A day in Burgenland
UK journalist(O. Clarke esq.) and some very dodgy wine.
Tasting Zweigelt
New tasting room in Donnerskirchen
Out on the Neusiedlersee
Weingut Nehrer, Leithaberg
A Pork Starter
Posted in: Blog
Leave a Comment (0) →Just arrived in Vienna
Three days with Gruner and Blaufrankisch (and hopefully a drop of Riesljng) in Austria followed by three days in Romania. But first a beer and schnitzel 
Posted in: Blog
Leave a Comment (0) →MARKS & SPENCER SPRING TASTING MAY 2015
Following yesterday’s Aldi summer tasting, today Marks & Spencer held a far larger event (theirs entitled Spring tasting though), with around one hundred wines, beers, ciders and soft drinks on show. I tasted the majority, ignoring one or two categories. Are M&S different/better than the rest? Certainly in the UK they position themselves above all of the other supermarkets bar Waitrose (and Wholefoods I suppose). I am a fan of their foods generally (and some of their clothes) although occasionally you find yourself paying over the odds for something fairly ordinary. But overall I feel you pay a little more and receive a little more in return. Their wine selection is certainly eclectic and they put a huge amount of effort into sourcing well-made wines, advising producers through their team of experts, some of who are winemakers themselves.
There are very few other tastings in Dublin that include wines from Greece, Turkey, Israel, India, Brazil, Macedonia, Uruguay as well as all the other usual wine-producing countries. M&S also offer a decent range of fine wines, their own label beers and ciders. I did not have time to taste the beer and cider yesterday. My comments on supermarket wines (see my post on Aldi) being made to a formula still apply to a certain extent here; I always think I detect a certain similarity of style throughout the M&S range. Having said that they certainly offer a greater diversity than any of their rivals. They tend to be a little more expensive, but overall I think the wines are better. They can offer also wines at very competitive prices and some of these are very good value for money. There were far too many wines to go through everything, but I am sure I will feature more in the Irish Times. In the meantime, here are ten of the most interesting wines.
Tikves 2013 Macedonia
12%
€10.99
When did you last taste a Macedonian wine? Or a blend of Smederevka and Rkaciteli? This has soft easy slghtly floppy melon and grape fruits and a dry finish. Interesting, decent value for money and a welcome change from all of those Pinot Grigios and Sauvignon Blancs.
Mâcon-Villages 2014 Domaine de Rochebin
12.5%
€14.29
A happy hunting ground for Burgundy lovers, the Mâconnais produces some great inexpensive Chardonnays. This is one such example, with its green apple fruits aligned nicely with some crisp fresh acidity and a good lingering finish. A great all-rounder for white meats and richer fishy dishes.
Réserve du Boulas Laudun Côtes du Rhône 2014
13.5%
€13.29
A delicious wine that could be mistaken for a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Aromatic and forward, with rich broad plump apricot fruits tempered with a wet-stone minerality. In need of food.
Charles Back Stonedance Roussanne 2014
14%
€15.49
Textured yet elegant with very attractive spicy nectarine fruits. A very interesting and enjoyable wine.
Las Faleras Tinto 2014, Utiel-Requena
12.5%
€8.79
Made from the Bobal grape variety, this is a great value easy glugger with soft plum fruits and light tannins on the finish.
Palataia Pinot Noir 2013, Pfalz
13.5%
€14.79
Fragrant, with lovely soft light spicy cherry fruits with warming alcohol and no tannins. Dangerously easy to drink.
Les Voiles de Paulilles 2013 Collioure
13.5%
€17.49
A big powerful structured wine with masses of cool dark fruits, light spice and a long firm quite mineral finish. Good full-bodied wine to drink with red meats.
Syrah 2013 Vin de pays de l’Ardèche
12%
€11.99
From the ever reliable Cave de Saint Desirat in the northern Rhône, a very attractive light fragrant Syrah with tangy sweet/savoury fruits, good acidity and a tannin-free finish. Great value for money.
