The CD Times - Issue 1 - May 2020

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THE

CLASSICdrinks

CD TIMES

Wine Specialist

MAY

•

CLASSICdrinks Wine Specialist

2020

Y O U R B I - M O N T H LY W I N E I N D U S T R Y EZ I N E

SEIFRIED PUTS NELSON ON THE MAP “The Seifried Family, pioneering winegrowers from Nelson, New Zealand have been receiving accolades for their Anna, Chris, Hidi, Agnus, Hermann Seifried

stunning wines for many years. In November 2019, they achieved a hat-trick by winning Champion White Wine, Champion Sauvignon Blanc and Best Wine of Nelson at the New Zealand Wine of the Year event for their Seifried Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2019.

This is the first time a Nelson winery has won the “Best Wine of the Year”, and it is worth bearing in mind that Marlborough has 74 times more Sauvignon Blanc planted than Nelson – tough competition indeed.”

Anna Seifried

IN THIS ISSUE Wine

Current Climate

Seifried

What’s my Job?

The talented Seifried family’s most recent achievements.

Discover what it’s like to be the export manager for Jean Loron wines!

Masottina Exciting NEW vintage Prosecco

Meet the team

This month features Laura O’Brien

News

Wines in the Spotlight Showcasing some of our favourites from our vast portfolio!

Whiskey Galore Teeling’s 28 Year Old

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CD TIMES NEW SINGLE VINTAGE PROSECCO MASOTTINA

DAL BIANCO: A HISTORY, A FAMILY, A WINEMAKING TRADITION

Ogliano Prosecco Superiore Docg is about to be

Epifanio, followed by his eldest son Adriano, his wife and two

A new vintage of “Le Rive di Ogliano” Extra Dry Rive di released. The Millesime 2019 of the single-vineyard

Prosecco made by 100% Glera grapes from the 40 years old vines located in a hilly plot of about two hectares in Ogliano Village, among the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hill, will have a little change of name in the label. It will be named “R.D.O.” Extra Dry, standing for “Rive di Ogliano”, the appellation’s name. First released as soon as the “Rive” appellation was created in 2009, it is the first Prosecco awarded with the five stars by Decanter and being called “The champ” by Michael Edwards. As Richard Baudains from Decanter stated in 2014, it is a “Top terroir driven” Prosecco. Le Rive di Ogliano in fact reveals in the glass the uniqueness of Ogliano Terroir.

Le Rive di Ogliano

The strong bond that connects the Dal Bianco family to the hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene begins in 1946 with grandfather brothers. Today at the helm of the company we find the family’s third generation, represented by the three sons of Adriano. The Dal Bianco family had developed time after time productive excellences: the great proseccos and the still wines of the Conegliano hills, an authentic heritage that the Dal Bianco family has distilled in its two major brands: Masottina, dedicated to the making of sparkling wines; Ai Palazzi, meanwhile, specializes in the production of still wines. Caring for approximately 300 hectares of vineyards (half of which are located within the historic area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene), represents the proud culmination of a long family history. The meticulous pursuit of quality begins in the vineyards where a precision viticulture is carried on and continues in the cellar where an oenology of respect is practiced. The guiding principle is the gravity system, designed to gain the best possible quality from excellent grapes.

A MOVE INTO S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y TORREÓN DE PAREDES - CHILE

Torreón de Paredes, has always shown its concern for the environment and the protection of all renewable natural resources. As a one of the few certified Sustainable Vineyard & Winery in Chile, this year 2020, Torreón has gone a step further in its commitment to eco friendly practices and surprised everyone by installing a solar panel electric plant that has made the winery self sufficient in terms of electricity consumption. The 100Kv photovoltaic power plant supplies clean power to operate the drip irrigation system for the vineyards, and all the working operations at the winery, in fact the plant is producing more electricity than what Torreón de Paredes needs. The Paredes brothers, Alvaro & Javier summarise this new winery achievement by saying: “We’ll be using the cleanest possible energy to keep making the best ecological wines the Cachapoal Valley could offer, and with almost no carbon foot-print”.

Noble wines

by Nature

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CD TIMES M E E T T H E LAURA O’BRIEN

T E A M !

BDM West of Ireland | Tel 087 -7723155 |lauraobrien@classicdrinks.ie

Why the wine business:

Right now, the wine industry is one of the most interesting industries to consider as a career path! Learning about wine is fun, its exciting because its hands on – especially when tasting is involved, and its instantly gratifying! I love people and forming relationships. I find the people in the wine industry to be passionate, interesting and fun.

