You can bet on Bordeaux

WINE: Mary Dowey gives her news round-up on the wine world.

WINE: Mary Dowey gives her news round-up on the wine world.

As an information guzzler, I'd be the last person to knock the flow of instant data some wine merchants provided about their Bordeaux 2003 offers via the Internet. But there is something distinctly reassuring about the good, old-fashioned brochure that Searsons of Monkstown have put together, based on extensive tastings carried out in Bordeaux in late March by Charles Searson and his colleague Kate Barrett.

If you feel confused about this exceptionally early, hot vintage (and it is difficult not to), I would recommend curling up in an armchair with a glass of wine and this 14-page guide to the vintage in general and the 68 wines which Searsons eventually decided to offer for sale ex-cellars or en primeur.

The comfort factor comes with their frank acknowledgement that many 2003s had to be rejected out of hand - some lacking in acidity as a result of the scorching heat, others green and stalky because the grapes were harvested before the tannins in the pips had ripened fully. About their chosen wines, they are vividly persuasive, however.

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In case you haven't yet had an en primeur flutter, the way the system works is that you pay the case price upfront now, hoping that your chosen wine will have gone up in value before it is delivered in 2006 (at which point extra costs of about €45 a case fall due to cover transport, storage and excise duty).

Searsons' case prices run from €85 (for Château Tour Saint Bonnet Médoc) to €1,800 (for Château Latour, one of the undisputed masterpieces of this vintage), with plenty of solid recommendations in between. The main thing is to choose a wine that you like (or like the sound of), so that you'll enjoy it whether it performs as an investment or not. And don't dilly-dally; en primeur stocks, always limited, are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Some wines are unavailable already. Request a brochure from 01-2800405, info@searsons.com.

There will be more information on en primeur wines in next week's column.

NEW MAG SHEDS FRESH LIGHT

One of the most balanced articles on Bordeaux 2003s I have seen is in The World of Fine Wine, a new heavyweight magazine for committed wine lovers. Written by UK expert Michael Schuster and entitled Annus horribilis, annus mirabilis, it concludes that 2003 is "a vintage of very uneven quality and very variable style for red wines", producing only "a small handful of outstanding clarets and a larger handful of good clarets" - a much more sober assessment than many.

Besides citing the top wines at stellar prices, Schuster also lists his favourites at a more affordable level, thank goodness. Here they come: Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Duhart-Milon, Haut-Batailley, Domaine de Chevalier, Calon-Ségur, Pavillon Rouge, Angludet, Charmail, Chapelle d'Ausone, Belair, Larcis-Ducasse, La Fleur-Pétrus, La Grave.

Schuster rates 2003 a great vintage for sweet wines - a fact which has been somewhat overlooked in the rush for red treasure. He awards 18.5 points out of 20 to two wines which are on offer from Searsons, Chateau Coutet Barsac (€325) and Chateau Rieussec Sauternes (€390). (Other merchants such as Berry Bros & Rudd and Greenacres in Wexford are offering these too.) Tempting, very tempting, if you want to give special dinners a grand finale for decades to come.

The World of Fine Wine, edited by Neil Beckett with Andrew Jefford as contributing editor, is published every two months at a somewhat daunting price: single copy €25; subscriptions for Irish/European readers €120 for six issues. www.finewinemag.com, 0044-207-7006700.

CHOOSING BY OCCASION

Interesting to read that a UK marketing guru - David Muir of the Ogilvy Group - has been urging wine retailers to stop categorising their wares by country and focus instead on "Everyday Drinking", "Special Nights In" and "Utter Indulgence". But maybe grouping wines by style - crisp and light, smooth and medium-bodied, rich and opulent - makes even more sense than the approach he advocates? This has been adopted in the Phillips Newman stores in the UK, the new upmarket arm of Unwins. If any Irish retailers are trying it, I would love to know.

Incidentally, wines are individually coded according to taste in Louis Albrouze, the new, super-cool wine shop in Ballsbridge.

127 Upper Leeson Street (01-6674455), www.louisalbrouze.com; open Monday-Saturday 10.30 a.m.-9.30 p.m.; Sunday noon-5 p.m.

RYANS GET IT RIGHT

Full marks to Ryan's Kitchen & Bakery of Parkgate Street, Dublin 7, for a wine list featuring 10 wines at €20. Not just any old wines, either, but some cracking choices, including Umani Ronchi Verdicchio, Freie Weingärtner Wachau Grüner Veltliner, Cuvée Orélie white from the Ardèche and a tasty sister Pinot Noir from that region. I see from the small print on the list, printed rather funkily on brown wrapping paper, that the selection was made by my colleague Tom Doorley. Look out also for the list of bin-end wines, offering exciting drinking at exceptionally keen prices. 28 Parkgate Street, Dublin (01-6776097).

WINE FUN

Mullingar-based mail-order specialists Wines Direct took a big step forward last year when they decided to open their warehouse to the public at weekends. Now they've gone one better with what proprietor Paddy Keogh describes as part-shop, part-"wine entertainment centre".

You can find out about the producers in the Wines Direct portfolio from wall-mounted photographs and text while sampling their wares: six wines are open for tasting on Saturdays and four every other day. Customers may now buy single bottles and there is a 10 per cent discount on case sales. Wines Direct is on Ash Road, Mullingar, beside military barracks. Open daily, 11.30 a.m.-7.30 p.m. (1890-579579).

GLORIOUS GOLD

Wine competitions are so riddled with shortcomings that they're worthless - that's what I keep saying. Except when wines that are favourites of mine win: then there's always a temptation to applaud the judges for their wisdom.

So it is with the gold medal won recently at the International Wine and Spirit Competition by Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon 2002, a luscious Loire white. Closel wines used to be fearsomely austere when young; this one marks a change of direction toward decadent sumptuousness. Brilliant with shellfish, especially Asian-style. €20.90 from James Nicholson, www.jnwine.com.

GO TASTE CALIFORNIA

The Napa Valley Vintners come to Dublin on Thursday, September 2nd for their annual tasting and wine auction, with all proceeds this year going to the Abbey Theatre as it celebrates its centenary. More than 100 prestigious wines from some 25 producers will be open for tasting in the Four Seasons Hotel at 6.30 p.m., along with canapés. The auction follows, with many exclusive lots donated from private cellars in California's glitziest wine region. Tickets, €45, from Tina Connell at the Abbey Theatre (01-8872200), development@abbeytheatre.ie.