Red or White?: www.wines2order.com cuts out the middleman and offers good quality French and Spanish wines at very keen prices, sometimes as low as €6 per bottle.
Expert advice on wine style and tasting is available. If you would rather travel to source and taste your wine where it was made, they also organise escorted bike tours.
Sail on: For a cruise with a difference take a trip on the emigrant ship the Jeanie Johnston. Destinations include Glasgow (four nights), Bristol (three nights) and Brest (four nights). Prices have increased somewhat since 1848 when the transatlantic fare was £3, 10s (€4.50) but at €100 per person per night including all meals it's the experience of a lifetime for the price of a budget hotel. See www.jeaniejohnston.ie.
Tickets for a tenor: With ticket prices for opera often out of the reach of regular punters, it's refreshing to see that tickets for the Anna Livia Opera Fringe Festival (July 10-15) range in price from €10 to €15. The festival is dedicated to young Irish artistes and the programme includes a Mozart evening, three operas in one act and two operatic recitals. See www.operaannalivia.com for details and booking.
Don't lose your shirt: Tailors TM Lewin, based at 32/33 South Anne Street, Dublin, is selling four men's or women's shirts for €150 (a big saving on their regular price of €95 each) until autumn.
Beautiful bridal bargains: Get a wedding dress for less at the three-day bridal sale in the Lynch Green Isle Hotel, Newland's Cross, Dublin, running July 14th-16th. Savings of up to 50 per cent can be made on ex-showroom dresses and designer samples by designers such as Maggie Sottero, Alfred Angelo, Kate Sherford, Model Novias and more. There are also discounted bridesmaid's dresses and accessories. Visit www.bridalsales.ie for a preview and directions.
Is your shop having a sale? Have you spotted a bargain? If so email salestalk@irish-times.ie
Thanks to Eleanor Fitzsimons for her contributions this week