Primo de Conti Rouge 2012, Bergerac
13.5%
€13.99
From the excellent organic Tour des Gendres estate in Bergerac, this has very attractive blackcurrant fruits, overlaid with some toast and cedarwood, and light tannins on the finish.
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Leave a Comment (0) →Here’s how to make your own G&T
With the right combinations of herbs, spices and alcohol, it’s possible to make a passable gin and tonic
The ingredients for making your own gin and tonic
- Topics:
- Life & Style
- Food & Drink
- Drink
We all have a creative instinct and mine tends towards things that I can place in my mouth. Over the years, I have tried my hand at various cheeses, yoghurts, kefirs, sausages, hams, kimchis, preserved lemons, chutneys, marmalade, salt-pickled cucumbers, cabbage, radishes and various other edibles.
More recently, I have turned to drink. While researching Irish gin, I came across a blog in the Guardian by writer and forager Andy Hamilton that included recipes for gin and for tonic water. Hamilton began foraging at the age of eight, inspired by the Australian television series Bush Tucker Man, making chickweed salad, and then nettle soup for his parents. He started making alcoholic drinks as a student. “I made a load of elderflower champagne, 180 litres. It lasted a year and half and I ended up hating it. But it set me on the road to making my own booze.” Author of Booze for Free, and Brewing Britain, Hamilton is now experimenting with cocktails made from foraged herbs, flowers and weeds which will feature in his forthcoming book Wild Booze and Hedgerow Cocktails – you can help fund this through his fascinating blog, theotherandyhamilton.com.
Hamilton says that making your own booze is easy and great fun. “I start out with existing cocktails and ingredients and try to make my own versions, substituting with foraged stuff where possible. I wanted to make my own Campari, but there is one ingredient only grown in the Caribbean; I am currently looking for an alternative. I have been making my own vermouth for a while. It seems complicated, as you have to infuse about 10 different things, but actually it’s really easy. I’ll make it up by grabbing a bottle of wine and add a few infused spirits – I have at least 10 on the go at any time. It sounds pretentious, but it is my flavour library.”
Wild Beech Leaf Liqueur 
America Village Apothecary Tonic Syrup 
America Village Apothecary Pine Syrup No.1 His favourite drink at the moment is gin flavoured with foraged Alexanders, although he is also adding sage to a few things at the moment – “just put it in vodka for a real toffee flavour”, he suggests. He even made his own Buckfast recently, adding that it tasted just as bad as the genuine article.
I tried my hand at the two recipes on these pages. My own gin was easier and more successful than my tonic water. Both were a strange pale brown/yellow colour, as they had not been filtered the way commercial products are. The gin was very good, full of juniper, citrus, with a light herbal note, probably from the lavender and rosemary.
The tonic on the other hand was far too sweet for my taste. I crushed some of the allspice berries before adding them, making it too earthy and spicy. The next time I make it, I will cut down on the sugar and add less allspice.
I did, however, manage to find a very good homemade tonic. I came across Claire Davey of the America Village Apothecary (americanvillage.com) in Galway through an article by John McKenna in the health section of this paper.
Not only did Claire kindly supply me with a bottle of her tonic syrup, she also sent samples of her other syrups, bitters and cocktail mixes. These are foraged where possible and sometimes seasonal too, using herbs, flowers and vegetation. Her tonic and my gin made an excellent combination, full of lively, zesty citrus underpinned by complex notes of herbs.
I also recently came across Irish forager, chef and nature guide Mary Bulfin from Co Offaly. Otherwise known as Wild Food Mary (see wildfoodmary.com), she is responsible for the delicious wild beech leaf liqueur that three of Ireland’s Michelin star restaurants now serve or use in their desserts. I enjoyed it lightly chilled as a digestif.
