Colm Carter runs Mosaic Wines on Dublin’s Botanic Avenue and at the Saturday Glasnevin Market.
Is this a good era to drink wine?
There’s never been a better time to drink wine. And one of the reasons is because we are at a time where younger generations have come back to the land, and they have come back to several places around Europe where there are relatively low costs of production, but very high quality wine making. And that’s to do with the land, but it’s also to do with the people behind the wines.
For instance: the La Lloma, this comes from a producer called Can Leandro, it’s a young chap who’s taken over his grandfather’s vines. It’s about a forty minute drive inland from the Costa Blanca, and his grandfather and a lot of people in the 1960’s left the land, they went into the textile industry.
Gabriel took over about 8 years ago, and he had a huge amount of recuperative work to do, but the good thing is, the vines are old, and they are producing amazing stuff, they are old, and the varieties were forgotten about.
The main ingredient here is Bonicaire – there’s not much Bonicaire around! – but it makes pale but deep wines in terms of flavor, almost pinot noir-esque in terms of flavour and spicyness. So then he could apply modern, but old, ways of making the wines. He does a lot of pre-fermentation called soakage by hand, really hand-made wines. He doesn’t over-extract, he just makes it really well. And we sell this for about €20, which is amazing considering the work that has gone into it. That’s why it’s a great time to drink wine.
Which countries should we be looking at when choosing wine?
Greece has been an absolutely great discovery for us. When I worked in Oddbins they were the only people selling Greek wines, and I always liked the main red and white grapes they were known for.
They have gone back to indigenous varieties, using elevation to control the high temperatures, and wind, and islands, so very site specific wine making. The indigenous varieties are drought resistant, they are used to the weather and they have gone back to their roots with grapes like assyrtiko, limniona, xinomavro, muscat valero. Plus, all these guys we work with have gone around the world and done a stint, maybe 5 or 10 years working abroad.
The other reason to drink wine is that everywhere is so accessible today, and the pleasure of going to these places is within reach of everybody. Also, these wines are so food-friendly, they’re sculpted, they don’t dominate food.
So, the cost versus the pleasure of drinking wine is amazing. But also every bottle of wine is different, slightly different, and you don’t get that with cocktails, with spirits. Each wine is a living, breathing thing. It evolves in the glass, so each glass is different, never mind each bottle. And it’s a social thing, because you talk about the wine, and you talk about the people behind the wine.
Tell us about Mosaic?
What we want to do here in Mosaic is to have people come in being curious and finding out about wine. We do a tasting every month or so focused on a different area, or a different producer, we like to mix things up, we like to bring different things here.
Mosaic Wines is a neighbourhood wine and pantry store, serving wine by the glass, and small plates. Find it on a corner of Botanic Avenue. They are open evenings from Wed-Sat and day time Sat. Follow for details of events and promotions.
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Without Wine, Life would be a Mistake – Fion Eile
An occasional wine column where we mangle the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous dictum – “Without music, life would be a mistake” – to extol the virtues and culture of the world of wine.