Rioja is a wine producing region in the north of Spain and one of only two regions in the country with the highest classification of DOC (Denominación de Origin Calificada) in the country- the other being Priorat in Catalunya. There are 3 main sub-regions in Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja.

Over 90% of prod...

The O'Briens Winter Wine Festivals kicks off tomorrow, Thursday 07/11, in the Clayton Hotel Lapps Quay in Cork. The event is completely sold out, so a huge thank you to everyone who bought tickets.

To make the most of your evening, here are a few top tips from the O'Briens Wine Team

1.SIGN UP FOR A MASTERCLASS: This year for the first time we are conducting Masterclasses...

Our Winter Wine Festival kicks off next week in Cork and Dublin and the response from our customers has been incredible. On behalf of the entire O'Briens team and our Charity partners, a huge thank you for all your support.

With 77 producers and over 340 wines to taste in Dublin, it can be a daunting task to get through everything, so I'd like to share a few tips for you to ...

Autumn leaves are turning to amber and red, which of course got me thinking about red ale. But what is a red ale? It’s all down to the used of kilned malts such as the aptly named Caramel malt, which lends the beer its red colour, however the colour is, and ought to be, secondary to the primary purpose of creating a great tasting beer.

There is a whole range of beers that are encompas...

First up this month is a beer that is close to our hearts. A little while back the O’Briens team headed out to Third Barrel brewery to brew up a collaboration beer. We settled on a soft and hazy IPA, something Third Barrel are adept at. The result, Third Barrel ONE is packed full of fruit aromas and flavours with soft peach from the yeast coupled with big jui...

We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Virgin Media One’s ‘The Restaurant’ as official wine partner for the new season, with episode 6 airing Thursday 17th October 9pm. Our Wine Director, Master of Wine Lynne Coyle worked closely with the restaurant team to pair each exciting dish on the celebrity’s menus with a unique and delicious wine from the O’Briens port...

Italian wines are  extremely trendy at the moment, with Passito-style wines leading this popularity charge. Produced from the Veneto in the north, to Puglia in the heel and even the island of Sicily, this style of wine is proving to be Italy's signature style right now.

Passito is simply the Italian word for 'raisin' and Passito wines are win...

As the evenings close in my mind turns to some rich comforting beers to sit by a fire with and what better than to fill a goblet with a big Belgian style beer. Belgium is known for its great beer culture and variety of styles available, the most iconic being the styles popularised by Trappist breweries. Not sure if a Dubbel, Tripel or Quadruple is for you? Then read on.

Trappist...

We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Virgin Media One’s ‘The Restaurant’ as official wine partner for the new season, with episode 5 airing Thursday 10th October 9pm. Our Wine Director, Master of Wine Lynne Coyle worked closely with the restaurant team to pair each exciting dish on the celebrity’s menus with a unique and delicious wine from the O’Briens port...

As with their food, wine drinkers in Ireland are becoming more aware of making choices that minimise their impact on the environment. We are seeing a big increase in demand for organic, vegan, low sulphur etc wines. It can be intimidating for customers to understand all these terms and see why they apply to wines. For example, if wines are made from grapes why are they not al...