Caught up with the spirit of the thing, I used my second bottle of vodka to create three of my own flavoured spirits. My lemon vodka is very good, and will make an interesting addition to cocktails. The cucumber and dill has very intense, heavy cucumber flavours, and could make an interesting ingredient in gravadlax. Strangely, the dill was less obvious – I was hoping for a Danish aquavit.
These two were simple to make. Simply add the desired ingredients to the vodka in a clean Kilner jar and leave for a week or two, tasting every now and again.
Chocolate vodka has quite an online following. There are plenty of recipes that include chocolate bars, Mars being the most popular. Some suggested dishwasher vodka, made by placing a sealed bottle with chocolate or boiled sweets in the dishwasher and running a full cycle. Apparently, the heat dissolves the chocolate or sweets into the vodka.
I melted my chocolate in a bain marie, gradually adding the vodka. As I am not a fan of sweet things, I used a dark chocolate with 72 per cent cocoa solids. It tasted a bit too bitter, so I added a few teaspoonfuls of Claire Davey’s Pine Syrup No. 1, which worked very well. The result was not unlike a boozed-up chocolate sauce. I suspect it would work very well with whiskey, as proven by Baileys and various other cream liqueurs. However, I am reluctant to waste a good bottle of whiskey on the experiment.
One website suggested that I freeze the vodka. It turned solid, and on defrosting, remained a gel-like substance, not unlike a very pumped-up chocolate mousse.
Most wine people look on homemade wine with a certain distain, usually with good reason. I strongly suspect distillers will frown on my efforts in a similar way. My gin was certainly not as complex or refined as the Irish gins I featured here a few weeks ago. However, it is a delicious drink and I find it more interesting than some of the cheaper gins on the market.
Homemade gin
750ml vodka (preferably 50% ABV)
2 tablespoons juniper berries (or more if you like lots of juniper flavour in your gin)
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp whole allspice
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
4 cardamom pods
2 peppercorns
1 torn bay leaf
A small sprig of lavender
A larger sprig of rosemary
Small piece of dried grapefruit peel (no pith)
Small piece of dried lemon peel (no pith)
A Mason/Kilner jar
Muslin or cheesecloth
Tonic Syrup
Whipping up a batch of tonic water is fairly easy. The hardest part is finding all the ingredients, but a trip to a herbalist or a quick online search should furnish you with all you need.
1lt water
500g sugar
Zest and juice of 2 limes
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Zest and juice of 1 orange
28g cinchoa bark
28g citric acid
1-4 sticks of lemongrass
2-4 cardamom pods
10 allspice berries
Soda water
You will need
An accurate small scales
A large saucepan
A wooden spoon
Funnel
Small sieve
Muslin/cheesecloth
A bottle or two
Posted in: Irish Times
Leave a Comment (0) →My take on the Aldi summer tasting.
I went to the Aldi summer tasting yesterday. Held in Coppa Café in the RHA Gallery, it was a very manageable event, made up primarily of a selection of their core year-round listings with a few once-off limited edition specials. According to Ed Kerrigan, Aldi Ireland wine buyer, they will be doing more of these in the future. For instance there were 30,000 bottles of their very good Lot 2 Australian Chardonnay to share between the UK and Ireland.
I believe that most inexpensive supermarket wines (and most of the Aldi wines are amazingly cheap) these days are drinkable, but rarely exciting. Wine companies have the technical ability to manipulate grapes, grape juice and wine throughout the winemaking process, so the completely undrinkable gut-wrenching stuff of yesteryear has disappeared. It has been replaced by a host of soft rounded sweetish wines with confected fruit and little by the way of character or interest. Some are better than others, and they do offer something to drink over dinner at a very cheap price. But overall I would prefer to pay a little bit more for a better wine (and yes I do buy wine as well as receiving samples). It would be interesting to see how these wines would fare if minimum pricing is introduced. I also wonder what would happen if the EU does finally introduce mandatory ingredient labelling – according to wine writer Alice Feiring there are more than sixty additives and treatments permitted in winemaking. It is not only the cheap wines that receive manipulation, but it seems logical that they require more intervention.
