The Wine Buff

2011-10-25T15:20:00.002+02:00

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

2011-10-17T14:39:00.002+02:00

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

2011-09-11T23:01:00.007+02:00

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

2011-09-01T11:20:00.004+02:00

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

2011-08-24T22:35:00.005+02:00

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

2011-08-16T11:15:00.005+02:00

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

How great is Cork?

2011-08-10T19:00:00.008+02:00

Photo 1. The tree you see stripped of it's bark is a "alcornoque" or "Oak Cork" tree. The cork used to seal wine bottles actually comes from the bark of this oak tree. The bark is stripped every 10 to 15 years.

Photo 2. This is very expensive, and absolutely delicious, "jamon iberico", or, cured ham, from the same region, the pigs here are fed on glands from the holm oak tree and the alcornoque tree.

Photo 3. One of two Irish pubs in Jarandilla, population of only 3,000 people, and the same town emperor Carlos V spent his final years.

Photo 4. Vidal Del Saz and Carlos Diez Sanchez of Bodegas Del Saz.

Currently back in Bordeaux getting ready for the France v Ireland rugby game this Saturday. Expecting to see lots of Irish out here for the free vineyard visit/wine tasting events the "Wine Buff" are organizing.

A week of Spanish food and wine was the perfect, and absolutely necessary, warm up for this important event!

Cheers, Paddy

Lunch in Toledo

2011-08-07T12:32:00.006+02:00

Pictures taken of Toledo en route to Bodegas Del Saz yesterday.

We stopped for lunch and had the most beautifully prepared, incredibly flavorsome, wild boar burgers, you can possibly imagine.

Met with our suppliers for dinner and again had beautifully prepared local food, accompanied by many delicious wines, in a very ordinary restaurant. The baby lamb for our main course was absolutely mouthwatering. We were lucky to escape back to the hotel at around 3.30am; Vidal Del Saz, the owner of the winery, was only just warming up when we left.

Off to meet with another of our suppliers this evening, "Bodegas Ovidio". The owner of the winery, Angel, and his wife Amparo, also know how to party; it promises to be another late, and very well oiled, night for Pi and I. Angel, better known as Kojak, perhaps due to his lack of hair and robust Latin features, produces incredible wines in the "La Mancha" region of Spain.

We plan on journeying back to Bordeaux sometime tomorrow!

cheers, Paddy

Plasencia Spain, New Wine Buff franchise

2011-08-05T20:21:00.010+02:00

Back in Plasencia, Spain, visiting with the "Wine Buff's" latest partners, Asun and Juan Sanchez-Ocana. Asun and Juan will open their "Wine Buff" franchise in October 2011. Plasencia is a beautiful touristic city in the north of Extremadura. Today we spent finalizing the layout of their premises and planning their trips to France and Ireland.

You can tell from the photos of our accommodation that I really do have a tough job; what can I say, that's what happens when you draw the short straw! I haven't included the photos of the room as they are just too depressing.

cheers, Paddy

Video Wine Buff Shop St. Emilion

2011-07-30T18:11:00.006+02:00

This gives you a vague idea of what the medieval grain silo is actually like. The stone mason will sand blast the entire silo, finish the stone arches correctly, and then re point the joints where necessary. Now that the exterior wall is stripped back, and the stone can breathe correctly, the damp odor has all but disappeared. Another three walls to strip back and then we allow a few months for the stone to dry out.

cheers, Paddy

Grain Silo in St Emilion Shop

2011-07-30T17:41:00.005+02:00

To give some perspective to the height of the grain silo, Ciaran is 6ft 2ins. Over his head the shaft reaches up at least another 12 ft and we have absolutely no idea where it comes out.

In the second photo Ciaran is standing at the entrance to the grain silo, the stone wall is now fully stripped back and will be ready for the stone mason to renovate once it has dried out.

Photos of New shop in St Emilion

2011-07-30T11:50:00.006+02:00

Finally located the USB cable for the camera.

The first photo shows the new "Wine Buff" premises in St. Emilion. (the house with the open shutters and courtyard)

When preparing the room for painting we noticed dampness on the wall leading into the medieval grain silo. Underneath the cement based plaster we discovered the original stone walls.
The third photo on this post is of the medieval grain silo. The silo was manually chiseled out of the famous St. Emilion limestone back in the middle ages. It is incredibly spectacular and really has to be experienced to be properly appreciated; my level of photography certainly does not do this magnificent area justice!

Our stone mason will eventually spend a week in there restoring the silo to it's former glory. The area is roughly 40 sq. meters and will entertain more than a few "Wine Buff" tastings over the coming years. My son, Ciaran, and I, are heading back into St. Emilion now to pull up the carpet throughout the house. More photos on the way this evening!

cheers, Paddy

Paddy's Day out in Bordeaux

2011-07-25T22:10:00.004+02:00

“Paddy’s Day” out in Bordeaux.

