• Anthony flies to South America just in time for the harvest.

    It’s the time of year when we are travelling the globe sourcing wines, catching up with our winemaking friends around the world and learning about the latest vintages as we go. Anthony left the cool Irish Winter and headed over to Chile and Argentina for a couple of weeks this month. His reams of tasting notes and thoughts have been slightly lost in translation, so we’re picking the best bits and filtering them into this blog… a whistlestop tour of his trip. First up it was Argentina. Landing in Mendoza Anthony brought with him the worst rains the capital had

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  • Building up to Bordeaux 2015

    We’re in the gates, the flag is raised and the tension is mounting. What will happen when the gates open? Will we all bunch up on the first bend and then fall back when high prices are set or smoothly settle into position, finding our stride, finally emerging from the pack triumphant with new fire to ignite the 2015 en primeur campaign. Bordeaux 2015 is here. ‘The rule of five’* is a phrase that has been bandied around Bordeaux a lot of late. At first mainly due to the desperation of those in the trade hoping for a top vintage following four

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  • Domaine Jean Bousquet – The tale of a French family making wine in Argentina

    When you think about it Domaine Bousquet lacks the Spanish or Portuguese sounding origin that you would expect of a winery based in Argentina. This is because La Famile Bousquet hail from deepest Carcassonne. A wine family that strove to find the perfect site to grow wine. They wanted somewhere in the New World where they could experiment with varieties and rely on the constancy of settled weather. This place; decided in 1990 was Mendoza. It wasn’t however until 1997 that they purchased a parcel of land in Tupungato at 1200 metres (though at 110ha in French terms this was no

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  • The Douro – A story of Port, in parts around an intriguing visit.

    A snapshot of the port trade and viticultural advances being made in this land of ‘extreme mountain viticulture’.

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  • Champagne Henriot winemaker wines the IWC ‘Sparkling winemaker of the year’.

    We have always been proud of the fact that we represent the wines of Champagne Henriot. Their talented winemaker Laurent Fresnet has now been recognised as Sparkling Winemaker of the Year by the IWC.

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  • Climate change, global warming and Vintage 2014

    A look at this years progress in vineyards around Europe with thoughts on the erratic weather conditions and pests inflicted on the classic areas by Climate Change.

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  • Have you ever been to the Douro Valley? Have you tasted Dow’s Port?

    A short piece of the breathtakingly fabulous Douro Valley

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  • Why not let Fernando de Castilla introduce you to the world of Sherry?

    An insight into the production of the various sherry styles.

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  • Craggy Range. Have you tried their wines yet?

    We’re thrilled to have acquired the agency for the renowned Martinborough wines from Craggy Range. Wines we now stock can now be found on our website. But to give you a taste of the passion and ambition surrounding the creation of these wines, here is an interview with Steve Smith MW: joint founder of the company.  

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  • A day (or 3) in the life of an ‘accredited’ Burgundy Tutor!

    The amazing days spent refreshing my knowledge of Burgundy.

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  • McHenry Hohnen in Margaret River… Memories from our travels!

    In Keeping with this theme here’s a short piece on Harriet and Anthony’s trip to Margaret River last March, the wines they tried and the craic they had. Anthony does a World Trip annually taking in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I (Harriet) was lucky enough to join him for the NZ/OZ leg of the trip. As with all  these trips you need some down time… we took a 2 day break from the wine-tasting marathon and swam with sharks (well I paddled!) in the surf spots (see above) around the points of Margaret River. With me

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  • Cork event!! Chateau Montelena tasting at The Grain Store, Ballymaloe

    In 1882 Alfred Tubbs purchased 254 acres of rugged land at the base of Mount Saint Helena and planted vines.1972 was the Barrett’s first vintage at Montelena. In 1976 a who’s who of the French wine and food establishment gathered for ‘The Judgement of Paris’. Four white Burgundies were tasted against six California Chardonnays. Chateau Montelena’s 1973 was voted number One. Bo Barrett has been involved in every vintage at Montelena since 1972. We are very lucky to have him leading the tasting and giving an insight into these fantastic wines. Wines to be tasted include various vintages from the following

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