally €106.38 )

The “Spoil Yourself” Luxury Old World Case
For those of you who want to spoil yourself a little bit more, then there is the Luxury Old World Case which has wines from Rioja, Chianti, Fleurie, Bordeaux, Chablis, Bubbly, Piedmonte and some crackers from Provence and the Languedoc. This case is normally €159.38 but we are giving it away for €134.99

A Brave New World Mix Case
Aldous Huxley once wrote a book called Brave New World. Of course as everyone knows, he robbed the title from Shakespeare, and from the The Tempest to be exact.

“O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in it!”

Well great literature needs great wine, so with that most ardous of introductions, let me introduce our Brave New World Mix case with wines from Chile, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Look out for the rare Sparkling Shiraz ( perfect with Turkey ). This case is only €137.99 ( normally €162.88 ). A real treat this Christmas.

Red Nose Wine are delighted to announce a portfolio tasting for Thursday December 8th at Hickeys Cafe at the historic Westgate in Clonmel. We will open a large selection of wines in a social atmosphere. We will have some food to allow you time to gather your strength to taste through all of the wonderful wines.

There is no need to sit and listen to me or someone else waffle about wine. This is less talky more drinky.
The wines will be open and we are encouraging a social atmosphere on the night.

A Taste to Savour this Chrismtas at Red Nose Wine

We will update this list on Facebook and Twitter as we add wines to the list.

We will take recomendations as well, so let us know what you want to taste and if is possible, we will open it…

McCarthys of Fethard has long been a mecca for the great and the good. The wall shows a liteny of stars who have come to visit the famous pub and restaraunt. They have all eventuallities covered because as well as Food and Drink, they have a hotel and are undertakers.

Graham Norton and Jasper in McCarthys

Martin Sheen films inside the famous McCarthys

They can now add Irish winemaker to that role of honour now as Ciaran Rooney will be coming to visit on Thursday November 24th. Red Nose Wine are proud to show off the critically acclaimed wines of Domaine des Anges alongside great local food in one of the best kept food secrets in Ireland. It has long been a mecca for the famous, with its authentic old school pub, but they produce some absolutely great dishes from the kitchen, and I have had some great meals out there in recent times.

An Irish Man in France

There are many old Irish names associated with the great chateau of Bordeaux, but the latter day Irish Wine Geese found themselves moving a little further south and one of the great modern Irish vineyards is based in a wonderful little part of Provence. It is called Domaine des Anges and Kilkennyman Gay McGuinness owns it and Dubliner Ciaran Rooney makes the wines, and they have been fantastically received all over the world. They have been very popular in Red Nose Wine since we started taking them in.

This promised to be a fantastic and informal night where wine and food will be the stars of the show. It won’t be formal dining. This allows us to keep the price down and for you to get a much more adventerous menu to match to the wines. Platters of Tipperary tapas will be sent out to accompany Ciaran’s wines. We will also serve the very rare Seraphin ( 100% Old Vine Grenache ) wine. 2009 was its first vintage and they only made tiny amounts. The wines are organic to boot.

Gary Gubbins climbes the hill above Domaine des Anges

For those of you not familiar with the vineyard, it is basically “over the hill” from Chateaneuf du Papes and its Reds reflect the style, especially in its entry level offering. I would suggest the Archange is more like a nothern Rhone in style and the high altitude definetly helps here, but its whites are where the real surprise occurs. Countless critics from Oz Clarke to Jancis Robinson and Tomas Clancy have raved about these wines. I haven’t even told you the best bit. They are fantastically priced and a real bargain from €12.50 up Retail.

Tickets can be purchased from Red Nose Wine or from McCarthys, but places are limited and with all the food and wine included for only €35, this could sell out very quickly. Tickets can be bought online.

There is no relevance between this title and this blog, but I did want an excuse to insert the You Tube clip from this classic song from The Band.

I was involved in two very special evenings recently, when Samuel Guibert from Mas de Daumas Gassac came over to see us, We had a dinner in Inch House ( which I will cover in a subsequent Tipp Food blog ), but we also went down to Ballymaloe House and a tasting followed by a wine dinner. It was a great night and we had a huge crowd in Ballymaloe’s fantastic Grain Store venue.

Before that, we went over to the Cookery school where Samuel adressed the students and then we caught up with Darina Allen for a quick chat.

Samuel Guibert, Darina Allen and Gary Gubbins

Smile Lads, they might turn up ...

They did... A big crowd in the Grain Store

Samuel Guibert on stage

Let me tell you a story about wine

Tomas Clancy interviews the great Myrtle Allen

We also launched the en Primeur offer on the night. You too can buy these great wines for a fraction of the cost. Details are here.

