Greece: Santorini, Peloponnese, Crete, Thessaly.

From winesofgreece.org.

Most of these 10 good-quality Greeks were sampled at an enlightening tasting organised by the Northern Ireland Wine & Spirit Institute led by Lisa McCully; and three others also bought from the Wine Society (impressive Greek range) and Marks & Spencer (moderately adventurous).

Chardonnay: California, Australia, New Zealand.

I've always been a Chardonnay fan, even when it seemed to become unfashionable and suddenly everybody wanted nothing but Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. In recent years, there's been a gentle shift away from in-your-face oaky Chardonnays towards either a purely unoaked ripe fruity type Chardy (does what it says on the label);

Italy, Puglia: Castel di Salve.

Castel di Salve is a relatively old winery dating from 1885, established by the Duke of Salve, Antonio Winspeare, in an area of southern Puglia known as Salento. You'd be right to think that surname doesn't sound very Pugliese or Italian even - some online research reveals that he was a bit of an interesting character...

Alsace tasting

Domaine Louis Sipp: www.sipp.com

This sumptuous tasting was organised by the Northern Ireland Wine & Spirit Institute in Belfast a couple of months ago and was led by regional expert Anne McHale MW, who communicated a few nuggets of juicy information from the region, which I've regurgitated here rather randomly.

Pinot Noir: Australia, New Zealand & California

This comparison of one of the world's most celebrated varieties, from three entirely different countries and states, is condensed from two big generic wine tastings held in Dublin. I've narrowed the Pinot talk down to twenty-five flavoursome recommendations...

California: random red and white.

From tablascreek.com

My pick from a recent California Wine tasting in Dublin of half-a-dozen random reds and a white made from varieties such as Zinfandel, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Petite Sirah, Grenache noir and blanc and Viognier. This is the first of a few posts highlighting California red and white wines available in Ireland and the UK.

Roussillon: Domaine of the Bee, England: Hart of Gold.

Justin and Amanda Howard-Sneyd in their 80+ year-old La Roque Carignan vineyard.

What has the Roussillon, in deepest Catalan France, got to do with English bubbly, you may be wondering? Well, it's the same couple behind Domaine of the Bee, kickstarted in 2004 with the purchase of some old vine plots near Maury (which is Occitan but never mind), and Hart of Gold, an upmarket English sparkling launched with the 2010 vintage.