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.

To get a feel for the world of wine you need to get a feel for geography and do a bit of driving – perhaps from Napa to Sonoma, from Bra to Barbaresco or take a drive up the D2 from Bordeaux through Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe. 

Have you noticed the closure or takeover of a local wine shop recently?

The world of wine is a large place and columns like this I hope help distil it down to a manageable size.

Ireland and Spain have had many connections throughout history but one you might have overlooked is Spain’s contribution to Ireland’s most famous drink — whiskey.

The words “Vintage Wine” often conjure up a romantic vision of a delicious elixir “cooled a long age in the deep delved earth tasting of flora … and Provencal Song” as Keats put it.

* Beetroot and lentil salad

The Lidl September French Wine sale has established itself on the calendar by now, and once again they have a number of stand-out wines and a few famous names.

SALADS were eaten in ancient Roman times, the word “salad” derives from “sal”, the Latin for salt. 

The autumn is wine fair season in Irish supermarkets. Aldi was first out of the blocks last Sunday with an intriguing selection of wines from around the world at their usual low prices. 

* Grated courgette cake

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

* Salt and pepper squid

If you are grilling at home any of the southern Rhones below will work well. I’ve included one white in case you are cooking fish or would like an aperitif.

I HAVE just returned from spending some time on the Greek islands, two weeks without a cloud in the sky certainly is uplifting for the soul. 

Italian wine is a reflection of the country’s politics, equally fascinating and frustrating.

READ has long been a major part of our food history and has an important cultural significance as well as a nutritional one. 

We are at mid-summer point now and the sunshine, up to now, has been rather absent.

* Paprika aioli

This week is all about the Celtic Whiskey Shop in part to celebrate its new bar/restaurant/shop called the Irish Whiskey Experience on New Street (just off Main St) in Killarney, Co Kerry.

Cherry tomatoes are a smaller variety of the common garden tomato, they are generally sweeter than the larger fruits.

I suppose I had better just come out and admit it, I’m not a big fan of sauvignon blanc.

Pavlova has been the desert of choice in our family home for almost every occasion that I remember. 

Ireland is a small country that drinks a relatively modest amount of wine per head of population — around 17 litres per year compared with 24 litres in the UK and 53 litres per head in France.

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

I HAVE always admired the delicate carvings of a butter stamp and remember my grandmother showing me one when I was very young. 

Blackwater Wexford Strawberry Gin, 40% abv, 50cl — €32.00 Stockists: Bradleys Cork, O’Briens Off-Licences nationwide, Celtic Whiskey Shop

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

At the time of writing we are enjoying a bit of a heatwave but spare a thought for French winemakers who have once again been hit by late frosts and hail.

Fennel is a very versatile vegetable, its seeds, leaves, and bulbs all have unique and equally tasty uses in the kitchen.

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

Long Meadow Cider is made by the McKeever family from Portadown in Co Armagh with apples grown on their 30-acre farm. 

In Ireland, in the early 70s, farmhouse cheese production had all but vanished. 

This week I want to re-visit an old favourite — a wine producer that I suspect is familiar to every wine drinker in the country.

Many of the spices that travel half way around the world to our kitchens have been prized for generations, not only for their taste but also for their health-giving properties. 

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