If not selling wine what do you think you would be doing:

Possibly something to do with social care, or working with teenagers /young adults.. but selling wine is the dream job in my opinion!

Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger

What was the last wine you had:

Vina Muriel Blanco Reserva Rioja, delicious and I love the fact it has been aged for so long before releasing.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Steven Spielberg’s -ET, since childhood and still today.

THE STORY OF TENUTA SAN LEONARDO

Spirits

Development

We are going through a phase of Queen and Elton John in our house as we have watched Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman lately.

CLASSICdrinks Wine Specialist

SSICdrinks Aperol SpriCLA tzWine Speci Gin alist& Ton ic

€184

Manager for details.

FREE COKE

APEROL 12 X 700ML

DE FAVERI PROSECCO 24 X 200ML

€156.00

GORDONS PINK GIN 6 X 700ML

€74.00

SKELLIG SIX POT STILL GIN 6 X 700ML

€120

SCHWEPPE

FREE

S SODA

SMIRNOFF 12 X 700ML

€195

CASE OF GLASSWARE

FRE E FRE E

€31.18

FEVER TREE

TIA MARIA ESPRESSO MARTINI KIT CASE 6

6 +1 FREE

TONIC

DISARONNO GLASS PACK CASE 6

€87.00

€110.00

OFFER VALID UNTIL END OF MAY

KNAPPOGU E 12 YR 12 X 700ML

Ready to drin

TIA MARIA 700ML

k Cocktails

€138

€138

€138

DISARONNO

€138

700ML

€169

CLASSICdrinks

Wine Specialist & Cider Beger Necks CLASSICdrinks

Lon

330ML Specialist Wine 4 X 6 PACK BOTTLE

€16.50

Favourite place:

What are your hobbies:

Cooking, the odd jog, I adore yoga and reading.. and drinking good wine of course!

TAILS COCKTAILS ALL PRICES

330ML BOTTLE 2 X 12 PACK

Favourite saying:

Turn that frown upside down!

“I love to cook and feed people, it gives me great pleasure.”

COORS LIGHT

€24.95

1000ML X 6

EXCLUDING VAT 330ML BOTTLE 20 PACK

Special Offers May 2020

€20.50

4.0 %

CANADIAN

HEINEKEN

330ML BOTTLE 4 X 6 PACK

€24.50 330ML BOTTLE 18 PACK

€14.50 BUDWEISER MILLER

4.3%

GENUINE DRAFT LIMITED STOCK

24 X 330ML

Wine offe

€15.00

rs

New Arrivals DESPERADOS 24 X 330ML

CORONA 24 X 330ML

€27.00

€22.50

Beer & Cider Cans ALL PRICES

No one person, but rather kindness, empathy, loyalty and positivity in a person.

Favourite Film:

Ask your Business

What music are you listening to:

My favourite place is at my kitchen table at home, with my husband , kids and anyone else who can join us for a Sunday roast! I love to cook and feed people, it gives me great pleasure.

What are you reading:

CHECK OUT OUR OFFERS FOR THIS MONTH!

EXCLUDING

NASTRO AZZURO 24 X 330ML

€25.50

CARLING 6 X 4 PACK

€22.50 440ML

STONEWELL MED CIDER 24 X 330ML

€38.00

GUINNESS 3 X 8 PACK

€33.00

Non-Alcoholic

CLASSICdrinks Wine Specialist

CLASSICdrinks

HEINEKEN 0.0%

Wine Specialist

Net Price €78.75 RSP €10.00 20% Margin

€105

DESPERADOS 6 X 4 PACK

COORS LIGHT 4% 24 X 500ML

€36.50 500ML

€24.00

500ML

May 2020 Special Offers

VAT

FRANCE - NOUVEAU

BUY ANY 21 CASES & GET 7 CASES MONDE - SAUVIGNO

N BLANC -

Bubbles

FR EE

CHARDONNAY

- CABERNET

SAUVIGNO

N - MERLOT

- 12 X 750ML

CIAO SECCO FRIZZANTE

PLAYLIST FRIZZANTE

€76.00

€94.00

VALLFORMOSA

CAVA BRUT

€76.00

48 X 200ML

- PLASTIC BOTTLE 48 X 200ML

ALL PRICES

EXCLUDING

- CAN 48 X 200ML

VAT

Special Offers May 2020

More than 1000 years ago, it was a

Cabernet Sauvignon, but Carménère,

monastery, but for over 3 centuries now San

Cabernet Franc and Merlot are also

Leonardo has served as the residence of the

abundant. Cultivation is focused on low

Marquis Guerrieri Gonzaga family, its

yields and highly concentrated grapes.

proud custodians. Today, the San Leonardo

The resulting wines have a great depth,

estate is a garden of vineyards and roses,

concentration and an aristocratic finesse

protected by the massive barrier of the Alps,

that can go toe-to-toe against the world’s

which blunt the force of the cold northern

finest Bordeaux blends. One of the most

winds, while the valley floor benefits from,

awarded wines from Iltay and served at the

and in turn releases, warmth from nearby

finest tables round the world.

