Spitalfields is the new ‘Restaurant in a Pub’ from Stephen McAllister, who you will know from the telly.

Ireland’s wine drinkers have fully embraced the big bold Malbec wines from Argentina but this week I’m recommending a couple of Pyros Wines from a valley you have probably never encountered before.

A tale of two contrasting regions this week — Burgundy and Murcia in Eastern Spain.

The autumn is wine fair season in Irish supermarkets. Aldi was first out of the blocks last Sunday with an intriguing selection of wines from around the world at their usual low prices. 

If you are grilling at home any of the southern Rhones below will work well. I’ve included one white in case you are cooking fish or would like an aperitif.

This weekend I will be at Ballymaloe House near Midleton for the Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine.

I have written in the past about the difficulties faced by small wine importers given our draconian wine taxes. We are around 650% higher than the EU average and more expensive for wine than countries such as Sweden and Finland.

Firstly, this week I want to thank those readers who came to our Californian Wine Evening in Meades 126 Wine Bar on Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street last month. 

CAN you trust a wine score or tasting note? One of the more animated discussions at the Ballymaloe Literary Festival was on the subject of wine competitions and point-scoring for wines.

THESE are not good days to be a wine lover, but spare a thought for anyone foolish enough to turn their love of wine into a career.

THERE was a time when around 70% of the wine we bought was from France but those days are long gone.

Wine tastings are always a revelation, and none more so than the one hosted by Lidl recently for people in the wine media to taste.

AMONG the highlights at a recent tasting held by Lidl, two bottles in particular proved a bit of a surprise.

SUPERQUINN’s wine range has been greatly reinvigorated in recent years, and now includes some tremendous affordable wine, much of it from France.