L’Atitude Scales New Altitude. Filling Me Softly With Her Food

L’Atitude Scales New Altitude

Filling Me Softly With Her Food

Stracciatella. Multo Bella.

No secret that Cork’s L’Atitude 51 is one of the best wine-bars around. That’s been confirmed by awards, both local and national. But did you know they have a lovely food offering too? Number One Union Quay is certainly a place to take it easy, easy drinking and also easy eating, sometimes easy listening as well.

Here you can go from aperitifs to small plates to large plates and have a lot of fun doing so. No shortage of variety here with a range of dishes that distinguishes L’Atitude from the mainstream. Who, for instance, is doing Toonsbridge Stracciatella?

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. There is a huge wine menu here, page after page of organic and natural wines, and that is what we looked at first. Many are available by the 125ml and 175ml glass, a 250ml carafe and by the bottle. Some, the more expensive ones, are available by bottle only! Since we were in, we were going to try a few so the glass was our vessel choice for the evening. 

Tapas Plate

And we started with the Crisp with Attitude Page, featuring wines that are lively, racy and mineral. CL made a very good pick: the Secateurs Chenin Blanc from the Badenhorst estate in South Africa while I enjoyed the Wines Direct import, the Paddy Borthwick Riesling from New Zealand. Sipped those as we tucked into a bowl of mixed olives. 

The menu here is “less formal”, encouraging you to share as the dishes arrive from the kitchen. Oh, they also do a Plat du Jour. You’ll see that on the blackboard. On the night of our visit it was Tagliatelle with a lamb ragu and they coupled that with a glass of wine, all for around fifteen euro (if I remember rightly). And they also do lunch daily.

And soon we were sharing another dish, a much bigger one; the Tapas, at €18.50, is one of the more expensive ones on the menu, but a very impressive platter indeed, well assembled and well presented. It contains Coppa, Jamon, Pecorino, Toonsbridge Mozzarella, Charred Aubergine, Artichokes, Roasted Red Pepper and Caponata was irresistible and easily and lazily dispatched.

Duck x 3.

At this point, the wines had changed. I was on to the orange wine (lots of skin contact and yet a good introduction to the style for beginners) from Sicily, the cloudy Rallo Baglio with a fantastic concentration of the flavours. CL meanwhile was on safer ground with the Madregale Rosso, one of the best house wines around these parts.

Now with the Tapas and the basket of bread finished we sipped the wines and waited for the next batch of food! And that’s where the eye-catching palate pleasing Stracciatella comes in. Even though the two dishes came together, there was a duel around this beauty. It is the creamy filling you’ll find in Burrata (another Toonsbridge cheese). It is soft and fresh, it has to be. Presented on a  bed of grilled aubergine and topped with Dukkah, it was temptation from the first bite, especially when spooned into the “pocket” breads that came with it.

The sharing continued with the Duck 3 Ways: Ummera Smoked Duck, Duck and Port Paté, and Potatoes sautéed in Duck Fat. Well, you know that Ummera’s Smoked Duck is a gem of southern cuisine yet the combination here somehow managed to put an extra shine on an already excellent product. Superb.

We were on to our final wines by now, both of us on the red. CL picked from the “Fruity with Attitude” section and came up trumps with a classic Pinot Noir by Regnaudot (Burgundy) while my final tipple was the Blaufrankisch by Austria’s Judith Beck, a winemaker that seems to be appearing more and more in this country. The plush Blaufrankisch, with generous fruit, is biodynamically produced and worth seeking out.

And L’Atitude itself, with its friendly service and informal style, is also worth seeking out either for wine or food or both!

L’Atitude 51 

1 Union Quay (corner opposite City Hall)

Cork

021 239019

A Couple of Portuguese White Stars, including an Alvarinho Vinho Verde

Portuguese wines are on the rise. 

And not just the red ones. The whites too can be remarkable and we have two gems for you to try including a Vinho Verde - remember that little sparkler? I've noticed these excellent wines coming more and more onto the shelves over the past five or six years. I'm not the only one - check out the quotes below. Very good value a few years ago. That could be changing, but still good value. Buy now and try! 

