Continuing our Australian theme for the month, our October prize is a must-have for all lovers of wine from the land Down Under.

James Halliday is the authority on Australian wine with an unparalleled knowledge of the industry gained over 40 years making, tasting, judging and writing about wine. His Australian Wine Companion has become the indispensible handbook for professional and amateur enthusiasts for this increasingly diverse and ever-more exciting country.

The 2011 edition is just out, with a staggering 1,487 winery reviews, ratings on over 6,000 wines and a whole lot more on the regions, vintages and information for visitors.

We’ve one copy to give away along with two bottles from one of Halliday’s top-rated 5 red star wineries, including a 93-pointer!

To enter, all you need to do is answer this simple question:

Langmeil’s Freedom Shiraz is produced from what are believed to be the world’s oldest surviving Shiraz vines, in the Freedom vineyard, Barossa Valley. In what year were these vines planted?

Simply leave your answer along with your name in the comments below and you’re in the draw. Just remember to leave us your email address when you’re leaving your comment - email addresses will not be displayed publicly and will not be used for anything other than contacting you if you win.

One lucky winner will be pulled from the hat from all entries here and on our Facebook page where you can also leave your answer. Best of luck!

Congratulations to Jonathan Flack, winner of our September Indian Summer Chillin’ contest. A super snazzy wine cooler and two bottles of Muddy Water’s finest are on their way to you, Jonathan.

‘O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stain’d with the blood of the grape…’ (William Blake)

It’s to one of our favourite countries we turn this month to give you an autumn laden with Australia’s finest fruit. From south of Perth to north of Sydney, and barring only a few rare delicacies*, we’ve 20% off every bottle from the land Down Under in September and October!

We’ve wines from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Eden Valley, Western Australia, Victoria, Hunter Valley and the best value around from South Eastern Australia. So, as the nights draw in, there’s no better time to stock up on the best of Oz.

On to Chile, one of most popular wedding wine ranges, the organic Sierra Grande, is only €6.99 a bottle when you buy 2 or more, or €83.88 a case delivered. We’ve a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and the ever popular Sauvignon Blanc if you want to mix up a case yourself.

And, we’re back to South Africa to tempt you into discovering what great mid-range wines this country can produce. We’ve a savoury Sauvignon and a plummy Merlot from the classy Elgin Vintners, now just €10.99 a bottle for the month.

Finally, our September case of the month throws together the best of this month’s specials with some of our most recent new finds. We’ve a half-Old/half-New World mixed case of 4 Australians, 2 South Africans, 3 Italians and 3 Spanish, including our delectable new Cava, all for only €129 delivered with a tasty €24.88 saving on normal retail prices.

Our Australian sale runs through to 31st October, all other specials end 30th September, or while stocks last.

* Within our extensive Australian range, we do have a handful of rare wines which are acquired on an allocation basis due to limited production or last of a certain vintage. Partial discounts apply due to the scarcity and demand for these wines, and all are indicated accordingly.

The results for Sancerre 2009 have been published in Decanter’s September issue, with the vintage being described by judges as atypical and inconsistent, despite some very attractive, drink-now wines. One critic described it as “a Jekyll and Hyde vintage”, although Loire 2009 as a whole was considered a good year.

Sancerre is known for its terroir and is believed by many to be the world’s best region for Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp acidity, herbaceous flavours, lively acidity and a flinty minerality are some of the famous trademarks.

The 2009 vintage was hot, and it was difficult as a result. After bottling it was noted that alcohol was a problem (some over 15% ABV), although the better examples mellowed down with time. The trick was to pick at the optimum point in time, when the desired alcohol level and flavour profile could be achieved. Unfortunately for some, there was no window of opportunity to do this, so grapes were left on the vine for longer than they should have been, impacting on final alcohol levels.

Another criticism was the number of faults. According to one critic, there were only five or six screwcaps among 112 wines, yet in the space of 40 wines they came across five corked wines. One of the replacement bottles was also corked and another was oxidised. I will continue to bang the drum for screwcaps. These kind of wines need to be fresh and that’s what screwcap will bring, whilst drastically reducing the number of corked and oxidised bottles.

