Purato Nero D’Avola Sicilia (DOC) 2022, 13.5% ABV
€16.00 Bubble Brothers
Green in the extreme. Soft, fruity red from Sicily with impeccable organic credentials
There is no mistaking the Purato range's commitment—certified carbon neutral—to minimising the environmental impact of its excellent everyday wines.
Not only are they made from organically grown grapes, but the bottles, labels, and cartons for the range are, as far as possible, made from recycled
Tezza, Corte Majoli Valpolicella Ripasso (DOC) Superiore 2021, 14% ABV
€21.00 Bubble Brothers
Warm and engaging from the very first sniff, this bright ruby Valpolicella with its cherry aromas invites you on. Cherry again and blackberry on the palate, ripe and fresh with a streak of spice. The lingering finish is dry, savoury and very satisfying indeed.
A soft and generous wine, it is aged for twelve months in oak and six in bottle prior to release, and it goes down a treat with pizza, casseroles and strong cheeses. Other suggestions include slow-braised beef short ribs and duck. Serve at 16 degrees. Very Highly Recommended.
The fruit is grown organically in Valpantena (near Verona). Maceration is in steel vats at 25°C and refermentation is on Amarone marc. Eighteen months of aging follows in their own local winery.
As it is a Valpolicella, the usual “suspects” (Corvina mostly and Rondinella) are involved in the blend. Not quite your usual Valpolicella though as this is Ripasso.
Ripasso is an Italian term meaning 're-passed', for the technique of adding extra body, flavour and alcohol to Valpolicella by refermenting the young wine on the skins of Amarone wines after these dried-grape wines have finished their fermentation in the spring. It is a very popular style. For a step by step guide to Ripasso click here
Purato Siccari Appassimento Rosso Terre Siciliane (IGP) 2022, 14% ABV.
€17.00 Bubble Brothers.
Sun-kissed, silky-smooth and succulent, with plum and cherry character
Immerse yourself in the warmth of a Sicilian summer with the Purato Siccari Appassimento Rosso, a delightful red blend that bursts with character and tastes of the Sicilian sunshine.
The Art of Appassimento
The name "Siccari" hints at the wine's unique production method. Siccari translates to "sun-drying" in the Sicilian dialect, referencing the Appassimento technique. In this age-old tradition, some of the grapes are partially dried before fermentation, concentrating their sugars and flavours. The result? A luxuriously textured wine bursting with intense fruit character and a long finish.
This particular Appassimento is a masterful blend. Nero d'Avola, Sicily's flagship red grape, takes centre stage at 75%, while 20% Shiraz adds a touch of international flair. A sprinkling of local grapes, principally Frappato, rounds out the blend.
A Feast for the Senses
Pour yourself a glass and be greeted by a captivating ruby robe. Swirl it gently and inhale the intoxicating aromas of ripe plum and juicy cherry. Take a sip, and experience the magic of Appassimento firsthand. The juiciest red fruit flavours explode on the palate, along with a touch of spice and a smooth, velvety texture. Gentle tannins ensure a lingering finish, leaving you wanting more.
Beyond the Bottle: Sustainability and Food Pairings
This impressive vino isn't just about taste. Purato is committed to sustainability, using organic grapes and implementing eco-friendly practices throughout its production chain. Knowing your wine does good for the planet adds another layer of enjoyment.
As for food pairings, Bubble Brothers suggests this wine as the perfect partner for a hearty meal. Imagine it alongside grilled meats, rich pasta dishes, or a selection of hard cheeses. Purato, pointing to the wine's versatility.
The Verdict: Highly Recommended
If you're looking for a full-bodied, flavour-packed red wine with a touch of Italian sunshine, look no further than Purato Siccari Appassimento Rosso. This impressive Appassimento offers exceptional value for money and is sure to leave a lasting impression. So, uncork a bottle,and raise a toast to la bella vita!
* Back to the label
Terre Siciliane IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) translates to "Protected Geographical Indication." This is a broader designation than Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and allows for slightly more relaxed winemaking regulations.
