Wine’s aristocratic status

During the Dark Ages, Ireland represented a small candle of civilisation in Europe, a place where learning, liturgy and literature had survived the Barbarian victory over the Roman Empire.

Today, as I travel in search of Europe’s wines, I wonder if history has indeed come full circle because, wherever I go, I meet people who speak of Ireland and its culture in reverend tones.

High on the isolated plains of the Spanish Ribera ...