Decanter’s piece on this finished by ensuring consumers that there are still good buys out there. This is a low yielding vintage after all, and with so many micro-climates, you can’t tarnish all with the same brush, but they urge consumers to buy with caution.

It was with sheer delight that we discovered our JJ Breton La Clochette Sancerre receive ‘best value’ Sancerre of 2009, earning a truly brilliant 17.5 out of 20 points. That’s a bit of a snip at €14.99.

“Lovely mineral fruit - serious, complex, sleek and long. Powerful and elegant; wears its weight lightly. Terrific.” (17.5/20, ‘Highly recommended’ & ‘Best Value Sancerre of 2009′)

Full article available in Decanter’s September 2010 issue.

With the surprise arrival of my girlfriend into Curious Wines on Saturday afternoon after a four hour drive from Armagh (she must love me), I decided a night out in Cork City was required. I called Fenns Quay restaurant to book a table for two. We needed a food and wine fix fast, and boy we got it.

I had confidence in this choice of restaurant because of the recommendations from previous clientèle and I knew Kevin at Fenns Quay is a passionate man for his wine. Too many restaurateurs can’t see anything past profit margins on a wine list, so it’s great to see someone making a name for themselves through their wine offering as well as their food.

I ordered a Clonakilty black pudding starters and Bronagh opted for mushroom-pastry-type dish. We were in a mood for a red meat main course, so I got Slaney Valley lamb chump and Bronagh went for the char-grilled 10oz sirloin steak. Both were cooked to perfection. Rare, not blue, but rare. I find when you ask for medium-rare in Ireland, you more than often get medium. Ask for rare on the continent, and you’ll get blue.

Everything was excellently presented, the seasoning and flavours were balanced, and the atmosphere was relaxed. The wine list certainly didn’t disappoint either, a good selection offering the usual suspects (Italian Pinot Grigio, Aussie Shiraz) as well as a number of wines that you won’t see everywhere, including an Austrian Grüner Veltliner and an Italian Grillo.

I needed something edging on big and bold for the main course, so my mind was made up (with the help of Kevin) by the Doña Paula Argentian Malbec. I understand we received one of the very last bottles. The back label would lead you to expect red fruit on the nose, and this might have been the case when young, but this ‘07 was showing darker fruits on the nose (dark cherry, blackberry) and even a little licorice. The palate was beautifully rounded, medium-full bodied with melt-in-your month tannins and another good whack of blackberry. It just added that extra 20-30% to the whole experience.

Obviously the standard of the food is the most important thing when eating out, but the experience as a whole can be diminished by a poor value wine list. I recently went to a very popular Cork restaurant and the food was excellent but the wine disappointing. I believe Kevin and his team delivered excellent value on both fronts, as well as very attentive and friendly service. Cork has a brilliant culinary scene, but if you’re around the city any time soon, don’t miss out on a truly great dining experience at Fenns Quay.

Check out Paul Kieron’s (Grapes of Sloth) take on Fenns Quay here. More details available on menupages.ie

I really don’t mean to draw summer to a close too early, but there has been a little nip in the air the last week or so. Autumn is just around the corner, but there’s no need to put a dampener on it. If Autumn is good for anything, it’s an excuse to get back to warm, hearty, rustic food that we didn’t seem to miss during the summer months. Maybe now though, we’re starting to get a craving for it all over again.

For the beef stock, try to get beef bones from the butcher and boil the heck out of them for a good few hours.

French onion soup (serves 4-5)

What you’ll need

3 tbsp butter
500g onions, thinly sliced
250ml dry white wine
125ml water
1.25L beef stock
French baguette sliced and toasted
freshly grated gruyère for serving
salt and pepper

How to cook it

Melt the butter in a large, heavy pan and then add the onions, wine and water. Heat gently, stirring regularly until the onions soften up (30-35 minutes). Add stock and season before bringing to the boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, with a generous layer of gruyère cheese on top, grill the toasted sliced baguette until golden brown. Serve the soup and set the grilled bread on top.