Lake Garda. The tenuta remains an antique

“San Leonardo is one of the great wines

world, in which winemaking practices, still

of Italy” .. Monica Larner Wine Advocate.

uncompromisingly artisanal, yield wines that are true gems of Italy’s wine tradition, marked by freshness, harmony, and an innate elegance. San Leonardo has approximately 50 acres of vineyards planted with international varietals that thrive in the varied microclimates of the estate. The majority of the vineyards are planted with

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THE

CD TIMES

IT’S A LOAD OF GRAPES!!

Verdicchio

Pinotage

Verdicchio grape dates by to the 14th century. It has a

Pinotage is and always will be a South African grape.

long history with the Italian region of Marche in the

Its history only dates back to 1925 when it was

central part of the country on the east coast. The grape

created by crossing Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (cinsaut

is sensitive to climate conditions and sometimes can be

used to be known as Hermitage). The wines are

a challenge to grow to maximise the grapes true

usually very dark and deep in colour and quite tannic.

potential. Its name stems from its colour greeish-yellow

The wines tend to be quite brambly and have earth

(‘Verde’ in Italian). The wines are citrus with notes of

flavours. Some tend to be quite smoky. Depending

almonds. Deliciously lively and fresh, with

on the producer and location of the vineyards the

mouth-watering acidity. It is also a great wine that

wines can sometimes have slight tropical notes and

can successfully be oak aged. Sometimes it has been

even bananas. In the last year or so its popularity

known to happen that the grape is confused with

has grown a lot and rightly so. It is a great food wine

another Italian white grape Trebbiano. Works well as

matching with anything from BBQ meats to Thai

an aperitif or fresh light poultry dishes and fish and

foods and even Mediterranean dishes like pasta.

seafood.

Podium Verdicchio Jesi DOC Classco; Marche Italy | 100% Verdicchio

Mooiplass Pinotage Stellenbosch South Africa | 100% Pinotage Produced by Mooiplass Wine Estate & Private

Produced by Garofoli Family. Est 1901

Nature Reserve. Est 1963

Maturation 15 months in stainless steel vats at 10°

50% of the grape was matured in stainless steel

C (50°F) and bottle refinement for four months in a temperature-controlled cellar.

Colour is golden yellow with greenish reflections. intense aroma of ripe yellow fruit accompanied by elegant scents of citrus fruit combined with a note of honey, an ensemble of great complexity and persistence.

Drinking now and we age for up 10 years.

tanks, giving it fruit and elegance, and 50% in small French oak barrels for 9 months, giving it balance, length and structure.

A medium bodied wine with a deep purple colour, with a great deep plum nose. Overall the wine is soft, juicy and approachable. Superb with roast chicken, Cape Malay spiced dishes, roast pork, roast lamb, pizza & pasta dishes..

Will age very well for the next 8 -10 years.

THE

CD TIMES

WHAT’S MY JOB? OLIVER CAMPOS

EXPORT MANAGER | JEAN LORON Being an Export Manager first and foremost means to interact every day with partners from North America to Asia with every country in between, Discussing current business, orders, potential opportunities, visits, etc. It’s basically a lot of emails and phone calls in that perspective and the necessity to be able to switch from one mindset / culture to another.

The pillar of the job is then of course to travel the world trying to spread the good word around our lovely wines by educating our importers’ staff, professional and private customers of theirs, making lots of presentations, tastings, dinners and wine fairs. This requires a lot of organisationnal skills to fit a maximum of travel in a year’s time, be punctual, but it also implies to remain quite healthy and “relatively” serious whilst traveling taking into account long hauls, jetlags, loads of nights in different hotels, etc.

It is basically a very tiring job, and one needs to really enjoy traveling and having the capacity to know yourself and set yourself limits is quite important Next is to organise tours and visits in the vineyards and properties for our partners worldwide whom are eager to discover the surroundings and origins of our lovely wines.

This is a great part of the job representing an incredible moment to show all the beauty of the land, the people and the local culture to our business partners. And once there’ve experienced all of it, things change drastically in their capacity to represent our wines and winery when they’re back in their respective countries. This is a fantastic opportunity to create deep and long term connections with each and everyone of our visitors, it’s generally a lot of laughing, eating, visiting, ending up in great memories. Sometimes, when you’re lucky, you can even make some new friends.

