Ireland's best bargain wines to enjoy alfresco
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
34 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The Scandi brands British women should be adding to their wardrobes
I'm sitting on a candlelit barge moored to a Copenhagen canal, while Helena Christensen pushes up her knit sleeve to show me her sea creature tattoo. 'Did you know axolotls can regenerate their own limbs?' she buzzes with childlike excitement. That's the irresistible charm of Copenhagen Fashion Week: it's more unbuttoned than its establishment counterparts in London and beyond. Models and guests whizz between shows on bicycles, the clothes on the runway are actually wearable. But how to bottle this carefree attitude and bring it to British waters? If you can't actually be Danish, surely you can at least look the part. 'Danish women are effortlessly cool and unafraid to stand out,' says designer Thora Valdimars of Rotate, a favourite among Scandi girls who love to dress up and disco. 'Our style isn't about being too serious or too perfect, it's about having fun with fashion and feeling like yourself.' What's more, Danish women prioritise sustainability – the fashion week makes it a central theme. Cecilie Thorsmark, an elegant mother-of-three and the chief of Copenhagen Fashion Week says: '[We] approach dressing with a mindset rooted in functionality and quality – and equally in a strong commitment to supporting local designers.' Brace yourselves, but the Copenhagen woman doesn't have an M&S equivalent she pops to at lunchtime to scratch her retail therapy itches. Instead, she thinks long and hard about the pieces she wants in her wardrobe and invests in the craftspeople who make them. Here are seven Scandi brands I noticed many of the most stylish women in Copenhagen wearing. Axolotl tattoos at your own discretion. For rustic luxury Skall Studio Had The Talented Mr Ripley taken place in Northern Jutland instead of Ischia, Gwyneth Paltrow would have worn Skall Studio. Meaning 'seashell' in Danish, Skall offers salt-of-the-earth simplicity and romance: palettes inspired by Denmark's coastline and an uncompromising use of natural materials (including recycled wool, organic cotton and buttons made from nuts), a practice that's all too rare in the fashion industry. For wardrobe staples Aiayu When I meet founder and creative director Maria Høgh Heilmann and chief executive Maria Glæsel in their Nyhavn shop, I'm struck by the smell of soothing essential oils and the pleasingly bare stonewashed walls. The space is textural and feels expensive. The same goes for their clothes: that's the whole point. 'Our clients come to us for things you don't get tired of,' she explains as she pulls a rich, chocolate cardigan from the racks. 'We see daughters wearing their mother's knitwear that they bought 10 years ago.' Specialising in luxurious wardrobe perennials – your wool jumpers and luxurious cotton tees – the brand was born from a trip Heilmann took to Bolivia in the early 2000s to help establish its knitwear industry. Today, she has scarcely changed her designs, and still uses natural, undyed wool from the local llamas. For understated elegance Birrot Birrot offers clean, sleek, expertly crafted elegance from two Korean designers who studied in London and relocated to Copenhagen; it's one of the buzziest labels on the city's streets right now. Watching their fashion show, I could appreciate the beauty of the fabrics as they swished and billowed on models of all sizes and ages. This is Birrot's signature 'Lay' material: a stretch crêpe fabric that moves with you yet holds the structured lines of Korean-meets-Danish design. Each runway look was paired with flip flops – Danish women's laid-back footwear of choice. For the ethereal party dress Cecilie Bahnsen If the British woman is on a perpetual quest for the perfect floral dress, her Danish counterpart dreams of owning a Cecilie Bahnsen light-as-air frock. Bahnsen's signature babydoll silhouette combines French romance with a Scandinavian feeling for modernity and structure. 