We have 2 new wines of the week. A fantastic alternative to Pinto Grigio from New Zealand called Woollaston that is down from €19.49 to €15.99. “It has sweet pear and apple notes and is weighty and rich and full of flavour with excellent length. It is off dry and a little honeyed, the acidity balances the concentrated fruit and adds a zesty flourish”.

The Red also comes from the Southern Hemisphere, Woodstock from the McLaren Vale region of Australia. Normally €15.99, it is reduced down to €12.99 for the week. This wine is a “sublime red blend loaded with dark chocolate & berry aromas followed by savoury tannins on the palate. A burst of juicy grape flavours showing dark berries, black currants and a touch of spice”.

Following the visit of Samuel Guibert to Ireland last week, we’re delighted to offer our second En Primeur campaign of Mas de Daumas Gassac.

WHAT IS EN PRIMEUR?
En Primeur is a way of buying wines while they’re still in barrel, well ahead of bottling and release, and with considerable savings on the final retail price. You pay the En Primeur price for the wines in advance, then pay for the excise duty, VAT and transport costs upon landing in Ireland. Transport is provided on a groupage basis with other clients so works
out much more cost effective than trying to organise on an individual basis.

I went down to Gassac to check that the wine was evolving

checking the 2011 vintage with Samuel Guibert

A message on the 2010 Red from Aime Guibert :

2010 VINTAGE REPORT FROM AIME GUIBERT – “A TREAT!”Ever since the end of fermentation, it’s been quite clear that the 2010 red Mas de Daumas Gassac is an outstanding vintage – powerful and oozing flavours.
The moderate summer, with no burning sun but equally not a drop of rain, was responsible for the delicious savors. Then, in early September, when the grapes were already ripe, a few scorching days ‘roasted’ them, resulting in a lightly ‘caramelized’ taste.

A splendid vintage, very full and rich, bursting with ripe fruit; it’s already a delightful drink, but will develop beautifully as the years go by. Born of a vineyard that’s over 30 years old, the 2010 vintage can thus be enjoyed while young, but you can be sure it will age magically if you put it down in a good, cool cellar.

Aimé GUIBERT
Véronique, Samuel, Gaël et Roman GUIBERT

Mas de Daumas Gassac Rouge 2010

A very late spring and long summer lead to one of the latest harvests – picked by hand as usual – in the past 10 years with a reasonable yield. The 2010 resembles its big brother 2009 as the very ripe fruit is balanced by the sharp acidity that makes the wines from the cool Gassac Valley distinct and rich.
The 2010 red will impress many by the elegance it delivers now with a long finish that lingers on the palate. For those with patience, we recommend waiting 5 years to start enjoying the more evolved, earthy undertones that emerge with age.

Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc 2011

The first flower appeared around the 10th of May showing signs of an earlier harvest than 2010, but with a cool month of June and a very moderate month of July, picking was in early September. With a dominant blend of Viognier, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Petit Manseng, the Daumas Gassac white continues to provide an explosion of apricot and passion fruit aromas in its youth. With a superb density and freshness in the mouth, the emphasis is on fruit and minerality.

Mas de Daumas Gassac Rose Frizant 2011

A fresh naturally sparkling wine made from a single fermentation and no dosage, the Rose Frizant has fine bubbles and a fruity finish. It is made using the younger Cabernet Sauvignon vines on the Grand Cru vineyards.

The duty and VAT are at current rates and hopefully this won’t change in the budget. You never know, the duty or VAT might go down, which will of course make this cheaper again.

Call on 052-6182939 or email us on info@rednosewine.com to order now.

The 2010 Mas de Daumas Gassac red, and 2011 Mas de Daumas Gassac white and Rosé Frizant, will be ready for release in February/March of 2012. You can now purchase them En Primeur through Red Nose Wine.

Final orders for Mas de Daumas En Primeur 2011 must be received by Monday 7th November 2011.

Red Nose Wine had the great pleasure of visiting Ballymaloe House recently for a photoshoot with Rachel Allen and our friend Michael Kane from Curious Wines. Colm McCan, Ballymaloe’s Tipperary born sommelier gave us a great welcome.

It was all to publicize our upcoming tastings / wine dinner with Samuel Guibert of Mas de Daumas Gassac on Thursday Ocotber 20th in Inch House and Friday in Ballymaloe. Details of which are here

Here are some of the pictures.