Then there’s the part of the job trying to build the company further with all the team at the winery consisting in exchanging upon the current business worldwide, product development, quality improvement, future opportunities, a lot of tasting of course to always keep sharp tasting skills which is essential for an export manager. This implies of course a lot of internal meetings like in most businesses, essential to be able to embrace the regular changes of the market and consumers’ shifting habits.

In essence, what you really need to be an Export Manager in the wine industry is : To love wine, to love people and to love the travel. If you have these 3 assets, then you might just have what it takes to succeed in this position.

Maison Jean Loron is one of the oldest and largest vineyard owners in the south of Burgundy.

Its wine-growing history dates back to 1711

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CD TIMES WINES IN THE

SPOTLIGHT LA MASCOTA - MENDOZA - ARGENTINA GRAPES: 100%

CABERNET FRANC

A ruby red wine with subtle violet hues, and intense, concentrated aromas evoking cassis, blackcurrants and sweet spices such as black pepper and clove. In the mouth, this perfectly structured wine displays ripe red fruit flavours with notes of eucalyptus and black pepper. An elegant, perfectly balanced wine, with a well-structured, lingering finish. An ideal wine to be paired with red meats, lamb and mature cheeses.

TENUTA SAN ANTONIO SCAIA – VENETO ITALY GRAPES: 55% GARGANEGA 45% CHARDONNAY A colour of straw yellow with greenish reflections. Aroma: white flowers of acacia, jasmine, bouquet of citrus such as pineapple, grapefruit and orange, apple, pear and mango and a light note of bananas. Flavour: fresh and pleasant thanks to its sustained acidity. Well balanced softness and tanginess, making it inviting and intriguing.

Ideal with Aperitifs, hors d’oeuvres featuring fish or seasonal vegetables and cold dishes, first courses with herbs, vegetable risottos, dry pasta dishes and soups, fish in light sauces.

VALLFORMOSA BRUT RESERVA ROSE CAVA -PENEDES SPAIN GRAPES: 100% PINOT NOIR Traditional method, which means it is made the same way as Champagne. Aged 15 months on its lees. Its appearance is very pale cherry in colour with lively tones. Small and elegant bubbles with a good froth. Fruit and ageing aromas reminiscent of rose and raspberry with touches of almond ageing. Rounded and very fine, very feminine. Calls to be savoured on the tongue. Very long and fruity finish.

Ideally recommended to be drunk as an aperitif and served with light dishes.

COLM’S COCKTAIL CORNER

RECIPE:

In each edition Colm our cocktail guy will pick on some of the Classic Cocktails of the World.

THE LAST WORD

20ml – Bathtub Gin 20ml – Luxardo Maraschino Originale 20ml – Freshly squeezed Lime Juice 20ml – Green Chartreuse

This cocktail originated in the Detroit Athletic Club in the early 1920’s. Created in America by an Irish man from Tipperary,

METHOD:

Frank Fogarty. It’s a prohibition era cocktail, hence using the

It consists of equal amounts of Bathtub Gin, Luxardo

Bathtub Gin. First documented in Ted Saucier’s book ‘Bottoms up’ from 1951 it came back into popularity in the naughties and has worked it’s way onto cocktail menus across the world.

Establishing itself as an essential classic cocktail to have in your armoury of cocktails.

Try it with Irish whiskey instead of gin and you’ve got a ‘Dublin Minstrel’. Or Put a Twist on it: Most interesting twist I have seen on this cocktail is Mahiki London using Spitroast Pineapple Gin, Maraschino Originale Liqueur, Green Chartreuse & fresh Lime Juice.

Maraschino liqueur and green Chartreuse and of course freshly pressed lime juice, which are combined in a shaker with ice. After shaking, the mix is poured through strainer into the glass which has no ice, and is served straight up.

Enjoy the beautiful balance between sweet, herbaceous and acidity in this gem of a cocktail.

GARNISH: Lemon Zest & Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherry GLASS: Coupe

#1

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CD TIMES THE BIG APPLE

AVAILABLE LATE MAY

STONEWELL

In 2010 Daniel hung up his pinstripe suit and returned to his childhood home in County Cork with his French wife Géraldine and started making cider. They haven’t looked back since, the first in the modern era of craft cider makers, they have garnered a slew of international awards and are the only cider Supreme Champion Winner of the National Irish Food Awards. In addition to their Classic Medium Dry Cider they produce exciting Summer Seasonals the latest of which to hit the market in late May is Apple & Passion Fruit. Here’s to another 10 years!