** #OrganicItaly
Tezza Corte Majoli Valpolicella: A Fresh, Fruity Organic Red
Tezza Corte Majoli Valpolicella (DOC) 2021, 12.5% ABV
€18.00 Bubble Brothers.
“we prefer to produce wines to our own principles”
This 2021 Valpolicella from Tezza winery, nestled near Verona, proudly reflects the winemaker's philosophy: "We prefer to produce wines to our own principles." The result? A
Tenuta Fenice Nero D’Avola Sicilia (DOC) 2021, 14% ABV
€16.00 Bubble Brothers.
The phoenix rises! A superb wine. “I think my grandfather would have been very proud.”
This rich, ruby-coloured wine is made from vines abandoned for decades after a devastating earthquake in western Sicily in 1968.
Dino Taschetta tells quite a story on his label: “…Residents had no choice but to
Ormanni Chianti Classico (DOCG) 2019, 14.5% ABV
€25.00 Bubble Brothers
If you're looking for Chianti Classico, look no further. Elegant, powerful and beautifully balanced.
This organic Ormanni has a light bright red ruby colour. The fragrance is intense, cherry leading the way. Beautiful red fruits on
Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano (DOC) 2019
€25.00 Bubble Brothers. ABV is 13.5%
This light ruby Rosso di Montepulciano introduces itself with red and darker berries aromas. It is well-balanced on the palate, lively and smooth, fruity with a touch of spice. A lively acidity also features as the wine heads towards a pleasant finish. Pretty faultless from start to finalé, this vibrant and approachable red wine from Tuscany is Very Highly Recommended.
As importers and sellers Bubble Brothers say
Scents of the garrigue, sultry heat of a Languedoc summer, help make this Fitou a very good one indeed.
“Oui, oui! Or should that be “way, way”!
Cascatel Prieur De Berre Fitou (AOP) 2020, 14% ABV, €16.00 Bubble Brothers.
Fitou is a village close to the Mediterranean coast in southern France's Languedoc-Roussillon wine region. The village name has been given to the red wine appellation.
Carignan and Grenache are the main grapes in Fitou and the duo must account for 60% of any blend. Syrah (as is the case here) and Mourvedgre may make up to a maximum of 20%. The blend here is Carignan 50%, Grenache Noir 35% and Syrah 15%.
The colour is a dark ruby. There are hot toasty scents of the garrigue, quite intense, red fruits, and some spice too. Much of that makes it through to the palate which is fresh, full and generous. The finish is elegant, more so than you'd expect.
The producers are thrilled with it. “A modern wine of harmony and perfect balance. This ready-to-drink cuvée will continue to improve for a few years in the cellar.”
Importers Bubble Brothers put it well: ”The sultry heat of a Languedoc summer concentrated into a smooth, beguiling red…. Not quite a holiday in a bottle, but definitely a mini-break!”
Billy Forrester, founder of the Cork company, commented (via Instagram): "We’re very happy to work with @cascastel_vignerons_artisans for just that reason—a flavour of the Languedoc whatever the dish.
Isn’t the decanter great? If you’d said it was a classic from the Wine Geese era I’d nearly have believed you. Bravo @newbridgesilverware."
Highly Recommended. And well priced too, just like the decanter!
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| The duck decanter in the top pic was bought during a recent visit to Newbridge Silverware. Be sure and try the restaurant while you are there and also the Museum of Style Icons. More details of my visit here. |
Established on April 28, 1948, the Fitou appellation is the oldest and most renowned in Languedoc. The vineyard is made up of a multitude of small plots reclaimed from the scrubland (garrigue). A hot, dry and windy climate allows perfect ripening of the berries and provides excellent sanitary conditions.
“The word 'garrigue' refers to the heady scent of the mix of herbs and shrubs found everywhere in the arid, wild scrublands of the Languedoc. …In our part of Southern France, the garrigue is mostly made up of wild herbs like lavender, thyme, sage and rosemary and the aromas scent the air, especially during the summer months. So can garrigue impart a taste into the red wines, and, if so, how?”
The quote is from the vineyard blog (by Neasa) of Laurent Miquel. More on the garrigue by Neasa here.
