The Wine Blog

Black Friday Wine Deals: November 2022

Coming soon, the best Black Friday Wine Sale in Ireland.

Chris's Christmas Wines

It's the most wonderful wine of the year.

New Autumn Wine Arrivals

I've been meaning to add these wines to the website for a few months now, but the timing seemed to be absolutely perfect this week with slightly cooler temperatures and earlier evenings.

Maison Róisín Curley: Ballyhaunis Burgundy

I'm really thrilled to have the wines of Róisín Curley join us at The Allotment. By the time you're reading this, they'll probably be sold out, but we will be getting them back,...

Languedoc-Roussillon Rule-breakers, Aubert & Mathieu

Anthony Aubert and Jean-Charles Mathieu are two good pals who want to "break the rules of the vineyard". Well, now, it's all well and good to go breaking the rules...

How long does a bottle of wine last after opening?

It's one of the top questions I get, so you’re trying to make a bottle of nice wine last over a few days, here are my top tips.

Chris' Great Big Christmas Wine Quiz

Light the fire, open the Amarone or fix yourself some mulled wine and test your wine knowledge with our Big Fat Christmas Wine Quiz.

Wines to match Christmas Dinner

Some ideas on wines to match the Christmas dinner.

Thinking outside and "inside out" of the box

Thinking outside of the box and bringing new life to old wine boxes before they're recycled.

The Best Mulled Wine Recipe in The World.

The best mulled wine recipe in the world?

Stop press: The Allotment in the news

A couple of nice mentions in the press earlier in the month.

Vineyard stories: the wines of CVNE

When Chris visited Haro in Rioja and discovered the wonderful wines of CVNE.

The Wines of Angelo Gaja

Simply put, Angelo Gaja, is one of the best winemakers in the world, and is often considered to be the best winemaker that Italy has ever produced.

What's your favourite wine? Here's mine.

When someone asks me what my favourite wine is, I often go, "hrrmm". But certainly, of my favourite wines, the Win Win Riesling has got to be up there.

Regional focus: Rioja

An introduction to Rioja, Spain's most important wine region.

The Allotment features in leading wine podcast.

We've been fans of Kevin and his podcast for a while now, so we honoured to hear Chris interviewed on the latest episode. Have a listen. 🎧

Gran Cerdo, Organic, Biodynamic, Rioja and a breath of fresh air

A brief introduction to Gonzalo Gonzalo and his biodynamic and organic Gran Cerdo wine.

Domaine Jean Bousquet Reserve Malbec

Chris talks about Jean Bousquet wines, with the Malbec Reserve under the spotlight.

The All White on the Night Case

All the detail on our gorgeous white wine case offer this week, all white on the night. €114 for 6 bottles, plus free delivery!

Recipe: Wonderful Tarragon Summer Salad & Riesling

My go-to recipe for a summer salad favourite; a tarragon, feta and grape salad.

Trim-Bach, Mozart & Dowland

When these guys started making wine, Bach hadn't been born yet, nor had Mozart, or his grandparents! Wow.

Rosé-tinted glasses

Our rosé special offers that went out to email subscribers earlier in the week.

Matching food and wine

When you get it right, a good wine and food match can be absolutely sublime, lifting the experience of both the wine and the food.

Cristal Champagne, Tsars and Flat Bottoms

From rap stars to Tsars, Cristal Champagne, is the pick of the bunch 😩 and is really made to showcase the land, grapes and the talent that Louis Roederer possess.

The ultimate A-Z of grapes: T

Grapes which start with the letter "T". How many can you get?

The ultimate A-Z of grapes: S

Syrah, Sauvignon, Sangiovese and plenty more grapes which start with "S"

Producer profile: Geil and their Riesling

Geil are based in the town of Bechtheim where they've had vines growing since the 1780s, and a bit before!

The ultimate A-Z of grapes: V to Z. Phew!

V makes a good showing here and there are a few under X and Z too.

The ultimate A-Z of grapes: R

"R" - from the noble Riesling to some slightly lesser known grapes

Wine 101: Sweetness

Along with articles on tannin and acidity as the main characters in wine, this time we're talking about sweetness.

The ultimate A-Z of grapes: P

"P" is for Pinot, and a whole host of other grape varietals.

What are wine scores?

86, is that any good? Well, not very, but why not? In this article we go under the hood of how wines are scored and the two different scoring systems.

Wine 101: Acidity in wine

If you're tasting a wine and you get tart or sour taste, that's acidity.

The ultimate A-Z of grapes: N

For N, we could have stopped with Nebbiolo. But we didn't.

Wine 101 Series: Tannins

As part of our Wine 101 Series, we're talking tannins. What are they, what are they good for? Check it out inside.

New in: wines from Alberto Longo, Puglia

There are two new wines from Puglia producer we have introduced online. Both are already our contenders for wine of the year, but there's also a really interesting background to the region, how...