Paddy O’Flynn, co-founder of “The Wine Buff” Franchise in Ireland, has gotten together with a group of his Bordeaux suppliers/friends, to create a welcoming wine event for Irish supporters travelling to the France v Ireland friendly in Bordeaux.

Paddy lives in St. Emilion since 1998. He is organizing this event, in part, to repay the generosity the Irish rugby community has shown to The Wine Buff since its inception in December 2000.

For those of you interested in Visiting one of Bordeaux’s most renowned Organic Vineyards, The Wine Buff, along with Regis Moro of “Vieux Chateau Champs de Mars”, are offering a free wine tasting/vineyard visit, to coincide with the France v Ireland match on August 13^th. The event is informal and the idea is to have a bit of Craic. Regis is a former second row and is heavily involved with the French Rugby Federation.

The Wine Buff will organize the event and also supply homemade pate, Cheeses and Fresh French Baguettes to complement Regis’s wines.

Please contact daragh@thewinebuff.com if you are interested in participating at this event. The number of people wishing to attend will determine the final planning in regards to dates and times.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Cheers, Paddy

St Emilion Shop Update

2011-07-20T16:00:00.011+02:00

On the left are Jean-Claude and Michelle Palu, proprietors of the outstanding "Mas du Novi" vineyard in the Languedoc region of France. Pilar reproduced Novi's logo on a delicious cake for their visit to Montagne St. Emilion.

We have made the decision to delay the opening of the "Wine Buff" St. Emilion until March 2012.

When we began preparing the interior for painting, we found magnificent stonework, dating back to the middle ages, underneath the cement based plaster on one of the walls. We have demolished all of the interior plaster board walls to expose the original stone, and discovered that all walls are plastered over with cement.

We are now in the very time consuming process of stripping the cement based plaster to expose the original stonework. The end result promises to be amazing.

Imagine yourself for just a moment, drinking delicious St. Emilion wines, accompanied by scrumptiously mouth watering pate, cheeses, and real french baguette; and all this in a medieval wine cellar, right in the heart of the world's most renowned medieval wine village. Do I have a tough job or what!

I promise to upload photos of the building once I have located the USB lead for my camera!

cheers, Paddy

Orange Skies

2011-07-05T09:44:00.007+02:00

This photo was taken from our back lawn on Sunday night during another in a series of fabulous sunsets.

We have had little or no water over the past few months and temperatures have hit the 40s on occasions. These climatic conditions usually lead to reduced yields and therefore much more concentrated wines. It is still early in the growing season though, and things can change literally over night. One thunderous storm can decimate the vineyards!

Meeting with customers of Tom and Linda's Sligo shop over the coming days, they are very excited about getting hands on experience in the vineyards.

Cheers, Paddy

The Wine Buff St Emilion

2011-06-28T22:09:00.014+02:00

We are proud to announce the opening of our new “Wine Buff” shop in St. Emilion over the coming weeks. The shop is located in the heart of the world’s most renowned wine village, and, it comes with the most magnificent medieval grain silo you can possibly imagine. The silo was manually chiselled out of the renowned St. Emilion limestone and lies directly under the village’s main street. No doubt, some amazing “Wine Buff” wines will be consumed there (in moderation of course) over the coming months and years. With the France v Ireland rugby world cup warm up game being played this August in Bordeaux, we are ready to paint the village green.

Heaven
18 degrees Celsius, very overcast, a good chance of rain, and no need for air conditioning.

Hell
40 degrees Celsius, clear blue skies, absolutely no chance of rain, and, no air conditioning.

Quite a statement coming from an Irishman! Well, you would really have to experience it to fully understand. After just 2 days of 40 degrees the bags were packed for a trip home and a few pints of Guinness in Pakie’s.

Cheers

Paddy

Harvest News

2010-10-21T19:33:00.009+02:00

Evening all.

I spent today visiting our wine makers in the region to get a “hands on” of the harvest to date. First up was Pierre Lavau from St Emilion, a quick visit to Francis Meynard and Regis Moro in Cote de Castillon, then onto Michel Coudroy Pomerol and Lalande de Pomerol and finally Jean Claude Paret in Montagne St Emillion.

Work is still continuing in most vineyards and a combination of factors is tipping the 2010 vintage towards being splendid wines.

The general feedback has been the great quality of the Merlot picked so far, with the grapes giving moderate yields with a lot of concentration.

Also the natural alcohol content is about 13% in all areas, with excellent acidity levels which should result in well balanced wines.

