Win a spectacular year-long wine experience with The K Club

Are you an amateur wine aficionado? A secret sommelier? A closet connoisseur? An undercover oenophile?

The K Club is inviting Irish Times readers to nominate a wine-lover in your life (yourself, a family member or friend) to play a part in The K Club’s wine team for 2023. The lucky winner will get to spend time with The K Club’s Sommelier, Lisa O’Doherty, shadowing her at a wine tasting, and will also have the pleasure of visiting Château Magnol, the vineyard of renowned wine-makers Barton & Guestier in France.

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 2023 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 judges and the 5 shortlisted entrants.

The judging panel includes Marie-Claire Digby, food editor, The Irish Times, Lisa O’Doherty, Sommelier, The K Club and John Wilson, Wine Writer, 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 2023 will receive

• 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
• An invite for the winner and a guest to an exclusive six-course tasting event at The K Club on Thursday 1st December in partnership with Marbella Club with an overnight stay

Deadline for receipt of essay entries is Monday 14th November via The Irish Times (irishtimes.com/kclub) and the winner will be selected at an evening event in The K Club on Monday 28th November.

This competition is now closed.

Terms & Conditions

1. 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.

2. A valid entry consists of a correct answer entered in the form above, accompanied by the entrant’s name, email address and a phone number.

3. 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.

4. The Promotion will run from 29/10/2022 to midnight on 14/11/2022 inclusive.

5. 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.

6. Promotion limited to one entry per person. No entrant will win more than one prize.

7. By submitting an entry to the Promotor, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.

8. Responsibility will not be accepted for entries lost, damaged or delayed as a result of any network, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt. Entries will become the property of the Promoter.

9. The prize is listed above. There will be one winner.

10. All prizes will be subject to any additional terms and conditions of the K Club. This prize must be used before December 1st, 2023, and cannot be refunded or redeemed for cash.

11. The Promoter shall not be liable for any loss, 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.

12. In the event of unforeseen circumstances the Promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize for an alternative of equal or greater value.

13. The winners will be notified by email. 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.

14. The promoters’ decision is final and binding in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into.

15. The winners’ details (name and county) will be made available on The Irish Times website.

16. The winner may be required to participate in unpaid publicity arising from this promotion.

17. The Promotor will only process your personal information as set out in https://www.irishtimes.com/policy-and-terms/privacy-policy and as set out in these terms and conditions.

18. Prizes are non transferrable and cannot be exchanged for cash.

19. These terms and conditions shall be governed by Irish law and the Courts of the Republic of Ireland shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

20. Promoter and Data Controller: The Irish Times DAC, The Irish Times Building, P.O. Box 74, 24 - 28 Tara Street, Dublin 2.

21. The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel or amend the Promotion where it becomes necessary to do so.