WINE & DRINK REVIEWS AND ARTICLES

THE BEST OF WINE IN IRELAND: WINE REVIEWS BY OUR WINE CRITIC KEVIN ECOCK; WINE ARTICLES, WINE KNOWLEDGE AND WINE SUGGESTIONS, WINE APPRECIATION, WINE EDUCATION AND WINE COURSES.

COOKING WITH WINE

There is a simple rule when you are cooking with wine: drink the same wine with dinner. The rationale is very simple. You don't want the flavours in the food to jar with the flavours in your mouth when you take a sip from your glass. It's also a good excuse to buy a second bottle of wine. And always use a quality of wine for cooking that you would have no hesitation drinking yourself.

If you make a red wine stew, marinate the meat in the wine to help to break down the fibres in the meat and tenderise it. Add an onion, a bay leaf and some herbs - thyme or a little rosemary is good - and drain the marinade before you brown the meat. Strain the marinade and add it to the caramelised meat in the pan and use it to deglaze the pan. Then let it simmer slowly, topping it up with stock as you go. It's a simple technique but it works with pork, beef, venison, even chicken legs or thighs.

Pears in Red Wine
Soft juicy pears go brilliantly with a deep syrupy cinnamon scented sauce, says Anne Kennedy. So easy to make too!

Lamb shanks with lentils and white wine
Fabulous slow-cooked lamb shanks supported by a starring cast of red wine and lentils. You can can cook it without the lentils if you wish.

Aga-slow-cooked Venison
Frederic Souty's venison is cooked in the Aga proving oven overnight, then finished off with Valrhona chocolate before you serve it.

Burgundy beef and red wine stew
'This beef stew is meltingly soft with a robust meaty red wine flavour', says Anne Kennedy who created it in the Greatfood.ie Test Kitchen. 'There are very few ingredients. The trick is in marinating the meat in advance, using a good red wine and keeping the stew at a simmer to break down the collagen in the meat', she says.

FRENCH WINE FEATURES

Burgundy - The Region and Wine s
Few people are better placed to talk about Burgundy wines than our critic Kevin Ecock, one of a rare breed to have been admitted into the Association of Wine Educators of Burgundy. Even he admits he was tentative about approaching the subject in the early days … luckily for us he's cracked it and now you can crack open a bottle of Burgundy with enhanced knowledge once you've read his article.

Lorgeril and the Languedoc
Anne Kennedy visited the French winery Lorgeril and its jewel Chateau de Pennautier to see how the Languedoc-Roussillon region is creating excitement on the world wine stage. While she was there, she took a peep at the bed in which King Louis X111 slept. Well, you'd have to wouldn't you....

What is Marc de Bourgogne?
Marc is a brandy-like drink that is made in Burgundy in France from the residue left over after the grapes have been pressed in the wine making process.

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