This is not a direct criticism of Aldi wines; I believe that they handle this end of the market quite well. Amongst the 35 odd wines tasted yesterday, I did come across a few that I thought were good value. In addition to those mentioned below, I have also praised the Lot 2 Tasmanian Chardonnay at €12.99.
WHITE WINES
Aldi The Exquisite Collection Gavi 2014
12%
€7.49
Decent fresh crisp dry wine with waxy green apple fruits.
Aldi The Exquisite Collection Rías Baixas Albariño 2014
12%
€9.49
Made by Martín Codax, one of the largest producers in the region, this has plenty of pear fruits with lemon curd and zest. It seems to finish quite sweet, but ok at the price.
Aldi The Exquisite Collection Picpoul de Pinet 2013
13%
€9.99
This is made by Jean Claude Mas, who supplies a huge range of wines to various supermarkets, as well as producing some quite up-market wines from the Languedoc. Quite plump and rich (as with many Picpouls these days – what happened to the lighter Muscadets of the South?) with clean pear and melon fruits.
The Exquisite Collection Limestone Coast Chardonnay 2013
13.5%
€8.49
Light ripe plump red apple and melon fruits, with no off-notes. Decent value.
RED WINES
Ch Marot Bellevue 2013, Bordeaux
12.5%
€7.99
The 2012 vintage was a little too light, but this is better. I have a weakness for slightly scrawny, dry Bordeaux (it all depends what you were brought up on) and this certainly fits into that category; it has very light blackcurrant fruits, good acidity and a slightly herby note. I would drink this cool over summer with cold meats and charcuterie.
The Exquisite Collection Cabernet de Cabernet 2014
15.5%
€8.99
Another wine from Jean Claude Mas. Decent juicy blackcurrant fruits with some classic Cabernet pencil shavings and grainy tannins on the finish.
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Leave a Comment (0) →Sheridan’s Irish Food Festival 2015
I spent a very pleasant few hours at the Sheridan’s Irish Food Festival in Meath yesterday. I would love to have stayed longer as there was a lot going on, but sadly, I had plenty of chores waiting for me back home.
The highlight of the day was a raw milk tasting. We worked our way through four cow’s milks, made from different breeds, a sheep’s milk, a goat’s milk and even buffalo milk, all raw and untreated. The producers gave a quick talk about their milk and its attributes. For cheese it is all about fat levels apparently. Frank Shinnick of Fermoy Natural Cheese gave a great talk on the healthy attributes of raw milk – it is only a short time since the Government was trying to ban it. Apparently we need to drink milk with A2 beta casein that, some people believe, helps those with eczema, asthma and lactose intolerance. I enjoyed all of the milks – the goat’s milk was not early as ‘goaty’ as you would expect. Marion Roeleveld of Killeen cheese said that for some reason, pasteurized goat’s milk has a stronger flavour. Most of the producers do not generally produce raw milk, keeping it for the all-important business of cheese making.
Once this was over, I headed off to buy some cheese. For the last twenty years, I have had a personal addiction to sheep’s cheese and Ossau-Iraty, a brebis from the Pyrenees in particular. I came across it at a wine and food fair in the UK, and have always bought it when possible since. In recent years it has become more popular; both M&S and Tesco sell it, and Sheridan’s generally have a selection. Yet I have only ever come across one Irish sheep’s cheese; strange given the number of sheep we have, and the popularity of sheep’s cheese in France, Spain Italy and Greece. Séan and Deirdre FitzGerald in Co. Clare have made Cratloe Hills for around two decades now. I hadn’t seen it for a while, so I was delighted to find a stand with Séan and his cheese there. I also came across Lorraine Cahalan who makes Cáis na Tíre in Terryglass. I bought a piece of each and conducted a taste test including a French raw milk cheese bought from Sheridan’s last week in the lineup. The competition was a bit unfair – I went for the lighter version of the Cratloe (they have a mature version too) but both Irish cheeses had that lovely firm sweetness you get in good sheep’s cheese. The French was still the best for me, but my wife and daughter both preferred the Irish cheeses, finding the brebis a little too powerful. I find sheep’s cheese a good match for most red wine – although this may be just an excuse I have made up to allow me indulge in my two favourite vices.
