Ireland's best bargain wines to enjoy alfresco
A summer wine's first job is to be cold and refreshing, and that means bright, zesty acidity and no heavy oak. Sauvignon blanc, riesling, albariño, gruner, some chardonnays and lots of Italian and Portuguese whites fit the bill. Oak brings weight, which is fine if you're eating richer foods or it's a chilly Irish summer day.
Rohe Dillons Point Sauvignon Blanc 2024, NZ, 13.5 per cent, €12, Dunnes
The best-value sauvignon blanc on the market? Probably. A top winemaker and top terroir sold at a Dunnes discount makes for stunning value. 91/100
Marotti Campi Albiano Verdicchio dei Castelli 2023 2023, Italy, 12.5 per cent, €13.95, O'Briens Verdicchio is brilliant with fish because its orchard fruit is backed up by zesty lime, making it perfect for summer. 89/100
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Venice is humanity's greatest stage for vulgarity and excess
To get into the elevated mindset appropriate for dealing with a city of legendary beauty, look at this superb passage of Victorian prose: There rises, out of the wide water, a straggling line of low and confused brick buildings, which, but for the many towers which are mingled among them, might be the suburbs of an English manufacturing town. Four or five domes, pale, and apparently at a greater distance, rise over the centre of the line but the object which first catches the eye is a sullen cloud of black smoke brooding over the northern half of it, and which issues from the belfry of a church. It is Venice. For John Ruskin, who in 1849 wrote those words in his magnificent architectural guide to the city, The Stones of Venice, it was a place both of immense beauty, but also of immense ugliness. Both were a consequence of Venice's history of great mercantilism. In medieval times, the rich had built awesome Gothic churches (which Ruskin loved) to the glory of God; from the renaissance onwards they built sumptuous Baroque palazzi and the occasional church (which Ruskin detested) to the glory mainly of themselves. Even before Venice became a byword for the wonders of antiquity it had become a stage for vulgarity, where the rich went to show off. Its long history invited such behaviour: another 19th-century English aesthete, Walter Pater, referred in his 1873 book The Renaissance to 'that feverish, tumultuously coloured life of the old citizens of Venice'. In recent years, certainly since the dawn of the 20th century, it has become a place where the opulent go in order to be seen in the finest surroundings, the architectural magnificence of which they are far less discriminating than Ruskin to appreciate properly. However, it shows them and their friends off in an environment of elevated taste and sophistication, and with an ultra-romantic tinge, with as much feverishness and tumultuous colour as they wish. So it is no surprise that the world's leading merchant of our times, Jeff Bezos, proprietor of Amazon, should have chosen La Serenissima for his wedding this weekend to Lauren Sánchez, the broadcaster and writer. The details of this event might boggle the minds of those not used to the excesses of the mega-rich: Sir Elton John (who apparently can nip in from his apartment in the city) and Lady Gaga as the cabaret; a brace of grand pianos being shipped in by gondola; regiments of security guards; alleged block booking of the Cipriani, one of the city's most luxurious hotels, at £2,700 per room per night; bringing an estimated economic benefit of around $30 million for the city's entrepreneurs. It may be small change for Mr Bezos, but many grateful traders await a symphony of ringing cash registers. Doubtless he and his bride chose Venice for romantic reasons, but they perpetuate a tradition of excess dating from Roman times. The city's wealth was generated from ports established in the lagoon in the 5th and 6th centuries. Soon the Venetian government was regularised. The first properly documented doge, or ruler, Orso Ipato, was elected in 726, his rule ending when he was murdered by his opponents. He was the first of many doges to be killed, and some lasted only a few months, even if allegedly dying from 'natural causes'. By the 15th century the doges made little pretence of moral example, not least because many obtained their position through bribery. Some had dubious pasts. Michele Steno, who ruled from 1400 to 1413, was very nearly executed as a youth for insulting the incumbent doge. By medieval times the city was a serious maritime power, creating some Bezos-style magnates of that age. It became a major entrepôt between the advanced trading nations of Europe, and Byzantium and Asia, a vast version of the multiplicity of Amazon warehouses one sees globally now. Just as Mr Bezos is now the planet's top merchant, economic historians reckon that by about 1300, Venice was the richest city on earth. The fruits of those riches are the appropriate backdrop to the Bezos/Sánchez nuptials. In the 15th century successive doges used the spoils of war with Turks and Egyptians to line their, and their supporters, pockets, establishing valuable monopolies. They engaged in increasingly ostentatious displays of wealth. By the early 16th century lucrative public offices were bought and sold, rather than being awarded on merit. Financial scandals and insolvencies became routine, as did the creation of a class of the grotesquely rich, and some great families conspired against others. Doubtless Mr Bezos hopes and believes that his own newly-minted chumminess with the Trump dynasty will be more enduring. Although Venice has been the scene for many fine parties over the centuries – indeed I have had the pleasure of going to a couple – perhaps the Bezos wedding might prove the most extravagant since the coronation in 1597 of Morosina