23rd March
Hello from Chongqing. I've had difficulty with accessing my blog so see here for an alternative.
Despite Katie Melua's assertion that it's a fact, there aren't nine million bicycles in Beijing: lots of VW and Buicks are replacing them and creating traffic jams that rival the M50. There are still quite  few bikes, though. And I've tasted some OK Chinese wines too. Apparently the national palate likes 'oxidised', which is a bit unfortunate from my point of view.
The March Preamble tasting featured John McDonnell of Wine Australia, complete with his quiz - the winners will represent Preamble at the Inter Wine Club Competition. John brought us up to date with new developments and trends in the world of Australian Wine (I think - I wasn't there, I'm afraid. Still, travel has its advantages J 
In February, Liam Campbell presented an interesting selection of Napa Valley wines. Notes here. Conor McGuinness caressed our jaded palates at January's  tasting, easing us into the New Year with his own selection of light and elegant wines from around the world. In December we had the magnificent 'Christmas Crackers' tasting via Preamble's chairman with food by the excellent Ann Willoughby. Reports soon on the ex-chairman's dinner at the King Sitric. Preamble's November Tasting featured Chris Stewart of Dalcassian Wines who presented wines from Australia (Cumulus Wines/Philip Shaw), New Zealand (Sileni) and Chile (La Joya) together with a few examples from Europe. 
Some Friday's back I gave my beloved 'La Clape', which I got from my friend Michael.  Stop giggling down the back, there: La Clape is an amazing wine from Château Ricardelle near Narbonne. (La Clape means a pile of stones in Occitan.)
Preamble's October tasting saw David Whelehan of O’Briens focusing on wines from some of his favourite stomping grounds in Northern and Central Italy. He backed up his claims that the wines from the best terroirs in Italy offer unparalleled value and excitement when compared with their French cousins with a Brunello Riserva, an Amarone, a Barolo, a single estate Chianti Classico Riserva etc. An excellent tasting.  Notes soon.
Looking back, September featured Berry Bros and Rudd, August had Ciaran Lynch of Gleesons and in July  we had our annual garden party on Bastille Day,  with French wines (what else?) presented by Sophie Kiang.
Our colleague, Rodney Shaw, presented his postponed ‘Special Offers’ at Preamble in May, featuring among a high-class lineout an outstanding Brunello di Montalcino and Sauternes. Notes here. Yours truly was in France for some weeks tasting, drinking and buying the wines of Gaillac. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. This little-known area has some wonderful wines made from weird and wonderful grapes such as Loin de l'Oeil, Braucol and Duras. More on this later. This meant missing the June Preamble tasting, where Preamble basked in Burgundy with Richard Verling of Tindal Wine Merchants, but I'll have notes soon from an obliging friend.
April's Preamble featured Jennifer Sanford of Papillon Wines, with her selection of fine wines from South Africa, a country now making waves in the wine world. March at Preamble featured the affable Gregory Alken of Febvre, presenting a star-studded cast of wines from Limoux in the Pyrenean foothills east along the Mediterranean to Nimes and then swinging upstream to the northern Rhone - an interesting slice of France taking in some fine old regions and some newer ones too. In February Peter Dunne of Mitchell's gave an excellent presentation on Bordeaux.  Our January presenter  had the misfortune to end up in hospital before the event.  The chairman took over and presented some of Rodney's selection complemented by some of his own choices.
Christmas was celebrated "not wisely but too well", featuring some wonderful Condrieu 'La Doriane' 2001 from Maison Guigal and the best Gewurtztraminer anyone around here has ever tasted; Hengst Alsace Grand Cru 1997 from Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. The reds were led by Ch. Peyrelongue Saint Emilion Grand Cru 1982.
In December we had the 'Tasting we can't afford' at Preamble.   The November meeting featured Linda Forde and Melanie Sanz of Sopexa discussing the ten of the Top 30 Vins de Pays chosen by a distinguished local panel. Notes when I get them (Rodney, oild friend ... ). In October, Michael Meagher and Ray Dowdall of Gleeson Wines brought us an excellent selection from around the world and some terrible jokes.  Notes here, as are the delayed July notes from Jean Smullen's Wines of Portugal.
Memories of the Gulf have faded rapidly, unlike the impact of the credit card bills. Back to reality.
Coping with Heathrow airport a couple of times a week has unfortunately dulled the memory of my recent trip to Slovenia, where I drank (too much of) some excellent wines, especially the whites.  The Sivi Pinot (Pinot Gris) that was the house wine in most places was generally excellent, as was the Bela Pinot (Pinot Blanc).  I also had a superb sweet Chardonnay, of which more later, and was lucky enough to try Teran (dubious) and Modra Frankinja (excellent as well as unusual). 
At the September Preamble meeting Ray McGlynn of Select Wines from Italy presented 'Southern Italy and the Islands': A new generation of Italian wine makers is producing high quality wines from indigenous grape varieties.  Notes here.  The summer wine tasting and garden took place in early August and, despite the threatening weather, was a lively and happy affair.   (My barbeque, a few weeks later, was however a total washout but thoroughly enjoyable too. For those unfamiliar with the joys of the Irish summer see photo.)  June was the 25th anniversary dinner and no formal tasting took place; I'll draw a veil over the proceedings.
 On Monday 8th May, Sophie Kiang presented her choice of largely Italian wines with food.  John Pierce presented an eclectic selection of European wines in April, including a few very rare examples of the best of the old world, especially the '79 and '83 Jean Leon Cab Sauvignon.  Earlier in the year we spent some time with Gerard Dolder in Mittelbergheim, whose charming wife gave us a very generous tasting and some great food.  I think I'll have to do an Alsace tasting, despite the fact that most of my friends think that real wine is red!
Sean and Françoise Gilley of Terroirs took us to France and further afield in their examination of  terroir at the Preamble March tasting.  At the February Preamble meeting Charles Searson of Searson’s Wine Merchants of Monkstown presented a Bordeaux evening with two special treats.  
The January meeting featured John McDonnell of Wine Australia with an update on developments in the Australian wine industry, followed by his Australian Quiz competition.  (Nope, didn't win.)
The Preamble Christmas Extravaganza was presented by chairman Tony Fahy and former chairman Mark Downes, it lived up to its alternative title 'The tasting we can't afford'.  In November we had a return visit to the Rhone with the key Irish expert on the region, Pat Smith, after Carol Cunningham of On the Grapevine introduced us to her selection from the Rhone Valley, North and South in October.  The September meeting featured Richard Ecock, now of  Dunnes Stores, presenting wines from Chile, Argentina - and others.
We were in South Korea last year, and no, I didn't know they made wine there either.  Most of it is rather sweet, catering to local tastes used to rice wine.  Furthermore, with the exception of Chateau Mani (named after Mount Manisan nearby), it is mostly blended from local and imported must.  Ch Mani's Nouveau is probably the best bet for my taste.  Majuang also makes some very drinkable wines. Information is hard to come by unless you can read Korean, but most wine seems to be made from the local Camberbelly grape.
I am conscious that several tasting notes have yet to be published.  It is, as always, a case of work interfering with my social life.  Please bear with me.    Notes from all soon.
Links will be updated when I find the time - sorry.  There are many new non-wine links to keep you amused if you have time on your hands.  Lots of new quotations have been added here.
My good friend John Kavanagh and his partners Klaus and Lutz (JKL Wine) are importing German wines from small producers; find them in the links section.



