Leslie Williams

1 week ago | irishexaminer.com | Leslie Williams

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1 week ago | irishexaminer.com | Leslie Williams

France may be modern wine’s ‘mother country’ as I wrote recently, but if we take all of wine history into account, Greece may be a better candidate. There is archaeological evidence Greece has been making wine for at least 6,500 years. Older sites are found in Armenia and Georgia but those cultures don’t seem to have exported their wines or their wine knowledge in the way Greece did to its colonies in France, southern Italy, and North Africa (Carthage in modern Tunisia).

2 weeks ago | irishexaminer.com | Leslie Williams

A return to the mother country this week, France. Cultivation of vines began in the fertile crescent of the Middle East along with civilisation. The Greeks brought wine to Italy and then to Southern France, and then the Romans brought it almost everywhere else. The first French vines were planted in Provence and the Languedoc and the latter is still a powerhouse of French wine today. France didn’t invent wine but modern wine in general owes more to France than anywhere.

3 weeks ago | irishexaminer.com | Leslie Williams

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3 weeks ago | irishexaminer.com | Leslie Williams

Dare we dream that the sunny weather might last into June? Let’s hope so. I presume you had the barbecue out over the bank holiday weekend, I certainly did. Marinated spicy pork chops and ribs were the main course I cooked and they worked well with light red wines served chilled. I served two of the wines featured below, the Ciello Rosso and the Il Casolare, both fine examples of juicy organic wine and both of which I served lightly chilled.