Daniel Emerson

Q

UESTION CORNER

WINE

DID YOU KNOW:

HOW LONG CAN I LEAVE A BOTTLE OF WINE OPEN? Wine starts changing straight away after its open. If you are serving wine by the glass, you should at the end of the day vacuum the wine. If you don’t have the Vac du Van system, the hand pumps work very well and keep the wines fresh for up to a week. If it’s a screw cap wine, it makes no difference screwing the lid back on because all the oxygen is still in the bottle. Every business should vacuum their wines. You only want to be serving healthy wines to your customers.

WHAT IS CRIANZA? It is an aging term used in Spain. The wine must be aged a minimum of 1 year in an oak barrel and 1 year in bottle before release.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHIRAZ AND SYRAH? They are the same grape, in France like in the Rhône it is known as Syrah while in Australia it is called Shiraz. Sometimes winemakers in the new world might have Syrah on the label because the wine has a more Rhône taste to it.

WHICH IS BETTER SCREWCAP OR CORK? Corks are a natural product and come from the bark of an oak tree. Because it is natural it is prone to be sometimes in an unhealthy condition which mean the wines can be damaged. On average 2 -5 % of all cork closured wines are unhealthy. Screwcaps can be as expensive if not more so than a cork but as a closure it gives about 99% result in wines being fresh. May not look and feel as glamourous, but what’s important in the freshness of the juice.

The Speyer wine bottle is a sealed vessel, presumed to contain liquid wine, and so named because it was unearthed from a Roman tomb found near Speyer, Germany.

It is considered the world’s oldest known bottle of wine.

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CD TIMES SWIRL & SPIT

ED’S SPEAKS

Hello to one and all and welcome to our very first Ezine.

Its only taken us 16 years to get around to it, but its here at last.

It is amazing what one can finally get done when there is time, and time is something we all have a lot of at the moment.

With each edition we will be asking one of team what they are drinking.

PAUL SAVAGE

NATIONAL KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER: WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING PAUL?

I am not going to talk about the struggles and worries and stress we all are going

Jackson Pinotage, Walker Bay South Africa

through. There is enough media coverage on that. So no mention of the ‘C’ word.

H O W D I D Y O U F I N D I T;

We will be only looking to the future with a very positive outlook.

The purpose of The CD Times is to be informative and educational. To give some news of what’s happening around the wine world and to be light hearted.

Well its a wine that gets a little forgotten about.

Unbelievable structure, great earthiness and complexity but still elegance on the finish. Real brambly blackberry fruits. These is also a lovely

We also want to introduce to the people we work with, both internationally and

subtle hint of tobacco about it.

within our own company. We work in a people business and sometimes that gets

DID YOU HAVE FOOD WITH THE

pushed aside and the focus gets put on figures and turn over etc.

People make business happen and sometimes we forget to focus on this strength. I am currently working on a book behind the scenes which is based on

WINE: Interestingly enough we had Baked Ham and it really worked, there was a crusty mustard coating and the spice complemented the spice of the wine.

Real Customer Care and the Human Touch aspect of developing your business. It

The wine was in perfect balance with the food.

will cover the 5 P’ Purpose, Performance, Passion, Proficiency and Presentation.

M A R K S O U T O F 5 : A very strong 4.

Starting with our next edition I will take each section and give a couple of pointers that may be of help.

But we also want to hear from you. There may be some wine questions that we can help with. Or some wine training notes for your staff that you would like,

WHISKEY GALORE!

improve each edition as we too learn from you along the way.

TEELING WHISKEY

Since this lockdown we have had plenty of time to think and

Building on the international success of the Teeling 21 and

questions on margin, ideas for when you are reopening etc. We know we will

reflect on the skills and experiences that we have and to look how best we can share them with you.

latest release; Teeling 28 Year Old Single Malt. This whiskey

“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”

Oscar Wilde

Please send your questions and queries to me at hmurray@classicdrinks.ie

CLASSICdrinks

consists of the same liquid as the World’s Best Single Malt winning 24 Year Old single malt, aged for a further four years.

This is a very limited release of vintage single malt whiskey, celebrating the very best that Teeling has to offer. Initially aged in Ex- Bourbon casks and finished in Sauternes.

Wishing you always and only the very best......Ed

Wine Specialist

Teeling 24 Year Old single malts, Teeling now present their

CLASSICdrinks Unit 5 & 6, OC Commercial Park, Little Island Co. Cork T45 CH93 T: +353 21 451 0066 E: sales@classicdrinks.ie W: www.classicdrinks.ie