Of all the tales of Ireland’s contributions to the global economy, those from the wine world may be among the most romantic. A series running this summer on Lyric FM highlights the history of Irish involvement in wine but has a particular focus on Irish people shaping the wine industry today.
- Episode one takes a look at the history of the wine trade in Ireland, with a visit to Ted Murphy, a wine trade veteran and expert on Ireland’s role in the history of wine.
- Episode two pays a visit to Jim Concannon, a descendant of an Aran Islands family, who pioneered Southern California’s Livermore Valley, and Jim Barrett, who created the wine that won “The Judgement of Paris in 1976”, a major victory that forever changed the image of Californian wines.
- Episode three visits Frances Mahoney, who helped modernise Sonoma.
- Episode four takes a look at the latest wave of “Wine Geese” including a couple who who left Dublin to open an organic vineyard in Dordogne.
The programmes are available on the Lyric FM website.
Web pages related to the Wine Geese:
- Winegeese.ie – website for the International Museum of Wine, Kinsale
- Aran-isles.com: Wine Geese – the story of James Concannon, who planted the first vines in Livermore Valley, California, and his descendants
- SeventyMillion.com: The Wine Geese