Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: With Sherry, the cream is at the top

By Kilkenny Now 23rd October 2020 0

Sherry comes in many hues and flavours. Last week I looked at some of the clean, white varieties we tend to drink in summer or as an aperitif. But in Ireland Sherry is seen largely as a drink for autumn and winter, and it is the dark shades we go for. Dark and sweet, some […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: A lot of good wine goes up in smoke

By Kilkenny Now 9th October 2020 0

Fires have been rampaging through California’s Napa Valley in recent weeks, destroying thousands of acres of vine-growing country and causing severe damage to at least 20 wineries. The fires have also destroyed hundreds of homes and small businesses and claimed some lives, so wine is not top of their worry list just now. But it […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: A Rioja by any other name

By Kilkenny Now 11th September 2020 0

The patience of restaurant staff often surprises me, particularly nowadays when they have to work behind a mask and deal with customers who don’t know the Covid rules or have decided to ignore them. But even before Covid reared its ugly head, I witnessed many an example of forbearance. I recall, in particular, a debate […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Invite the neighbours to your barbeque

By Kilkenny Now 7th August 2020 0

Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire are small French towns facing each other across the River Loire, good neighbours but serious rivals when it comes to the production of excellent white wine. Both Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are from the Sauvignon Blanc grape, and while there are obvious similarities, they do have distinctive tastes. ‘Fumé’ is the shortened form […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Fine dining in your own kitchen

By Kilkenny Now 24th April 2020 0

When I eat in a restaurant with a good wine list (a fading memory, alas) I like to drink it by the glass, letting me try more of the range: a crisp white with the starter, a smooth red with the main course and a nice dessert wine with some cheese to finish things off. It’s an expensive little pleasure because restaurants impose a heft mark-up on wine. But I

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Online wine to beat the lockdown blues

By Kilkenny Now 3rd April 2020 0

Some off-licences have closed and many of us can’t get out to the ones that are open. But most wine stores operate good online sales and delivery services, so, if you’ve time to spare, you should try browsing a few websites. You may come across unusual wines that never make it onto the shelves. Some […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: A nice, light white from the home of red

By Kilkenny Now 13th March 2020 0

The Languedoc region of France has been producing wine since Adam and Eve decided apples were too risky and tried growing grapes instead. But it is only in relatively recent years that its wines have become easily available in Ireland. We are most familiar with its reds, many of which come with the word Languedoc […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: The king is dead, long live his wine

By Kilkenny Now 31st January 2020 0

The wine world has lost one of its best-known names with the recent death of Georges Duboeuf, the man they called ‘le roi’ and sometimes ‘le pape’. French wine makers tend not to be good at marketing. A lot of their product is sold under the labels of obscure vineyards. They can be hard to […]

News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: For every tasty dish there’s a perfect partner

By Kilkenny Now 17th January 2020 0

I recently enjoyed the company of a woman who owns a wine bar and the chef who works for her. Unsurprisingly, the conversation turned to matching wine to food. It is an unnecessarily complicated business, in my opinion, as well done by trial and error. But their opinions were interesting and here are a few […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Reds and whites for a sherry little Christmas

By Kilkenny Now 20th December 2019 0

Christmas dinner is a hearty meal which would seem to call for a hearty red to accompany it. But if turkey is the biggest item on your plate, that may not be true. It is quite a bland meat and can easily be overpowered by the heftier reds. A Beaujolis or Fleurie (Joseph Drouhin Fleurie €19.50, Ardkeen Stores, Waterford); a Pinot Noir (Reserve de Luch, Pinot Noir, €11 at