August is almost upon us which spells the beginning of the end of Summer (in my head at least), so I am focusing on wines for the sunshine.

This week I’m focusing on Garnacha/Grenache, arguably the most important grape in France and Spain yet also a grape that is less known than it should be given that it only occasionally appears on wine labels.

As I write this the weather has turned remarkably mild so I’ve abandoned my original topic of winter warming wines in favour of good value wines suitable for parties — parties can happen in good and bad weather after all. Christmas seems to start earlier and get more expensive every year so in the coming weeks I’ll try to keep value as much in mind as much as quality.

I was asked recently which wine region I would opt to live in given an endless budget and unlimited resources. After much deliberation I picked Piedmont in Northern Italy, home to the Slow Food movement, white truffles, hazelnuts, and wines made from Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto, writes Leslie Williams

I wrote last week about the fact that Ireland is by far the most expensive place to buy wine in the EU with over 50% of a wine that costs €10 going to the government.

School is back, holidays are over but don’t despair, wine is here to

From the main course to the pudding, wine columnist Leslie Williams has the perfect drinks list for the festive season 

Back to southern France again this week, as I find myself enjoying the wines from here more and more.

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.

The focus is sunny southern France this week following a recent trip I made to the Languedoc courtesy of O’Briens, writes Leslie Williams.

Bordeaux is the largest fine-wine producing region on the planet and produces around 700m bottles of wine from its 120,000 hectares, says Leslie Williams.

Now in truth the grape never went away, it was really the fat oaky styles that we abandoned, says Leslie Williams.

This week I’m taking a snapshot of the Languedoc-Roussillon, easily the most unwieldy wine region in France and arguably the world.

Once again this week I want to encourage you to shop local and to emphasise this I’m giving over the column to a profile of one of Cork’s relatively unsung wine heroes: JJ O’Driscolls Superstore in Ballinlough.

Ten days since Tomás O’Leary first landed in the Languedoc region for a four-month tour of duty with Montpellier and the 33-year-old scrum-half must feel as if his feet are yet to really find terra firma.

It is no great revelation that our tastes in wine frequently change with time.

Watching the Euros has got me thinking about French wines so once again this week I’m back in the Languedoc.

The obituary writers have been busy this year and the case is equally true in the wine world.

The June Bank Holiday weekend always feels like the beginning of summer even if the weather is often rather mixed.

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

January is a month for learning new things and many off-licences are offering wine courses this month and early next month.

I’m a little late focusing on the Rugby World Cup, but with the final group matches this weekend there will be a lot of tension around and you may need a glass of wine to calm your nerves.

Aperitif wines are always useful for when guests drop in unexpectedly, and definitely have some inexpensive prosecco in the fridge (more on fizz next week).

Up until recently my favourite wine trivia question was “what is the world’s most planted grape?” 

Terroir is one of those frustrating French terms that is beloved of winemakers and wine-writers but remains little understood by most of the wine-buying public. 

Readers of this column may be getting tired of my raising the issue of excise duty on wine but bear with me for just a few sentences. 

The Indian Summer we have been experiencing in recent weeks is not just putting us in better form, but also the winemakers across Europe. 

SEPTEMBER has become wine sale season it seems. Last week I wrote about the Lidl French wine sale and some of their Bordeaux bargains — this week it is the turn of Dunnes Stores.

BRACE yourselves, the rumours keep coming that wine is going to go up another 50c in the Budget. 

ONE of the biggest wine scandals of the past few decades reached its final chapter in a New York court on August 7 last when Rudy Kurniawan was sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling fake wine.

THE RETURN of the Wine Geese tastings as part of The Gathering have been the highlight of the wine year and Cork has been particularly lucky as almost all the tastings have been in the real capital.

NOW that we can get the same vegetables and fruit in the supermarket in January or July we have lost much of our instincts for eating seasonally.

HAVE you ever wondered what it is actually like to own your own vineyard in France?