A dip into South America this week following tastings with two producers. Garzon is a fairly new project (2008) on the east coast of Uraguay with flying winemaker Alberto Antonini in charge of winemaking while La Celia in the Uco Valley in Mendoza was founded 125 years ago.

This week I’m focusing on the Languedoc and largely the wines of Domaines Paul Mas which is imported by Cork-based Karwig wines. I toured all their vineyards a few weeks ago and was once again charmed by this part of France.

There is a tendency among wine enthusiasts to constantly refer to the beauty of vineyards and wine regions, but some of this I think comes from the fact that we feel so at home in these magical places that produce our favourite sustenance.

Unsurprisingly, Our Table, the Cork Midsummer Festival long table al fresco banquet on Cork’s Oliver Plunkett St, feeding 400 white-clad diners, is long sold out.

IRELAND has become a nation of wine drinkers in a very short time but the wines we drink now are quite different to those sampled in the mid-2000s.