Vinho Verde is one of Portugal’s most distinctive wines. Jancis Robinson. More here.

It's high time Portuguese wines were given the same respect we grant French, Spanish and Italian ones. The Guardian here.

Wines from Portugal have been enjoying impressive growth worldwide thanks to improvements in both the quality and range of wines over recent years. The Buyer Here

Morgadio da Torre Alvarinho Vinho Verde (DOC) 2015, 12.5%, €24.99 Bradley’s Cork; wineonline.ie

Did you drink Vinho Verde back in the day? It had a little bit of fizz and was low in alcohol. Then, when we were also drinking Blue Nun and Black Tower and dipping our tongues in hostile foreign languages, we thought Vinho Verde meant green wine; it means young wine. 

And there is no spritziness here, natural or induced, but its absence is no loss at all. This Morgadio da Torre is far from the simple sparkler of our experience. More than likely that earlier Vinho Verde wasn’t made from Alvarinho (Albarino in Spain) as this one is.  

Alvarinho, often compared to Riesling, is one of seven grapes permitted in the DO; they regard it as “the most noble” grape of the region and is usually that bit more expensive. Other grapes that may be used are Arinto, Avesso, Azal, Batoca, Loureiro, and Trajadura. 

This dry aromatic Morgadio is certainly a wine of distinction, very enjoyable with fish and seafood and also as an aperitif. Colour is a light straw, very clear. There are fairly intense tropical fruit aromas. Fruity, fresh, mineral, are the first sensations noted on the palate. The fruit is pure and persistent, vibrant notes of lime and citrus prominent, the aromas at play all the way through to the very dry finish. The fact that it was a very good year in the area helped and this is Very Highly Recommended.

Casa Ferreirinha “Papa Figos” Vinho Branco Douro (DOC) 2016, 12.5%, €18.99 winesonline.ie 

Lots of different grapes in most Portuguese blends and this is no exception with Rabigato (55%), Viosinho (15), Arinto/Pedernã (15), Códega (10), and Moscatel (5) all in the mix here.

It has a pale straw colour. Attractive aromas, yellow fruit and floral notes. That attractive tropical fruit again features on the palate and is persistent, good acidity too. And an excellent finish as well on this fresh and vibrant wine. Very Highly Recommended.

After fermentation, roughly 20% of the batch was matured in used French oak barrels for three months; the remaining 80% was kept in stainless steel tanks. The wine went through careful fining and filtering before bottling to preserve the fresh fruit character.

Taste of the Week. West Cork Garlic

Taste of the Week

West Cork Garlic

Bryn of West Cork Garlic in Bantry last Friday.

Probably more like Taste of the Year as the garlic I bought from Bryn Perrin in last Friday’s market in Bantry were bulbs for sowing now and eating from next summer on. Though I did also get some of his Roscoff onions and am very much looking forward to tasting these over the next few days.

But back to the garlic. Bryn, who took over the business from pioneers Axel & Marye Miret (who founded the company in 2010), is quite happy to share his expertise on the subject and will give you lots of advice on planting, growing and harvesting. 

Ready to plant

The first thing to know right now is don’t wait until the spring as most garlic is planted in late autumn and early winter, some varieties as early as September! We bought a few Lautrec and a few Grey Shallot garlics for planting and another one, the Chesnok ­(Hardneck). Already in the ground. Fingers crossed for summer 2019!

If you don’t have the chance to meet Bryn at the markets (he also does Skibbereen Saturdays), do by all means check out the website as they sell garlic bulbs for kitchen and medicinal purposes - and cloves for planting so you can grow your own - all available in handy packs, delivered straight to your door. And there is a page with loads of hints on how to grow your own. And much more, including recipes and garlic gadgets!

Bryn Perrin

West Cork Garlic  

Coolmountain West, 

Dunmanway, West Cork, Ireland

Tel 087 133 3751, Email bryn@westcorkgarlic.com

No 35 Kenmare. It’s A Good Number!

No 35 Kenmare

It’s A Good Number!

Charcuterie Plate!

