A new Irish name is receiving star billing in the Australian wine industry.

O'Dwyer Wines was established six years ago by Donal O'Dwyer from Tipperary who had operated a successful business in Australia. With his wife Judith he bought the Sweet Briar Vineyard in the Clare Valley and has since replaced fruit plantings on the estyate with vines.

The property already had some vines including a small parcel of 70 year old Cabernet Sauvignon which were planted on unirrigated dry soil. These vines are low yielding but produce grapes of exceptional quality. Donal and wine-makers David O'Leary and Nick Walker, decided to treat the grapes with reverence. They were hand picked, processed in small fermenters, hand plunged and pressed and finally aged for 20 months in new and 1-2 year old French and American oak barrels.

The result is O'Dwyer Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, a wine of outstanding quality and elegance which has received high praise in Australia and the US and has outscored some of the best wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy in blind tastings.

The wine is now available in Ireland and is distributed by Donal's brother John through O'Dwyer Wines, Henry Street, Newbridge, Co. Kildare ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). It will soon be featured on the wine lists of the Cellar Restaurant at the Merrion Hotel, Dromoland and Ashford Castles, Thorntons and Shanahan's Restaurants and other selected restaurants and wine shops throughout Ireland.