Here are wines chosen for their outstanding character, quality and value, many of which have won awards, there are many wine critics and competitions all over the world, both national and international and it would take an encyclopaedia to list them all. We have chosen seven of the best known competitions and awards to highlight the prize winning wines on this list as well as one Irish publication.

These are Decanter Magazine, International Wine Challenge, Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, Tanzer, James Halliday and Best of Wine in Ireland.

Quality by the glass guarantee

For our wines by the glass we use the Verre de Vin wine preservation system that keeps still and sparkling wine fresh and in prime drinking condition for up to 21 days after opening.

CHAMPAGNE:

Bin 3: Taittinger Brut Resérve, Reims

SPARKLING: Snipe: 20cl

Bin 1: Prosecco Brut: Quanta Basta: Italy

Bin 18: Pinot Grigio: Villa Teresa; Italy
Bin 12: Sauvignon Blanc: 35 South, Chile
Bin 21: Chenin / Sauvignon Blanc: Bradgate; Sth Africa
Bin 14: Chardonnay: Alamos: Catena Estate; Mendoza Valley
Bin 8: Chardonnay: Tortoise Shell Bay; Australia
Bin 6: Chablis : Domaine Chatelain de Oliveira ; France
Bin 15: Sancerre : Domaine du Nozay ; France
Bin 17: Dry Riesling: Pewsey Vale: Australia

ROSÉ WINE

Bin 23: Pinot Grigio Rosé:’ Carlo Botter: Verona: Italy

Bin 35: Merlot: 35 South: Chile
Bin 32: Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot: Bradgate: South Africa
Bin 43: Malbec: Alamos: Catena Estate; Mendoza Valley
Bin 26: Shiraz: Tortoise Shell Bay; Australia
Bin 30: Fleurie Domaine des Marrans. Cru Beaujolais; France
Bin 40: Pinot Noir: Windy Peak: De Bortoli Wines; Australia
Bin 25: Côtes du Ventoux. Delas Frères; France
Bin 44: Albali Arium Gran Reserva: Valdepenas: Spain

SPARKLING WHITE & ROSÉ WINES - ITALY

Bin 2: Prosecco Brut: Fantinel; Italy

Champagne

Bin 3: Taittinger: Brut Reserve (NV)
Bin 4: Heidsieck Monopole: Rosé Brut (NV)
Bin 5: Veuve Clicquot Brut

CHARDONNAY

The winemakers “artist’s palate”, Chardonnay can take on many styles, depending on its provenance and the winemaker’s intentions. From cool, classic Chablis, through creamy, fruity unoaked Mediterranean offerings of huge, tropical fruit-filled New World giants.

Bin 6: Chablis Domaine Chatelain de Oliveira; France
Bin 7: Mâcon Lugny. Paul Sapin; France
Bin 8: Chardonnay: Tortoise Shell Bay; Australia
Bin 9: Fleur du Cap Chardonnay; South Africa
Bin 10: Catena Alamos Chardonnay; Argentina
Bin 11: Yalumba Wild Ferment Eden Valley Chardonnay

SAUVIGNON BLANC & Blends

Whether your taste is for the exuberance of the New World or the more restrained & elegant style of the Loire Valley, you will find a wine here that fits your taste. In my opinion, ‘New World’ is just too sweeping a category for Sauvignon Blanc, so why not explore a country you don’t know so well for this versatile and refreshing grape variety.

Bin 12: 35 South Sauvignon Blanc; Chile
Bin 13: Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc Reserva; Chile
Bin 14: Pouilly Fumé: Les Pierrefeux; Château Langlois; Loire, France
Bin 15: Sancerre Domaine Nozay; France
Bin 16: Anapai Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough; New Zealand

RIESLING

The Riesling grape is very much a favourite, in all its many guises: from squeaky clean, citrus laden young Australian wines of the Eden Valley, to the richness & elegance of the Rhine, on to the sheer finesse & opulence of Alsace’s, this is truly a noble grape, capable of very great things.

Bin 17: Pewsey Vale: Dry Riesling, Australia

Pinot Grigio / Pinot Gris / Pinot Blanc

These grapes tend to give flavourful, almost oily wines, rather high in alcohol and slightly low in acidity. More spicy in France than Italy or Argentina. It is full-bodied enough to accompany red meats if red wine is not used.

Bin 18: Pinot Grigio Villa Teresa; Italy
Bin 19: Terra Barossa Eden Valley Pinot Gris: Australia

Marsanne / Viognier blends

A very low yielding variety with a particular perfume of apricots, peaches and blossom. A relatively drought-resistant variety, it is now thriving in the south of France and is also grown in the New World. Blended with Chardonnay at times, it is an intriguing mix. Aperitif, or with some lightly spiced dishes

Bin 20: DOMAINE CAMPRADEL; Chardonnay Viognier; France

Chenin Blanc

Probably the world’s most versatile grape variety, it is usually found in light and fruity New World wines, particularly from South Africa where it is known as Steen. It also produces some of the finest, longest-living sparkling, dry, medium and sweet white wines in the Loire Valley and Limoux.

