Jacinta Delahaye, originator of The Best Of Wine In Ireland and one of the most infectiously enthusiastic communicators in the Irish wine world, has this year moved on to produce Jacinta Delahaye's Wine Annual - A Handbook For Irish Consumers. A large format hardback, it combines her own level-headed buying advice with a vast array of interesting contributions from other leading Irish wine experts. Amazingly, only £5.99.
Three shops have burst upon the Dublin scene in time for Christmas. Niall Dooley, Dobbins's former sommelier, has opened The Grapes of Mirth at 310 Lower Rathmines Road, selling Irish cheeses, breads, olives oils and coffee as well as wine. Keeping up the puns, Jean Gowing has launched The DeVine Wine Shop in the Ashleigh Centre on Castleknock's Main Street - a source of quality accessories as well as some unusual bottles. And, after all the rumours and ruminations, Oddbins has finally arrived at 17 Upper Baggot Street with its wide and wonderful range of enticements.
If the hassle of party-giving has frozen you into inactivity until this late date, move fast and you may be lucky enough to find a free slot in the busy calendar of William Higgins Bar Services. The former manager of Scruffy Murphy's has set up what he calls "the complete portable pub". But given his earlier past as a martini-mixer for the likes of Lauren Hutton and Gabriel Byrne in Jerry's in SoHo, New York city, he sounds just the person to run a hip cocktail party. Tel 01 6603342 or 086 820 4858.