Enduring legacy of an Irish wine trailblazer

Wines Direct has been part of my life pretty well since I started to write about wine, way back in the 1980s. They pioneered what we then called ‘mail order’ wine in Ireland.

Its founder, Paddy Keogh, was a towering figure in several respects. He was, as befits a former army officer, very tall and very solidly built. He looked as he was: solid and dependable. He died, far too young, in 2014.

He was a towering figure, also, in the wine business – a man whose palate and judgement were, I reckon, the best in the business. He never compromised; he never bought wine from a producer he had not met (and liked); there were no token items on the list at Wines Direct; every wine had a place and a story. Paddy was a great raconteur.

Wine can be an immensely dull subject and even those who love it can bore for Ireland. Paddy’s enthusiasm for wine was infectious and his interest in it rooted not just in the taste but also the history, the culture, the people behind it.

Paddy’s monument is the foundation of wines he developed over almost 30 years in Wines Direct. And his widow

Siobhán and sons Gareth and Gavin, along with the exceptional team that he had built up over the years, have carried on in exactly the same tradition – never compromising and, most relevantly here, delivering an online service that is second to none. (When my wife, Johann, pointed out to Paddy that his packaging was difficult to recycle, he switched to sustainable cardboard within weeks. And that was in the 1980s.)

I miss Paddy’s phone calls. They were lengthy, informative, amusing, involved stories and adventures in the land of the vine and I always ended up dreaming of a glass of something good.

The range is eclectic and there isn’t a duff wine on the whole list. I’ve selected a mere amuse-bouche of what you can find at winesdirect.ie

‘Paddy’s palate and judgement were the best’