With the host of groovy
foodie blogs out there, why take a few wine suggestions thrown in your direction (from a questionable source) to complement that palate?
Willkommen bis the inaugural 'Plonky Tonk Man' post. Possibly to become 'There Will Be Plonk' or 'Daniel Plainview's Slosh Factory' - I haven't decided yet.
Have a go at a title if you feel like it.
I like booze and in recent years, thanks to the cheapening prices of vino and the fact that my good lady has, in her distant past, worked as a dazzlingly knowledgeable wine sommelier, I have developed a decent taste as to what's good and what's not. Anyone could do this, given time, but this could prove to be a lot of fun.
For all of us, of course.
And for my first recommendation:
The Catena Malbec 2006
Now, I could bang on in the most verbose manner about this wine, and may do so for future installments, but suffice it to say this is a crimson red that smells overwhelmingly of berries and currants and yet is as light on the taste buds as an bulimic starlet who's just barfed up her tuna salad sandwich.
It doesn't need, necessarily, to be imbibed with food and will serve perfectly well as an evening wind-down tipple or as an '
I'm treating myself to a good wine tonight before I go out because I work bloody hard and I want to get pissed up but stay classy' drink too.
A deceptively lighter red for the usually more robust, jammy Malbecs.
Or as
Wine Spectator put it:
Enticing, with lots of mocha, fruitcake, raspberry and boysenberry flavors stretched over a lengthy, fleshy finish. A delicious, fruit-driven version. Drink now through 2010.
Thank you, Wine Spectator.
This wine is at the more expensive end of the market, at around 17 or 18 quid, and you will have to head somewhere like The Corkscrew, near Nearys pub off Grafton Street, or that tiny wine store in Ringsend. In general it can be educational and informative to go into the independent wine stores and ask them about different varieties of wines, regions, grapes and years, tell them what you like/don't like and get them to recommend wines and let you taste them.
Tescos won't do that for you, now will they?
Then again, the wine shops don't have microwaveable lasagnes or milk.
It's a careful global-shopping balancing act.
Do yourself a favour and snap up this Malbec or I'll send Wine Spectator around to do your fookin' legs in.