About Me

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Dublin, Ireland
Hi, I'm Dermot Nolan, and I became a Master of Wine (MW) in 1997, and resigned from the Institute of Masters of Wine in 2023 after being an MW for exactly 26 years. I opened a wine shop in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, called The Wine Library, which closed in 2018, and this is my personal wine blog. I will do my utmost to be fair and responsible in my posts – please read my Who Pays article in re the ethics of wine trips and writing. I have worked in wine education, retail, and consultancy since 1990. I was a Director of the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) from 2008 to 2014 and was also a member of the Events Committee, founder of the Trips Committee, and member of the Governance Committee. Having had problems with potentially libellous comments from unidentifiable posters, I now require that if you post a comment, you must identify yourself properly or it won't be published. Please note that I do not review products or services on request so kindly don't ask. I value my independence and I believe my readers (few that they may be) do so also.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Oddbins RIP?

Well, the recession hits again - although, in the case of Oddbins, this is more a long-term illness drawing to a much desired, though fatal, end. The original Oddbins, set up by Nick Baile MW, was a real odd bins shop - they purchased odd lots of distressed stock and then retailed these to really wine literate customers.

A nice Easter present...

Absolute shameless self-promotion: if you're looking for a nice Easter present for some one why not give them my Introduction to wine tasting class! It's a fun day - you get to taste 12 really good wines, learn about tasting in a fun and simple way and you get 6 ISO tasting glasses and lunch as well, all for the great price of €125! To book, go to the Introduction to wine tasting page on my website or email me at learn@dermotnolan.ie.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Do you like aged wines? Chianti, perhaps?

On Monday 4th April, on behalf of the the Institute of Masters of Wine, I am running a tasting of Chianti and Super Tuscan IGTs from the highly renowned 2001 vintage. This is a reprise of a tasting held in London in 2005 and in Dublin in 2006. There are 39 wines to be tasted in a standard producer-free walk around tasting. Tickets are €30 and should be booked in advance from Helen Williams in the IMW office or directly from the events pages of the IMW website, where the tasting sheets can also be downloaded.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A hint of mystery...

Those enterprising people at the Corkscrew wine shop have arranged a twitter tasting of a mystery wine for Sunday 27th March. Full details of how to buy and what to do can be found on their website. Go ahead and have some mysterious fun!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Minimum pricing - saviour of the small off-licence?

On Friday last I was in London for an MW course day, in our lovely new offices on Fitzroy Square. One of the questions we discussed was from Paper 4 last year - Is wine a social evil? In the discussion I mentioned that, in my opinion, we are not far from a situation where a Loi Evin style ban on alcohol advertising is likely to be enacted in the UK and Ireland, and where minimum pricing of alcohol is also likely. These ideas usually bring about a fierce response from the drinks industry but it's worth considering whether there are more than just health benefits to these ideas.