Morosini-Grimani, dogaressa to Marino Grimani and immortalised by Tintoretto. Doges' wives were not normally crowned and, indeed, only one more ever was, 97 years later. Yet in the spirit of competition that so often infused the Venetian rich, Grimani decided that his wife's coronation should be the finest ever. There were processions of gondolas and a series of feasts for ambassadors, various European royalties and ecclesiastical dignitaries – the leader of whom, the papal nuncio, conferred an ornamental golden rose blessed by the Pope on the dogaressa, on His Holiness's orders. One can imagine just such things, or the modern equivalents, happening this weekend. The palazzi and churches were the product, over centuries, of the city's plutocratic dynasties trying to outdo each other in their opulence. Spending in this way, rather than re-investing and innovating, were indicative of the city's decadence (Ruskin saw it illustrated by the move from 'Godly' gothic to heathen baroque in the 16th and 17th centuries) and economic decline. From being a great trading centre, Venice had, by the 18th century, become notable mainly for its tourism – a key stop on the 'grand tour' undertaken by many young European, and later American, aristocrats and grandees. The main point of the city became either cultural or sybaritic pleasure, with its people generally undertaking low-paid work in what we now call service industries rather than arranging profitable shipments of goods. The massive tourist trade – with between 25 and 30 million people a year – is literally wearing out the city, in its perilous waterbound state: but that is unlikely to worry Mr Bezos, his bride and their partying friends this weekend. The problem is that the ancient structures have endured centuries of physical impact on their foundations, and the Bezos gang are merely following in an ancient tradition. It is only a shame that the great Venetian painters of old, such as Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto or Canaletto are not around to capture in oils the events of this weekend. But for the costumes, they would instantly recognise a climate of extreme wealth, serviced by a class for whom riches are only a dream, just as in centuries past. There are numerous examples of indulgent behaviour by the rich in Venice that long precede this weekend's. One of the most outrageous practitioners was Luisa, Marchesa Casati Stampa di Soncino, who rented the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal that is now the Guggenheim Collection. In the Marchesa's day, the house had gold verdigris staircases, a menagerie and an aviary (which included albino blackbirds) and peacocks trained to sit on windowsills. Naked under her fur coat, she would cruise in her private gondola with her pet cheetah, ocelot or borzoi, and then take them for nocturnal walks through St Mark's Square (the cheetah was sedated as a precaution). At her balls and parties she would dress in extravagant costumes, sometimes as a sun goddess, or as the Queen of Sheba, and have Nubian servants covered in gold. She once drugged a boa constrictor and wore it as a necklace, as one does.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Our wine expert reveals the best Italian wines to sip this summer, from £8
This week I'm spotlighting wines that capture the charm of Italy as summer hits full flow. We'll begin in the ever-exciting region of Soave, with a crisp white: a gorgeous substitute for Chablis (which you can never get for under £10). Next up: a modern red made from the distinctive Refosco grape, full of vibrancy. Finally a trip to Tuscany and Umbria for a classic Chianti and an expressive rosé that breaks the mould. m.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
How wedding guests are coping with rising costs: ‘the total will come to £3,000 this year'
By the time Layla had paid for flights, booked a hotel, bought a dress and contributed to the honeymoon fund, her friend's wedding had cost her more than £1,600 – and it is just one of three she is attending this summer. With more couples planning bigger celebrations – often with multiple events, and with some away from home, guests are left footing ever bigger bills. Travel, accommodation, outfits, pre-wedding events, gifts and childcare can add up and push the costs of being a guest into the hundreds, and even thousands, of pounds. So how are people managing? And what does it tell us about the expectations that come with being part of someone's big day? Guests are spending more than £2,000 a year, on average, to attend weddings and civil partnerships, according to research from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). The biggest costs, MaPS found, were travel and accommodation, followed by new outfits and gifts. Those aged 25 to 34 – the cohort who are most likely to be invited to several weddings in a year– spend about £740 a time on average, adding up to nearly £4,500 a year. One 33-year-old, who lives in south-east London, went to 11 weddings last year – and his weekends for much of this summer involve hopping between celebrations. 'I love going, but I'm at an age when everyone seems to be doing it,' he says. 'I have four weddings in four weekends over July, and the total for the year is eight.' Three of the weddings, plus a stag do, involve long or overseas journeys. He estimates the total cost of being a guest this year will come to almost £3,000. 'The cost doesn't tarnish the experience for me, but when there are at least a couple of foreign weddings each year then it starts to add up, and to eat into your holiday allowance,' he says. One woman in her 40s, who also preferred to remain anonymous, estimates she has spent £1,750 so far on her sibling's wedding, which will take place in a small city in England next year. The total covers the cost of accommodation for three nights for her and her family, suit hire for her teenage sons, a dress, hair and make up. As a close family member, she says, she 'would like to look half decent' for the photographs, and then there is the price of travel to and from the venue. 