I also bought some Boyne Valley Blue, made from goat’s cheese, the only Irish blue goat’s cheese? That was delicious, with a certain similarity to some of the Portuguese versions that I have tried. I also sampled the blue cheese spread from Cashel Blue – a great product (blue cheese and cream, can’t go wrong?) but some people might be put off by the grey/brown colour.
I bumped into David Llewellyn, producer of all things wonderful from apples, including a cider, various apple juices, a syrup, a wonderful vinegar and a balsamic apple vinegar. He showed me his new Perry – a delicious fresh dry pear cider with about 6% alcohol. I also sampled Jane Russell’s bratwurst and sauerkraut – both very good.
As well as the cheeses, I came home with a bottle of O’Cléirigh Virginja American Pale Ale, the first beer from a new local craft brewery, and only bottled that morning. It was very good, with a nice hoppy bite but well balanced. I also bought some Macroom flour, cakes for my mother, a collar of free-range Tamworth pork, some raw milk from Crawford’s Farm and a nice bag of salad.
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Leave a Comment (0) →Ovilos 2012, Ktima Biblia Chora IGP Pangeon, Greece
14%
€23.99
Tomás Clancy, my colleague in the Sunday Business Post presented this wine in the discussion on Emerging Wine Regions at Ballymaloe Litfest 2015 (see my recent post on this event). I agree with his selection of both wine and area; Greece is a fascinating wine producing country, and this is a great wine – I featured it in my book Wilson On Wine 2016. Made from a blend of Semillon and Assyrtiko, a fascinating indigenous variety, this is made by two of Greece’s leading winemakers. I suspect they have toned down the oak in recent vintages. Certainly earlier years seemed to have more richness and toast, which, for once, I enjoyed. Either way, the wine is very good and worth the price.
This is a beautifully creamy textured wine with fresh crisp lime and peach fruits, and a very subtle toastiness. Drink with scallops or lobster.
Available from Wines on the Green, Dawson Street; Baggot St. Wines; Redmond’s, Ranelagh; Donnybrook Fair; Cases, Galway; Gibney’s, Malahide; Holland’s, Bray; Jus de Vine, Portmarnock.
Posted in: Top Drop
Leave a Comment (0) →La Penetencia 2013 Ribera Sacra
13.5%
€50
Elegant dark cherry and blueberry fruits on nose and palate. Piquant, elegant and precise with fine tannins on a wonderful lingering finish. Drink with pork dishes or duck and game, or hard cheeses.
I presented this wine in the Emerging Wine Regions discussion at the Ballymaloe Litfest 2015 (see my blog), as a representative of all the exciting things that are taking place in northwest Spain and northern Portugal as well. I like Rías Baixas but there is so much more to this region, including the Alvarinhos of northern Portugal and the wines of Ribeiro, Valdeorras and Monterrei. However, on my last visit, I fell in love with the region of Ribeira Sacra (I have always like the wines). Running along the Sil valley are these almost vertical ancient terraces, with vines, and all sorts of green vegetation. It is hauntingly beautiful, a bit like the Douro but greener. La Pentencia is made by the region’s most famous winemaker, Raúl Pérez. It is from a single vineyard. The soils are slate, the vines (mainly Mencía, with Alicante Bouchet, Bastardo and Caiño) are over a hundred years old. The wine is expensive but enchanting.
Available from 64wine, Glasthule.
