Thirstily I waited for the entries to our latest Irish Times Readers' Wine Competition. At first, when your letters and emails came in a slow trickle, there was that sense of frustration which a person in dire need of a drink might feel in a house full of wine but no corkscrews. Then, suddenly, answers poured in, inducing the mild panic that sets in when somebody keeps topping up your glass every time you blink. Would I be able to keep my head and stagger to the finish?
Well, just about. To be truthful, I've thoroughly enjoyed tasting my way through your favourite wines at £8.50 or less in the past couple of weeks. I think I counted only 12 which I really disliked - wines which seemed to me confected and clumsy or just plain dull; but as these represented only a small fraction of the total, there were plenty of intriguing nominations to consider. There could have been a dozen winners, in the end, rather than just six.
A couple of interesting trends emerged. First, European wines are definitely on the way back up. Whereas, in our first Reader's Competition last spring, the New World and the Old World held equal claims to your affections, the balance appears to have swung away from Australia and New Zealand, Chile and Argentina, North America and South Africa. Strongly to the fore are the countries and regions that have been most dynamic in the past decade or so, reenergising their wine business. The serious challenge which the south of France, the south of Italy and various parts of Spain are mounting to the New World is sharply delineated in your line-up of best-loved bottles.
The other trend, I'm delighted to notice, is away from Chardonnay and Cabernet, towards more unusual grape varieties. Here, the New World scores just as highly as the old. The competition shortlist features a Chenin Blanc, a Dry Muscat and a couple of Grenaches from Australia, a New Zealand Riesling, a Chilean Viognier, an Argentine Torrontes and a South African Cinsault - quite a chorus in favour of flavours that stand out from the crowd.
This time, there was no special requirement to come up with wines which had never been written about in this column before, so quite a number of familiar goodies resurfaced. Vigilant readers will see that one or two old favourites of mine have crept into the winners' enclosure; tasted against everything else, they continue to stand out. Other great old standbys were reluctantly kept out, simply because they have been recommended here so many times already. Just in case you're interested, these ever-reliables include Chateau Bertinerie Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux; Marques de Riscal Sauvignon and Con Class Especial, both from Rueda (all whites); Chateau Thieuley Clairet from Bordeaux (rose); J.P. Tinto from Portugal; Candido Salice Salentino from Puglia; Guelbenzu Crianza from Navarra and Tesco Chianti Classico Riserva (all reds).
Where do Irish Times readers do their wine shopping? Oddbins scored a higher number of nominations than any other retailer. Searsons of Monkstown and Wines Direct of Mullingar came next, followed by Dunnes Stores, Superquinn and SuperValu. But the spread of outlets was extremely wide, stretching into remote corners of the country (and making me wonder, yet again, why so many importers, when asked to list as many stockists as possible for the wines recommended in this column every week, come up with the same predictable Dublin half dozen).
You wrote such eloquent, entertaining letters that I fear for my job. A reader from Cork described how a southern French Carignan at £3.99, bought to marinade the Easter Sunday beef, developed from "a bit rough" to "even and rich, with hints of vanilla and blackberry - merging into a symphony of rustic mystery" when re-tasted the next day with the meal. "In all honesty I don't remember receiving such enjoyment and pleasure from just one humble supermarket bottle of wine," she writes, ending on a cautionary note of moderation. "Perhaps the secret lay in the one, and only one, glass each day. To drink a bottle or two could submerge the delicate and mysterious balance between palate, stomach and brain!"
A Dublin trio supplied their tasting notes for an Italian Muscat. "Beautiful on a sultry evening with salmon cutlets, Herb Albert jazz," began the husband. "Fresh, zesty, concentrated fruit - hints of lime, pear and banana on nose. Very different," read the jottings of the wife. "Yum. Buy again. Three stars."
But the prize of a magnum of Champagne Jean-Claude Vallois Assemblage Noble Brut from Bubble Brothers for the most amusing letter goes to Veronica Jane O'Mara of Killiney. Here's how she describes her experience of the Bordeaux rose mentioned above.
"A rose with an attitude; this is how I tasted it. Perhaps a glass of wine might cheer us up? This question was directed toward my 20-year-old daughter, laid up upon the sofa with post-op blues, convinced that she was chained to the damned bit of furniture forever.
`Neither of us felt optimistic about the efficacy of the proposition. I'd taken a downer in empathy, ably assisted by the weather which was doing its February dampest with a sea mist creeping under the doors and travelling up the curtains. Even the cat was depressed. I had a bottle of rose left over from a dinner party case. (A great idea, this, from Wines Direct; apart from the fun of the delivery in its `handle like eggs' box, all your booze buying is solved. There's fizz for the aperitif, red and even two half bottles of dessert wine . . .)
"We sat by the fire and looked at the wine in our glasses. The colour was quite extraordinary - dark pink, almost cerise, redolent of a medieval bishop. The flames from the fire sent flashes of light through the lovely liquid. And the taste! Drier than you'd expect from a rose - strawberry tarts, squashed raspberries, hot and ripe. We grinned at each other. The cure was working!"
"It's like a French holiday without the ferry." "No," said my daughter, "it's simply liquid summer."
I'd like to thank everybody who took the trouble to write in. Congratulations to the winners; and to the many readers who came within sniffing distance of a prize, all I can say is that your excellent suggestions are sure to pop up in this space over the next few weeks. I hope you'll keep reading - perhaps with glass in hand.