Spotlight on Red Wines

Embark on a captivating journey through our extensive red wine offerings, spanning Bordeaux's prestigious left bank to the iconic vineyards of Napa Valley. From the steep terraces of Northern Rhône to the artisanal wineries of Burgundy and the bold Malbecs of Argentina, explore some of the world's most renowned reds at Whelehans Wines. 

Bordeaux

From Bordeaux we ship from the key left bank appellations of Pauillac, St Éstephe, St. Julien and Margaux. We are particularly proud to work with the Cuvellier family owners of Château Léoville- Poyferre one of the super seconds of the 1855 classification (St.Julien), Château Moulin Riche (St Julien) and Château le Crock (St Éstephe).
Similarly, with the Sichel family owners of the wonderful Château d’Angludet in Margaux. We also through one of our Bordeaux Négoçiants work with a number of the wines from Château Latour.
Needless to say, we also ship directly Château Lynch-Bages and Château Léoville Barton from multiple vintages.

David with his long association with Bordeaux has built up a unique collection of Petits Chateaux and Cru Bourgeois.  From the right bank Whelehans have a number of unique references from Pomerol, St Émilion and the surrounding Côtes.  

Be prepared to be dazzled by the Pauillac de Château Latour in multiple vintages, charmed by Château Cambon la Pelouse one of the very best Cru Bourgeois, in fact in the 2016 vintage won the trophy for the ‘Best Cru Bourgeois’ 2016. There is no end to our range of dazzling and much sought after references from the 1855 classification.

Burgundy

For Burgundy enthusiasts we really hope our extensive Pinot Noir selection will thrill, we are constantly fine tuning it!  Our Côtes de Nuits offering features some great growers from Vosne Romanée, Echezeaux like Domaine Michel Noellat, Thierry Mortet & Domaine Tortochot from Gevrey Chambertin.
For Côte de Beaune fans our Volnay from La Pousse d’Or should prove thrilling or for our top tip we highly recommend you explore the wines of Jean Marc Vincent in Santenay whose Auxey Duresses is simply outstanding! 

Loire

For Loire enthusiasts our St Nicolas de Bourgueils, Saumur Champigny range have been very carefully selected to demonstrate the majesty of the Cabernet Franc. (Remember Cabernet Franc is the genetic father of Cabernet Sauvignon). Many of our Loire references  are organic and biodynamic. We are particularly proud top represent the wines of Château de Coulaine(Chinon), Domaine Filliatreau(Saumur-Champigny), Domaine Delaporte (Sancerre) and Domaine André Vatan (Sancerre) Our Sancerre Rouge from Domaine Delaporte is a brilliant example of Pinot Noir from the Loire Valley and is definitely of premier cru level in Burgundy.

Northern Rhone Valley

For those who love the thrill of pure Syrah we have some great references from Northern Rhone Valley including the wonderful Crozes-Hermitageof Maxime Graillot and the great Cote Roties of Yves Cuilleron. Hermitage enthusiasts might be tempted by the Paul Jaboulet  Aine Crozes-Hermitage "LesJalets" 2018. Our standout direct import from the Northern Rhone is Domaine Etienne Pochon. The wines of this Domaine are organic and highly rated by the press.
A particular favourite of all the team currently is Domaine Etienne Pochon Blanc 2021.

Southern Rhone Valley

From the Rhone Valley, we explore all the great northern Rhone and Southern Rhone appellations. In the Southern Rhone, we are particularly proud of our Châteauneuf-du-Pape producer, Château Beauchene who produce a fantastic range of Châteauneuf-du-Papes and Côtes-du-Rhone all highly rated. Domaine de l’Amauve from Séguret is one of the real heros and attracts in very high ratings. 

Languedoc Roussillon

We are currently working on our Languedoc Roussillon offering and are delighted to work with the wines ofDomaine Pujol in Minervois and Domaine Cailhol Gautran, a family wine estate located at the heart of the Languedoc region.

Spain

For Spanish enthusiasts we would have probably the largest collection of Rioja and Ribera del Duero in Dublin. In Rioja, we are delighted to work closely with Bodegas de la Marquesa (Valserrano) in the Rioja Alavesa whose wines capture that perfect point between leathery/savoury old style Rioja and the newer fruiter styles of Rioja.
Tim Atkin often rates their wines very highly. We would particularly tip El Ribazo 2016 an astonishingly good single vineyard Rioja.

We of course carry most of the big names like Baron de Ley, Remelluri, Muga, Rioja Alta, Luis Canas, Imperial, Viña Tondonia...

In Ribera del Duero, similarly, we have most of the most famous producers including Protos, Emilio Moro, Pesquera, Vega Sicilia...

As we all know there are many other DO’s offering some real excitement such as the wines of Bierzo where the Menciagrape can deliver a really juicy lower alcohol style. 
For those who want a bigger, richer style the wines of Priorat are a must and we always direct towards the creations of Alvaro Palacios. 

