Month: October 2025

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5 Value Reds from O’Briens

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We’ve already looked at some great value whites, and now it’s time to look at some great value reds from O’Briens.

Wildflower Pinot Noir 2022

Wildflower Pinot Noir bottle shot

As I mentioned previously, the whole Wildflower range is pretty good. This Pinot Noir is a light, easy-drinking style. There’s a blast of red and black berries on the nose, with just a touch of spice and sous bois.

The palate is fruit forward, with fresh raspberry and strawberry fruits, and just a touch of bramble. The tannins are soft and silky, preventing jamminess, but keeping it an easy-drinking wine.

Pinot Noir is known as being very particular about its growing conditions, but Wildflower have cracked it.

ABV: 12.5%
RRP: €9.49 down from €14.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Wildflower Merlot 2023

Wildflower Merlot bottle shot

The Wildflower Merlot is again an easy drinking, varietally-typical wine from Romania’s Viile Timisului region.

This time the fruits range more into the darker end of the spectrum, with purple plums and blackberries. It’s soft and inviting, with hints of chocolate on the finish.

This is the perfect wine for sipping in front of an open fire and ignoring the weather outside.

ABV: 13.0%
RRP: €9.49 down from €14.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Cidade Branco (White Town) Alentejo 2023

Cidade Branca Alentejo bottle shot

From Romania we now move to the far west of Europe with this hearty red blend from the Alentejo in Portugal. The name of the wine is taken from the nickname of the town of Estremoz, whose buildings are built with white marble.

The wine itself is a blend of local varieties Alicante Bouschet, Aragonês and Touriga Nacional. I say local, though Aragonês does appear in many other Portuguese and Spanish regions under different names, the most well known being Tempranillo!

Despite the chunky 14.0% alcohol this is an un-oaked, juicy, approachable style of wine. The nose shows lots of fresh red fruits, which feed through to the palate. There, they are joined by hints of liquorice and fine tannins, making this a proper grown-up wine.

Try this with lamb or beef to show it at its best.

ABV: 14.0%
RRP: €8.99 down from €13.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Belles Eaux Mistral Syrah

Belles Eaux Mistral Syrah bottle shot

Compared to Pinot Noir, Syrah can shine in a wider variety of climatic conditions, particularly with respect to sunshine and temperature. At its boldest in hot locations such as Australia’s Barossa Valley, it can also shine in cooler and windier places such as the northern Rhône. Belles Eaux Syrah is from the Languedoc, and using its ABV as a guide it falls a little closer to the Rhône style.

Despite being an easy-drinking style, this is a proper Syrah. There are lovely red berry fruits on the nose and the palate, but also light notes of the grapes typical spice and pepper, and just a little black olive. These savoury touches make it very food friendly, though it doesn’t need food. According to the good folks at O’Briens this would be great with cheeses, but I’d have to defer to them on that one.

ABV: 13.5%
RRP: €10.00 down from €15.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

JP Ramos Alentejo Reserva 2023

JP Ramos Reserva Alentejo bottle shot

Another wine from the Ramos family, this time with their name front and centre. This blend introduces a new grape to this post: Trincadeira, which is apparently “difficult to grow, and is sensitive to rot”. I’m no expert on the climate of the Alentejo, but I expect it is dry enough for rot to be a minor issue. The other main grape is our friend Aragonês, with a small amount of Syrah added for complexity and depth.

If the White Town is a grown up wine then this is even more senior. The fruit is even more concentrated and there’s more body and spice – possibly from some ageing in oak, though I wasn’t able to confirm that. The array of fruits include raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, red and black cherries and plums. Although the mid palate is a little jammy, there’s still enough tannin and acidity to keep everything well integrated and balanced.

For me this is well worth the normal price, and a veritable bargain at the promotional offer.

ABV: 13.5%
RRP: €10.99 down from €15.95 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Conclusion

Any of these wines would be a great buy, especially at the offer prices, so it’s hard to pick just one. I’ll pick two then: the Wildflower Pinot Noir if you fancy something light, or the JP Ramos if you fancy something a bit more substantial.

Retail Promotion Events

6 Great Value Whites from O’Briens

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With the cost of socialising in bars, pubs and restaurants continuing to rise (the reasons for which I will leave for another day), entertaining at home is seeing a corresponding boost. If your tastes in wine are fairly straightforward, then retail outlets have a great selection of well made, tasty wines at modest prices.

