Ripe for the picking? Irish wine on the up — but ‘nobody will retire rich’  

David Llewellyn, in his pear orchard near Lusk. Co Dublin. Picture: Moya Nolan

Have you heard the one about Irish wine? Like its English counterpart, it is no longer a joke, with more than a dozen vineyards now producing bottles to emulate those of the terroirs of France, Spain and Italy.

At about €60 a bottle and produced in small quantities, it is far from a commercial activity, but efforts over the last 10 years have produced what one retailer described as an “arguably very fine” rosé.