#125 | Quarantine Sessions 3: Amhrán na Fíon (with Shamim De Brún)

Ireland’s relationship with wine is unusual – we drink a lot of it but we do not produce it ourselves, and historically we fall between the stools of Europe and the post-colonial “New World” which divide the wine business. These factors allow us to be completely neutral in deciding which ones we like. So what do we like? And what do we talk about when we talk about wine?

Conversations about wine – like conversations about Irish – often heave under the weight of gender roles, social class, geopolitics and money. But if we let our guard down they can lead to wonderful places.

In this week’s episode Darach and Peadar talk to Shamim De Brún from MItchell & Sons WInes in the IFSC. She tells the lads about Irish connections to the vineyards of Bordeaux, licking volcanic rocks to understand wine better and how the history of wine importing goes back to Brian Boru. What wine goes best with a spice bag or a bag of Tayto? Do “Cork Dorks” suffer an unfair negative reputation comparable to gaeilgeoirí? Are men scared of rosé? They all get a look-in too.
—