Alternatively,  if you’re into more complex or premium wines which wouldn’t necessarily be appreciated (or even liked) by “normie” visitors, what do you do? My personal wine tastes wouldn’t be liked by everyone, so I like to have some wines in that both guests and myself can enjoy together.

The selection below fulfills both criteria. They are all fresh, easy-drinking styles which I recently tried in the O’Briens press tasting. The description that O’Briens themselves use for this category is “Everyday friendly wines” which is apt, and a lot more concise that I have been above!

Wildflower Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Wildflower Sauvignon Blanc bottle shot

Old timers such as myself will remember Romanian wines on the UK supermarket shelves back in the ’90s, particularly Pinot Noir from the Dealu Mare region. At that point the country was just emerging from decades of dictatorship, but wine has been made their for millenia. Today the industry has modernised significantly, often with investment from other countries who have already been through the process.

Wildflower wines are made in the Viile Timisului region by Englishman Philip Cox and his wife Elvira. They are generally very clean, fruit-forward and accessible in style (also see my reviews of the Pinot Noir and Merlot).

This Sauvignon Blanc is intensely aromatic, varietally correct but not a fascimile of either Loire or Marlborough styles. On the palate there’s lots of sweet, juicy citrus fruits, but with a crisp, fresh finish. This would be a great wine to convert some who “don’t like Sauvignon Blanc” – and very enjoyable for those who do. It’s not a bargain at the full price, but an absolute steal with the promotional reduction.

ABV: 11.5%
RRP: €9.49 down from €14.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Mistral Belles Eaux Sauvignon Blanc

Belles Eaux Mistral Sauvignon Blanc bottle shot

Another Sauvignon Blanc, but this time from the Langedoc in the south of France. If your French isn’t up to scratch then “Belles Eaux” means something like “Beautiful Waters” and “Mistral” is th name of a major wind which affects the region.

The nose is more restrained than the Wildflower, with mineral notes joining fruity and floral aromas.

The palate is full of juicy grapefruit and gooseberry, ripe but fresh. This is a nicely balanced wine, great for sipping on its own, but would be perfect for seafood and salads at the table.

As with the Windflower, the regular price is a little too high in my opinion, but this wine is great value during the promotion.

ABV: 12.0%
RRP: €10.00 down from €15.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Cave de Lugny Mâcon 3 Litre bag-in-box

Bag In Box wine

Yes this is box wine! No, it’s not a joke! With the cost of glass bottles and corks making up a higher proportion of the cost of inexpensive wines, it makes sense for other packaging formats to be used. Bag-in-box (often shortened to BIB) is popular in France and other European wine producing countries where wine is seen as a part of everyday life rather than a luxury.

If you have the space for one in the fridge then you have chilled white wine on tap – what’s not to like? BIBs really come into play if your home’s wine consumption is irregular over a few weeks – as there’s very little oxygen getting in contact with the undispensed wine then the wine stays fresher than opened bottles which are put back into the fridge after a few glasses are poured. This is the perfect solution for drop in guests during the festive season.

Cave de Lugny is regarded as one of France’s top co-operatives and is the largest producer within Burgundy. Its roots go back several centuries and it now vinifies wines from 200 growers who farm 1,300 across 25 villages of the most southerly Burgundy region, the Mâconnais.

Of course as we’re in the Mâconnais this is a 100% Chardonnay. It’s unoaked and clean, though with a little more oomph than wines from further north. The nose is softly floral and fruity – Chardonnay without oak isn’t often highly aromatic. The palate is lovely and round, with ripe melon and sweet apples, but all brought back together with a fresh, lemony finish.

ABV: 12.5%
RRP: €54 down from €60 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Bougrier  Touraine “Les Secrets de Sophie” 2023

The region around the city of Tour – Touraine – offers some of the best value wines of the Loire Valley, though they rarely hit the heights of more illustrious neighbours such as Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. That doesn’t mean that diligent vignerons can’t produce very good wines here, with this wine being case in point.

The Bougrier family have been farmers in the Loire for six generations and make a wide variety of wines. You don’t need to know any French to see that this label means “Sophie’s Secrets”! Grapes are reserved from the family’s best plots. After fermentation the young wines are aged on fine lees (basically dead yeast cells, but no skins) to give added compexity and depth.