When they say Farm to Fork in No. 35 Kenmare, they mean exactly that. Their free range pigs are reared just about a mile away. And they don't have to go too far for their fish either!

We were there on a damp Tuesday night recently and the place, spread over two floors, was packed. A terrific buzz there and terrific food too from Head Chef Tony Schwarz and his team in the kitchen. The team outfront were excellent too, helpful and chatty, and efficient to boot.

Treacle and walnut bread

Luckily we had a reservation and were soon seated upstairs (those stair steps are very narrow by the way). I was aware of the pig farm so was concentrating on that on the menu as we nibbled at the excellent Treacle and Walnut bread that came with a seaweed butter.

I spotted my starter without delay: a charcuterie plate of salami, chorizo and coppa along with various relishes and gherkins, pickled cucumber,  Granny’s jam, olives, celeriac with mustard, capers, peppers. It was packed with good things, substantial and totally delicious.

Pork mains

CL was a little on the jealous side but I was able to share a few bits and pieces! Her starter was the Dingle Gin Cured Salmon, Cucumber: Ketchup & Soused & Charred. Not as substantial maybe but another excellent appetiser.

Cider and pork is always a good match so I was enjoying a glass or two of the lovely Stonewell Medium Dry. And I needed another one as my mains arrived. They do a Pork dish of the day and I tucked into the Collar of Pork, with colourful Mooncoin Beetroot, the excellent smoked black pudding, all in a red wine jus. A super plateful, great flavours and textures, aromas too.

CL got a lovely piece of Halibut, well cooked and neatly presented, served with summer vegetables, a basil pesto and red pepper relish.

Have to admit though, we didn’t make it to the desserts this time! It was a wet night, the last Tuesday in August, and we were not expecting to find so many in the pubs. But most were packed and most had live music. We finished the evening enjoying the craic, sipping a craft beer or two (Brú Pale Ale and the Tom Crean family Expedition Red Ale). Kenmare Abú!

No 35 Restaurant 

35 Main Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry.

Tel: +353 (64) 664 1559 | Email: info@no35kenmare.com

Eye-opening Boat Trip on Bantry Bay. Thanks to Diarmaid of the Fish Kitchen.

Eye-opening Boat Trip on Bantry Bay
Thanks to Diarmaid Murphy of the Fish Kitchen.

Last week we found ourselves in a boat in the middle of the Bantry Bay mussel farming area, very extensive, and could see the long lines where blue mussels are placed on ropes that remain suspended in the water. Once the industry was very labour intensive but Diarmuid told us that it is now very much mechanised. In any case, the results are great as we found later that evening in the Murphy’s Fish Kitchen.

If you want a guide to Bantry, land and sea, Diarmaid Murphy of the Fish Kitchen is your man. He has immense experience of the sea, including boats (he is cox for the local lifeboat) and fishing, and allied to that is a love and detailed knowledge of the history of the town and its magnificent bay and its surrounds. Next summer (2019), he plans to do guided trips on his six-passenger rib.

Windy, even inside the harbour wall.

We were delighted with our “preview”. It wasn't the best of days on the bay, far from the worst though, and we were in good hands as we headed out from the new marina that has made a huge difference to boating in the bay. 

From the hotel. The bay looked more benign an hour or so before the trip.
See the green fields of Whiddy and, beyond, the mountains of the Beara peninsula

Having left the Bantry pier and the marina behind - the ferry from Whiddy Island was coming in - we headed towards the left of the island taking a look to the mainland on our left. Diarmuid pointed out the aerodrome where private planes come and go, some from the continent. Nearby too is the Blue Cliff. Not blue during our trip but quite grey. The blue is noticeable when the sun shines.

Homeward bound - the Whiddy ferry

Plan was to do  full circle around Whiddy and get close to the liner over in Glengarriff. But, with the rib hopping off the incessant waves, discretion was the better part of valour so we turned and ran alongside the town side of the long island, meeting the ferry again on its return trip. We saw the local pub, the Bank House.

The Whiddy local

Of course, one of the major historical events in the bay came with the Wolfe Tone attempted invasion in 1796. Unsettled by this, the British ordered the construction of three forts on the island and these were pointed out to us in their hilltop locations.

