It’s rare we blow our own trumpet but I have to confess I get a bit excited when it comes to deciding on the next round of promotions for Curious. As ever, I’m led by the heart, and I’ve picked a country, a region and a producer that should delight anyone partaking of these very real discounts (!!) in the coming two months.

In many ways our Spanish range typifies what Curious is all about. Almost 50 wines from a whopping 19 different regions and denominacions, from under €9 to just over €30, it’s about discovery, distinction and quality and value at every price point.

Some highlights include the Decanter medal-winning Albarinos from Valdamor and Orballo; the amazing wines of Telmo Rodriguez – check out the whites of Basa and Gaba do Xil, and the red Gagos of Toro as starting points; and the astonishing everyday drinking quality of the Legado Muñoz and Artiga ranges, now under a tenner with the 10% we’ve taken off the entire category.

In an irreverant swipe at the high-brow, high-price reputation of Bordeaux, we also wanted to highlight the incredible quality that can be enjoyed for well under the €20 mark in this most famous but bewildering of wine regions.

Chateau Bauduc fits the Curious philosophy in so many ways: no-nonsense wine-making, no-nonsense labelling (horror of horrors for a Bordeaux House, they put the grape variety on the front label!), and keen-as-mustard pricing. Blake Creedon, in February 21st’s Irish Examiner, picked out the Blanc Sec Sauvignon Blanc (Gordon Ramsay’s house wine in the UK) as his favourite in our recent Cork tasting, and the red Clos de Quinze is one of the most accomplished wines I’ve tasted under 20 quid.

We’ve knocked a silly 15% off our Bordeaux range for the simple purpose to tempt people to try these fabulous wines – I guarantee those who do will be back for more.

Finally, anyone that’s come into our warehouse looking for a “nice wine around the €10 mark” is always shown the Santa Alicia range from Chile’s Maipo Valley, the International Wine and Spirit Competition’s Trophy winner for best overall Chilean producer in 2007. We don’t believe there’s a better price-to-quality ratio in the country.

We opened the Reserva Sauvignon Blanc for an impromptu tasting with Lar Veale when he popped down a couple of weeks ago, and got the reaction we hoped for:

“Cracking value at only €9.99 and beats the pants off anything from your local supermarket.”

If you love concentrated, fruit-filled, well-rounded reds, try the Reserva Carmenere, Malbec and Merlot, and for an extra couple of quid the Gran Reservas stand up to wines at twice the price in the supermarkets. We’ve knocked off a euro a bottle when you buy two or more.

Happy exploring.

Friday the 13th turned out to be a very lucky day indeed for Curious Wines. Dressed to the nines in ballgowns and penguin suits, we took off for Dublin and the 7th Annual Digital Media Awards, where we scooped some great sites and big brands to bring home the award for Best Commercial Website. If you heard a huge noise anywhere in Ireland at about 8:55 PM, that was us – whooping with unabashed glee.

You can read our rather official comments on winning this very prestigious award in the press release, but more to the point: we’re having a celebration sale so we can share our happiness and good luck with our customers. In honour of the 7th DMAs, all champagne and sparkling wines are 7% off. So buy, drink and be merry – we certainly are.

Cheers!

With St Valentine’s Day fast approaching, it’s time to start planning that all important evening with your loved one. Flowers: check. Oysters: check. Strawberries: check. Biggest bottle of pink champers you can find. Check.

There is another wine however, which would be particularly appropriate on Valentine’s day. The special Beaujolais of St Amour, with an evocative nose and fruity body, is perfect for drinking on a cold winter evening and will go down very well with all meats and cheeses.

The village of St Amour, next to Julienas in the northerly limit of the Beaujolais area, is also the love capital of the world for one night only. On the 14th February, St. Valentine’s Day, all French lovers are invited to the village, reputedly named after a disaffected Roman soldier, Amor.

For those that would rather stick arrows in your leg than catch them from Cupid’s bow, that’s cool too. We’d just like to advise that our mixed cases should not be consumed alone and in the duration of one evening. Otherwise, it could bring a new meaning to the term Love Hurts.

As a little, blog-exclusive, bonus for Curious lovers, we’d like to offer another €5 off our Valentine’s specials. Just enter “curiouslove” at check-out on either or Valentine’s mixed case or our Champers & Truffles gift set and you’re done. Order before 12 noon on Wednesday to guarantee delivery before Saturday, although we should be good up to noon Thursday.

So a New Year, and new wines to try, and whether you’re a daily tippler or a weekend splasher I hope we’ve something of interest that you can try with a little less stretch on the wallet in January.

We’re unapologetic Shiraz lovers, especially in winter. I just love the full flavours, typically black fruit, preferably with that trademark spice, whether from its adopted home in Australia, it’s traditional home in France and the Rhone, or from the growing number of other countries now producing their own great versions.

We’ve an across-the-range 10% off all Shiraz/Syrah, single varietal and blends, to help warm those cockles in January and February. My top recommendations would be the Barossan Heartland or Earthworks, the simply amazing Vin de Pays Dignite, or, for a bit more, this incredible Crozes Hermitage.

Following the success of our New Zealand Tasting back in November, we thought our Kiwi range would make a great January special, to get over those post-Christmas blues and allow people to try something a bit different. Renowned for world-beating whites – try a Riesling or a Pinot Gris if you’re bored with Sauvignon Blanc – there’s also some very exciting reds, with Syrah and Pinotage in our range beyond the now established and sublime Pinot Noir.

Given the consistency and quality benchmark of New Zealand, they tend not to get discounted as much as other countries, but try 15% off in January as a New Year treat.

In terms of individual ranges discounted, we’ve extended the €2 off on our Lunar Organic Domaine du Chateau d’Eau, largely due to the amazing feedback received in December from delighted new customers. Particularly if you’re looking for a bit of a detox without (heaven forbid) total abstinence, these biodynamically driven wines have been a big hit with organic lovers in West Cork.

For the same reasons, we’ve put the Decanter silver medal winning Orballo Albarino on special. Customers trying a bottle have been coming back and buying by the case from our Bandon warehouse so it’s about time the rest of the country discovered this cracker from Rias Baixas in Spain.

Finally, we thought we’d add a little thank-you to the (frankly) humbling number of people who have joined the Curious Wines Club, by offering an extra bottle in our already great value mixed cases. So, if you’re a member just order as normal and we’ll pop in your free bottle, or if you’re not sign-up and you’re automatically eligible.

Wishing you a happy journey in your 2009 wine adventures,

Mike