A new gadget may attract wine-lovers back to the pub, writes Joe Breen
The stats say that fewer people are going to the pub. They also reveal that more people are drinking more wine in the Republic than ever before. So is the pub a hostile environment for the wine drinker or are people staying at home with a worthy bottle out of preference? The answer is probably a little of both.
The typical pub treats wine almost like a spirit. Open, pour, close. This is fine in a pub with lots of turnover, but pity the poor sods who are served a glass from a dodgy bottle that has been lying around a bar for days. For them, help is at hand. James Nicholson Wines, an independent wine merchant which specialises in sourcing good wine from small producers, has teamed up with an Irish company, Wine Dispense Systems, to provide publicans with a "Fine Wine by the Glass" system. It keeps wine fresh in the bottle for up to four weeks and costs our hard-pressed publicans nothing, provided they select their wines from Nicholson's 700-bottle catalogue.
The basic unit carries six bottles, typically three white and three red, and works by placing a layer of nitrogen gas over the exposed wine to prevent oxidation through contact with oxygen after a glass has been drawn from the bottle. The busy barman can "pour a glass like he pours a pint", said Paul Coleman of Nicholson Wines.
The cost of the wines to consumers depends on what is stocked, but a typical arrangement would be to have three price ranges - €4.50, €5.50 and €6.50 - for glasses containing 187ml. It is a novel idea that will reassure wine drinkers without changing the nature of the pub.
SHATTERING CHÂTEAUNEUF
It would be hard to imagine a bottle of Domaine du Pegau sitting in a "Fine Wine by the Glass" system, if only because the cost might frighten the life out of customers. The domaine is one of the top producers in the southern Rhône area of Châteauneuf du Pape, and its wines command a stiff premium. Their Irish distributor, Tyrrell & Company, recently arranged a tasting with winemaker Laurence Feraud.
Feraud is a formidable woman, a mother, wife, winemaker, businesswoman and marketing dynamo. She explained that her wines must mature for a long time before they are ready to be enjoyed. To create something which gives so much pleasure takes time, she said. More than 90 per cent of her produce is exported, 18 per cent of it to the US. She is suspicious of Americans, with their desire to open the bottles as fast as possible. Patience is rewarded, she said, because her wines develop complexity and depth over time. The best could even last for 50 years.
We tasted Pegau's wines ranging from the tough but promising 2003 Cuvée Reservé to the well-rounded 1998 vintage, and two vintages of Cuveé Laurence, the 2001 and the sublime 1998. In some years they had made three red wines when the mighty Cuveé Da Capo, with a head-shattering 16 per cent alcohol, made from 13 grape varieties, had been added to the mix. We tasted the 1998 vintage - big, rich, peppery, with the alcohol well integrated, but the wine still had a long way to go before it would be at its best. "I like my wine to give pleasure," said Feraud. "You just have to be patient" - and fairly flush, she could have added. jbreen@irish-times.ie
Domaine du Pegau wines are available in Cabot & Co, IFSC; Martha's Vineyard, Rathfarnham; The Vineyard, Galway; Donnybrook Fair, Dublin; The Mill, Maynooth; Celtic Whiskey Shop, Dawson St, Dublin; The Gables, Foxrock; Redmond's of Ranelagh. €12.50-€67