Cruise liner Astoria in the bay

Over a hundred years later, the USA Navy set up a short-lived flying-boat base here during the great war and the planes were used to hunt German submarines. And in 22 October 1918, Walford A. Anderson (an US flier from Springfield, MO) was killed in a crash, the first ever air-crash fatality in Ireland according to our guide.

There was a much larger tragedy on Whiddy in January 1979, when the oil tanker Betelgeuse blew up at the offshore jetty for the oil terminal on the island. The explosion and resultant fire cost 50 lives.

Mussel farmer at work. Eagle Point in the distance

Soon we were at the other (eastern) corner of Whiddy, we could see across towards Glengarriff and the visiting cruise liner, the Astoria. Diarmuid thought we might get closer from this side but it was not to be as the waves were a little too big so we retreated in the general direction of Ballylickey.

There were plenty of mussel rows here also and we got a splendid view of the Eagle Point Caravan Park; it has a very impressive location indeed and well spaced pitches. No wonder it is a very popular place and locals mark the start of summer when the “Eagle-Pointers” arrive.

Bantry, with the Maritime Hotel on right.

In this area also, you’ll find Donemark (the fort of the ships). Often saw this name on signposts but didn’t realise the legends and history attached to it. Indeed, they say it is the first place that humans (the Milesians) landed in Ireland although there is also a story that a niece of Noah’s landed here much earlier!

Bantry House

Bantry Bay longboats are replicas of the captain’s landing vessel used by the French navy in the 1700s. A longboat from the Wolfe Tone attempt was found in the bay and eventually ended up in Bantry House. There have been international races featuring the longboats and their 13-person crews and again Diarmaid has been involved.

The Blue Cliff

Other points of interest included the very scenic Bantry Golf Club, the hill of Seskin, the various smaller islands, the ruin of the jetty wrecked in the 1979 explosion and more. I may well have missed out on some others as sometimes, with the wind, it was hard to hear each other and it was not a day to be taking notes and not the best of days for photos either. But the whole experience was brilliant, exhilarating for these two ancient land-lubbers.

Thanks a million to Diarmaid and we wish him well on his sight-seeing venture next summer and will let you have details when available.

Read all about our dinner at the Fish Kitchen here.

Reckon this guy would fancy a mussel

The Blue Harvest. The mussels farmed here are Blue Mussels.

The Fish Kitchen’s Special. A Taste of West Cork Waters

The Fish Kitchen’s Special

A Taste of West Cork Waters

As we walk up the stairs to our Bantry restaurant, the multi-event A Taste of West Cork festival is in full swing, heading for its closing weekend. Many attractive food options around the towns and villages but knowing punters make their way to the Fish Kitchen and a packed house enjoys the best produce from the local shores and seas. The Kitchen crew are busy but not a bother as the delicious meal is served.

“Freshness, simplicity, quality” is what they promise here and that is exactly what we get. Excellent service too, a good choice of wines and craft beer and good company too at the long tables. We enjoy the chat with Esther and Joe from Cappoquin and Jim and Barbara from the town.

Diarmaid, who owns and runs the Fish Kitchen with his wife Ann-Maria, served us a simple Amuse Bouche, a sharing plate of Sheep’s Head periwinkles with garlic. Hard to get them out of the little shells but well worth the effort!

Next up was a trio of Smoked Salmon, Prawns and Oyster. Tasty stuff. Excellent salmon, amazing prawns from the bay outside and a superb Carlingford oyster. Quite a hat trick of flavours.

We were very happy with that and got even happier with the next round: Steamed Bantry Bay mussels with Stonewell Cider. We had been out on the bay earlier and had seen the lines and lines heavy in the water with rope-grown mussels. And here they were now on our plate, meatier and tastier than any I’ve tried in recent times.

Croquettes

Another course was on the way as the Salterio Albarino level in our bottle was falling and this was another handsome combination: Union Hall Smoked Pollack and crabmeat croquettes, served with a simple salad.

