Sláinte Mairin Ui Mhurchu, DipWSET

Meet amazing Mairin - a passionate Irish wine woman!

There are winelovers and then there is Mairin. She's the type of winelover who  gets up at 2:30 am Irish time to show up to our 7:30 pm evening session in Vancouver. Her bottle would be breathing and glasses polished. No moss under this gal's feet.
Not only is her Irish accent totally lovely, but her love of wine is second to none. We appreciate her spirit of community and can vouch for her of arriving a stranger and leaving a friend.  We love you Mairin!  Thanks for being a a part of the Good Wine Gal community and an inspiring winelover! We all look forward to seeing you again soon. Stay safe!

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What do you do?
My career started as a Home Economics Teacher (Domestic Science Teacher in some countries). I took early retirement to rear our family. We've been running a bed and breakfast for 40 years now! In the early years, we served evening meals to residents and I was cheeky enough to offer wine! During the winter months I taught short term courses in Irish Home Hospitality, Food and Beverage service and Bar service skills. It was then I realized I needed to up-skill myself. I searched for wine education courses online, found WSET. I am now a WSET Approved Wine Educator! Education was still in the blood!

When did you fall in love with wine?
I think wine fascinated me during my training as a Home Economics teacher, mainly because of my interest in food even-though at the time, I was a teetotaller. During those college years I remember wanting to go to France during the holidays to pick grapes. That didn’t materialize but I eventually got to work in a vineyard and winery in Esslingen in Germany. In another life, I would have been very happy with this choice. I also found books on wine from my college days that were very useful references useful when doing my final WSET Diploma assignment on Bordeaux, 30 years later!

Our WSET Level 1 wine educator Dale Gatcum instilled such a love of the topic in me that once I started the wine learning journey I just couldn’t stop. Now I'm inspired to pass this knowledge on to others.

Why Good Wine Gal?
During lockdown, I was searching for online courses where I could keep my tasting skills honed! I found Good Wine Gal aka Barb Wild on the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 4 Diploma Alumni Group. Barb and Mark Shipway, DipWSET offered the perfect solution – one grape each session with profiles from multiple regions around the world. Mark’s presentations were superbly crafted with amazing images of historical buildings and maps of the regions. Mark’s session not only included details on grapes and wines but also on history, geography, climate and best food and wine pairing suggestions from regions in focus. Good wine Gal pulled all this together and ensured that all the presentations went off without a hitch! Not only did I learn about wine but also how to present a professional online wine presentation! A big mile buíochas to both of you! I will be back to join you soon again!