Australia Day is an annual celebration on the 26th of January. It commerates the arrival of the First Fleet in Botany Bay, south of Sydney. If you’re interested in the politics of Australia Day, I recommend David Day’s Claiming a Continent: A New History of Australia.

Anyway, getting back to wine, John McDonnell of Wine Australia has put together another super tasting for the the 26th of January in the shape of “An Evening in the Barossa”.

The Barossa is arguably Australia’s most well known wine region, producing popular affordable wines as well the iconic 100 Parker point winners.  It’s also home to some of the world’s oldest living vines, so there’s quite a bit of wine history there.

St. Hallett’s Toby Barlow presents…


Toby Barlow, Winemaker at St Hallett Wines will be the guide for the evening in the Barossa in Dublin’s Fallon & Byrne.

It’s not just his wines, though. Toby will host a tasting of Barossa wines followed by a four course meal accompanied by some of his very own St. Hallett wines.

If you want to “preview” what St. Hallett wines have to offer, look no further than the widely available Gamekeeper’s Reserve, a blend of three grapes, Shiraz and Grenache, both planted extensively in South Australia and the third, Touriga Nacional, a native of Portugal. A super, super wine starting at €9.35 in Tesco and available from other good wine shops.

Details for the evening

  • When: Tuesday, January 26th. Tutored Tasting; 6.30pm – 8.00pm, followed by dinner
  • Where: Fallon and Byrne on Exchequer Street, Dublin 2.
  • Booking: Cost is €65 per person and places can be booked directly with Fallon & Byrne (phone: 472 1000)