Rioja wine is one of the most delicious, well-priced, and versatile wines available in the Irish market. You can get some delicious everyday bottles from €10-€12, but if you step up to the €18-€25 range, you can find incredible wines which make great gifts, or are perfect for when you just want a well-deserved treat for yourself! When I started drinking wine first, I thought Rioja was the name of a grape! But, I couldn't have been more wrong. I've learned a lot about Riojo wines over the last few years, and when you finish reading this guide, you'll be able to walk into any wine store, off-lic ..read more

After 10 years of drinking wine, I can definitively say, I don't know... But what I can do is share some of my reasoning and thoughts around it. Why are some wines more expensive than others? Well, like most products there are multiple factors affecting price, not just quality, so let's have a look at some of those. Overheads/Land Vineyards are businesses. Businesses have overheads. Overheads vary depending on numerous factors. For example, land in Bordeaux is expensive, but the best land for growing is the most expensive. So vineyards based on this land will already have a higher overhead tha ..read more

Until recently, I had a pretty low opinion of wines from the US. I've had lots that were "okay" and LOTS that were barely drinkable, but nothing ever really impressed me. In 2014, I was even lucky enough to spend a couple of days touring vineyards in Sonoma but I was so unimpressed that I didn't even buy any bottled to bring home. Recently, however, I've had a few wines which have started to change my mind... maybe! I'm talking about the Kendall Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon and the Bread & Butter Pinot Noir. The 2018 Kendall-Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon which is actually just 82% Cab with the ..read more

For the last 8 years, I have explored a lot of French wines. I've got to know the different regions, styles, and grapes quite well. In fact, I can taste a Bordeaux and give a pretty good estimation of the blend of grapes used and the age. Not the most exciting party trick, but it at least proved to myself that I have learned a few things! But outside of French my knowledge of wines was quite basic so I wanted to expand my horizons. That's why going into 2021 I decided to explore Italian wines! Wine has been grown and produced in Italy for thousands of years and today it is the largest producer ..read more

O'Brien's just dropped a very nice Italian Wine sale. The sale has over 80 wines discounted many of which I have tried and/or reviewed for IrishWineReviews.ie. There are some amazing offers there so I thought I'd give my recommendation for 2 x Everyday Drinker Wines 3 x Treat Yourself Wines 1 x Special Occasion Wine Everyday Drinkers These are wines that have a great rating and cost less than €15. Meaning if Mrs IrishWineReviews and I fancy a midweek bottle, we don't need to feel too guilty! Wine 1: Lunaria Ruminat Primitivo 3.9/5 €13.95 (usually €18.95) This is a smashing wine for €14. I orig ..read more

Whether you wanted it or not, minimum unit pricing is here. It is already causing confusion about how it is calculated. But fear not! We have created this free guide for you to use INCLUDING cheat sheets which will cover 95% of what you need to price up. This guide is free to download and use, but if you do, please remember to give credit to IrishWineReviews.ie or if you are on Social @IrishWineReviews To download the free pdf, head over to this page ..read more

In January 2022, Ireland will adopt "Minimum Unit Pricing" (MUP) for the sale of alcohol. This legislation has been in the making for almost 5 years and was signed off by the government on the 4th of May, 2021 This means there will be a minimum price a retailer, bar, restaurant, or hotel can charge based on the grams of alcohol in the product. How does it work? For every gram of alcohol in the product, the retailer will be required to charge a minimum of 10c. Each ml of alcohol weighs approximately 0.79g. This can then be used to calculate the minimum price. As the minimum pricing is based on ..read more