The grape skins are thick and aromatic with ripe pips and there is no evidence of vegetal characteristic which can give the wines a green pepper aroma, overall expect well balanced smooth tasting wines.

And finally all the wine makers commented on the great colour of the must which has powerful strong aromas of black and red fruit.

The vintage is now nearing its close and we shall soon be able to judge how good these wines will be.

Dinner is about ready and I'm opening a Vieux Champs de Mars 1998 which Regis kindly gave to me earlier today.

He was delighted that everyone in Ireland enjoyed the Pelan Bellvue 2001 offer.

O yes the best part of wine making, the tasting.

Cheers, Paddy

Morning Harvest

2010-10-11T16:06:00.007+02:00

Morning All.

We had some amazing weather in the last few days; it hit 26 on Friday and 27 degrees on Saturday with glorious sunshine. Mike and Daragh were over and we had a wee Port tasting on Thursday night with the compulsory black teeth on Friday morning. The weather today is back to normal for this time of year a little overcast and much cooler, which I expect is welcomed by the pickers (vendangeurs) now streaming through the vineyards.

Jean Claude in La Fauconnerie started the grape harvest last Thursday, and early every morning there is a hive of activity on the roads as machinery and pickers are marshalled into place. Everywhere you look you see cars and vans parked up next to vineyards and the bobbing heads of pickers working through the lines of vines.

The vineyards in front of the house are still awaiting picking, last year over half were done by hand and the remainder by machine.

I was speaking to a number of growers last night and they expect the yields to be well down (almost 25%) on the last couple of years and the quality is excellent.

All the best

Paddy.

Ban Des Vendages - St Emilion

2010-10-06T12:11:00.001+02:00

The Ban Des Vendages de la Jurade de Saint Emilion was held on Sunday 19th September. This event is held every year and signals the beginning of grape picking season in all the major chateaux in the region.

The Jurade are a secular body established by King John of England and France in 1199. The members of the Jurade continue to wear the distinctive red robes. From the top of the King's tower in St Emilion, the jury officially announces the start of the season and then a procession winds its way through the narrow cobblestone streets of St Emilion.

This year the event was watched by over 30,000 onlookers and I attended the official wine tasting with Regis Moro, the general consensus this year is the vintage will be small but good, an enjoyable afternoon was had by all.

September Morning in St Emilion

2010-09-16T09:12:00.007+02:00

It is now 9.30am on the 16th of September and commencement of the harvest is quickly approaching; and what a harvest it promises to be. Tasted some grapes from our vineyard this morning and the potential is certainly there to produce a very special wine. This photo has just been taken from our balcony, a good indication of what September mornings are like here in St.Emilion, Bordeaux.

All this talk of grapes and wine is making me extremely thirsty; and hey, if Brian Cowen, the leader of Ireland, can, then so can I!

cheers, Paddy

http://www.thewinebuff.com/

Sligo Tom Located at Last

2010-08-26T14:25:00.012+02:00

All is well Linda, we have located Tom; in fact he has been hiding out in Chateau "La Fauconnerie" since your visit her last week. He must have climbed into a wine vat as we were leaving.

Not quite sure how Mikey got in there though, but anyway, both Tom and Mikey are in great spirits! The photo on the right includes one of the Barrel's the guys got through before we found them, it will soon make it's appearance in your Sligo shop.

cheers, Paddy

36 Degrees

2010-08-23T10:13:00.011+02:00

Went for a stroll in St.Emilion last evening to cool down a little. 36 degrees here yesterday afternoon and pretty humid. Watched Cork defeat Dublin in a very close game, but one we deserved to win !

Véraison

2010-08-20T11:33:00.008+02:00

"Véraison" is the changing of the colour of the grape (ripening).

The righthand photo was taken in my neighbours vineyard, and as you can see from the different colour berries the Véraison has only recently began.

On the far left is a photo taken on the same day in "Chateau Cheval Blanc", one of the top, and most expensive, wines worldwide. The vineyards are perhaps 5 kilometers apart and you can see from the difference in the colour of the grapes how far advanced the Veraison is in "Cheval Blanc".

Daragh and I assisted a good friend move his wine cellar one evening. Following the boxing of the wines our friend Don opened a bottle of "Cheval Blanc 1986" for us to drink with a scrumptious home made Shepard's pie. At €600 a bottle it was a handsome reward for 3 hours work/pleasure.

La Fauconnerie

2010-08-17T21:54:00.007+02:00

Photo taken with Jean-Claude Paret of Chateau " La Fauconnerie" yesterday evening. Tom & Linda from The Wine Buff Sligo, and their friends Pam & David, experienced some amazing wines with the 2009 perhaps proving to be the most exceptional. More to follow.

