Little James's Basket Press, Vin de Table, Saint Cosme NV and Zenato Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2001.
Little James's Basket Press, Vin de Table, Saint Cosme NV. Here's something really unusual - a wine from top Rhône producer Louis Barruol of Château de Saint Cosme, categorised as a humble vin de table. It's pure Grenache with juicy red fruit flavours and a savoury, gamey undertow. Lively, straightforward and appealing. From Cabot & Co, IFSC; On the Grapevine, Dalkey & Booterstown; Listons, Camden St; Corkscrew, Chatham St; Baily Wines, Howth; Jus de Vine, Portmarnock; Walsh Food & Wine, Naas; World Wide Wines, Waterford and others, €11.99-€12.99.
Zenato Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2001. If you've harboured doubts about Valpolicella, lose them in a glass of this superior stuff. Although it's easy to get into, with plenty of immediate red-cherry charm, more complex flavours soon emerge . From selected Next Door off-licences nationwide; Vintry, Rathgar; Cheers-Gibneys, Malahide; McCabes, Mount Merrion & Gables, Foxrock; Searsons, Monkstown; Capranis, Ashford; Harvest, Galway; Fahys, Ballina; Patrick Stewart, Sligo; Herans, Boyle and many others, €11.99-€12.99. Also on sale in Ely, glass €6.40; bottle €24.50.