Two discounted French wines to pick up in the sale
Touraine is in the Loire Valley and can be a source of great value wines. It won't appear on the label, but sauvignon blanc is also used to make Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, two of the better-known names in the region. The Château La Rose du Pin is a classic Bordeaux blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon. It punches way above its weight and would make a nice addition to your next dinner party.
Château de Quincay Touraine Sauvignon
13% abv, €14.95 (down from €18.95)
Lightly aromatic with elegant green fruits, citrus zest and a nice long finish. Drink by itself, with fresh goat's cheese or Asian seafood dishes.
From O'Briens
READ MORE
Château La Rose du Pin 2019, Bordeaux Supérieur
14%abv, €14.95 (down from €19.95)
A very seductive medium- to full-bodied wine with ripe dark fruits, mint and toasted almonds. Perfect served with roast or grilled red meats or firm cheeses.
From O'Briens
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary takes aim at governments, rivals and unions
Ryanair more than doubled profits to €820 million in the second quarter, and shares – up 45 per cent in 2025 – are flying high. Not that you'd know it from Michael O'Leary's mood on Ryanair's latest earnings call. It was less a corporate update, more a one-man roast, with O'Leary letting fly at regulators, rivals and unions with his usual blend of sarcasm and scorn. He dismissed the European Parliament as 'a home for crazies' and mocked Germany as having 'no aviation policy whatsoever'. France's air traffic control strikes drew particular ire: he urged Brussels to let overflights bypass national disruption. 'It does mean upsetting some French unions, but I think that's always a cause well worthwhile. The more you can upset French unions, the better.' READ MORE Spain's consumer fines on low-cost airlines? 'Minister [Pablo] Bustinduy's mad cap bag fines,' he said. Dublin Airport's 32 million passenger cap? 'Indefensible' in a country 'five years from an election', run by politicians 'about to go on three months' holidays.' Beleaguered airline Wizz Air was treated less as a rival than a punchline. Asked by a UBS analyst about the 'low-cost' competitor's retreat from Abu Dhabi and a potential expansion into central and eastern Europe, O'Leary said he felt compelled to explain that 'Wizz is not a low-cost competitor of Ryanair. It's a high-cost competitor ... and therefore, not really competitor at all.' Wizz will be 'taken out' within five years. 'We welcome the competition,' O'Leary added. He signed off briskly: 'Thank you very much, everybody, and we'll all go back to work now'.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Is it worth investing in fine wine?
Many wine lovers dream of watching their collection of fine wine slowly maturing and increasing in value. While investing in wine can be fun and rewarding, there are plenty of pitfalls too. Caveat emptor. The traditional way to invest was through the Bordeaux en primeur market. Every spring the major châteaux offer their as-yet-unbottled wine, which importers then offer on to their customers. At this stage you only pay for the wine; VAT, duty and shipping charges fall due when the wine is brought into the country 18 months later. If you have chosen well, your wine may already have increased in value by the time it arrives. If you haven't, your wine might be worth the same or less five years later. Some canny consumers manage to drink for free by selling off part of their purchase a few years down the line. Bordeaux is not the only market; in recent years some investors have started to buy into Burgundy and Champagne in France, Barolo and Super Tuscans in Italy and the top wines of Spain. If you intend selling your wine at a later date, you will need to store it in a professional air-conditioned cellar and have it insured. This is not cheap and can wipe out any annual gains in value. A number of wine Irish merchants offer en primeur. It is worth getting on their mailing lists and comparing prices before buying. As with any investment though, you need to understand the market. This requires an understanding of the vintages, the individual properties, critics' scores and market trends. You need to be able to hold on to your wine and sell only when the market dictates. While Bordeaux and other fine wines have shown good returns in the past, there is no guarantee that this will continue in the future. At the moment, there is a glut of fine wine in Bordeaux and the 2025 en primeur campaign was not a success. READ MORE Generally, the top properties perform best, especially in the finest vintages. Wines that offer great value often don't increase in price; these are wines to drink rather than invest in. Wine is a tangible physical asset, and generally weathers stock market changes well so your wine is unlikely to be worthless. However, to sell you will need to go through a broker, wine merchant or auction house, all of whom will want a commission. If you are unhappy with the prices offered, you do always have the option of drinking your investment. Wine is not really meant to be an object of speculation but a delicious drink to enjoy with friends and family.
Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Irish Times
We're familiar with the evils of fast fashion. But is high fashion so much better?
