About Me

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Dublin, Ireland
Hi, I'm Dermot Nolan, and I became a Master of Wine (MW) in 1997, and resigned from the Institute of Masters of Wine in 2023 after being an MW for exactly 26 years. I opened a wine shop in DĂșn Laoghaire, Ireland, called The Wine Library, which closed in 2018, and this is my personal wine blog. I will do my utmost to be fair and responsible in my posts – please read my Who Pays article in re the ethics of wine trips and writing. I have worked in wine education, retail, and consultancy since 1990. I was a Director of the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) from 2008 to 2014 and was also a member of the Events Committee, founder of the Trips Committee, and member of the Governance Committee. Having had problems with potentially libellous comments from unidentifiable posters, I now require that if you post a comment, you must identify yourself properly or it won't be published. Please note that I do not review products or services on request so kindly don't ask. I value my independence and I believe my readers (few that they may be) do so also.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Go west, Diploma!

And south, as well! On Tuesday 27th, Barry Geoghegan MBA was back in the saddle as the Diploma circus headed west and south to learn all about the Americas in one day! He started in North America (he even included Canada - probably only because there is a Canuck in the class LOL), headed into the USA then, after lunch, covered Chile, Argentina and other south American countries. The wines were, if I do say so myself, pretty darn good.

Diploma in Italy

Oh begob, back when I was a nipper, studying Diploma we had David Gleave MW for the Italian lecture. A hunky, smooth-talking Canadian he was always popular with the women in the class. Nowadays, we have Michael Palij MW, a hunky, smooth-talking Canadian...is there a pattern emerging here?

Landmark Masterclass

Yesterday, Tuesday 3rd November, Wine Australia hosted a Landmark Masterclass at which I was asked to present a range of wines which represented Landmark for me. In all, we had 18 - so it was a pretty severe selection from the 578 tasted in Australia!
The Masterclass was held in the Constitution room of the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin - a lovely setting for the event. The selected guests included those who had applied last year as well a handful of journalists.

More Aussie oddballs

Further to my post about the alternative varieties tasting last week, here are the wines tasted:

Oxford Landing Pinot Grigio 2008, €10.99 - good, nice weight of fruit with crisp acidity;
Lindeman's Pinot Grigio 2008, €10.99 - nice, lighter in style than the Oxford;
Guerrieri Rizzardi Pinot Grigio IGT 2008, €12.95 - good, quite mineral on the mid-palate, but also with good fruit depth;
Brown Brothers Pinot Grigio 2007, €13.95 - good, nice fruit, quite citrus style;
Thorn Clarke Pinot Gris 2008, €17.50 - good to very good, big, full wine with rich, ripe fruit;
Tim Adams Pinot Gris 2008, €15.95 - good, mineral but almost riesling!

Yalumba Y Viognier 2007, €13.99 - good, peachy ripe fruit, nice weight;
Yalumba Eden Viognier 2008, €18.99 - very good, elegant peach fruits, rounded, well-balanced;
De Bortoli Viognier 2007, €23.95 - good, with nice fruit weight but some oak notes;
Yalumba Virgilius 2007, €34.99 - excellent, very aromatic, quite intense mid-palate, but elegant and well-balanced, long;
Rutherglen Estates Marsanne Viognier 2007 - fair, off-dry, slightly herbaceous and lacked real depth;
Heartland Viognier Pinot Gris 2007, €15.50 - good to very good, really ripe and quite big;
Yering Station Marsanne Viognier Roussanne 2005 - good, slightly talcy or soapy but nice enough fruit;

Peter Lehmann Tempranillo 2006, €12.99 - good to very good, ripe and supple entry, nice berry fruits on palate, smooth and long;
Campo Viejo Reserva 2005 - quite good, quite soft and round but lacks depth of a Reserva;
Running with Bulls Tempranillo 2008, €18.99 - good to very good, especially as it was bottled only in September! Rich, ripe and big fruits but still quite elegant - made by Yalumba;
d'Arenberg Sticks and Stones Tempranillo Grenache 2004, €21.99 - good to very good, still quite deep colour but with lovely berry fruits, round, rich and smooth;

Rutherglen Estates Nebbiolo 2005, €14.95 - good, lovely berry fruits and leaf notes on nose, juicy berry fruits on palate and well-balanced;
Thorn Clarke "Morello" Nebbiolo 2005, €19.95 - good to very good, deep, rich nose, fresh acidity, dark earthy fruits and long;
Ricossa Barolo 2003, €24.99 - fair, closed nose, sour palate, firm tannins.

Update on the Mosel bridge

Hi all - just a quick update on the Mosel bridge. Here is a email from Sarah Washington, with links to an online petition against the bridge - please sign this.

>>The German gourmet magazine DER FEINSCHMECKER has begun an online petition to help save the valley and vines from the politician's bulldozers and concrete.
On the left hand side of the following web page you will find an English translation of the petition and instructions on how to fill it in. The petition is further down in the centre of the same page.

http://www.b50neu.de/feinschm_e.html

You have until the 1st of December to sign the petition and circulate this link wildly. (After so doing you will accrue undying appreciation from all corners of the planet.)
News in brief:
Building work is moving ahead in several places (digging holes and clearing land). To counter this the debate is finally hotting up here in Germany. Tomorrow evening (Tuesday 3rd Nov) the story will be covered on the highly respected investigative news show Frontal21: http://frontal21.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/13/0,1872,7921069,00.html

With thanks for your help and kind regards,

Sarah Washington<<