This wine lark is great fun

Picking a nice wine for dinner

Dinner in the wine cellars of Ballymaloe

Cheers

The media is a funny fish. Nobody talks about you for months, and then in the same week, you get on TV and have the biggest DJ in the country plug your wines all week. I covered the TV appearance in my last article, but I didn’t tell you about Ray Foley.

Ray Foley and his wine guy

For those of you who listen to Today FM from 12.00 to 2.30 every day, or watch TV3’s “Take me out” dating show, you will know Ray and his very personable style of broadcasting. He comes across as very down to earth on Radio and TV, and that’s exactly what he is like in real life. What follows is the story about how I got to meet the King of the Afternoon, as he known to his listeners.

Twitter is to blame

Last year I was happy on my holidays in France and took a very random check of Twitter, where I noticed a friend of mine suggesting rednosewine.com as an online wine merchant for Mr. Foley. He was looking to get a case sent out and he put out the call. I followed up Eimear’s tweet with some of my own and Ray ended up buying wine for me. I became Ray Foley’s wineguy.

During the week of the Long Table Dinner Ray and his team were having their own version of Come Dine with Me, where they took turns to have each other over for a meal. I tweeted that if he sent me on the menu; I would match and send up the wines.

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Ray began to talk about it on air and brag that he had his own wine guy. He sent on the menu and I chose wines and had them sent up. He gave me a regular plug on the Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday morning saw me rise late after the equal success and excess of the previous night’s Long Table Dinner.

Panic on the streets of Clonmel

I tweeted Ray as I forced down my porridge and intravenously injected my coffee. “Did the wine get there OK”? A quick tweet came back and said “Not yet”. The hangover sweats were joined by the blind panic sweats.

I called the courier and was told that after the wines were collected on the Tuesday, the van was ploughed into by a car as it approached the depot. Was it a rival wine company or a simple twist of fate? I got myself together and showered and got to the office very quickly.

I rang Ray and explained what happened. On a seperate and slightly disturbing note, it is quite scary the amount of people who asked me for his mobile number after this whole thing gained momentum. If Ray is reading, fear not for it will never be released by me. Anyway, Ray was very nice about it and said he would use other wines and give me a plug when my wines got there.

The Stalker goes to Dublin

I had a choice. I could have crawled back to bed or I could seize the initiative. I had been getting such great publicity all week that I was not going to let it lie. I told Ray I would deliver the wines later that day to his house in Dublin. He tried to talk me out of it but I insisted and said I would be happy to do it. He may now have been worrying about my potential as a stalker.

I drank a lot of water and ate as much as I could. I rang my friendly butcher Pat Whelan and got one of his famous ice boxes. These are what he uses to transport meat nationwide and keep it fresh and cool. If it worked for Wagyu steak, it would surely work for chilling white wine ahead of Ray’s dinner that night.

As I started my journey, Ray’s show was in full swing and he told the sorry tale of the courier and his wine ‘crashing’ to the nation and I was getting major props and kudos from his crew in the studio for offering to get up the wine myself. We are now talking in radio street vernacular that some of you might need to translate.

I made it up to Dublin and his house. I didn’t expect Ray to be there himself but he was, and invited me in to the kitchen. I explained all about the wines and he was particularly interested in Chateau Miraval, which is owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. I got my photo taken with Ray ( and the van ) and was on my way home.

The next day as they dissected Ray’s ‘Come Dine with Me’ dinner, they gave more great publicity to Red Nose Wine. They did a great piece on Brad and Angie being stuck in on a Saturday night and grabbing a bottle of their Miraval wine. They fight over the remote as Angie refuses to watch Friends.

So a big thank you to Ray and his plugging of my business. I will of course be introducing The Ray Foley collection of wines. For a list of Ray’s wines, be sure to call in to the shop and I’ll tell all.

I am very often quoting lyrics from songs from Mr. Dylan or Mr. Cohen among others. Sometimes they are relevant to the article, and sometimes they are not. This week I would like to quote Mr. Phil Lynott. “When you came in my life, you changed my world”.

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”

We have 2 new wines of the week. One of our big favourites, a very approachable Rioja called Pago Malarina is down from €10.99 to €8.99. The wine has a bright cherry red colour with purple hues. On the nose, it is youthful, clean, open with predominant aromas of fresh juicy fruit, especially red berries. A touch of vanilla is evident from time in oak. On the palate the wine is full, revealing fine balance. The finish is rich and long with great persistence.

The white is a French Sauvignon called Grandiose, which is quite exotic on the nose, almost New Zealand in style, this Gascogone Sauvignon is fresh and crisp with a great acidity. A great value alternative to the classic Loire Valley alternative.