Bin 21: Chenin / Sauvignon Blanc: Bradgate, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Bin 22: Fleur du Cap Chenin Blanc Stellenbosch :South Africa

ROSÉ

Back in fashion, now we can’t keep up with demand for this any occasion wine.

Bin 23: Pinot Grigio Rosé’ Carlo Botter; Italy

Syrah / Shiraz /Grenache and blends

Syrah is the great grape of the northern Rhône; the deep, dark, dense qualities of the wine are characteristically strange and satisfying. Scented with black pepper, capsicums and sometimes violets, the grapes flourish in warmer climes such as California, Australia and South Africa, where it is known as Shiraz. Grenache/Garnacha a Mediterranean grape which, although quite pale in colour, packs a vinous punch of pepper and warmth.

Bin 24: Côtes-du-Rhône ; Domaine Coccinelles
Bin 25: Côtes du Ventoux. Delas Frères ; France
Bin 26: Tortoise Shell Bay Shiraz; Australia
Bin 27: Chateauneuf-du-Pape; Clos de l’Oratoire;2005 S.Rhône, France
Bin 28: Waterford Estate Shiraz; South Africa
Bin 29: Turkey Flat Butchers Block Red

Gamay

The Beaujolais grape is paler and bluer than most red grapes, with relatively high acidity and a simple but vivacious aroma of freshly picked red fruits.

Bin 30: Fleurie Domaine des Marrans. P. Ferraud ; France

CABERNET SAUVIGNON and BLENDS

The noble Bordelaise grape has travelled far .Every wine growing region has its own style of Cabernet Sauvignon, with its blackcurrant and cedar characteristics. Renowned for its longevity, many of the greatest wines in the world, and many of the simpler ones are likely to have this structured, sturdy, elegant grape variety as at least part of the blend.

Bin 31: Mc Williams Hanwood Estate Cabernet Sauvignon; Australia
Bin 32: Cabernet Sauvignon/ Merlot; Bradgate : South Africa
Bin 33: Castillo de Molina Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva ; Chile
Bin 34: Château Royland :Saint Emilion Grand Cru

MERLOT & CARMÈNÉRE

Carmenere is an arcane Bordeaux variety, grown in Chile until the early 1990s as Merlot, until genetic fingerprinting re-identified it. Now heralded by Chile as its own grape, it is too similar to Merlot to list elsewhere, and is often blended with Merlot- Merlot, [as the real Merlot is known in Chile], Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bin 35: 35 South Merlot; Chile
Bin 36: Casa Silva Gran Familia Carmènére; Chile
Bin 37: Château Camplazens Grenache: France

Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara

This trio make up the wonderful cherry-red wines of Verona, from the light and delicious Valpolicella to the powerful Amarone “Vino da Meditazione”, with the luscious Ripasso in between. Use with meaty risotto, wild boar, boiled meats and Parmigiano Reggiano. Also great with almonds.

Bin 38: Ripasso ; DOC. Tomassi; Italy
Bin 39: Amarone : Della Valpolicella Classico DOC. Monte Del Frá Italy

PINOT NOIR

Winemakers swear it is the hardest, most fickle grape variety to grow & make wine with, yet most want to have a go at it sometime in their career. From the Burgundian archetypes to the furthest outposts of the New World we are seeing better vine clones, more vine age, & most of all more winemaking experience. The results are in the bottle.

Bin 40: Windy Peak Pinot Noir: De Bortoli Wines; Australia

ZINFANDEL:

Originating most likely in the Adriatic, this exotic minerally, black-skinned grape grown predominantly in California, can make dark, brooding wines for barbecued steak or, bizarrely, sweetish, light hearted quaffing rosés called “blush”. If you like red Rhône or Southern Italian wines, then try any of these Zins- laden with ripeness, depth, fruit & strength, they are all very fine wines, made by people who believe Zinfandel is a hidden jewel in a sea of increasingly anodyne wines.

Bin 41: Rancho Zabacho: Sonoma County
Bin 42: Zig Zag Zin: Mendocino County

MALBEC

Once popular in Bordeaux but now more readily associated with Cahors in South West France and more so with Argentina, where the varietal produces lush wines with gamey concentration and ageing potential.

Bin 43: Catena Alamos Malbec; Mendoza Valley

TEMPRANILLO / GRANACHA

Tempranillo and Granacha are Spain’s answer to Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache vine varietals that puts the spine into a high proportion of Spain’s most respected red wines. Its grapes are thick-skinned and capable of making deep coloured, long lasting wines that are not, unusually for Spain, notably high in alcohol.

Bin 44: Albali Arium Gran Reserva: Valdepenas
Bin 45: Berberana Rioja Reserva; Spain
Bin 46: Care Syrah Tempranillo/Garnacha: Spain