Lots of people ask about Irish wines; I've been doing the research and will publish something here soon.


The infamous Dukkah recipe is still here.     

Help wanted:
I am trying to trace the owner of the copyright of a picture called the Wrath of Grapes (below).  It appears to have the name Fisher on it. All help appreciated here.

About the Wrath of Grapes
The Wrath of Grapes is a resource for the Irish wine lover with an emphasis on wines available here; local prices, local suppliers and local interest. It is completely independent, having no connection with any commercial operations, although anyone who wants to bribe me with gifts of excellent wine or large denomination notes in brown envelopes will be warmly welcomed.  I set the site up because, although the web is awash with information about wine, much of it is not directly relevant: The prices do not reflect the Irish market and most of the stuff can't be found here anyway.  The websites of our friendly, local suppliers deserve support but they, obviously, have some slight bias :)
Wrathofgrapes.com is now in its twelfth year, with a more-or-less unbroken series of tasting notes, the world's biggest collection of wine quotations (as far as I can determine) and other bits and pieces for your amusement.  A revamp is long overdue but is unlikely anytime soon.  Work keeps interfering with my social life.
This site unashamedly concentrates on content rather than graphics and it contains some basic information about wine and wine tasting, a large selection of relevant quotations, occasional special features and especially notes from the monthly tastings at Dublin's Preamble Club. The notes (and prejudices) are mainly my own, with occasional very welcome assistance from colleagues.
There are also links to some of the other wine resources on the Internet, including wine and health, in case you need an excuse for imbibing!
I would love to take advantage of new technology to enable better searching (e.g. show me all the Italian wines), cross references, etc., and I want to change the graphics as soon as I can get permission to use a wonderful cartoon called "The Wrath of Grapes" (above) that appeared in a magazine about 20 years ago and has pride of place on my wall. However, pressure of work from the day job makes this unlikely any time soon. 
In case it hasn't dawned on you, the wrath of grapes is what you feel the morning after.  I hope Steinbeck would have approved :)
I have been asked who first used "the wrath of grapes".  To me it has always been an expression for hangover and I don't know where I first heard it. I am aware of a cocktail by that name (3.75 cl. Dark Rum 2 cl. Grape Juice 3 cl. Sweet and Sour Mix); a book by Sandi Bachom (quotations); another book on the wine industry by Lewis Perdue; and another by Andy Toper (hangover companion).  It was suggested that it could have been Oliver Reed, Jeffrey Bernard or John Steinbeck.  I doubt that it was Steinbeck. (The title of his book, by the way, came from 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' by Julia Ward Howe, from which his first wife Carol took the title.)  Oliver Reed isn't old enough, so Jeffrey Bernard, famous for such lines as "I have been commissioned to write an autobiography and I would be grateful to any of your readers who could tell me what I was doing between 1960 and 1974", is the most likely answer.
And finally...
...over to you. Any and all contributions, constructive criticisms and, of course fulsome praise will be gratefully accepted. You can reach me by email from here.

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