By John Thackray So, I touched down in SUNNY Cork at 19:00 local time, dashed to get my hire car and the upgrade to a brand new Jeep with 4,000km on the clock was a nice start though I didn’t have time to faff to get the radio working… I checked into my accommodation justContinue reading “A 30 hour Irish Assignment: Guinness and Chipper Food at the cliffs of Ballycotton – PART II”
Category Archives: Drink
A 30 hour Irish Assignment: Guinness and Chipper Food at the cliffs of Ballycotton – PART I
The greatest thing about living in Europe is that budget airlines exist – so you can find a return flight to another country less than 3 hours away for under €60. You can fly to Venice for a day to fill up on genuine pasta, or skip over to Morocco for a few hours toContinue reading “A 30 hour Irish Assignment: Guinness and Chipper Food at the cliffs of Ballycotton – PART I”
Spanish Wine Outings
Just an hour outside of Valencia… Valencia was often known for its cheap bulk wines, but it has already blossomed into one of Spain’s most interesting wine regions. Rehabilitated long-forgotten local grapes like the red Mando and the white Verdil are coming back to life, with the rediscovered use of amphoras. You will find interestingContinue reading “Spanish Wine Outings”
2022 Top 5 Winner: LEO HILLINGER WINESHOP & BAR, Vienna, Austria
After a week in three cities in Croatia in September three of the panelists parted ways: one went on to do some wine stomping in Spain a week later while another jetted off to Slovenia, then two reunited in time for a quick stop to Germany into October, but the same three panelists then reunitedContinue reading “2022 Top 5 Winner: LEO HILLINGER WINESHOP & BAR, Vienna, Austria”
2022 Top 5 Winner: CONSONANCE, Bordeaux, France
When you stumble onto a classy wine bar establishment with super-friendly service and you aren’t hungry but can’t stop ordering their tasty menu treats, you know you’ve stumbled upon the next Thacks Awards winner! Whilst the word Consonance means ‘agreement or compatibility between opinions and actions’ our opinion has been that we need to takeContinue reading “2022 Top 5 Winner: CONSONANCE, Bordeaux, France”
Ets Vallauri Wine Bar and Shop (Cannes) Review
When you’re in Cannes for a day and want some good wine, this is your place! We saw an online review simply reading “A bit snobby”. When someone who visited in January 2021 (when Covid was still lurking around) posts a rubbish 3-word review like that, you wonder what they thought to be so rude.Continue reading “Ets Vallauri Wine Bar and Shop (Cannes) Review”
Vinorte Wine Bar (Valencia) Review
For something to be featured on Thacks Awards, it needs to be good. And ‘Vinorte’ in Valencia won’t disappoint!Last night two of the panelists and their friends stumbled upon this gem. And we’ll be back… very soon. We had a 21:30 dinner show reservation nearby and it turned out that the highlight of our eveningContinue reading “Vinorte Wine Bar (Valencia) Review”
2022 Top 5 Winner: VINOBIEN, Mendoza, Argentina
Thacks Awards panelist Hassan M lived and worked in Argentina through March and April 2022. In that time he and panelist John T undertook a trip to Mendoza for a few days in search of amazing experiences. They found one at VinoBien in Mendoza: “When it comes to wine bars, it takes a lot toContinue reading “2022 Top 5 Winner: VINOBIEN, Mendoza, Argentina”
2022 Top 5 Winner: CHATEAU MONTELENA WINERY, Napa Valley, USA
On a recent business trip to the USA, Thacks Awards panelist Anita (who has visited many, many wineries in her lifetime and did some keen research on this one) covered a few US states and cities – and she was most impressed with this gem in her outing to Napa Valley. “Luck was clearly onContinue reading “2022 Top 5 Winner: CHATEAU MONTELENA WINERY, Napa Valley, USA”
2022 Top 5 Winner: TIERRAS DE UVA, Mexico City, Mexico
One would think that it’s easy to find many wine bars offering a selection of great wines by the glass and bottles in a wine-producing country but to my disappointment, that is not the case in Mexico City. Visit cities in France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, and other wine-producing countries and you will findContinue reading “2022 Top 5 Winner: TIERRAS DE UVA, Mexico City, Mexico”
Thacks Awards 