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Leave a Comment (0) →The Beauty of Burgundy The Irish Times 16th May, 2015
Nothing can touch red Burgundy at its best
The use of the Burgundy name is now restricted solely to wines made in the region, which has become a destination of choice for many Irish holidaymakers
Beaune: many of the old buildings have been restored making it a very pleasant town to stroll around, with plenty of shops offering wine, food and much moreProducers around the world abused the name Burgundy for many years, using it for any wine they felt appropriate. Thankfully, its use is now restricted solely to wines made in the region. Now, it seems, the region has become a destination of choice for many Irish holidaymakers. A growing number of friends and acquaintances have spent a happy week wandering or cycling along paths through vineyards, stopping for lunch in cafés, before resting in a B&B for the night.
Beaune is a good place to start. A bustling town of 22,000 citizens, it is the centre of the wine trade. Many of the very impressive old buildings have been restored making it a very pleasant town to stroll around, with plenty of shops offering wine, food and much more besides. Although tourism has increased greatly over the past decade, the town retains a charming character.
Bourgogne Rouge 2013, Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur 12.9%, €24.99 
Bourgogne Héritage 1831, Albert Bichot 2012 12.5%, €23-€25 
Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits 2011, Patrice Cacheux 12.5% €23.99 On my last two visits it was the beauty of the countryside that struck me. Drive 10 minutes out of Beaune, away from the motorway, and you are travelling through some of the most famous wine villages in the world. Another five minutes, up into the hills, and you are in la France profonde, a picturesque countryside of rolling hills, quiet lanes and pretty villages. Cycling and walking take a little longer, but either is a far better way to see any countryside. The BIVB., the body responsible for wine in Burgundy, has produced a very handy booklet with details of wine producers and restaurants in the region. It can be downloaded from bourgognes- wines. com. The site also suggests well-marked cycle and walking routes. I would be very tempted to lose myself in the beautiful bucolic wooded hillsides of the Mâconnais-Beaujolais.
Returning to the wines, the story is less cheerful. For many years Burgundy was too small and the wines too inconsistent to appeal to collectors, particularly those from the Far East. As a smaller region, there simply wasn’t enough wine to “make” a market. Apart from the hideously expensive wines of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti, investors tended to head straight to Bordeaux.
This has all changed recently, and worldwide demand now far exceeds supply. Whereas some top Bordeaux château can offer 20,000 cases of their wine each vintage, there may be only a few hundred cases of an equivalent in Burgundy, to be divided up amongst a growing band of buyers from all over the world. The prices of the very best grands crus have rocketed, making them only affordable to the super-rich. Even the premiers crus are moving rapidly upwards in price.
Should we be concerned about these rising prices? If, like me, you love Pinot Noir, the answer is yes. Other parts of the world – Germany, New Zealand, Chile and the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula in Australia – are producing some very tasty Pinot Noir, but none can touch red Burgundy at its best. At a more reasonable price, the top domaines produce small quantities of Bourgogne Rouge, often the produce of younger vines, or a vineyard located on the wrong side of the N74, the main road to the east of the Côte d’Or, or simply wine not considered good enough for their grand vins. But these days, Burgundy has much more to offer than these elite estates. Further south and west, the Mâconnais, Hautes- Côtes of Beaune and Nuits can offer canny buyers wines of real interest. And the Bourgognes Rouges produced by the larger négociants have shown real improvement. They may lack the individual character of the small estates, but these days, some offer good value, in Burgundian terms at least.
Posted in: Irish Times
Leave a Comment (0) →Ballymaloe Kerrygold Litfest 2015
I have just returned from the Ballymaloe Kerrygold Litfest 2015. As usual I have this lovely warm feeling of goodwill to mankind in general, engendered by the wonderful events and interesting people I came across over the weekend. I know some people view this as an elitist navel-gazing event; all I can say is they have obviously never been there. The Litfest has a laid-back welcoming atmosphere, with no burly security guards, no VIP areas, and no helicopters flying in; just a great range of speakers and if you can’t afford that, an amazing array of free or cheap fringe events (once you pay your €5 entrance fee) in the Big Shed and the surrounding gardens.
