South Offaly winery hopes to bring unique offering to “silver tourists”

A new vineyard project in rural South Offaly is hoping to put the Midlands on the wine tourism map, with plans to attract visitors seeking a quieter, more relaxed Irish experience.

Stephen Whyte, founder of Irish Wine Estates, is developing a vineyard and visitor centre near the villages of Dunkerrin and Shinrone, with ambitions not only to produce Irish-grown wine but also to bring new tourism opportunities to the region.

“I’m a farmer’s son from South Offaly,” Mr Whyte explained. “I went off to university, followed a career in the food industry, then moved into software and sold that business a few years ago. My wife and I decided it was time to relocate back to Ireland and back home for me.”

After decades living abroad, the couple returned to the family area and began exploring how they might build something new on the land.

“We always loved farming and always had an interest in buying a farm,” he said. “The question was what we would actually do with it.”

The idea for a vineyard came after seeing the success of the English wine industry.

“We had travelled quite a bit and saw what was happening in England, where there are now over a thousand vineyards producing around ten million bottles of wine a year,” Mr Whyte said.

“If the English can produce high-quality wine, surely the Irish can too.”

The couple spent several years searching for the right location before purchasing a 27-acre farm complete with farm buildings and a historic cottage believed to date back to the mid-18th century.

“We were lucky to acquire a small 27-acre farm with a farmyard, outbuildings and an old farmer’s cottage dating back to about 1750,” he said. “That cottage will become the focus of our vineyard visitor centre.”

The vineyard will focus on cold-climate grape varieties, similar to those successfully grown in England. While Irish wine production remains a niche industry, Mr Whyte believes there is significant potential for growth.

“We’re hoping to produce wine exclusively from Irish-grown grapes,” he said.

The vineyard will take an experimental approach to grape growing as the team works to identify which varieties are best suited to Ireland’s climate. Stephen said 22 experimental grape varieties sourced from nurseries across Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe will be planted as part of the initial development.

Around 20 vines of each variety will be grown and monitored over the next three to four years to see how they perform in Irish conditions. As Ireland is still considered a new wine-growing region, the trials will help determine which grapes could thrive locally and potentially support a much larger vineyard expansion in the future.

The first experimental vines were planted in a small pilot plot at the couple’s home, with larger vineyard plantings now underway.

“We planted a pilot plot in our back garden, a very fancy name for the back garden,” Mr Whyte said.

“The first wine from the main vineyard will likely be around 2029, and the first sparkling wine around 2031 because sparkling wine needs to age for at least two years.”

Alongside production, tourism will be a central focus for the project.

“Tourism is absolutely critical for us,” he said. “If people spend three or four hours visiting us, hopefully some will stay locally, eat locally and bring their dollars into South Offaly rather than Cork or Kerry.”

Mr Whyte believes the Midlands is particularly well suited to what tourism experts call the “silver tourist” market, older visitors seeking quieter destinations away from crowded hotspots.

“Some tourists don’t want the hustle and bustle of places like Dublin or Kerry,” he said. “They want somewhere quieter where they can enjoy the countryside.”

While well-known attractions draw visitors to other regions, he believes the Midlands has an opportunity to develop a wider range of experiences to keep tourists in the area longer.

“Offaly tourism will need 20, 30 or 40 different attractions because not everyone who visits will want to see a vineyard,” he said.

“If we can bring people into the area, it creates opportunities for local accommodation providers, restaurants and pubs.”

One challenge, he notes, will be ensuring there are enough places for visitors to stay.

“If we’re successful and tourists start arriving, one of our biggest challenges will be where they can stay locally,” he said.

“Many farmers have unused buildings that could be converted into tourism accommodation.”

Despite being in the early stages, the project has already attracted attention online, with social media followers closely tracking the vineyard’s development.

“I had never done social media before, I’m probably too old for Instagram,” Mr Whyte said.

“I started last year as an experiment and I’ve been blown away by how engaged people are with the journey.”

For Mr Whyte, the long-term goal goes beyond producing wine, it is about helping to showcase the potential of the Midlands as a destination in its own right.

“The Midlands is uncrowded, and that’s actually one of our greatest advantages,” he said. “I think we sometimes lack confidence here, but there’s a huge opportunity.”