Italy

For Italianophiles, we have invested a lot of time in our range. From Piedmonte we cannot recommend the Barolo from Francesco Rinaldi highly enough. In particular the Francesco Rinaldi Barolo Cannubi 2019. We would also recommend exploring their Nebbiolo d’Alba and their glorious Barbaresco DOCG.
Of course, if you are a Pio Cesare fan, we carry their top Barolo Il Bricco di Treiso, 2015.
Moving towards central Italy we are particularly proud to represent the wines of Collemassari, Grattamacco and Poggio di Sotto.
This is really short hand for saying that we have an exemplary Super Tuscan offering of course with Ornellaia and Solaia.
For Brunello di Montalcino or Rosso di Montalcino, we cannot recommend highly enough the wines of Poggio di Sotto. If their prices are a little eye watering the Brunello di Montalcino San Giorgio also owned by the Tipa family is sensational as is their Rosso di Montalcino Ciampoleto 2022.
Moving further south we hope you find our judiciously chosen ranges of Primitivo, Negroamaro andNero d’Avola impress. We are particularly proud of the Lirica which was awarded the "Tre Bicchieri" in the Gambero Rosso 2021 a rich sumptuous red! 

Portugal

In Portugal we have a focused range around the Douro valley, Dāo and the Alentejo. Quinta Aciprestes has developed quite a following as have the wines of Monte da Peceguina and Herdade do Esporao in the Alentejo. We are particularly proud to ship directly the wines of Quinta dos Roques and Luís Pato both reference producers for their regions.

Napa Valley

Napa Valley is one of the World’s most exciting areas for producing some of the best and most exciting Cabernet Sauvignon in the World.
We are delighted to ship the wine of Frog’s Leap into Ireland and their dry farmed Cabernet Sauvignon from the Rutherford Bench is charming Antonio Galloni rates the Frog’s Leap Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, 95 points. This estate also does an impressive Zinfandel.
For Duckhorn enthusiasts we of course stock the Duckhorn Estate Merlot 2021 and their Cabernet Sauvignon.
We also are delighted to stock the wines of Sequoia Grove, an estate where some of our team have worked in their vineyards so their address 8338 St Helena Hwy and fond memories of the late founder Jim Allen. 

For those who really want to push out the boat and go for one of the real icon wines of the Napa Valley, Opus One may be the one to opt for. Opus one is the legendary cooperation between the late Bob Mondavi and the Baron de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. A bit of trivia on this cooperation Bob Mondavi came to Ireland and sampled many vintages of Mouton Rothschild at the renowned le Coq Hardi before going to Bordeaux to sign the co-operation deal. Of course the late ‘TP’ was on board for this trip. 

We currently have the Opus One 2018 in stock which we shipped directly from Bordeaux. 

On the Opus One 2016 vintage Parker writes:

“ Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Opus One offers up bold, expressive black and blue fruits: warm black plums, black cherries, blackcurrants and wild blueberries with a beautiful undercurrent of lilacs, roses, fertile loam, underbrush and Indian spices. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is a tightly coiled spring ready to explode, with fantastic tension and wonderfully ripe, very fine-grained tannins, finishing very long with a mineral lift”  Rating 98 points. 

Opus one 2016  Jancis Robinson writes: “77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec.

Succulent and fruity with a porty note on the nose. Interlaced oak gives cedar and sweet spice. There's also dark chocolate (a benchmark flavour, apparently) and iodine too. Silky tannins, glossy texture – this is Pauillac in soft focus. Absolutely drinkable. Long, savoury and serious. (RH)”

For those who are fans of the Zinfandel grape the wines of Ridge are really the reference wines for this varietal and we are pleased to carry the Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2019, Ridge Lytton Springs and the Ridge Geyserville all with their unique story to tell and reflect the genius of Paul Draper.

Argentina

For those partial to a great Argentian Malbec we think you will enjoy our fantastic collection, featuring a savoury and slightly smoky Rutini Apartado Gran Malbec, 2019 that will for sure pleased Malbec connoisseurs. 
We also carry a number of listings from a number of the highly awarded producers such as Catena, Rutini, Luigi Bosca, Bousquet and the Cuvelier family. 

Suffice to say we are huge red wine enthusiasts and daily taste and evaluate with the sole intention of introducing new references into the range whether it is a new Pinot Noir from Italy or a crazy biodynamic Cabernet Franc an egg fermented natural wine a classic Bordeaux a glorious textured Burgundy we have it all. If we do not stock the wine that are looking for, we delight it tracking the desired wine and making it available to you. So, if you are look for a unique wine or that exceptional wine gift or simply an easy drinking red for a weekday night you have happened upon a wine merchant who will really go the extra mile to make sure you have the very best wine experience in Ireland.

We hope you will continue to join us on our wine journey and of course if you discover anything really exciting when you are on your holidays please let us know, we are always to negotiate a finder’s fee to be negotiated.

In Vino Veritas!