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Having spent over twenty years working in the wine industry, Brigid O’Hora’s work as a sommelier has taken her across the world, to locations in Paris, Sydney, Boston and Dublin. Perhaps more commonly known by her Instagram handle—Bridey’s Wine Chats—Brigid has spent the last few years building up quite the online following through sharing her fuss-free, expert tips on tastings and pairings.
Now, she’s put pen to paper and has created an essential guide to making good wine choices, without breaking the bank. Filled with down-to-earth, entertaining knowledge and advice to help you choose the perfect wine to fit every occasion, The Home Sommelier uncorks the secrets to getting the very best from your wine experience.
We sat down with Brigid to chat about her beginnings in the industry, what you can expect from the title, and garner some expert insights on how we should be tasting our wines when out to dinner in a nice restaurant.
My hope for this wine guide is to create a community where people feel free to comment or to share whatever they feel about the wine. My main wish is to take away the traditional stuffiness of wine, and add every day warmth and chitchat to the world of wine. I want people to feel more informed in the wine aisles, and to taste and reflect on the wine to help them decide for themselves if the wine is good or bad.
This wine guide is all about arming the reader with helpful tips and guidance of how to navigate the copious array of wines on our shelves today. Finally, I hope people will enjoy the read of the book and feel a sense of accomplishment when finished.
I have found many other wine guides, or indeed wine websites that offer Food And Wine pairings, they’re often directed at foods that might be for special occasions. I wanted to use food pairings that we eat on a daily basis. Some of the examples I have used are spaghetti Bolognese, grilled cheese on toast, a fry, a bag of Tayto cheese and onion. You know those foods that we have from week to week.
This is a great question. When we are offered a taste of wine at a restaurant, it is only to establish if the wine is good quality or not. It is a transaction of quality guarantee between you and the waiter. You are just checking to see if the wine is corked. A corked wine will have a very strong smell of rotten wood. Very often you see people who will just smell the wine, however, I like to taste it also. This gives you a very clear idea of the quality of the wine.