GOOD value is Oz Clarke's obsession. For the past 10 years or more, since he swapped his role as an opera singer for that of full-time wine writer and broadcaster, his mission has been to power-blast away lingering cobwebs of mystique and concentrate on just two things, flavour and value. In Dublin to launch the Great Food & Wine Show which will bring us celebrity chefs and wine stars in the RDS in November, lie delivered both in a rich, intoxicating stream of conversation.
During the formal introduction Oz spoke with his customary passion about the consumer revolution in wine which is now taking hold in Ireland as it did in Britain. He talked about the new language of wine, which he developed to a "slightly wild" extreme on BBC's Food and Drink with his co-presenter Jilly Goolden - the only person apart from Mrs Thatcher, he says, to be frequently referred to by a hefty slice of the British public as "that woman".
"This new language is terribly important because it encourages wine drinkers to say exactly what they think," Oz maintains. "In the old terminology, people used to mutter about breeding and raciness and length as if wines were racehorses. It was impossible to know what they were talking about. We don't use that anymore. We say: `this wine absolutely stinks of blackcurrants'. Another sniff and we say: `isn't that the smell you remember from childhood of blackcurrant jam cooking?' From now on that's what you'll associate with Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon... My objective is to give power to consumers, so that they can identify the flavours they like and tell the wine trade what they want."
But this was only an appetiser. My objective, over the Great Food & Wine Show lunch in the Commons Restaurant, was to squeeze every last drop of information out of Oz Clarke about new trends we consumers should know about. It would be a verbal digest of the 464 pages of Oz Clarke's Wine Guide '97, with updates and additions. This was not easily accomplished, with the Clarke charisma attracting passers-by and the Clarke flair for anecdote making wine-minded questions sound ridiculously sober. But, sandwiched in between stories about his mother and Auntie Nessie and Auntie Molly (all from Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny) and his father and a family dog (both of whose lives were reputedly saved by Guinness), came a vivid world tour.
Let's start in Europe. Even though Italy and Spain contribute few wines to the latest 100 Best Buys list which is such a popular feature of the annual guide, he stresses that this will change in the 1998 edition.
"Italy's coming good in the south, with wonderful grapes like Primitivo and Negroamaro, and Spain is showing that a lot of flavour and a lot of style are possible at a low price in regions like La Mancha, Valdepenas and Navarra - especially Navarra. It's the unfolding bloom of northern Spain, producing wines as good as, or better than, Rioja for less money.
Portugal is also emerging as a source of new riches, with super wines coming from the Douro valley and regions further south such as Estremadura and Alentejo. "Here the big changes have come through Australian winemakers arriving and going mad with excitement at all the great native grape varieties like Periquita and Touriga Nacional. They've said: `let's have a go and see what we can do' and they've been disciplined, not stopping for four-hour lunches or closing the wineries at the weekend. The impact has been huge."
What about France, whose vast Languedoc-Roussillon region he has praised so warmly? "Yes, I still believe the south of France is getting its act together but there are too many Maconnais and Muscadet producers who don't seem to realise that if they don't do something soon to make better wines at lower prices, half their vineyards will be turned into potato fields."
The challenge issued to France by the New World dare not be ignored. Here, while stressing his continuing enthusiasm for Australia - a long Oz love affair with Oz - he admits that a poor 1995 harvest and rising prices will make consumers search in new directions. "New Zealand will become more important. The 1996 vintage was the best ever and each year New Zealand understands better how to make the best of its wine style - but most of the wines will be around £10."
At the cheaper end of the market, Argentina will begin to play a key role, Oz Clarke predicts, with more and more good wines going on sale at around £5.
Where does this leave Chile, the country that has delivered such impressive value in relation to quality recently? Overprinted with question marks, it seems. "A year ago I was saying thank God for Chile," Oz recalls. "It really threw itself into the gap the moment Australia faltered. Now I am very cautiously saying thank God for Chile. I think the Chileans are running too fast. They need to get more clones and show more diversity in their wines if they're going to put prices up.'
Running very fast himself, he bounces on from this round-the-world sprint to current preoccupations which have every sign of becoming Clarke Crusades. The first is against buying Bordeaux en primeur - before it has been bottled: a practice followed by wine enthusiasts as well as merchants.
"We shouldn't be brow-beaten into believing it'll be really good," he exhorts. "It won't - and anyway we don't need it any more." New fine wines are emerging from other regions all the time, he suggests, with more realistic price tags.
His second campaign is to put a stop to faulty corks. "Let's go for plastic corks as soon as the environmental problem of disposing of them in a suitable way has been solved," he urges. "The situation with traditional corks is crazy. It's simply unacceptable to have a product with a 10 per cent failure rate. That's like sending a whole batch of new Ford Fiestas out of the factory without brakes!"
He is finally prised away but he'll be back, hypnotising us all with his fruity, seductive, in-your-face enthusiasm. Put a note in your diary: November 13th -16th.