A Smooth Vermouth Lesson at Dalcassian Tasting. Much More Too!

A Smooth Vermouth Lesson at Dalcassian Tasting. 
Much More Too! 

Vermouth? Do you know any? You probably do. Perhaps the best known is Martini, made in a number of styles. And then there’s Cinzano. Vermouth may be used as an aperitif. And widely used in cocktails, most notably perhaps in Negroni (usually a mix of equal parts of gin, Campari and sweet red vermouth). Many are produced in Turin but can come from all over. Quite a few are made in Spain and even the venerable Lustau sherry company produce a few.

I got something of a lesson in this particular drink at the very impressive Dalcassian wine and spirits portfolio tasting in the River Lee Hotel last week where the Cocchi firm displayed their range for tasting. They are based in Asti, about an hour’s drive from Turin, and have been making vermouth since 1891. Vermouth is based on wine and is essentially an aromatised wine to which sugar, herbs, spices and other ingredients like gentian, cinchona, wormwood and bitter orange peels have been added.

Our first taste was their Americano which has an abv of 16 degrees. The name “Americano” is both due to the alcohol made bitter (“amaricato”) by the addition of herbs and spices and to the American habit of drinking vermouth with ice and soda. I’ve read too it was rebranded for the American ex-pats - Ernest Hemingway was a noted fan of the drink - who came to love it during Prohibition.

Rosé from Provence

Cocchi have been making this since their foundation, to the same recipe. Drink it with ice, soda and zest of orange, we were told, the we being myself and Beverley from L’Atitude. It is also very successful in cocktails (including a white Negroni) and in combination with spirits such as gin, vodka and Mezcal. They also produce a Rosa that, you’ve guessed it, contains rose petals.

On to the reds now and the introduction was via their Storico, “a little bit more bitter… used as a digestif”. Great for Negroni. Then we had the Vermouth Amaro Cocchi which has been always been made according to the original recipe by Giulio Cocchi where Artemisia is a key ingredient and it is further enriched with rhubarb, quassia wood, chiretta and a double infusion of cinchona.

The final one, Barolo Chinato, a special wine produced with Barolo DOCG. It is aromatised with cinchona, calisaya bark, rhubarb and gentian root and the precious cardamom seed. Characterised by balance and harmony in the aromas with an immediate pleasant taste and a pleasant aromatic persistence. This is really something else and my favourite. Of course, the Barolo base is a big help! So there you are, over to the cocktail moves and shakers!

There were quite a few spirits at the River Lee. Most of you know about the excellent gins coming from Drumshanbo, especially their Gunpowder Irish Gin. They also do a vodka intriguingly entitled Sausage Tree Pure Irish Vodka! But did you know they now produce whiskey. Des Ring, who looks after Munster Sales for Dalcassian, introduced me to the whisky, a very promising one, not yet on the market but do look out for it. Watch out too for Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin’s unique new glassware which should now be in limited stock in your local independents and O'Briens Wine.

Loire

Dalcassian had wines on display from all over the world, from France of course, and from lots of European countries including Spain, Austria, Portugal and Italy. And from further afield we had Sileni from New Zealand and Bodegas Bianchi from Argentina. There were a few representing Australia and also Chile (including Luis Felipe Edwards) with the Taub family doing the honours for the USA.

Enjoyed some excellent whites at the Jaffelin stand (never got back for the reds) from the Petit Chablis to the Viré-Clessé right up to the Meursault 2017, I was well impressed. But if you really want an excellent white at  very good price then do try and get your hands on the Carlos Reynolds Branco from Portugal (still great value there but for how much longer?). I presume their top of the range reds bearing the Gloria Reynolds name are also excellent but again, with a Panel Discussion about to get underway, I missed out on quite a few reds. It was a major portfolio show and there were some 30 pages of wines plus about 20 of spirits!

I rarely miss out a chance to sample Bordeaux though and Alexandre Truffaut took us through the Géricot wines. We began with two very drinkable whites from Entre Deux Mers, one the 2016 Pierre Lurton and the other the 2017 Chateau Des Trois Tours.

Lurton is a well known name in  Bordeaux and his 2016 Rouge gave us a good start on the reds. The old vine Les Dames de Haut Vigneau was even better. Listrac is one of the smaller appellations in the Médoc and one I enjoyed visiting a few short years ago. The excellent Le Grande Demoiselle d’Hosten from 2010 is very high quality indeed. No doubt about the best drop Alexandre poured and that was the Les Fiefs de Lagrange (2016), a still young St Julian but packed full of promise.

The Tenuta Ulisse had quite a strong line-up of both whites and reds and noted were the Sogno di Ulisse Montepulciano D’Abruzzo IGT along with the Tenuta Ulisse Pecorino Terrie di Chieti IGT.

By then though the Panel Discussion was getting underway and I headed there. It was on the future of the restaurant wine list and you may read all (well, a bit) about it here. 

River Lee Hotel

Future Trends of an Exciting Wine List

Future Trends of an Exciting Wine List

It's Natural, says Beverley. Bryan's more cautious.

