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 DĂșn 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, October 1, 2015

How many Hawaiian shirts can you pack?

#MWOz2015 - well, the trip has started as I type this little piece in the departures lounge of Dublin airport on a beautifully sunny day. The suitcase is full of Hawaiian shirts (the dress code is smart casual) and we have a breakfast alert: the trip starts with a 6 course breakfast at the Sydney Opera House at 08:30 Sydney time. Which means a lot of disappointed English MWs having to taste fine Australian wine on the day they exit the Rugby World Cup! Unless, of course, they can win...
 We start with a simple 13 wine tasting, covering the full gamut of regions and styles, and varieties ranging from cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay through to prosecco and gruner veltliner! We have sparkling and dry but no sweeties, although we'll get plenty of those along the way.
After a drive to the Hunter we'll taste 14 wines at Tyrell's, including 6 semillons back to 1998, then more of the same, as it were, at Mount Pleasant with a good few Lovedales thrown in. By the time we get back to Sydney we'll be very pleasantly exhausted! It's a hard life....

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