Month: November 2010

Irish owned, and Irish winemaker, Domaine des Anges is now one of the most renowned of the present day ‘Irish Wine Geese’ wines. Ciaran Rooney (pictured with Darina Allen and Gary Gubbens), originally from Dublin, is the winemaker at Domaine des Anges, in the Fondreche area of the Southern Rhone, and has winemaking experience ranging from training in Stellenbosch, South Africa, to working in Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, in Bordeaux to further experinece also in Oregon and Australia.

Our thanks to Ciaran for visiting Ballymaloe, and also to Gary Gubbins, of Red Nose Wines, Clonmel, Co.Tipperary www.rednosewine.com , winner of The Best Wine Website in Ireland 2010. You can also read Gary’s weekly wine column in The Nationalist Newspaper, and his graet wine blog is well worth reading  www.rednosewine.com/blog/

Chief Winemaker and General Manager at Cono Sur, Adolfo (pictured with Rory O’Connell) is a multi-award winning winemaker, and especially famous for his Pinot Noir’s, which Adolfo introduced two of his top Pinot Noirs to the students – the 20 Barrells, and Occio, which recently run the award for the best wine in Chile.

Our thanks and appreciation to Ken Kinsella, Adrian McAleer and all at Findlater Wine and Spirit Group for organising this visit.

Chateau Lynch Bages is one of the long established and famous ‘Irish Wine Geese’ Chateaux of Bordeaux. We were delighted to welcome Marc Hoffmann, who represents Ch. Lynch Bages, as well as the other wines of Jean Michel Cazes, owner of Chateau Lynch Bages. These wines include Chateau Villa Bel-Air, Graves; Xixto, in Douro, Portugal in association with Quinta do Crasto, Portugal; and Tapanappa, in South Australia in asociation with Bollinger Champagne and Brian Croser of Petaluma fame.

Our thanks to Colin Downey and all at Barry & Fitzwilliam Wines, Cork for arranging this visit.

Martin Moore, Durbanville Hills, South Africa Cellarmaster at Durbanville Hills Winery, Durbanville, South Africa, Martin gave a great insight to the winemaking and wine styles, and culinary traditions in South Africa. Martin is one of the most experienced and respected winemakers in South Africa, and you can keep up to date with Martin with his monthly newsletter http://www.durbanvillehills.co.za/#/Newsletter Our thanks to Paul O’Flynn and all at Edward Dillon & Co Wine Merchants for organising this visit. Martin also hosted a fantatic winemakers dinner later that evening at Ballymaloe House.