Still another full week of January to go but I recommend you cheer yourself up by checking out the line-up for the Ballymaloe Litfest which has just been announced.

This time last year, Mystic Menu sat down before his crystal ball and threw out some predictions.

His reputation as an absolute hound for the nosebag is well- established but The Menu is also a great man for the ‘pictures’.

SUMMER 2014 seems to be getting better and better to the extent that eating outside seems to have become the norm in our house.

THE price of Burgundy is going to increase again next year as for the third year in a row the region has been hit by hailstones as big as golf balls.

The big event food event of this weekend is a rather stellar demo line-up including Ross Lewis, Frankie Mallon, Derry Clarke, Darina Allen and Rachel Allen in the Chef’s Kitchen at the Westport Music Festival.

I RETURN to the wines of Spain again this week which I realise is starting to become a bit of a habit.

If The Menu could ever rid himself of the microchip implanted in his neck by Mrs Menu, he’d while away many an afternoon in his beloved L’Atitude 51, (www.latitude51.ie).

THIS is an interesting time in the world of wine.

WITH New Year’s Eve just hours away do not delay in buying your favourite Champagne, Cava or Prosecco.

Do check out these hampers: Bandon-based Urru (www.urru.ie) and the magical Diva Boutique Bakery (www.divaboutiquebakery.com) has an online pop-up Christmas food shop;

I AM frequently asked what wine is the best value at the moment and I have had a stock answer for a number of years: buy from Chile and Spain.

FINALLY the summer seems to have arrived with a run of warm days. The barbecue has been on standby all week in my house and the heating has been turned off for the first time this year. Now I fully admit that summer drinking is a little more complicated in Ireland given how unpredictable our weather is, but warmer weather does demand a slight change in drinking habits.

NEW ZEALAND wine producers held their annual wine fair in Dublin earlier this month and it seems Ireland is now their fifth largest export market with sales having increased by around 12% in 2012.

VALENTINE’S DAY, next Thursday, is probably your first good excuse to splash out on a decent bottle of wine since Christmas.

From festive fizz to top tipples for turkey Leslie Williams serves up must-have holiday drinks.

WHEN we think of Australian wine we think of Shiraz.

NOW that we are all trying to shop local and support our bakers and butchers spare a thought for your local wine merchant.

This week I’m taking a took a look at some wines from the lower end of Bubble Brothers’ price range — mainly new arrivals to their stores in the English Market, and at the Marina Business Park in Cork as well as on www.bubblebrothers.com.

THE Voice of Ireland talent contest on RTÉ1 seems to have caught the public imagination, with 708,000 viewers tuning in for its debut.

IF you’ve taken on a ‘new you’ programme to counteract the excesses of the festive season, you deserve every credit.

LATER this month I’ll be looking at wines to accompany Christmas dinner, in the Weekend Christmas food special on November 26.

TWO wineries plus three cities equals a surefire treat for wine lovers this month: The most promising wine events in the autumn line-up (so far) have to be the tastings in Cork, Dublin and Kilkenny featuring wines from Langmeil in the Barossa region of Australia and Huia in Marlborough, New Zealand.

WINE fans may seem to have an odd attitude to sweetness, dismissing some popular wines as being far too sugary, while exulting at many of the far sweeter ‘dessert’ wines.

GARDAÍ are expected tocarry out an investigation into four off-licences and two supermarket chains after a television programme captured them delivering alcohol to underage drinkers at their homes.