"MY PASSION FOR wine really only materialised in my late 20s. Prior to that, while I enjoyed a glass of wine with food, it really was only a case of whether it was red or white, dry or sweet, writes Frank Kennan.
During a dinner party many years ago, I raided my wife Nicole's modest stash of Loire whites hidden upstairs in the wardrobe. I still get reminded of this reasonably regularly.
The passion started with a group of sailing friends taking a Wine Development Board introductory course to shorten the dark winter evenings, which was given by the late David Power. Over the years, as well as giving me amazing sensory stimulations, I have learned a lot of geography and history, met a lot of wonderful people and filled many a quiet day on holidays. Not being one to lie on the beach or beside the pool, holidays with the children were often a compromise, alternating between wine days and beach days. Hopefully, in the future, they will remember fondly the private tour of Château Pétrus culminating in a tasting of 2000 in cask; a vertical tasting of d'Yquem in their magnificent chateau; touring California in an RV, meeting the amazing and contrasting Robert Mondavi, Randall Graham and west Cork's Francis Mahoney at their wineries; the vine row by vine row with Olivier Leflaive followed by a comparative tasting of his Pulignys versus Chassagnes; leaving the beaches of Salou to be in the precipitous vineyards of Priorat in 20 minutes; and meeting Aldo Conterno at his winery in Barolo.
I believe in terroir and always like to trace the precise source of the wines that I drink. I find it hard to get passionate about wines that are produced from an amalgamation of grapes that have been trucked hundreds of miles from different regions. I have fairly catholic tastes, and would find it hard to list the wines that I do not like. That said, the one grape that makes me go weak at the knees is Pinot Noir, especially from its spiritual home in Burgundy.
My cellar tends to be populated mostly by European wines with other offerings from South Africa, South America and California. Current favourites include Léoville-Barton and Pontet Canet, Burgundy reds from Bruno Clair, red and rosé Chateau Vignelaure, Vouvray from Huet, Chianti from Antinori and Quercibella, Riesling from Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Priorat Les Terrasses from Alvario Palacios, Taurasi from Mastroberardino, Condrieu from George Vernay, Chardonnay from Chassagne Montrachet and Meursault, and Greco di Tufo. At the end of the day, though, I firmly believe that there is only one thing that you really need to know about wine, and that is what you like.
Chateau Bellevue la Forêt 2004, Fronton, 13%, €10.99.Delicious, rich and fresh, well rounded with sous-bois berry fruits, cherry, soft tannins, spicy. It's 50 per cent Negrette, unique to this area, Cabernet and Syrah. It recently joined the growing stable of Irish-owned chateaux." Available in Superquinn.
Frank Kennan is an associate director with IIB Bank, holds a diploma in wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and is chairman of the wine committee in the Royal Irish Yacht Club