WINE O’CLOCK: Shedding some light on Pinot Noir

LAST week I wrote about Irish names that have made a mark in the wine world – mostly those of the ‘wine geese’, merchants who fled this country in the early eighteenth century.

Nessa Corish is a more recent goose – sorry about that Nessa, nothing personal. You won’t see her name on a bottle but you will see that of her husband, Laurent Miquel. They produce some beautiful reds and whites under his name from their home-base at Faugeres in the south of France.

You won’t see her name on a bottle but you may see a couple of Irish names she has picked for the wines. One is Solas. Yes, as in light. And it is indeed light – a light, bright Pinot Noir . If you like Fleurie, but think it too expensive, or Beaujolais, but find it a bit rough, then Pinot Noir could be the wine for you.

The grape goes into many wines but the ones that bear its name are red (sometimes rosé, but let’s not complicate things) with flavours of vanilla and cherry. Solas is one of the best. 

Another wine from the Laurent Miquel vineyards is Kinsale, which Nessa says she named after “the wine capital of Ireland”. It’s a nice, spicy, ruby red, a bit more robust than the Solas. Nessa says it’s good with wild boar and black pudding.

You can buy these wines in most good shops. I got them recently in Dunnes. I am wary of listing Dunnes’ wines because they change their stock so frequently and also change the prices. I paid around a tenner for each of these and I can certainly recommend them.

MICHAEL WOLSEY