Sour Grapes the Irish wine blog

François Matton returns to Ireland a year after I met him here first (see the interview here to find out more about the Château and the wines). Who is he? The proprietor of Château Minuty in Provence and on Thursday 26th April he’ll be presenting a wine dinner in West Restaurant at The Twelve. Beginning with a reception [...]

Riesling presents a conundrum. For some it produces the greatest white wines in the world, yet by others it is often misunderstood and ridiculed. A wine tasting in Cork’s Ballymaloe, aims to resolves these two disparate points of view. I agree with this, despite my best efforts from Germany, Alsace or indeed Australia, I’ve tried to [...]

The Black Pig of Donnybrook is on my list, should be on yours too.

If sourgrapes.ie can’t make it to Palmela, Palmela comes to sourgrapes.ie, courtesy of Wine Alliance in Cork.

Bubble Brothers finds a new voice and starts bloggeur outreach program.

Lar heads east, metaphorically, and tries a wine from China.

An oldie from Channel 4′s dispatches, “What’s in your wine?”.

So, it’s Christmas. What wine should you be drinking? Sherry, of course. And probably Port too. Talking to some wine merchants, and this is the only time they sell any of the stuff. If I were to pick one, I’d go for a Sherry. The great thing about Sherry is that you can go from [...]

Drogheda, a town in county Louth, stretching across the border into neighbouring Meath, is becoming a bit of media darling. Featured recently on national television, it’s no longer just a town you bypass on the way to Dundalk but somewhere worth stopping. And if stop you do, then stop you must at Quintessential Wines on the Dublin Road. [...]

WINNER ANNOUNCED: Bríge Dowdall It’s that time of year again and along with men sporting ridiculous moustaches, another modern tradition is the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau. Like last year it’s thanks to Febvre, wine importer and distributor. A reminder of what Beaujolais Nouveau is An early release of this year’s harvest from Beaujolais. What’s it like? The grape [...]