The wine match

I dare not deviate from France. Get your hands on a good Red Burgundy, a Côtes du Rhône or even a Beaujolais and you can’t go wrong here. A great all round food wine, Moillard’s Bourgogne Pinot Noir is my first choice. The less expensive Cuvée Richette Côtes du Rhône and the excellently priced La Reine de l’Arenite Fleurie would certainly not disappoint either.

For white wine drinkers, Chardonnay is a must in my humble opinion. Check out another one of our recent additions, Cuvée à l’Ancienne Mâcon Charnay.

Barely six months have gone by since a group of French cowboys got nabbed for flogging the equivalent of 18 million bottles of fake Pinot Noir to US. giant Gallo for their brand Red Bicyclette. Now, similar news has resurfaced after the company involved in one of Australia’s greatest wine deceptions has had its cards dealt by the authorities.

The Aussie wine company in question is now in liquidation and has been fined around A$350,000 (€245,000) for selling Chardonnay juice made with a heavy hand of sultana grape juice. The discovery was made back in 2003, with Hardy’s being one of the unfortunate victims.

The question is, would you really notice? Most of this stuff probably ended up in bag-in-a-box, or ‘goon’, as it is affectionately known by backpackers. As a former goon guzzling backpacker myself (we’ve all been there, right?), I never thought it tasted anything like Chardonnay anyway, and I wouldn’t have cared if it was half freshly pressed Jawa juice (watch Star Wars Episode IV), never mind sultana juice. At that time, I probably valued the alcohol content more.

Either way, it wasn’t good news for the aussie wine industry. It’s a frightening thought of how many suppliers and producers all over the world get up to this kind of thing every year and don’t get caught. Unfortunately, at the lower price end (and I’m not just speaking for the wine industry here) consumers will always be exposed to cut corners.

There’s a massive market for something that resembles wine. Something alcoholic and easy drinking. Nothing wrong with that of course, each to their own, but when you’re in the business of shifting massive volume at rock bottom prices, somebody somewhere is going to feel the squeeze and be pressured into taking the wrong action.

Not that sultana man, Andrew Hashim, should be excused for his actions of course. He was one of the key players in this scam, receiving a fine and costs amounting to over A$100,000. He can’t pay it though, because he’s bankrupt.

Picture sourced from an awesome clothing crowd down-under. Join the revolution at slapthegoon.com

We’ve fought tooth and nail over this grape variety before. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, Riesling comes in many different guises depending on where in the world it is grown.

The Germans are perhaps regarded as the original and best by critics, producing serious wine drinkers wines that get even more serious with age. Alsace provides another Old World haven, with chalky-clay soils and a slightly different winemaking approach, many of the wines tend to be drier and weightier on the palate with higher alcohol. Oh, and let’s not forget Austria. The home of the supreme Grüner Veltliner. Again, well rounded, drier and higher in alcohol.

In the New World, there are the citrus fruit bombs of Australia. Crisp and steely with a lean acidic backbone, head to Clare and Eden Valley for some of the best examples. Then there is New Zealand, and specifically Waipara, north of Christchurch, which might just take the crown for Riesling capital of the New World. It’s cool enough to retain vibrant acidity yet warm enough to ripen the grapes fully so they display wide ranging aromas and flavours from lemon and lime to mandarin, and on occasion stone fruit and honey notes from botrytis influence. Those elusive chalky mineral characters make for a great finale.

What’s my Riesling capital of the world? I’ve had some great experiences with Riesling from all over the world. It was probably a dry Austrian Riesling, the Wohlmuth, which initiated my interest. Since then I’ve enjoyed a number of very memorable wines from Germany, France and Australia, but for me at this time, it would be hard to beat Muddy Water’s James Hardwick Riesling - and yes, it’s from Waipara. Gotta love it.

So what’s your Riesling capital of the world?

The above picture is of Riesling grapes harvested in the Czech Republic…. Oops, forgot that country.