On the nose this wine is refined, mineral and elegant – classier than a typical Touraine. The palate is tangy, with grapefuit, gooseberry and green pepper notes, though not as raw as others; it’s the lees ageing in full effect. There’s Sauvignon’s usual fresh, acidic finish which brings the wine back into focus.

ABV: 12.5%
RRP: €13.99 down from €19.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Caves Molière Entracte Piquepoul 2024

Caves Molière Picpoul bottle shot

We’re back into coop territory again, this time from the Languedoc in the south of France. Piquepoul has muscled-in on the fresh, easy-drinking white wine space that Pinot Grigio had to itself for a while. For me they can be somewhat generic, meaning I find it difficult to differentiate one Piquepoul from another, but I’m always willing to try!

Caves Molière is a “super co-op”, meaning it was formed from five existing co-operative producers. It now has 410 growers with a total of 2,200 hectares of wines under its banner. These wines fall under five labels: AOP Languedoc Penezas, IGP Pays Côtes de Thongues,  IGP Pays de Caux, IGP Pays d’Oc and Vin de France.

Entracte Piquepoul is one of 13 different wines that Caves Molière make in the Pays d’Oc, of which seven are varietal Entracte label wines. The nose is saline and mineral, which evokes the lagoons close to the coast. Those notes continue through onto the tangy palate, with juicy citrus and hints of melon (only hints, though) on the mid palate.

This is a refreshing wine that is somewhat reminiscent of a Loire Sauvignon, but more restrained. It is definitely more expressive than a typical Piquepoul, so worth a try.

ABV: 12.0%
RRP: €12.99 down from €18.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Domaine Duffour Père et Fils Côtes de Gascogne 2024

Duffour Père et fils Côtes de Gascogne bottle shot

Gascony’s best known beverages are probably its Armagnacs rather than its table wines. Indeed, two of the three grapes in this blend – Ugni Blanc and Colombard – are better known for their use in brandy production. Gros Manseng is the third grape, firmly rooted in the south west. The wine is produced at the Duffour family’s Domaine Saint-Lannes operation, one they have owned since 1955.

The nose is grassy and herby, so much that I had to check the assemblage as Sauvignon Blanc is also permitted in Côtes de Gascogne wines. The palate is vastly different, a revelation of intensely juicy fruit. There’s every kind of tropical fruit you can think of in here, but all bound together by a fresh acidic structure. With so much pleasure in the glass, I’d buy this without hesitation at the regular price, so it goes without saying that it’s a total steal at just €10 on promotion.

ABV: 11.0%
RRP: €10.00 down from €14.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Conclusion

If you didn’t already notice, these wines are all fairly modest in alcohol, ranging between 11.0% and 12.5%, making them perfect for a lunchtime tipple during the holidays.

Quality and enjoyment wise, I would be perfectly happy to sup any of these. In terms of drinking pleasure and value for money, there is a clear winner for me. Regular readers will express no surprise when I say that the aromatic blend from Domaine Duffour is the one that’s going in my fridge – it’s a cracker!

Retail Promotion Events

Perfect Pinots from O’Briens

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To kick off my reviews of the wines on promotion at O’Briens this winter, here’s a look at four Pinot Noirs, four from Burgundy and one from the USA.

Why Pinot Noir

In terms of seasons, Pinot Noir is more autumnal than a classic winter red variety. Compared to Bordeaux and Rhône varieties, Pinot Noir is lighter and, while often great with food, is easier to drink on its own. This makes it a great choice as a sipping wine, especially as it very rarely comes with a blockbuster alcohol content.

What it does have is the combination of lightness and fresh acidity which makes it perfect for pairing with both red meat and poulty at the table (and plenty of vegetarian options, for that matter.) Here in Ireland the most common Xmas dinner is turkey and ham with all the trimmings, so Pinot is perfect.

For the wine geek there’s an additional attraction; Pinot Noir is very expressive of the place in which it is grown, just as Riesling is among white varieties. Pinot was one of the two varieties which Burgundian monks used to map out the demarcations of vineyards by the differences in character in the wines that they yielded. This terroir transparency is increasingly utilised in the new world, though has a long way to catch up.

So now onto the wines themselves:

Seguin-Manuel Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2022

Seguin-Manuel Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2022 bottle shot

Having talked about the terroir-transparency of Pinot Noir, it’s also important to note that the producer of a particular bottle is also key in Burgundy. Domaine Seguin-Manuel was founded back in 1824 and today has a compact and bijoux eight and a half hectares of vineyards across the Côte d’Or. The Domaine was bought by Thibaut Marion – himself a tenth generation winemaker – in 2004, with a focus on continuously improving quality and expressing the local terrior.

