Enowine – Dublin
Posted by Ray O'Connor | Filed under Out and about
I called into Enowine in Dublin whilst visiting Dublin this week. The owner, James Connolly, also has the UK & Ireland franchise for the Enomatic machines which have taken off a storm in the past few months. The shop was showing 48 wines on the machines which they are recommending as ideal Christmas matches. Some lovely stuff on tasting and the number of consumers (circa 50) who turned up on a cold Thursday night was a positive sign of trade for Dublin.
The stores manager,Dom Brice, said although the average spend is decreasing they are witnessing more footfall lately. He put it down to more people entertaining at home rather than eating out, so it’s more like €10 bottles rather than the €30 bottles of before. Still, not a bad average spend these days. The affluent style of purchasing full cases of Bordeaux Grand Cru wines has reduced as people are less keen to be seen involved with such indulgence. The store is offering 40% off the fantastic 2005 vintage. Surely even with the poor UK exchange rate (£1 =€1.11) this is an absolute bargain.
Amongst the beauties on tasting was Vovray ‘Le Mont’ Huet, 1997, which really has to be one of the best white wine estates in the world. From a handsome vintage, this wine was drinking wonderfully well. Deep amber in colour with a waxy, walnutty aroma. Orange rind eventually coming through on the nose. An all-encompassing palate dripping in rich concentration of golden moments. Buckets of orange peel and lemon pith to kick-start the tongue into action. Lovely lingering length.
Also showing well was the red Chateau Lafont-Menaut, Pessac Leogan, 2007. This estate is owned by Philbert Perrin, son of the Chateau Carbonnieux proprietors. The wine was showing its youthful characteristics on the nose with a ‘Best Of’ compilation of the red and black fruits found in Bordeaux reds. Holding good form at an early stage from an iffy vintage, there was promising concentration and just right kind of lick of oak that will carry this wine for a few years.
Finally, just to mention the very classy Hermanuspietersfontein ‘Kleinboet’ , Western Cape, South Africa, 2006 which was offering up that unmistakable South African signature oak aroma . They’ve mastered the Bordeaux blend, with layers of intense black fruit with a vegetal edge and promise of fine development to come. A perfect case of the sum of all parts.
Tags: Bordeaux, Dublin, Enomatic, Enowine, South Africa
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