Thistledown Wines

Masters of Wine, Giles Cooke and Fergal Tynan (from Celbridge) had a shared vision to interpret top-level Australian wines in a elegant and textural manner.

This vision led to Thistledown wines, and in their relatively short history have quickly gained a reputation for being amongst the best in the country. Thistledown's approach to winemaking is simple. They work with remarkable growers in remarkable sites, so their job is really to coax that fruit into the bottle, keeping as much of the fruit's vitality and personality as possible.

Low yielding sites, hand-picked a little earlier, endless numbers of small batches allowed to ferment spontaneously, with minimal extraction, concrete fermenters with the spice or seasoning that oak can bring, without dominating the wine... these are some of the possibilities that the winemaking traditions in Australia have allowed them to explore and the resultant quality is genuinely at the very top of the tree. And the tree is still growing.

Customer reviews

★★★★★

Excellent service, lovely wine, choosing online is so easy with Chris’ excellent tasting notes and the fun of opening a wine for the first time adds to the experience.

Gerry R

★★★★★

I ordered some sparkling Cava from Chris which arrived so promptly! A really delicate delicious wine that I haven't seen anywhere else. A great selection of quality wines at really good prices!

A. O'Neill

★★★★★

I must say the wine list here is amazing. Top quality and what I like the most is a rich info on every presented bottle. Pure example when someone puts their heart and knowledge into it. I had a few Burgundy ones and they were delicious! Superb packaging and delivery as well.

Bosnae

★★★★★

My first purchase with Allotment and it was a really positive experience - from their website, product range , price range and professional follow up.

Anne K.

★★★★★

I stumbled across this wine merchant while searching online for a particular Spanish wine. I'm glad I did as I discovered an excellent selection of wines from that country, as well as from other regions, all at competitive prices. Excellent personal service and prompt delivery made for a great overall experience. Highly recommended

John H.

★★★★★

The owner Chris provides an incredible customer experience. After I had ordered online, he contacted me separately to offer additional insights into all the wines I had chosen and to give me a voucher for next time.

Sean G

★★★★★

A great experience ordering from The Allotment Wine Company. A wide variety of wines to try something new and at good prices with super quick delivery! Really convenient too as opposed to trying to find parking!

Nicola D.

★★★★★

Good range of interesting wines. Good personal attention to their orders. Very customer focused. I would be happy to recommend this company to any prospective customer.

Jim D

★★★★★

Wonderful wines from a wonderfully wise wine man! Have discovered some cracking vino thanks to Chris’ educational and entertaining videos and can’t wait to try more. My favourite kind of special delivery!

Kate W.

Hi, I'm Chris Gifford.

Welcome to The Allotment Wine Co.

When you buy wines from The Allotment Wine Co. you're supporting a small Irish business which in turn supports small, sustainable wine producers, as well as other small, dedicated Irish wine importers.

When selecting wines, I look for partners who share a deep respect and connection with the land and its traditions, witnessed in a firm commitment to quality and sustainability. All of which makes for better wines.