'Danish women feel like they can express themselves in our collections,' Bahnsen beams after her runway show, which saw Bjork's daughter Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney walk the runway. Bahnsen's iconic dresses are highly sought after on resale apps like Vinted and Vestiaire. However, the most affordable way to start adding some Cecilie Bahnsen charm to your bracelet is through a pair of her trainers: her flower-adorned collaborations with Asics routinely sell out and have become the stuff of fashion lore. For feminine tailoring Herskind Designer Birgitte Herskind has been working with her daughter Andrea Hess since she was three weeks old: 'Andrea was at the first trade fair with me, I was feeding her breast milk,' she confides, laughing. Now grown up, Andrea stands with her mother backstage (wearing flip flops naturally), as they tell me about how they developed the Copenhagen woman's go-to brand for suiting. '[We have always been] about details and quality. We do a lot of tailoring, and play around with the feminine and the masculine. You can be a woman in all of the ways you want to be,' Birgitte explains. Expect blazers and co-ords that are as structurally sound as an Arne Jacobsen chair. For the countryside conversation piece Baum Und Pferdgarten When friends Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave founded their label in 1999, it quickly became the Scandinavian go-to for quirky prints, bold colours and playful pieces – before being embraced by women worldwide. This season saw the designers showcase a horsey collection at a harness racing track, featuring tweeds, silky jockey tracksuits and a slouchy take on the equestrian boot that nodded to the universe of Ralph Lauren. This was a decidedly WASP-y fine-tune of their Danish DNA, and would play well with British countryside codes. To be the most fashionable and in-the-know woman in the Cotswolds this season, pair your wellies with something by Baum Und Pferdgarten. For discos and dance floors Rotate 'Our customers turn to us when they want to feel powerful, feminine and playful. It's about stepping into something that instantly shifts your energy. We love that feeling of confidence, and that's very Copenhagen,' say designers Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimars. Rotate is all about clothing to have fun in – your sequinned skirts, party dresses and zebra-print trousers. I myself am wearing a ruffle-trim gown of their design as a bridesmaid later this year, and the bride plans to dance the night away wearing a diamanté column dress at the afterparty. Skål! LA was a guest of Copenhagen Fashion Week and Kurhotel Skodsborg, a spa hotel that was the former villa of King Frederik VII. It's situated 30 minutes by train from Copenhagen and offers doubles from £262.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Commuters could be forced to pay hundreds of pounds extra to travel to work as train fares may jump by 5.8% next year
Regulated train fares in England may increase by 5.8 per cent next year, based on a measure of inflation announced today. The Office for National Statistics said Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rose to 4.8 per cent in July. The Government has not confirmed how it will determine the cap on regulated fare rises in 2026, but this year's 4.6 per cent hike was one percentage point above RPI in July 2024. If that formula is used to set next year's fare increase, the cost of train travel will jump by 5.8 per cent. Ben Plowden, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'Today's inflation figure could mean a big fare rise for rail passengers next year, especially if the Government decides to go with an above-inflation increase like we saw this year. 'With the railways now moving under public control, the fundamental question for the Government is how to use its role in setting fares policy to deliver a more affordable rail network and encourage more people to travel on it. 'Next year's annual rise represents the first real opportunity for the Government to show passengers both current and future - just how it plans to do this.' Pressure group Railfuture recently said 'it would be outrageous' if fares even rose by as much as 5.5 per cent, with train punctuality in Britain at its lowest level in more than five years. Predicted 2026 season ticket costs into London stations for rail commuters Station commuted from into London terminals 2025 season ticket price Increase from 2024 2026 season ticket price at RPI rise Increase from 2025 at 4.8% rise 2026 season ticket price at RPI+1% rise Increase from 2025 at 5.8% rise Ashford International £6,347 £279 £6,652 £305 £6,715 £368 Aylesbury £5,326 £234 £5,582 £256 £5,635 £309 Basingstoke £5,858 £258 £6,139 £281 £6,197 £340 Bishops Stortford £5,494 £242 £5,757 £264 £5,812 £319 Bracknell £5,858 £258 £6,139 £281 £6,197 £340 Braintree £5,899 £259 £6,183 £283 £6,242 £342 Brentwood £3,502 £154 £3,671 £168 £3,706 £203 Brighton £6,163 £271 £6,459 £296 £6,520 £357 Cambridge £6,498 £286 £6,810 £312 £6,875 £377 Canterbury stations £7,100 £312 £7,441 £341 £7,512 £412 Chelmsford £5,205 £229 £5,455 £250 £5,507 £302 Colchester £6,699 £295 £7,020 £322 £7,087 £389 Crawley £4,858 £214 £5,091 £233 £5,139 £282 Eastbourne £6,234 £274 £6,533 £299 £6,596 £362 Farnham £5,285 £232 £5,538 £254 £5,591 £307 Gillingham (Kent) £5,410 £238 £5,670 £260 £5,724 £314 Grays (Essex) £2,971 £131 £3,113 £143 £3,143 £172 Guildford £4,807 £211 £5,038 £231 £5,086 £279 Harlow Town £4,745 £209 £4,972 £228 £5,020 £275 Hastings £6,347 £279 £6,652 £305 £6,715 £368 High Wycombe £4,682 £206 £4,907 £225 £4,953 £272 Horsham £5,314 £234 £5,569 £255 £5,622 £308 Luton £5,481 £241 £5,744 £263 £5,799 £318 Maidstone stations £5,837 £257 £6,117 £280 £6,175 £339 Milton Keynes £6,837 £301 £7,165 £328 £7,233 £397 Oxford £6,690 £294 £7,011 £321 £7,078 £388 Portsmouth stations £6,862 £302 £7,191 £329 £7,260 £398 Reading £5,858 £258 £6,139 £281 £6,197 £340 Royston £6,281 £276 £6,582 £301 £6,645 £364 St Albans City £4,870 £214 £5,104 £234 £5,153 £282 Sevenoaks £4,598 £202 £4,819 £221 £4,865 £267 Slough £3,448 £152 £3,613 £165 £3,648 £200 Southampton Central £7,477 £329 £7,836 £359 £7,910 £434 Southend Central £4,410 £194 £4,622 £212 £4,666 £256 Stevenage £4,908 £216 £5,143 £236 £5,192 £285 Tunbridge Wells £6,096 £268 £6,389 £293 £6,450 £354 Tonbridge £5,556 £244 £5,823 £267 £5,879 £322 Witham £5,815 £256 £6,095 £279 £6,153 £337 Woking £4,259 £187 £4,464 £204 £4,506 £247 AVERAGE £5,535 £243 £5,801 £266 £5,857 £321 Data compiled by Campaign for Better Transport. Based on July 2025 RPI figure of 4.8% as announced on August 20, 2025. Prices are for the cheapest available 12-month season ticket into London terminals on any route permitted (where available) excluding use on high-speed services according to National Rail Enquiries. About 45 per cent of fares on Britain's railways are regulated by the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh Governments. They include season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes, and flexible tickets for travel around major cities. The Department for Transport (DfT) said there will be an update on changes to regulated fares later this year. Operators set rises in unregulated fares, although these are likely to be very close to regulated ticket increases because their decisions are heavily influenced by governments. Office of Rail and Road figures show trains in Britain reached 66.7 per cent of scheduled stops within a minute of the timetable in the year to July 19. That is the worst performance since the year to May 30, 2020. Some operators are currently struggling with dry weather. A lack of moisture in clay soil embankments has disturbed track levels, preventing trains from safely travelling at full speed in parts of south-west and south-east England. A DfT spokesperson said: 'The Transport Secretary has made clear her number one priority is getting the railways back to a place where people can rely on them. 'The Government is putting passengers at the heart of its plans for public ownership and Great British Railways (GBR), delivering the services they deserve and driving growth. 'No decisions have been made on next year's rail fares but our aim is that prices balance affordability for both passengers and taxpayers.' The Government is nationalising train operators as their contracts expire. GBR is an upcoming public sector body that will oversee Britain's rail infrastructure and train operation.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Rail fares in England expected to rise by 5.8% next year
Train fares in England expected to rise by as much as 5.8% next year on the back of the latest inflation data release, sparking concern among passenger groups. Increases in rail ticket prices are usually calculated by adding one percentage point to July's inflation reading on the retail prices index, which was 4.8%, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The government has not yet confirmed how it will calculate rail fare increases for 2026, they last rose by 4.6% in March, which was one percentage point above the RPI reading from July 2024. Regulated fares, which account for about half of rail journeys, would rise by 5.8% in 2026 if the increase follows the same pattern as last year. Before the publication of July's inflation figures, passenger groups had warned that such fare increases risked pricing out some passengers, at a time of a squeeze on consumers' wallets, including rising food prices. Almost half of rail fares in England are set directly by Westminster. The devolved Scottish and Welsh governments usually cap fares at a similar level. Regulated fares include season tickets on most commuter journeys, off-peak returns on long-distance routes and flexible tickets for urban rail. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion More details soon …