'They got engaged in February 2023, then announced the date in June – they have given us two years, for which I am very grateful. I have been saving since the announcement,' she says. 'Life is expensive these days – we live in different cities, and it is their wedding, so their home town makes sense. At least it is not abroad.' Increasingly, couples are opting for multi-wedding formats, which can hike up costs, says Zoe Burke, a wedding expert and the editor of the website Hitched. 'With more and more couples choosing celebrant-led weddings over traditional religious ones, it means the legal bit needs to be done ahead of time [because celebrant weddings are not yet legal in England and Wales],' she says. 'This is where we are seeing couples opting for 'micro weddings' for immediate friends and family – at a register office to do the legal bit, followed by what a 'typical' wedding looks and feels like.' The 'double-do' has left some guests relying on credit to get them through the wedding season. Research by the credit reference agency Experian found that 14% of wedding guests had acquired, or worsened their debt, through attending someone else's celebration. Almost half (46%) said they met the costs of attending weddings, and stag and hen dos, using money they had in a current account. About a quarter said they saved up specifically for the event, and 17% dipped into savings already earmarked for something else. John Webb, a consumer expert at Experian, recommends thinking twice before accepting invitations if it is really going to stretch your budget. 'If you're borrowing money to cover the cost of attending a wedding, make sure you've got a plan to repay it,' he says. 'You should always try to avoid taking credit you can't afford to repay, or putting yourself under extreme financial pressure just to attend.' When couples tie the knot overseas, guests are often left with a much bigger bill. Research from the credit card provider Amex suggests 40% of UK wedding guests will attend a 'destination wedding' abroad this year, with the average cost now £1,956, according to Experian. That is enough to make some guests think twice before ticking 'yes' on the RSVP. About 29% of people in the UK have declined an invitation to a wedding outside the country in the past year because they could not take the time off work, felt the destination was too far away or were unable to afford the transport or accommodation, Experian's research shows. For Ellena, who is 27 and based in Amsterdam, making it to her friend's wedding in London involved careful planning and compromise. 'A destination wedding can have quite the [carbon] footprint, right? So my partner and I were thinking about that. We wanted to get the Eurostar, but it was way too expensive. 'We opted to fly because it was going to save us so much time and so much money,' she says. But there were limits to how cheaply they could travel: 'If you're bringing a suit, and a dress, the carry-on won't do,' she says. Next year, she has been invited to another wedding, this time in Mexico. 'With the engagement, you immediately have all this excitement, and then the day comes around, where you have to start thinking: 'How do I get there? What gift do I get? What do I wear?'' She has not looked into the costs yet, but says: 'We will just make it a holiday, I guess, but we wouldn't have originally gone to Mexico next on a trip.' Assessing your budget and the costs involved early on – to see whether the wedding is feasible – is key, Webb says, and that avoids those awkward last-minute dropouts, or unnecessary debts. He recommends you speak to the couple sooner rather than later. As he says: 'Money conversations can feel awkward, but it's important to be honest about your situation. Most people would rather you be upfront than silently struggle. 'You could suggest joining part of the celebration, such as a local reception, instead of the full trip, or sending a heartfelt message, or gift, if you can't make it,' he says. Burke advises focusing on the main day and not feeling obliged to attend everything. This way, you don't end up resentful or let 'other people spend your money for you', she says. 'This is especially relevant for destination weddings. And you don't have to attend every single hen or stag do, bridal brunch or engagement dinner that you're invited to,' she continues. 'If you can only afford to attend the wedding, then just attend the wedding. 'Honesty means nobody gets hurt. 'I'm not able to afford both your destination wedding and the hen do, so please let me know which one you'd most want me to be at so I can plan for that' is clear and polite, and it perfectly explains your situation.' The same goes for multiple pre-wedding celebrations, Burke says. 'Saying: 'I'm really sorry that I can't afford to attend all three of the events, but I really want to celebrate with you, so please let me know which one is most important so I can prioritise' simply lets them know your situation without going into too TMI [too much information] territory, or making them feel like you resent them for having multiple events.' If an invitation says 'no children', and your childcare costs would be too high, you should let the couple know. She says in this case, she would say something like: 'Thank you so much for inviting me, however, I'm sadly unable to arrange childcare. I hope you both have the best day ever, and I'll be raising a glass to you at home. 'Can't wait to see the pictures!'
