PINOT Noir is one of the great misunderstood grapes but one you will be seeing a lot more of in the coming years if Chile has its way.

Mystic Menu, once again, lays out some predictions and identifies trends for the coming year in Irish food.

IN CASE you missed it Wednesday, Apr 17, was World Malbec Day, a chance for Argentina to promote their wines and the grape variety that they now claim as their own.

THIS week I want to write about a wine region dear to my heart that is hardly known in Ireland, despite the fact that it is the nearest wine region to Ireland — the Loire Valley.

THERE was a time when the wine business was almost exclusively male but thankfully those days are long gone.

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.

JUST a few days before Christmas and I hope you have your wines chosen. If not don’t fret, most wine shops and supermarkets have frozen their prices until Christmas before the €1 excise duty is added.

Bright clean cherries and strawberries on the nose with lovely fresh clean red fruit flavours on the palate.

FROM the 1970s until recently, if someone mentioned Spanish wines your first (and only) thought was Rioja.