I started on the early morning shift at 9.30 on Saturday morning, with a group of colleagues from the Irish press, each of us presenting a wine we thought offered value, and discussing what value actually meant when buying wine. I get very frustrated with wine drinkers who think that a wine must cost less than €10 to be considered great value. In fact, as most of this goes straight to the government in taxes, frequently it means the worst possible value. A wine at €25 can be great value if it tastes as good as a €50 bottle. As it happened three out of four panelists chose wines at €14-15 (mine was the brilliant El Castro de Valtuille Joven, search the irishtimes.com for details) and one opted for a €24 bottle.
The Beauty of Blending
I took part in five tasting/discussions in total, and therefore never made it down to the cookery school to watch any demonstrations. I did get to a great whiskey tasting by whisky author Dave Broom, Tomás Clancy of the Sunday Business Post and Brian Nation, master distiller for Irish distillers in Midleton, and a wonderful presentation of beers from the Brooklyn Brewery by brewmaster, writer and raconteur Garret Oliver. If you haven’t tasted the Brooklyn brewery beers, I strongly suggest that you do so. Tomás and I saved our best wines to last – on Sunday we presented The Beauty of Blending, and a nice line up of wines; Tio Pepe En Rama (Thanks Gonzalez Byass), Bollinger Special Cuvée (Findlaters), Taylors 20 year old (thanks to Chris Forbes of Taylors) and Coyam (O’Briens). We raided the Ballymaloe cellar for some Ch. Léoville-Barton 2004 and Vieux Telegraphe 2007. Proof if needed that the ancient art of blending is all about improving quality.In fact you could argue that just about every wine produced is a blend of some sort.
Sorachi Ace
Alice Feiring in action
I went to a presentation of natural wines by American author Alice Feiring, who champions this very controversial style of winemaking – organic or biodynamic winemaking, low or no sulphur, no cultured yeasts, and very little else added. She pointed out there are 72 permitted additives in winemaking many of which can drastically change the taste of a wine. I enjoyed two of the four wines, and disliked the others – a draw? I also took part in a tasting with Alice and others on terroir in wine, and another early morning session with some very bleary-eyed panelists (and audience) on whether wine is going out of fashion. There was a representative from each form of alcohol production, and it could have ended in fisticuffs. Maybe we were all too tired for fighting as it passed off peacefully.
On Saturday night I attended an amazing dinner prepared by the team at OX restaurant in Belfast. If you haven’t been there yet, make it a priority. The food is inventive, complex and gorgeous. See the menu below. The halibut, lamb, cheese and artichoke ice cream will stay in my memory for a long time, as will the Cypres de Climens. I had John Bowman sitting on one side and Rory Gallagher’s brother (and former manager) on the other, so the conversation swung from history to politics, to music and my attendance (as a schoolboy) at Gallagher’s gig in the Carlton Cinema on O’Connell Street in the mid-seventies.
All of the above were great fun, but I was probably happiest wandering around the Big Shed and other fringe areas, meeting friends and talking to stallholders. I bought some weird and wonderful seeds from Brown Envelope Seeds, some organic lettuce seedlings, a few bottles of amazing flavoured waters from Rebel Foods, oolong tea from Niks, coffee from Badger & Dodo, chocolate from Wilkie’s, lunch from Iyers Café (great dhosas) and a magical mystery lunch from Slow Food Northern Ireland. I tried Mr. Jeffares delicious flavoured blackcurrant juices, Craigies cider, smoked water (?) at Ummera Smokehouse, and much, much more. Several member of the drinks press tasted and danced long into the night – all in a day’s work. Bring on Litfest 2016. Next up Sheridan’s Food Festival next weekend!
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