Ausone 2010

What a great life!

Pilar, Ciaran and I went to eat at "Chai Pascal" in St. Emilion this evening. On the way to our table we met with Alain Vauthier, owner of "Chateau Ausone". My passion for wine developed after drinking a bottle of Ausone 1983, and a bottle of Cheval Blanc 1983, with my great friend Laurent Daucy, one evening back in 1992. The amazing sensory sensations felt that evening still remain with me today.

To cut a long story short, Alain sent a glass of each of his four wines to our table. All of his wines are exquisite; however, his "Chateau Ausone 2010" is quite simply amazing. Ausone has been, and always will be, one of my favourite wines. The expression of terroir exhibited by this wine simply cannot be matched in St. Emilion. Prior to Chateau Ausone we drank Alain's second wine, "Chapelle d'Ausone". The incredible finesse, elegance, balance, soft tannins, supple fruit, and terroir present in this wine, puts it on a par with the most prestigious first growths.

A bottle of "Chateau Ausone" 2010 retails in the region of €1,400 per bottle. Chapelle d'Ausone 2010 is retailing in the region of €180 per bottle.

Back home, and this is where life becomes complicated; what do I drink now! Oh for a pint of Guinness in Pakie's.

The Wine Buff Plasencia is up and running for less than a month, and though there are teething issues, overall the Spanish launch is working smoothly.

The feedback from Asun is great; she is already experiencing repeat customers, and, visitors to the her shop are delighted by the quality/price of The Wine Buff selection.

We have sourced locally a most incredible organic Olive Oil, it will go on sale in Ireland this week. I have been using this oil for the past 6 months and it is without doubt the best olive oil i have ever tasted. It is also one of the least expensive which fits our portfolio perfectly.

cheers, paddy

Two new Wine Buff Franchise stores have opened this month, the first in Ranelagh Dublin, and the second in Plasencia Spain. We wish Ivor in Ranelagh, and Asun in Plasencia, huge success with their new ventures.

The Wine Buff Plasencia is the first Wine Buff outlet to open outside of Ireland, and the fabulous reaction to our concept in Spain mirrors the reaction received in Ireland over the past decade. People are amazed and delighted by the quality/price relationship of our wines, not to mention the quality of service they receive.

You, our customers/friends, have contributed greatly to making the Wine Buff concept a great success story. All of us here at the Wine Buff appreciate your support enormously, and, we sincerely thank you for the continued faith and trust you give.

cheers, Paddy

Photos from a recent wine trip to La Mancha in Spain. La Mancha is actually the largest wine producing region in the world.

Amparo and Kojak received us in their beautiful home in the town of Pedro Munoz. This is the region of Spain that produced the well known "Don Quixote" Novel by Miguel de Cervantes.

For the aperitif we were treated to a magnificent Iberico Ham accompanied by a delicious bottle of "Herve Mathelin" Champagne.

We then settled into a wonderful meal followed by a very copious serving of aged Brandy.

Kojak produced a very tasty "Sobaos" cake following breakfast the next morning. The Sobaos cake is a specialty from the north of Spain and the main ingredients are butter, sugar, eggs, flour and yeast.

The perfect start to our day of wine tasting.

cheers, Paddy

Wine Buff St Emilion Christening

the 20th of August and our first bottle of wine opened on our new premises in St. Emilion. The wine is "Ovidio" and the owners of the Bodegas, Angel and Amparo, are present.

Not a bad setting for a inauguration, a medieval cellar in the heart of this beautiful village.

The wine barrels we have placed the table/door upon are from "Chateau La Fauconnerie". The juice you see is for decoration purposes only.

cheers, Paddy

Farewell Jean-Marie and Rest In Peace

On Saturday last, 20th of August, the "Wine Buff" lost one of it's greatest supporters, Jean-Marie Zeli, 54 yrs young.

Jean-Marie was my brother-in-law and great friend.

He also featured among our most trusted and reliable wine tasters. His passion for great wine was infectious and certainly rubbed off on me when I moved to St. Emilion in 1988.

Our hearts go out to Jean-Marie's wife Claudine, and his two daughters, Esther and Laura.

Rest In Peace dear friend, and as Aunt Lizzie says, may God find a bed for you in heaven.

We will all miss you, hugely.

cheers my friend, Paddy

Paul O'Connell Bordeaux 2011

Photos taken in Bordeaux on Saturday morning before the France v Ireland friendly. The man in the Irish rugby shirt needs no introduction; Alain, the guy on Paul's left, is a friend of mine from St. Emilion.

The carnival atmosphere at the match was absolutely electrifying, and was certainly matched by the physical impacts on the field. Interesting to note that the French players seemed to come off second best in the physical contact department, they were very much slower getting back on their feet. Bring on the return match at the Aviva Stadium this Saturday.

After a few days of drying out Pilar and I are now back in preparation for next weekend!

cheers, Paddy