Now for the big one: herb crusted Castletownbere Hake with sun-dried tomato and Gubbeen chorizo pesto. Sometimes in Ireland we smother delicate fish with heavy sauces. Not here. The Hake was the star, the others there just to show it off to perfection. And, yes, it was perfect, as were all the courses.

Hake

And of course there was dessert. Here we had a choice and the Plum Crumble won hands down at our table; maybe the lavender infused pannacotta found takers at the other tables!

While this was a special dinner (we paid 45 euro a head) for the festival, you will get the freshest of fish, skilfully handled and simply presented at a fair price every day, lunch and dinner, at this town centre venue. And, if you are eating at home, then grab some fresh fish from the family market on the ground floor!

Crumble

The Fish Kitchen  

New Street

Bantry 

Co.Cork

(027) 56651

* Diarmaid was our host on our earlier trip around the bay - check it out here. He has been doing it a bit over the past summer and intends to make it a permanent feature next year. A proud native of the area, he is a superb guide to the huge bay, its geography and amazing history. His sturdy rib will take six paying passengers so keep an eye out for that in 2019.

Amuse Bouche

-Do they want wine? said Jimmy Sr when he’d everything else in order.

-Yeah, said Darren.

-Black or blue?

-Blue.

Jimmy Sr ducked in under the hot plate and got out a bottle of Blue Nun.

-Do the business with tha’, he said to Darren, and he held out the bottle to him.

-I’d better get back for their sweets, said Darren.

Jimmy Sr turned to Bimbo.

-There, he said. - Suck the cork ou’ a tha’.

from The Van by Roddy Doyle (1991). Very Highly Recommended.

Harmony On An Indian Plate. Exquisite Food At Richy’s Tasting

Harmony On An Indian Plate. 
Exquisite Food At Richy’s Tasting

Tandoori chicken #2 on menu

Meeran Gani Mazoor, head chef at Richy’s showed his native cuisine to perfection at the Clonakilty venue on Wednesday evening as part of A Taste of West Cork. Oh yes, there was spice but such was the harmony created in each dish by the chef that nothing jarred as we enjoyed six amazing courses.

1 - South Indian lentil soup (sambhar). That harmony was evident from the start with this lovely soup. Indeed, we had had already begun with a delicious Prosecco with rose and pomegranate.

2 - Tandoori chicken, Bombay aloo, tandoori broccoli. Tandoori chicken like never before and that crisp broccoli was outstanding also. Aloo by the way means potato!

3 - Mali Kofta, puffed quinoa. Looks like meatballs on the plate but this, like the soup, was vegetarian, a vert tasty cream sauce based ricotta dumpling, the cheese a standout flavour in the mix.

4 - Scallops, sesame seeds, cumin and cashew crumble, pickled red onion, pea tikki, peanut ginger sauce. The harmony that Meeran mentioned afterwards is easily illustrated here. Take a piece of that pickled onion on its own and it is quite powerful. Take it with the rest and it blends in in a delicious almost gentle amalgam of flavours and textures. That pea tikki (patty) was another feature.

5 Mughal seekh kebab with pistachio, saffron butternut squash purée, spiced vermicelli, pomegranate raita. This was probably the piece de resistance. The meat (a marinated mince roulade) was perfect, not what you’d get in your takeaways, and the raita was a perfect accompaniment.

6 Gajar halwa, almond and cashew nut cake, vanilla ice cream, praline. Okay guys, I didn't know that I was getting carrot cake (Gajar Halwa) but I was glad that I did. Indeed, this was something of a tour de force of a dessert as both the Carrot and the superb Nut Cake would have been fine on its own or with the ice-cream. But we scored on the double here!

The restaurant had quite a selection of drinks available, as it always does, but we decided to go with wine. We didn’t spot any Riesling or Grüner Veltliner and picked the Birchmore Chardonnay from South East Australia and it turned out to be quite a delicious wine and, just as importantly, more or less a perfect match!

Meeran Gani Manzoor, newly appointed Head Chef at Richy’s Restaurant in Clonakilty is a graduate in Culinary Arts Management from the University of West London. His broad international experience has been acquired while working around the globe, in countries such as Belgium, UK and USA.

