The Winebuff Blog

Archive for 2012

Is it worth storing wine? For €38300 it is or is it?

May
17
2012

Is it worth storing your wines, well seems so if it’s the right wine and right vintage! A rare vintage 1774, yes that’s right “the United States was still an English colony, Bonaparte was a kid, the French Revolution was just about to kick off and William Pitt the younger was prescribed a bottle of Port a day as a cure for his gout, he was 15 at the time!” sold at Christies in Geneva for €38,300, that works out at about €4,400 per glass or €440 per sip.

An anonymous internet buyer purchased the “Vin Jaune” which hails from Arbois in the north of the Jura region in eastern France.

Sellers Christie’s said the wine had been stored for generations in a vaulted underground cellar by the Vercel family. The 1774 batch of vin jaune was made by the wine grower Anatoile Vercel, and a number of bottles were carefully passed down through eight generations of the Vercel family.

Christie’s said a bottle from the same batch was tasted by wine experts in 1994 who deemed the vintage, with notes of cinnamon, curry and vanilla, “excellent.”

So it seems if you can withstand the temptation to open a bottle and have eight generations of your family do the same, there is possibly a good return on your investment, though you won’t probably be around to reap the benefits.

Cooking for the Queen

Mar
14
2012

The Wine Buff and The Waterford Festival of Food are delighted to be jointly hosting ”An Evening with Michelin Star Chef Ross Lewis in conversation with Paul Flynn, of The Tannery” entitled “Cooking For The Queen”. The event in being held on the Sunday the 25th March in the historic Dromana House, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the strikingly beautiful, unspoilt river Blackwater. A wonderful setting for what promises to be a wonderful evening of food and chat.

An unusual feature of the Dromana Estate is the Hindu-Gothic Gate Lodge.

Ross Lewis of Chapter One sourced wild salmon from Dromana on the Blackwater to feature on the menu for the state dinner on the occasion of the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth. The evening begins with a conversation between Ross and Paul about Ross’s experience cooking at the banquet, followed by dinner  which will be cooked by Eunice Power.

Eunice has collaborated with local producers and fishermen from Helvick to compile a sumptuous menu.  Some of the ingredients and produce appearing on the menu include Comeragh mountain lamb, wonderful goat’s cheese from Anna Leveque, wild salmon from Dromana, local honey, local vegetables from Country Store, beer from the Dungarvan Brewing Company, wines from the Wine Buff, along with rhubarb and herbs from her own garden. A treat is truly instore for this events’ ticket holders. 

The event is sponsored by The Wine Buff, Dungarvan and tickets are now available to purchase from The Wine Buff, Grattan Square Dungarvan or online from The Waterford Festival of Food for €60 per person. Book early to avoid disappoimtment, these events sell out very quickly.

The Wine Buff goes Green

Mar
13
2012

With St Patricks day fast approaching the Wine Buff are delighted to offer cases of green (organic) wine as competition prizes, call into one of the Wine Buff shops and you’ll be entered to a draw to win one of these organic cases, all you need to do is buy a bottle between now and St Paddy’s day, leave your details and your in with a chance.  

Go mbeidh an tadh leat.



Celebrate the Year of The Dragon.

Jan
22
2012

This year, 2012, is the Year of the Dragon with celebrations beginning on January 23 and continuing for 15 days, the year finishes on 09 February 2013.

So to celebrate the year let’s look at pairing wines with Chinese food, so instead of grabbing a bottle of beer with your next Chinese dish try one of our recommendations.

When selecting your wine for Chinese food you need to identify the dominant taste sensation of the dish. These are sour (rice vinegar), sweet (sugar, coconut milk) and salt (soy).

When it comes to sweet Riesling wines and Chinese food, sensory scientists have proved that the different taste qualities – sweet, sour, salty, bitter – balance or compliment one another.

For example, sour (acidity) and sweet suppress one another; adding sugar to lemon juice reduces the tartness; the level of acidity or sourness has not changed but the presence of sugar changes how we perceive it. It is the Riesling grape’s ability to develop high sugar levels while maintaining acidity that produces white wines that age very well and compliment Chinese food as well. Riesling wine is produced from dry to very sweet; the sweet wines counterbalances the Chinese food’s salt and sour.

So let’s look at some matching’s.

Delicate seafood flavours, typical of Cantonese cuisine as in steamed dim sum, scallops, steamed whole fish.
Try: Minerally Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet , Morin Sancerre and Poeze Muscadet.

Spicy noodles.
Try: Cote du Rhone White, Beaubois Cotes de Nimes.

Sweet and sour dishes.
Try: Fruity rosé e.g. Merlot-based Bordeaux. Marquis Rose.

Duck dishes such as crispy duck with pancakes.
Try: New World Pinot Noir, Merlot and Merlot blends, Whaletail Pinot Noir.

Dishes in which ginger is a dominant.
Try: Gewurztraminer, Ginglinger Gerwurztraminer Alsace.

Black bean sauce:
Try: Rich, velvety but not too tannic reds e.g. Chilean Merlot, Rawen Merlot.

Barbecued dishes such as spare ribs:  
Try: Rich, but not too tannic reds e.g. Baccichetto Refosco, Italy.

Hot, fiery dishes typical of Szechuan cuisine:
Try: Wines with a touch of sweetness especially Alsace Gewurztraminer, Sweet New Zealand or German Riesling and Tokaji Furmint. Ginglinger Gerwurztraminer Alsace, Whaletail Riesling, Tokaji Furmint Classic.

The real key to the pleasure of wine and food is simply relaxing and enjoying with friends. Now that you know the best wine pairings, Chinese food anyone?