Mary Dowey bids farewell to the big wine fairs and resolves to focus on smaller events.
FAIR FATIGUE
It's probably just about acceptable to make New Year resolutions up to the end of January. So I'm teetering on the brink of one final and rather drastic sort-out-your life-2005 proposition. I think I'll give up wine fairs.
I love well-structured tastings of, say, 30 to 100 wines, and luckily there are plenty of those. You drop by for an hour or two, concentrate like mad as you sample and scribble in a nice, quiet atmosphere - and away you go, usually with some worthwhile discoveries tucked into your notebook.
But, like most journalists, I hate the big fairs. Too many producers all vying for attention, far too many wines, from shoddy to stellar, with whites and reds on every table ... and just as you start to write, some punter comes up to say hello and your impressions fly out the window.
I've been through my wine fair tasting notes for 2004 and they're rubbish. So this year, apart from London (important for keeping an eye on key trends), I think I'll bid the fairs farewell and focus on smaller events.
Oddbins, by the way, still run the best tastings. There are usually about 90 wines - whites down one side of the room, reds down the other side, fizz at the end. All are accurately listed with their retail prices on a tasting sheet with wide spaces for notes, attached to a clipboard to make writing easy. Staff answer any questions; otherwise silence prevails. So simple. Why can't more people get it right?
BURGUNDY'S LATEST
A quick trip to Burgundy in late November for the annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction was fascinating. With so many small growers, so many subtly different vineyards, so many vintage variations, this region is always rewarding to visit. This time there was good news to bring home. Prices for the 2004 vintage are down almost 30 per cent on 2003 - a necessary move, bringing figures back roughly to 2002 levels.
Remember, 2003 was the heatwave year. For a week in early August, temperatures soared to more than 40 degrees, scorching some grapes, and the harvest began on the 19th - a full month sooner than usual. Because yields were down and quality up, particularly for the reds, 2003 prices are high - but many of the wines are superb.
A tasting with Philippe Prost, winemaker at Bouchard Père et Fils - a company with substantial vineyard holdings in the Côte d'Or - revealed fat, rich, round red beauties. With unusually ripe fruit, acidity is predictably lower than usual in both reds and whites, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the wines will not age well, Prost stressed. "1947 was a year of low acidity and the wines aged superbly." So there.
HURRY, HURRY
Burgundy fans should waste no time scrutinising the Grand Burgundy En Primeur 2003 offer recently launched by Berry Bros & Rudd. With the purchase of Burgundy specialists Morris & Verdin, Berry's now has a glittering portfolio including many of the region's most exciting names.This offer is extremely well presented in an extensive catalogue with informative notes about every estate featured - but quantities are limited, so prompt action is vital. Phone 01-6773444 or e-mail Clare Burke, clare.burke@bbr.ie.
CHABLIS CHARISMA
No Burgundy appellation has pulled up its socks more resolutely in the past few years than Chablis - thank goodness, considering how much of its output we gulp down in Ireland. After the Beaune auction, there was time to nip up and have a quick look around with Didier Séguier, the young winemaker who has made the Chablis of William Fèvre so impressive.
In vineyards where frost damage can be severe, this company is testing new electric cables heated to 30 degrees - an intriguing alternative to spraying the vines with water, which freezes into a hard shell, paradoxically protecting young buds.
Tasting six premiers crus and five grands crus from 2003, it was clear that the hot year has produced fatter, less zesty wines than usual - but there are still some crackers, notably Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre and Grand Cru Bougros 'Cote Bouguerots' - both with stirringly complex flavours that fan out on the palate. Let's hope we see them here. If you're visiting Chablis, by the way (strongly recommended), the Bistrot des Grands Crus is a splendid lunch spot.
BIODYNAMIC BROCARD
Another Chablis development worth noting is that Jean-Marc Brocard, a producer whose appealing wines sell brilliantly in Ireland, has been persuaded by his son Julien to get into biodynamics.
During a memorable tasting of the Brocard range hosted by Stéphane Brocard and McCabes Wines at The Gables in Foxrock, the new biodynamic bottling, Domaine de la Boissonneuse Chablis, Julien Brocard 2002, slow at first to show its charm, gradually revealed fantastic, smoky, mineral intensity. A smasher with smoked salmon. About €22 from McCabes at The Vaults, Harcourt Street; Mount Merrion and The Gables.
JANUARY SALE
Prices are slashed on more than 50 wines in the O'Briens sale, which runs until February 20th. In addition to our Italian Bottle of the Week, my favourites include a superb white Bordeaux from the estate of Denis Dubourdieu, a research scientist whose work has had a major impact on the region's wines. Château Reynon Bordeaux Vieilles Vignes 2002, down from €15.29 to €12.99, is wonderfully stylish with plenty of body and depth beneath fresh, citrussy topnotes. Just the thing to cheer up an end-of-winter dinner party.