Daphny Hilven: Before working in L’Aperi Vino, Goei Goesting and Buon Eatalia in Hasselt, Belgium as Chef de Cuisine, Daphny worked at Bistro Binnenhof, which has a Michelin bib and La Source, which has 2 Michelin stars. This is her menu for the Belgian Tasting Menu, tonight, Friday in Richys (7.00). Call (023) 882 1852.

Soup Parmentier

Clonakilty Black Pudding & Truffle croquet, mustard sauace

Fish & Strofrietjes, Tartare Sauce

Organic Chicken Breast, mushrooms, pine nut purée, crisoy skin, dauphin potato.

Irish Hereford Beef medalion, béarnaise sauce, mash potato, gratin chicory wih ham.

Moelleux aux chocolate with Irish Whiskey salted caamel sauce, vanilla ice cream.

A Delicious Double from Le Caveau

Arianna Occhipinti SP 68 Rosso Terre Siciliane (IGT) 2016, 12.5%, €26.35 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

Get your kicks on route sixty-eight. Doesn't rhyme! This super wine, liquid poetry, is named after the road that passes by the Sicilian vineyard where Arianna Occhipinti happily produces the clean wines that have given her quite a reputation.

“Arianna Occhipinti is a real star of ‘natural wine’. …Good agriculture and minimal intervention in the cellar bring light to every label in production. No accident today that her Frappato is on the wine lists at the worldliest tables of Parisian neo-bistros.”

So says the authoritative Modern History of Italian Wine speaking of Arianna whom they include in a very short list of the most influential Italian winemakers of the current decade.

And that Frappato grape is included in the blend here, its partner being the much better known Nero D’Avola. Gorgeous aromatics here, a melange of fruit (red) and floral, herb notes too, even a wee bit of pepper. On the palate, it is light and bright with berry (raspberry from the Frappato) and red cherry fruit, energy and grace in every sip, excellent acidity too, very refreshing, an exquisite balance of power and finesse and those lips drying at the finalé. Very Highly Recommended.

And if the Irish weather is warm when you get your hands on a bottle, don't hesitate to chill it a little, about forty minutes in the fridge did it for me. There was a little sediment, so maybe decant. If you forget, don’t worry!

Viña Albergada Tempranillo Rioja (DOC) 2016,  13%, €12.95 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

The colour of this young wine, a joven, is a dark ruby. There are expressive aromas of ripe red fruit (cherry, plum). On the palate it is juicy and fruity, with a touch of spice, very good acidity, quite refreshing. Perhaps not the longest of finishes but a good one. Highly Recommended.

The unoaked joven is a lighter, easy-drinking style of Rioja that offers great value-for-money. Great too, they hint, as an aperitif with Banderillas tapas (green olives, gherkins, onions and pimenta). And it is one of those reds that may be tried chilled.

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Taste of the Week. Three Men in a Trailer's Irish Ketchup

Taste of the Week
Three Men in a Trailer's Irish Ketchup

Bought this ketchup in The Apple Farm, near Cahir, a few weeks back. It was just days ago that I retrieved it from the cupboard and discovered I had a superb Taste of the Week in my hands. So who are these three men?  In their own words: ‘Three men in a Trailer’ is an idea for a mobile high quality food outlet generated by 3 guys passionate about food, particularly food from Tipperary.' 

Well this strikingly delicious ketchup is high quality, no doubt about it and the trio, JJ, JK and Eamonn, credit its unique taste to the natural cider vinegar that they get from Con Traas's Apple Farm. Other ingredients include Tomatoes, Garlic, Ginger, Cumin, Paprika. A terrific combination. They also do Smoked, Sticky and Spicy versions. Must get my hands on those.

The 280g bottle costs three euro at the Apple Farm. The good news is that they distribute nationwide and you can check your local stockists here. And yes, they do have a trailer! By the way, it's a high end mobile catering unit.