You just cannot miss the garrigue around here: you see it, you smell it, you hear it. I once spent a holiday near Narbonne, quite close to Fitou and, believe or not, our gite owner was a Madame Garrigue.
What you’ll also notice here is the local accent of the people of the Languedoc. You’ll wait in vain for someone to say “oui, oui” but you’ll know everything is okay when you hear a hearty “way, way”!
An Elegant Chilean Sauvignon Blanc
From Bubble Brothers. Great value too!
Matetic Corralillo Sauvignon Blanc (DO Valle De San Antonio) 2021, 13.5%.
€18.00 Bubble Brothers
Elegant, with a long finish
This Sauvignon Blanc comes from the middle (more or less) of Chile's wine-growing region. Chile, as you know, is a long narrow country. The total length is 4,300 km while the vines grow in a strip some 1,000 km long and about 170 km wide. This trip is roughly (very) halfway between north and south but more towards the north.
Certified organic (by Demeter) and working bio-dynamically, Matetic is in the San Antonio region (just ten miles inland from the Pacific and just over an hour west of the capital Santiago). The area has distinguished itself… “with its ability to grow quality Pinot Noir in addition to the critically acclaimed Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay” according to Wines of South America.
Their vines in the Rosario Valley are known for making some of the country’s best examples of this grape (Sauvignon Blanc) “because it gets those all important ocean breezes from the Pacific”. So says Jane Austen (author of Wine Revolution).
This book tipped me off about the wine and glad to find it locally in Bubble Brothers in the English Market and glad too that it was on offer (down from 20 to 18 euro). Wouldn’t mind trying another few from the range! I note that Wines of South America has included Matetic’s Riesling and Syrah in their shortlists.
Colour is light gold with slight tints of green. Aromas are grassy and citrusy. It is lively and expressive on the palate with the fruit turning more tropical, papaya and mango along with the citrus. Acidity is fresh and juicy; it has great volume with an elegant and balanced long finish. Very Highly Recommended.
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Check my expanding list of top wines for 2023
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Check out my Good Value Wine List here
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The producers: “The wine is kept on its lees for three months to enhance the smooth texture of this full-flavoured, rounded white that makes a perfect accompaniment for simply prepared fish dishes from sushi to ceviche, and a cleansing foil to richer recipes such as chowders.”
They elaborate saying it is perfect for appetisers or fresh vegetable salads and sea food, especially ceviche (fresh raw fish marinated in lime juice) or fish “a la plancha” (grilled on a metal plate). “A classic combination is Sauvignon Blanc with clam chowder: the acid in the wine cuts through the creaminess of the soup to leave a refreshing, clean feeling on the palate.”
I like Jane Austen’s summing up: “Don't think too hard about this, just crack it open and pair it with a lovely goat's cheese salad. This unoaked Sauvignon Blanc is incredible value - ready to go.”
The grapes are farmed organically and hand-picked, and the vineyards' cool climate and a gravity-flow winery mean that as much as possible of the natural freshness of the fruit is retained. The wine is kept on its lees to enhance the smooth texture of this full-flavoured, rounded white.
In Brief
Drinking through Portugal wine regions I.
An engaging Alvarinho from Minho
Foot Trodden (2021), a book on Portuguese wine that I am currently reading, covers these eight regions: Minho, Douro, Dao, Bairrada, Colares, Ribatejo, Alentejo and Madeira (home of one of the most age-worthy wines). Other regions noted are Algarve, Setubal, Beiras Interior, Tránsmontano, Bucelas, VR Lisbon and Carcavelos. This is the start of an occasional focus on Portugal over the next month or two and I’ll try to get my hands on as many of the wines as I can. Any tips or help will be most welcome!
Quinta de Gomariz Alvarinho, Vinho Regional Minho, 2020, 13.5% ABV, €18.00 Bubble Brothers
I’m starting in Minho (where Vinho Verde comes from ) and I bought this Alvarinho at the Bubbles Brothers stall in the English Market. It has a bright and clean straw colour, no tints of green in this twilight hour. The nose is quite complex with scents of fresh citrus fruits as well as floral hints and a hint of honey. Quite a lively duet of flavour and freshness in the mouth on the way to a lip-smacking finalé.
