Wine: English Sparkling wine wins Gold Star Awards

Michael Noonan decided to spare the wine community in Ireland further pain in the recent budget so I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies.

Remember that €5 of every €9 bottle of wine goes to the tax man, so what we really needed was a reduction in excise duty.

The Independent Off-Licence sector breathed a particularly loud sigh of relief given the difficulties they have in competing with the multiples in recent years.