Are you an amateur wine aficionado? A secret sommelier? A closet connoisseur? An undercover oenophile?
In 1831, Hugh Barton purchased land in Kildare and went on to build the original Straffan House, the beautiful country house that is now the heart of The K Club, and Barton & Guestier is still the house wine at The K Club to this day.
If you would like to enter The K Club novice wine enthusiast 2026 competition, please write a short piece (minimum 200 and maximum 300 words) about a bottle of wine that sparked your interest or inspired you. Five shortlisted entrants will be selected and invited to stay overnight at The K Club where a blind tasting with the competition judges will take place and the overall winner will be decided. The evening will conclude with dinner with the judges and the five shortlisted entrants.
The judging panel includes Lisa O’Doherty, Sommelier at The K Club, John Wilson, wine writer for The Irish Times, and Madeleine Lyons, food and drink editor at The Irish Times.
This is a competition for amateur wine-lovers only, so no entries will be accepted from wine professionals or those working in wine-related businesses.
With a prize worth over €10,000, The K Club novice wine enthusiast 2026 will receive:
- A behind the scenes visit to Barton & Guestier’s Château Magnol in France for lunch and wine tastings
- Flights and a two-night hotel stay in Bordeaux for two people
- An invitation to one wine tasting shadowing The K Club’s Chief Sommelier, Lisa O’Doherty
- An invite for the winner and a guest to a private wine cellar tour with Lisa Doherty including a tasting followed by dinner in The Barton and overnight stay for two people at The K Club
Deadline for receipt of essay entries is Thursday, November 27th at midnight and the winner will be selected at an evening event in The K Club in March 2026.
For your chance to win, please write a short piece (minimum 200 and maximum 300 words) about a bottle of wine that sparked your interest or inspired you.
Terms & Condition
- The promotion is open to residents of Ireland aged 18 years or over except employees of the Promoter, their families, agents or anyone professionally connected with the promotion.
- A valid entry consists of a 200-300 word essay entered in the form above, accompanied by the entrant’s name, email address and a phone number.
- No applications from agents, third parties, organised groups or applications automatically generated by computer will be accepted. No incomplete, illegible, or corrupted entries will be accepted. No entries not in accordance with the entry instructions will be accepted.
- The Promotion will run from 07/11/2025 to midnight on 27/11/2025 inclusive.
- All entries must be received by the Promotor by no later than midnight on the Closing Date. All competition entries received after the Closing Date are automatically disqualified.
- Promotion limited to one entry per person. No entrant will win more than one prize.
- By submitting an entry to the Promotor, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.
- It is the responsibility of You, the entrant, to provide correct, up-to-date details when entering the promotion and on acceptance of the prize. The Promoter cannot be held responsible for winners failing to supply accurate information which affects prize acceptance or delivery of their prize
- Responsibility will not be accepted for entries lost, damaged, delayed or prevented as a result of any event beyond the Promoter’s control including, but not limited to, user error and any network, computer, hardware or software failures of any kind. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt. Entries will become the property of the Promoter.
- The prize is woth €10,000 and includes: A behind the scenes visit to Barton & Guestier’s Château Magnol for lunch and wine tastings. Flights and a two-night hotel stay in Bordeaux for two people. An invitation to one wine tasting shadowing The K Club’s Chief Sommelier, Lisa O’Doherty and an invite for the winner and a guest to a private wine cellar tour with Lisa Doherty including a tasting followed by dinner in The Barton and overnight stay for two people at The K Club. There will be one winner.
- All prizes will be subject to any additional terms and conditions of the K Club. This prize must be used in March 2026, it is not transferrable and cannot be refunded or redeemed for cash. The visit to Barton & Guestier’s Château Magnol is subject to availability and flights will be direct to Bordeaux. Bookings must be made a minimum of 6 weeks in advance. Flight departure and arrival times are subject to flight schedule and availability. B&B only. No transfers or dinners included.
- The Promoter shall not be liable for any loss, including, without limitation, indirect, special or consequential loss, or loss of profits, damage or consequential damage of any nature in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise caused by the acceptance of the terms and conditions or in connection with the prize, save for any liability which cannot be excluded by law.
- In the event of unforeseen circumstances the Promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize for an alternative of equal or greater value.
- The winners will be notified by email or phone call. The winner must claim the prize within 30 days of the notification. If the prize is unclaimed after this time, it will lapse and the Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed prize to a substitute winner selected in accordance with the Promotion rules.
- Where a winner has successfully claimed the prize, the Promoter shall dispatch, or arrange to dispatch, the prize to the winner at the earliest opportunity. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall be interpreted as placing an obligation on the Promoter to dispatch, or arrange to dispatch, the prize within a specified period of time.
- The Promoters’ decision is final and binding in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into.
- The winners’ details (name and county) will be made available on The Irish Times website.
- The winner may be required to participate in unpaid publicity arising from this promotion.
- The Promotor will only process your personal information as set out in //irishtimes-irishtimes.cdn.zephr.com/policy-and-terms/privacy-policy and as set out in these terms and conditions.
- Prizes are non transferrable and cannot be exchanged for cash.
- These terms and conditions shall be governed by Irish law and the Courts of the Republic of Ireland shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
- Promoter and Data Controller: The Irish Times DAC, The Irish Times Building, P.O. Box 74, 24 - 28 Tara Street, Dublin 2.
- The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel or amend the Promotion where it becomes necessary to do so.
