My little sister got married recently. We had a super day one of the hottest of the year and the scenery in West Cork where the wedding was – Breathtaking.

If I don’t mind saying so myself the wines were pretty amazing also. They had a Champagne reception in the walled garden complete with Jazz band, here vintage Jacquart rose was served from magnums ensuring everyone was in great form from the outset. 

For the red they chose a Sandalford Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River in Australia, this was a nod to Dec the groom’s brother who lives in Perth and has been to concerts in this super winery. The wine had a characteristic mint twist to it which paired amazingly with the open fire rack of lamb.

The white was an old favourite the Sancerre Terroir de Silex (which I also had at my wedding), this is a cracking wine with a steely minerality that lifts fish and poultry beautifully.

While the day was a resounding success, the build up with the venue was quite stressful, we wanted to supply mineral water for the tables and to our shock we were informed that a corkage charge of €3.50 would apply per bottle. Now whatever about Corkage on wine (€12.50 per bottle) this was just petty.

The venue were determined to squeeze every penny out of the wedding which created tension and a bad feeling in the run up. This brings up an inherent truism about weddings, for you it is the most important day of your lives but for most venues you are just another one of hundreds. Some venues disguise this better than others and make you feel special others fail at this like the venue in question as the proprietor declared to my sister ‘but I must make money!’.

If you find yourself in this position, keep a cool head, after all these people have your day in their hands and if you have a screaming match before the wedding they may not be too bothered to make an effort on the day. As the African saying goes…. do not insult the Crocodile until you have crossed the river.

Once you are back from honeymoon give them hell……..

Having completed the WSET Level 4 Diploma in wines and spirits I am delighted to become an asociate member of the institute of wines and spirits (AIWS). We even have a fancy coat of arms that we can use!!!

Happy New Year from www.Corkage.ie, for those of you tying the knot in 2010 you have a very exciting year ahead. We are here to help and advise on the wine side of things so please do not hesitate to ask us any questions that you may have.

Well I for one have had a good start to 2010. The WSET wine diploma results are just in and I have passed the final unit (unit 5 sparkling wines), two years of hard work and lots of wine drinking later (not the hard bit!) I am a WSET.Dip graduate.

2010 also sees the new duty rates on alcohol kicking in, the 50 cent reduction on a bottle of wine is most welcome and as the blood sucking enemy would say ‘every little helps’!.

In general there should be much better value this year as the country comes back down to a new reality. At Corkage we are excited about the year ahead. We look forward to introducing more great wines to our range and playing our little part in making your big day that little bit more special.

Thank you for visiting our site and wishing you all the best……

Kind regards

Stephen

Few wine lovers can have failed to be swayed by the heavy discounts offered in supermarkets.

But many would be horrified if they knew the truth about their cut-price shiraz or chardonnay.

Some brands are little better than alcopops dressed up with flavourings and fancy labels, an investigation claims.

Producers use a host of additives to disguise the flavour or inferior grapes without listing them on the labels. In some cases, they are creating so-called ‘Frankenstein wines’ bulked up with water, sugar and even hydrochloric acid.

In addition, supermarkets stand accused of artificially inflating the price of wine to make discounts seem larger and more attractive.

The inquiry also suggests that only 30 per cent of the champagne sold in this country is worth the high prices demanded by the French producers.

The disturbing findings are reported in a Dispatches programme, which looks at what goes into the 1.5billion bottles of wine consumed in Britain every year.

Malcolm Gluck, author of The Great Wine Swindle, said: ‘Many, many wines are no better than a sort of alcoholic cola. You get artificial yeasts, enzymes, sugar, extracts, tannins, all sorts of things added.’

Win a copy of ‘The Great Wine Swindle How snobs are ruining your wine’ by answering the question below:

Greek wine Retsina’s distinctive flavour comes from what?

Send your answer to stephen@corkage.ie

So you are getting married and money is no object…right? we didn’t think so!. We have been contacted by lots of couples and we have been delighted with the feedback on the site. One message that has been coming through loud and clear is that people are looking for value now more so than ever. Many couples are looking to source good wine but don’t have a big budget to allocate to it. Having looked at going up north or over to France etc. the reality of these options is that when you add in time, transport costs etc. these are not the dream solution either.

In response to this we at Corkage have launched a bin end service. We work with over 18 suppliers from boutique specialists to large wholesalers. We have access to batches of wine from these suppliers that may be discontinued lines or simply stock clearence. These wines can represent great value and are available in various quantities at different times. Basically you tell us what style of wine you have in mind and give us a rough idea of quantity required and we will put it out to tender. It never hurts to ask! and you never know we might stumble upon a real bargin.

As we are dealing in clearence batches we cannot offer our usual sale or return policy on bin end deals so you will just have to drink any left over wine yourselves! To get quoted for bin end deals just contact us and we will do the rest.

The question of how much wine to buy for a wedding or event is often a cause of stress for people. As wine is a major cost centre it is important to get the quantities right. For many people the thought of running out of wine fills them with fear at the thought of forever being remembered as ‘frugal bottomed’ by all their freinds and family for ever more. On the other hand Irish people in particular are firm beleivers that free alcohol tastes better and many are capable of drinking a river dry.

The advice from corkage is that it is better to be looking at it than for it!, easy for you to say I hear you cry as you are selling wine…yes but we also have a sale or return policy so if you don’t use it we will take it back. The amount of wine you will need obviously depends on the number of guests you have, the length of the recption and whether your freinds and family are booze hounds or not.

As a guide at a recent wedding in the Grand Hotel in Malahide, a duo of Concerta Pinot Grigio and Domaine St. Jacques d’Albas Minervois were served (both went down a treat!) with mains of Salmon and rack of lamb. Prosecco Il Cortigiano was served for the reception on arrival. The wedding was for 150 guests. The total amount of wine consumed was 48 bottles of white, 36 bottles of red and 60 bottles of prosecco. For the main meal this works out at just under a half a bottle per person. The fact that more white than red was drunk was probably due to the fact that it was a lovely sunny day. The 60 bottles of prosecco Il Cortigiano were consumed as it was delicious,  light and refreshing and the first drink of the day after the church etc.

As a general word of advice, someone from the wedding party (i.e. the best man or a groomsman) should be tasked with overseeing the pouring of drinks. At many venues the staff tend to be minimum wage teenagers more concerned with checking out the talent at the wedding than pouring wine. Someone needs to keep an eye on the guests to make sure that they do not have to beg for a refill or that the staff are not throwing the wine around (filling glasses to the rim for example). The appointed person should also check that the white is chilled and the red at room temperature (red stored in the boot of a car will generally be too cold ).

The arrival of coffee or the provision of a drink for the final toast is a clear signal to guests that the flow of wine is coming to an end. Most people are happy to stretch their legs after a meal and speeches and go to powder their nose etc. Guests then head to the bar as the newly weds get ready for the first dance. At this stage everyone should have a warm glow from good food good wine and heart warming speeches, meanwhile the honeymoon creeps ever closer………….