Wine with Leslie: Alternative Christmas tipples for all budgets
For the vast majority of us, wine is simply a highly enjoyable thing to have with dinner, one of life’s simple pleasures.
So what do wine lovers want for Christmas?Â
Well, in general we would like to be treated as adults and for wine to be categorised as the cultural gastronomic artefact it is, rather than as an evil plaguing society, which seems to be the attitude of Revenue and the Dept. of Health.
For the vast majority of us, wine is simply a highly enjoyable thing to have with dinner, one of life’s simple pleasures.
Besides buying us wine as a gift, you can enhance our pleasure remarkably by giving the gift of a good wine glass; we can never have too many.
Riedel and Zalto from Austria are the two brands I use most, Riedel can be found in Avoca, Brown Thomas and from mitchellandson.com; and Zalto from Searsons in Dublin (they are too delicate to post).
The excellent online wine shop winestation.ie sells hand-blown, light-as-a-feather, Grassl glasses from Switzerland and you can have one delivered with a bottle of fine wine (from €79).
Jancis Robinson glasses can be found at theallotment.ie (2 for €95) and Whelehan's Wines have Stölzle (6 for €69).
For the serious wine lover, I recommend the Coravin wine extraction system, which allows you to extract wine through the cork to see how your vintage wine is ageing or to steal a glass for dinner.
Inert gas replaces the wine, so it stays fresh. Coravin was launched here 10 years ago and I still use my 2015 version regularly.
Prices start at €300 (wineonline.ie) and there are versions for screwcap and Champagne (see also searsons.com, Avoca, Whelehans, Brown Thomas).
Finally, tickets are now on sale for the Cork Whiskey Fest, 27th-29th March 2026, it sold out last year so this would be a brilliant gift: corkwhiskeyfest.com.
Below are three alternative Christmas wines that look and taste good.
JJ O’Driscolls; Matsons; Bradleys; Cinnamon Cottage; World Wide Wines; The Old Barracks; Vintry; thenudewineco.ie
Wine enthusiasts love to be challenged, so what about a wine from the oldest wine region of them all?Â
Bedoba’s orange wine and their juicy red Seperavi are both delicious.
The orange is from Rkatsiteli grapes and is fragrant and fascinating with orange zest, apricot, honey and herbal notes, a lush palate with texture and gorgeous complexity.
M&S Etna Rosso, Sicily, €20.50
I visited Etna and Catania this year and fell in love with yet another Italian region.
A subtle label and a fine introduction to the volcanic wines of Etna (often double this price), this one is made for M&S by Tenute Nicosia with Nerello Mascalese and Cappuccio.
Blackberry and cherry fruits with a smoky volcanic edge, fruity and lithe but also taut and textured with lingering black cherry notes. Fascinating.
MacCurtin Wine Cellar; 64 Wine; Vintry; stationtostationwine.ie
One of my favourite labels and a much underrated wine.
Cirò is the primary DOC in Calabria in the toe of Italy and made with Gaglioppo grapes.
This is organic and low intervention with crunchy red fruits, spice hints and some pleasing lively darker fruits on the finish balanced by acidity and texture.
Their Rosé and white are also recommended.
A new limited edition from Teeling as part of the sommelier selection series where their classic Small Batch blend is finished in wine casks.
Strawberry and vanilla aromas with a touch of spice (cinnamon, nutmeg), a soft, almost luscious palate with caramel hitting first followed by pepper and heat, leading to a hot honey and black cherry finish.
One of Teeling’s tastiest recent releases.