There’s definitely a massive trend towards natural wines, according to Beverly Mathews, owner of the L’Atitude 51 wine-bar in Cork. “Paris, London and New York are leading the way. People are looking specifically for natural wines. It’s a definite trend. Jean Foillard, who visited L’Atitude last year, is a star in Beaujolais. Aldi sold a natural orange wine last year and sold out quickly. Natural wines are full of character but can be quirky.”

Dalcassian Wines & Spirits came to Cork in force last week for a portfolio tasting. And very impressive it was too. It wasn’t all tasting of course and there was quite a bit of talking too. One of the best discussions came in a side room and was entitled Future Trends of an Exciting Wine List.  Beverley and Bryan McCarthy (Head Chef at Greene’s Restaurant) were the main speakers; Jules Mahon, Business Development Manager with Dalcassian, was in the chair and smoothly facilitated a very interesting hour or so on the main subject.

Bryan wasn’t as convinced about natural wine’s progress saying world trends in food and wine don’t necessarily follow through in Ireland.

L'Atitude 51, with natural wine-maker Thierry Puzelat (right)

He admitted to being surprised when he began to work with Frank Schiltkamp a few years ago. “I work closely on the pairing with the somm. It is when we introduce a new dish that more cooperation is required and it was something new to me that I may have to take some element out of the new dish and then Frank will have a matching wine. It’s all about the balance between food and wine. Wines by the glass is a growing trend and we now have twenty by the glass.”

The chef has noticed that German, Austrian and Portuguese wines are becoming more sought after, though the “old” wines are still popular but thought that in the future they will be seen less.

Bryan sees an increase in the popularity of Portuguese wines. This Reynolds range is  part of the Dalcassian portfolio

Beverley told us that L’Atitude is a fully licensed wine bar so they can serve a glass of wine without food and that “gives us flexibility to play around with wines. Wine is the most important element to us. We are a wine led bar.”

Jules then asked if there was a demand for lower ABV wines.

Bushby’s Strawberries at Greene's, paired with Alasia Moscato d'Asti, a low alcohol frizzante

Beverley said she gets lots of requests and that there is a definite demand for low alcohol drinks. Greene’s have introduced what they call “Sips” for couples on their tasting menu. So one gets the full wine treatment while the other can opt for Sips at about half the price.

Beverley wasn’t impressed with alcohol free wines saying “they’re not essentially wines”. But she said the technology is improving and that Torres have an 0.5% line. “There are lots of low alcohol beers and ciders, though”.

No matter the ABV, Bryan’s main aim is that the wine complements the food, doesn’t clash with it and doesn’t overpower it. Frank will have his own aims but “we do work well together”.

Organic Wine

Brian said that, for him, flavours in organic wine are similar to those in non-organic. For him too, it was more about provenance.

Beverley: “In recent years concern for the environment has been spilling over into food and wine. People are asking more and more for organic, bio and natural. Customers are drinking better, making more informed choices and are more demanding. Wines, whose sales were once static, are now more popular and giving us more fun. People now ask for different grape varieties, want to explore”.

Brian agreed the people “are more experimental”. Frank has spotted the trend and people are buying accordingly.

Beverley is a big fan of Coravin. “We have over a hundred wines by the glass. Coravin is essential and not just for the more expensive wines. I know the wines are fresh from it and we use it on many wines. Wines are at their freshest and people get variety.”

How best to present the wine list

Greene’s sommelier Frank says they have tried various formats, grouping by region, by flavour profile, by price. And it would seem that price is key for many. “Even corporate customers have a budget”. 

An Italian at Cask (Greene's little sister)

Frank though loves seeing a customer who knows exactly what he wants and ordering it straightaway. Sometimes that can be a lower priced wine and sometimes a top of the range champagne but, either way, the somm gives credit to the customer. Bryan said sample sips are not generally available in the restaurant (Greene’s) but are in Cask.

Beverley’s list is divided by style. “We have six or seven choices under each category. It encourages the customer to explore and not be daunted. It helps us that we can offer the customer a taste before purchase.”

Sparkling Trends?

A popular Friday Fizz at L'Atitude

Bryan says sparkling sales are customer driven. Prosecco is the most popular but Cava and Champagne are available. Frank concurred: “Frizzante is most popular because of price, especially among groups of women who’ll order a bottle before a meal. It is fun and nice to drink.” Beverly bemoaned that Cava suffers because of higher import duties and Bryan agreed that those same taxes “have a lot to do with what people drink”.

Could Crémant be the next big thing? “You do see it,” says Frank “but it’s still a hard sell. On the other hand, you don’t sell champagne, people buy it!” Beverley confirmed that champagne is selling well now after stalling for a good few years.

Of course, despite all the problems (including taxes of all kinds), people can still help themselves. L’Atitude have a long-running Friday Fizz where customers can buy a glass of the nominated bubbles at a very reasonable price and the Raven (who held a successful Spanish wine tasting recently) offer all wines at the same price, €22.00 per bottle, every Monday. night.

Some terrific spirits, wines and very interesting vermouths were tasted at the River Lee. Check them out here