When I was 22 all I wanted was a Chanel 2.55 bag. My desire was spawned in part by the TV show The OC, where teenagers paraded the halls of their high school with quilted bags draped over their bony shoulders. The other influence was Vogue; women quizzed on their essentials often name-checked the clutch for its timeless elegance. Back then, the bag retailed for about €1,500 – already aspirational. Today, the same bag costs €11,000. Why is the Chanel 2.55 so expensive? Is it because a) it takes time and skill to make? b) because it's rare?, or c) because the materials are so costly? Each quilted bag uses several metres of premium leather. It takes 18 hours for a skilled artisan to produce. Although the direct cost of production (materials and labour) is not made public, luxury analysts estimate a gross margin of 80-85 per cent for luxury bags. This doesn't include factory overheads, logistics, marketing and above all, the branding that makes the 2.55 not just a bag, but a cultural object. Western culture places a hefty premium on authenticity, and consumers are willing to pay a lot for 'the real thing', especially when it's exclusive. Not all cultures have the same baggage. In China, philosopher Byung-Chul Han argues, a good copy can rival – or even surpass – the original. So why is this bag so expensive? I'd wager the answer is d): the Chanel 2.55 isn't expensive because it's valuable; it's valuable because it's so expensive. Luxury handbags such as the 2.55 and the Hermès Birkin are the ultimate Veblen goods: as prices rise, so does demand. Some fashion houses (ahem – Burberry) have been known to destroy their stock rather than sell at a discount. READ MORE [ Jane Birkin's original Hermès handbag sells for record €8.6m at Paris auction Opens in new window ] But maybe we've hit the limit of this fiscal mindmelt. About five years ago, I stopped wanting a Chanel 2.55. I still think the bag is beautiful. But everything it once represented for me – timeless, long-lasting artistry – began to feel like a pale imitation. As Chanel bags have grown more expensive, craft hasn't kept pace. While pre-2008 the bag had 24-karat gold-plated hardware, the newer models have brass finishings that tarnish. Vintage editions had sturdier handles, thicker lambskin and higher stitch counts. Around the time Chanel prices began to soar, production also went through the roof. The result is a more expensive and, to my mind, poorer product. A Chanel bag on the runway at Paris Fashion Week: as Chanel bags have grown more expensive, craft hasn't kept pace. Photograph: PascalThe fate of the Chanel 2.55 is emblematic of what has happened to the fashion industry in the past decade. If luxury once meant a quality, ethically produced object, today it may just mean stupidly expensive. We're all familiar by now with the evils of fast fashion – ecologically devastating practices, quick churn, poor quality and exploitative labour costs. But is high fashion really so much better? A slew of recent news stories about alleged labour abuses by high-end Italian brands suggests not. 'People think 'Made in Italy' means you're getting a long-lasting craft item,' says Caoimhe Grant, a Dublin-based designer and founder of the handbag line, August Night. 'But real artisans can't produce at the speed luxury brands demand. If it's mass produced, how luxury is it?' Last week the luxury cashmere brand Loro Piana (a subsidiary of the LVMH group) was placed under court administration in Italy . The company is accused of exploitative labour in its production line. In Loro Piana's case, its main contractor outsourced to a Chinese subcontractor called Evergreen. A police search of the factory premises uncovered 10 Chinese migrant workers. These workers put in 90-hour weeks for €4 an hour, housed in illegal dorms on the premises. A Loro Piana wool coat can retail for €5,000. One factory owner claims the contractor was charged €118 per unit. Loro Piana is the fifth luxury brand – and the second LVMH-owned one, after Dior – to be investigated for alleged violation of Italian labour laws. How did this happen? In the past decade, Chinese workers emigrated en masse to Prato, a textile manufacturing hub in Tuscany. While most worked in fast fashion, some now work in the luxury manufacturing business. Chinese-owned workshops offered fast, flexible garment production that was still legally 'Made in Italy'. Today the practice has spread to Milan and Lombardy, the heart of Italian luxury. Companies such as Evergreen are Chinese-owned and staffed by Chinese immigrants, a shadow supply chain the consumer doesn't see. The internet only accelerated this demand for speed. Luxury brands, once operating on two collections a year, now produce up to six. The churn of novelty, the pressure to deliver product faster and cheaper – all while maintaining the illusion of Italian craftsmanship – has hollowed out the old idea of luxury. In 1955, a designer bag would have been a once-in-a-lifetime purchase, made to last a lifetime. Today, influencers say they're 'no longer reaching for' a bag bought last month. The recession trained customers to expect discounts; ecommerce platforms such as Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa squeezed brands with exclusives and RTS deals (where designers eat the loss when stock doesn't sell). [ Handbags at dawn: It was obvious I was not the typical Chanel customer Opens in new window ] It's not surprising then that many people are leaning towards circular fashion and resale. I've been devoted to eBay for 20 years. Some of my best buys: The Row trousers (€80) and a Margiela coat (€45). Others are leaning into luxury 'dupes' – counterfeit goods produced in China for a fraction of the cost. While the factory still has to pay for materials and labour, they get the brand for free. In the new world of mass luxury, a good copy might be just as 'good' – even better – than the cheaply made original. Reddit purse forums are hopping with details on where to find the best-made Chanel replicas. (187 Factory in Guangzhou is popular.) Maybe this is our sign to reject the logo game altogether and look for real luxury elsewhere — small, local, upcycled or direct-to-consumer brands that aren't caught in the hamster wheel of mass production. 'It's thoughtful, clever design, quality fabric, high-end, ethical production,' says Grant, who makes sculptural bags from fabrics such as silk, velvet and Irish linen. 'You can see the ideas, the work, and the story behind it. That's real luxury for me.'
