The Dog Days are over to quote Florence and the Machine (who will be at Electric Picnic this year, as will I - of which more next week).

This week I want to share with you some of the reasons why good Champagne is expensive. One reason is our punitive tax system (fizzy wine is double the tax of still wine), but also because this is not an easy wine to get right.

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. 

SUMMER 2014 remains as unpredictable as we have come to expect in Ireland so I will be hedging my bets with recommendations for summer drinking over the next few weeks.

WINE enthusiasts sometimes tie themselves into knots worrying about the complexities to be found in the drink, fussing about which flower or fruit a wine smells like, or worse still focusing on soil structure and hectolitres per hectare.

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.

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.