Today’s eclectic wine recommendations all come from the recently announced Irish Wine Show Star Awards 2023-2024. Organised by the National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA), these annual awards always turn out a few pleasant surprises at decent prices, and the smart booklet produced to promote the 54 winners is worth a browse. You’ll find copies of it along with the winning wines in your local independent off-licence, if it’s one of the 315 NOffLA members nationwide. Look out, too, for gift packs of the winners in the run-up to Christmas.
Every year, in August, db conducts an extensive 'blind' tasting of the latest releases from Chile, from which we have picked out the best Carmenères priced from £15 to £50, with the country's Apalta wine region proving the best place for the grape.
Following an extensive 'blind' tasting of Chilean wines earlier this year, we have picked out seven first-rate whites, including some fine Chardonnay from Limarí, a flor-aged Semillon, and a multi-regional top-end blend.