And the holiday begins...

One of the pivotal differences amongst French winemakers is this: the Bordelaise are bourgeois, whilst the Burgundians are farmers.

Take Jean-Claude Ramonet, for example. This charming man is the third generation of Ramonets to make wine from their 14 hectares in Burgundy. He and his brother, Noël, make wines from Puligny and Montrachet, amongst which the white wines are regarded as amongst the finest wines in the world. Never mind asking what they cost: you simply can't get your hands on them even if you could afford them.

Jean­Claude pays no attention to all this hulabaloo. He is a straightforward, delightful bloke, a farmer, who like his father and brothers, works with tractors, and makes wine. The fact that those wines are some of the world's greatest seems almost beside the point to them. Wine writers might make hype about Domaine Ramonet, but the brothers just get on with the job in hand.

Part of Jean-Claude's job is to talk about the wines, which he did recently at a wine tasting week in Kelly's Resort Hotel, in Rosslare. In truth, he doesn't talk a whole lot, and he scarcely needs to; the wines do all the talking that is necessary. One after another, they simply blow you away: extraordinary 1999 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chaumees: an unbelieveable 1997 of the same wine; a 1978 Clos red St Jean Chassagne-Montrachet which is simply awesome. In a world where subtlety is disappearing from winemaking, to drink these is a true privilige.

And here's the good news bit: drinking these rare wines is exactly what you can do, if you go and stay in Bill Kelly's superlative hotel, when it opens once again in the new year. Mr Kelly has such excellent connections in Burgundy that he is able to secure some Ramonet wines each year. And, what is more, whilst he could charge the earth for the wines, he doesn't: this is the one place where you can both find them and afford them. And there is another reason to go to Kelly's for a break, aside from the wine list, and the fact that it is parent heaven (believe us, it is). Eugene Callaghan's cooking in the La Marine bistro in Kelly's is now at a pitch of perfection which is stunning. Indeed, to match the subtlety of a Ramonet Burgundy with the subtlety of Mr Callaghan's cooking is actually to match two sophisticated superstars who inhabit the same stellar orbit. You won't find better cooking anywhere in Ireland, and you can't find better wines anywhere else in the country.

Website: www.kellys.ie

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text © John & Sally McKenna
illustrations © Ken Buggy