Back Home Again

2010-08-14T01:15:00.003+02:00

Have just arrived back home to Montagne, St.Emilion after a spectacular wine tour of the Douro valley and a few memorable days tasting in Porto. Kicked the weighing scale under the cabinet as one should do following a week of excesses. Little or no traffic encountered on route, thirteen hours to arrive home and this included four stops. How did we ever manage before GPS technology? And not once did the GPS shout back!

Stopped for lunch in a small town, Vila pouce de Aguiar, in Portugal. seventeen euro for two meals that included copious servings of sea bream, potato, veg, a side salad, four bottles of sparkling water and a glass of wine! Picked up some fabulous cheeses to taste with Tom and Linda, the owners of the Wine Buff in Sligo, who are travelling out to soak up the atomsphere and do a weee bit of wine tasting.....well I'll keep you posted on the wine tasting.

Rui Paula's "DOC"

2010-08-13T20:00:00.010+02:00

Took this photo from Rui Paula's restaurant "DOC" the day prior to our departing the Douro Valley. A fabulous restaurant sitting on pylons in the Douro river with spectacular views; we had the privilege of eating in both Rui's restaurants which are located in Armamar and Porto. At the end of the night we sat out on the terrace to drink a tea (couldn't possibly fit any more wine) and it really was a magical experience.

Reminds me of the time Mike McDonnell and I visited Gerard Morin on the final day of their harvest in Sancerre. After an extremely long lunch with the vendangers, and an even longer afternoon in Gerard's private cellar, Mike and I covered well over twice the ground we should have on the walk back to the hotel. After dinner Mike went missing and I later located him having a few beers with the owner of the hotel. Expressing my shock at Mike drinking beer after all the wine we had "tasted", he calmly replied "yeah, I know, but I just couldn't get any more wine into me".

Porto 10th August

2010-08-11T15:11:00.004+02:00

Have spent the last week in the Douro Valley researching wines and Ports; now in Porto for three days of wine research with friends living here. Originally planned to update this blog daily but a combination of many tastings’ and a lack of internet access delayed the first entry. The real truth is, after the many strenuous tastings’ undertaken each day, the only person with a reasonable chance of understanding my updates would have been me; and even then only at the time of writing them!

There are many exciting developments occurring here in the Douro Valley, and once back in Bordeaux I will do a detailed update. Off to meet a French oenologist friend of mine who has been living here for the last 15 years, he has become a real specialist of Port wines. We shared a few glasses last night and today he is introducing me to some of the up and coming stars of the Douro region.

Hi Ho Hi Ho it’s off to work I go dee dle i d di

Evening in St Emilion

2010-08-05T20:00:00.001+02:00

Plenty of rain here over the last week, I gather almost on par with Ireland. Even hailstones on two occasions! Hailstones are especially worrying for winemakers at this time of year as they will decimate the grapes when big enough. I have seen hailstones the size of golf balls and witnessed the damage they cause first hand, thankfully on this occasion way to small.

It is 8pm and 26 degrees. The weather is supposed to get much warmer over the weekend, 30+ degrees and plenty of sun. It‘s also really windy for this time of year, earlier to my utter dismay, whilst sitting on the balcony, having a nice cup of tea, my chocolate biscuits were blown off their plate and into the garden below. Back out to the balcony now to have dinner; fresh organic vegetable pasta with a nicely chilled bottle of Mas du Novi Rose.

I’m driving to the Douro Valley in the morning for a week of Port and wine tasting, and then onto the city of Porto for a few more days of port tasting. This job just gets tougher and tougher! Will keep you posted.

Visit to Regis Moro

2010-07-19T16:13:00.012+02:00

Popped over to Regis from Chateau Vieux Champs de Mars last Friday and he was in great form. I had a wine maker friend from Spain staying with us in Montagne St Emilion and I wanted him to taste Regis's wines.

After a tour of the property we had the obligatory tasting, the Spanish winemaker Angel pronounced Ankhell was blown away by the quality, freshness and price of Regis's wines and left with two cases of Pelan Bellevue under his arms and a case of Vieux Champs de Mars and Johanna under mine. He said he would be happy to pay €30 a bottle for the Pelan Bellevue.

We will be bringing in Angel's wine in the next few weeks called "Ovidio" from the La Mancha region in Spain. So keep an eye out for the distinctive bottle in the shops in August.

What we drank over the weekend

Pelan Bellevue 2001

Clos de l'Epinay, Vouvray 2008

Herve Mathelin Premiere Brut Champagne

Haut Tropchaud, Pomerol 2000

Chateau Pape Clement 2001

Chateau Lagrange 2001

Ovidio 2006

Back to work.....