Three Men in a Trailer

Gortussa

Dundrum, Tipperary
If you wish to contact them you can call JJ on 085 851 4355, JK on 086 814 8837, Eamonn on 087 759 1161  or email info@3men.ie

Sophie Bertin Sancerre is a Star at O'Brien's Annual Sale

Focus on the Whites in the O'Brien's Annual Sale

Reds may outnumber the whites by about two to one in the ongoing annual sale at O'Brien's but there are some excellent whites to consider. We tasted the first three over the past week while the two at the end were tasted a few months back. All good, but we do advise putting the Sophie Bertin Sancerre at #1 on your shopping list!

La Côte Blanche de Sophie Bertin Sancerre (AOP) 2016, 13%, €14.95 (down from 21.95).

Of the three whites tasted this past few days, this is the star. Not that you’d know it from the pale straw colour, much the same as the Waiheke. The magic starts with the aromas, a degree or two more intense, white fruit and floral notes, minerality and more, full of promise.

And that promise is handsomely delivered. The palate has extra intensity, more body, rounded and flavourful, perfect balance between fruit and acidity, plus quite a long and satisfying dry finish. Very Highly Recommended. An ideal pairing with seafood, salad, or simply by itself. The winery recommendations are Goat's cheese, Risotto, Salads, Shellfish, Smoked fish.

This top class Sancerre benefits from the Domaine’s “fantastic soils (chalk and clay, and flint)" and a policy of reducing yields to increase fruit flavours.  In the cellar, the wine is matured on its lees for several months.

Rabl Grüner Veltliner Löss Kamptal (Austria) 2017, 12%, €14.95 (was 18.45).

This light straw coloured wine has aromas of white fruits, light pepper in the background. The purity of the fruit (peachy) is exceptional - the Grüner Veltliner, known for its aromatic fruity wines, gets on very well with the local Löss soil - no shortage of minerality  and you have a dry refreshing finish. Highly Recommended. Well priced too - especially now!

The Rabl Winery in Langenlois, Austria’s largest wine-producing city, has three guiding principles: 1. Only perfect grapes can yield a top wine. 2. Must from perfect grapes allows minimal intervention. 3. No fear of powerful wines! Rabl are well regarded and they recommend pairing this generous and refreshing wine with light starters or as an aperitif. Should go well too with simple fish dishes and salads.

Man O’ War Sauvignon Blanc Waiheke Island (New Zealand) 2016, 12%, €16.95 (was 19.95).

Very light straw is the colour of this Waiheke Island Sauvignon Blanc. The island, known for its beaches and vineyards, is a short ferry ride to the east of Auckland on the North Island. Aromas tend to citrus as does the fairly intense palate of this fresh and crisp wine. Acidity is not shy at all and, with a hint of grapefruit, there’s a pleasing refreshing finish. Recommended. By the way, it is not entirely Sauvignon as there is five per cent Semillon in the blend.

Winery note: The 2016 Sauvignon blanc, with 5% Semillon, is a stylish vintage with typical herbaceous aromas, tight acidity and ample texture. Typical of Waiheke Sauvignon blanc, our 2016 Estate Savvy is perfect with a year or two of age allowing the wine to mellow and showcase the wines structure and longevity.

Two Others to Note

Gaia Assyrtiko Wild Ferment €22.95 (was 24.95).

The grapes are grown high up in circles around the top of the craters on Santorini, one of the Greek islands. Sometimes wines from hot climates lack acidity, but that is not the case here. Try it with shellfish. The grapes are soaked on the skins after crushing for a long period. This gives the wines their excellent structure and complexity of flavour. Well worth a try!

Terredora Greco di Tufo Loggia, 16.95 (was €18.95)

Colour is a light straw and the intense aromas feature white fruits and blossoms. The intensity is also on the palate, citrus notes here too and a rich minerality also prominent in this elegant and full-bodied wine. Definitely has that strong personality and a long dry finish. Greco di Tufo is the grape and you’ll find it difficult to get one better than this!

O’Brien’s themselves rave about this one: “Tasted by the wine team against two other major names in the region (Campania), this wine won hands down and was immediately listed for us. Simply amazing mineral driven, rich, complex white. Utterly irresistible!”

The recently published The Modern History of Italian Wine also has high praise for Terredora. “The vineyards are… among the best in Irpinia. Terredora cultivates indigenous grapes only.”