This simple Bourgogne includes fruit from more prestigious appellations. Declassifying fruit like this improves the quality of the posher wine (only the best berries are kept for that) and the humbler wine (as the grapes blended into the basic cuvée are still better than those from the basic appellation. This is the Burgundy equivalent of the second (and sometimes third) wines of the Médoc’s top chateaux.

The result in the glass is a red Burgundy with more structure and depth than we’d have any right to expect. It has floral and red fruit notes on the nose, with a juicy and thick palate. This is definitely more of a winter Pinot than a summer Pinot – and all the better for it in my opinion.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €27.99 down from €29.95 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
  • Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Domaine Antoine Olivier Santenay Temps des C(e)rises 2023

Santenay Rouge Le Temps des C(e)rises bottle shot

Santenay is an appellation surrounding the village of the same name in the Côte de Beaune, the southern half of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. Around 85% of production is red and the balance white, with the usual Pinot Noir and Chardonnay taking the respective lead roles. What is relatively unusual is that the AOC regulations allow Pinot Blanc to be used for whites, and up to 15% Pinot Blanc and / or Pinot Gris used for red wines. There are no Grand Cru climats within Santenay and a dozen Premier Crus.

Antoine Olivier follows in the footsteps of his winemaking father and grandfather, taking over in 2003. The Domaine has been slowly expanded to include sites in the nearby villages of Savigny, Pommard and Rully, and has included replanting in previously abandoned vineyard sites. Antoine is now the most significant producer of Santenay Blanc.

This Santenay Rouge has a lifted, floral nose with fragrant red fruits. The titular cherries appear on the palate, along with strawberries and raspberries. This is the proper Burgundy experience in a glass. It’s not cheap, but you pay for the elegance and delight in it.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €34.99 down from €40.99 from 28th Oct 25 to 5th Jan 2025
  • Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2022

la crema sonoma coast pinot noir bottle shot

Sideways fans will think of the Santa Barbara area for California Pinot, but the Sonoma Coast also does well with the variety. The AVA is at the western part of Sonoma County, running along the Pacific coast. There are nine sub-regions of which the Russian River Valley AVA is the most well known. Cool coastal breezes and banks of chilly fog both help to reduce temperatures compared to further inland.

La Crema makes wines in five regions in the northern half of California – from Monterey up to Anderson Valley – plus Willamette Valley in Oregon. Their Sonoma Coast wines include “regional” bottlings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, topped by single vineyard expressions of each variety.

This Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is intensely aromatic, with punnets of fresh red fruits and a few black berries too. The palate is also complex, with bright fruits and mocha notes. There’s spice here too, though everything is well balanced and harmonious. If your opinion of California wines is that they lack subtlety then you owe it to yourself to try this wine.

  • ABV: 13.5%
  • RRP: €30.99 down from €40.99 via the O’Briens app in December
  • Source: O’Briens stores and obrienswine.ie

Seguin-Manuel Nuits-Saint-Georges “Vieilles Vignes” 2021

Seguin-Manuel Nuits Saint Georges Vieilles Vignes bottle shot

Seguin-Manuel bottle over 50 different wines, including seven Grands Crus. This old vine Nuits-Saint-Georges sits somewhere around the middle of the range in terms of quality – but this is no middling wine. The vines are over 30 years old and sit on clay and limestone soils south of the town itself. After hand harvesting, the grapes are pressed and allowed to ferment over two and a half weeks. The young wine is then matured for 14 months in a mix of new (25%) and older (75%) oak casks.

Just a sniff of this wine is enough to let you know it’s the real deal. When wine geeks talk about the chase for great Burgundy, this is what they mean. Everything is lifted, heightened, powerful, yet purposeful. It tastes just heavenly, but the experience is more about how it makes you feel – special. This is a special wine that would make an amazing Xmas treat.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €65 down from €79 in the O’Briens December Fine Wine Sale
  • Source: O’Briens stores

Conclusion

These wines are all at appropriate price points, and you really do get what you pay for. The La Crema is a total bargain at the promotional price, but the Nuits-Saint-George is a really special wine that would make an amazing gift for any Pinot fan.