There’s a lot of questionable sparkling wine out there, so when we were on the hunt for a new Cava house to source from, we wanted to make sure we found something that would punch above its weight. We searched high and low to raise the bar and bring the best quality Cava to Ireland. After much deliberation tasting a variety of sparklers from numerous different cellars, it was Mont Marçal who got the nod.

We think the wines are sensational, and obviously the critics agree, with the Brut Cava Reserva picking up Gold at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and Robert Parker’s right-hand man, Jay Miller, awarding the flagship Cava, Brut Cava Extremarium, an electrifying 90 points. This kind of consistent recognition over the years has earned Mont Marçal a place as one of the most prestigious cellars in the Penedès.

The winery

The cellar at Mont Marçal was founded in 1975 by Manuel Sancho who, after dedicating many years to the music world, directed his attention to the art of wine and Cava making. It is Blanca Sancho, the founder’s daughter, who now runs the cellar together with a team of young professionals.

The estate has 40 hectares of its own vineyards which comprises indigenous varieties such as Macabeu, Xarel.lo, Parellada and Tempranillo, in addition to other varieties that have adapted perfectly to the region, such as Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

With the aim to optimise each phase of the production and the quality of its products, Mont Marçal has the most advanced technology at hand:

• A cellar with a maximum storage capacity of 1 million litres
• A barrel park with 250 barrels of American, French and Hungarian oak, each with 225 litres
• A laboratory to undertake microbiological and physical/chemical analysis
• A bottling line for 3000 bottles per hour
• A cellar capable of holding up to 6 million bottles at a time for ageing

The range (Cava & still wines)

Mont Marçal Brut Cava Reserva: A blend of Xarel.lo, Macabeo and Chardonnay, the Brut Reserva has aromas of yeast and ripe apples. The palate is fruity and balanced with very fine bubbles.

Concours Mondial de Bruxelles Gold Medal

Mont Marçal Brut Cava Extremarium: This is a step up from the Brut Reserva, with a more savoury complexity as well as being fruit-driven. It has received three silver medals and a 90-point score from Jay Miller.

Jay Miller (Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate) 90 points

Mont Marçal Brut Cava Rosado: Made from the native Trepat grape variety, this dry sparkling rosado is packed with red berry fruit and hints of plum and fig.

Jay Miller (Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate) 88 points

Mont Marçal Blanco 2009: Great value Spanish white of Penedès. Crisp & fruity, this is a real class act with or without food.

Mont Marçal Tinto Joven 2009: Classically warm & rustic Spanish red blend, with lashings of red & black fruits to arouse the palate.

Many of you have already noticed some wines sneaking up over the 15% ABV mark. We’ve been here before. Whether you enjoy high-alcohol wines or not, it is a fact that many more countries are struggling to keep alcohol levels down due to climate change.

The South African wine industry has most recently expressed concern, with some proposing for legislation to be passed that will allow producers to water down grape musts. The idea is to give winemakers more flexibility and control over alcohol levels. As it stands, grapes are left hanging on the vines to achieve ripeness, but longer hang-time leads to higher alcohol levels in the final product.

As Decanter reported only last week, the South Africans may run into trouble when it comes to Europe, as it claimed international regulations would prevent the sale of wine within the EU made using grape must which has been diluted with water.

Question 18 of our National Wine Drinkers Survey asked the Irish wine drinker if they had a certain preference for alcohol level.

Only 3% of respondents had a strong position on alcohol, with 2% actively seeking out low alcohol wines, and half that number actively looking for high alcohol.

Almost 6 in 10 people didn’t care what alcohol was in a wine, provided the taste was right.

Of the different age groups, only the Over 60s stood out as actively selecting a particular alcohol level, with almost 7 in 10 choosing wines in the 11-14% bracket.

If more consumers worldwide adopted the Irish attitude, perhaps winemakers wouldn’t be so concerned. Saying that, there could well be a cultural shift in Ireland over the next few decades with a more moderate approach to drinking alcohol, and alcoholic content will naturally play its part in that.