Very engaging, Very Highly Recommended.
At a tasting some years ago in Cork, I heard a wine importer posit that it was difficult to find a bad Albarino.
António Sousa, winemaker at Gomariz would agree. In conversation with Jamie Goode, interview here, Sousa said: 'It's almost impossible to have a bad wine from this..’. He was speaking of Alvarinho, the same grape as Albarino. Gomariz operate in the extreme north of Portugal, close to the Minho River, the border with Spain, (you’ll know the area better as Vinho Verde).
I thought, for a long time, that Vinho Verde meant green (or young) wine and the most recent World Atlas of Wine seems to agree but I’ve also seen that it refers instead to the wet and green landscape.
Foot Trodden (2022) refers to Minho (the country’s second biggest wine region after the Douro) as “Portugal’s sister region to Galicia”. Here in the Spanish homeland of the ancient Celts, Rias Baixas, also wet and green, is home to the crisp light and refreshing Albarino.
Amazing how Albarino has taken off in Ireland over the past decade or more but you don’t see that much Alvarinho here. Many wines from Portugal are blends, sometimes with many grapes, and the less experienced customers find it difficult enough. But this one is 100% Alvarinho, surely not more difficult to pronounce than the successful Spanish equivalent. Perhaps the busy label here is off-putting for the casual wine-shopper.
We owe the Irish introduction of Gomariz wine to Bubble Brothers of course but the initial inspiration was provided by baker Declan Ryan. The Ryans had drank these wines while in the area and brought the info home and shared it with Bubble Bros who made good use of it!
Bubbles elaborate: ..the Alvarinho, which bears the legend 'Vinho Regional Minho' ...... The Quinta de Gomariz Alvarinho is a terrifically appealing wine from beginning to end, and it's not hard to see what appealed to the Ryans about this thrilling liquid..Thank you Declan Ryan for a fantastic tip, not to mention all the great loaves from Midleton and Mahon Point market.. .. .. .”
Portugal mini-series
Part IV (Vinho Verde, Lisboa and Alentejano).
Part 11 (Douro, Dão, Alentejo and Setubal.)
Picpoul, queen grape in the coastal vineyards
of Pinet in the Languedoc
Reine Juliette Picpoul de Pinet (AOP) 2021, 12.5%,
€17.00 Bubble Brothers
Picpoul de Pinet comes from a small area (Pinet) in the Languedoc. It is very reliable and this Bubble Brothers import is one of the consistent ones. If you want something to go with your mussels or oysters, this is a banker.
It has a pale gold colour, is bright, with green highlights, in the glass. There are subtle aromatics, floral, citrus and exotic fruit. Impressively ample bodied, it is a pleaser on the palate, no shortage of citrus fruits and a touch of peach as well plus a refreshing minerality. Well balanced then with a dry finish with light saline notes.
The label suggest pairing with with shellfish, fish dishes, poultry and white meat. Bubbles Brothers also go with seafood and say that it is also an excellent aperitif - I’m can heartily agree with that as I’ve had a few of these Reine Juliette going back to 2010. Wine Folly tell us that the perfect pairing may be fried calamari. Serve at around 10 degrees.
By the way, Picpoul means ‘lip stinger’ but, please, don’t let that put you off. It has indeed no shortage of acidity but nothing extreme (no more than Albarino for instance) and it serves to emphasise the variety’s typical freshness and to help ensure balance.
Indeed, if you can’t get your hands on a Picpoul, then Albarino (or Alvarinho in Portugal) would be an excellent substitute (and vice versa). Other grapes that come close are Assyriko, Melon (the grape for Muscadet), Vinho Verde and Sicily’s Grillo.
Picpoul grows well in sandy soils and is nowadays to be found only in coastal vineyards, between Narbonne and Montpellier, such as those in Pinet itself and the Etang de Thau (a very large lake with high salinity because of its closeness to the coast).
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