Stonewell Medium Dry Irish Craft Cider, 5.5%, €3.99 for the 500 ml bottle.
During many trips to France over the years, a regular pleasure has been sampling their cider with a lunchtime salad. Now, at last, we have a local craft cider here and it is encouraging to see some Cork restaurants already adding it to their drinks list. Perhaps a smaller bottle size (maybe 250ml) might be more suitable for lunchtime!
Made from local fruit by the Nohoval Brewing Company, this is quite a refreshing drink. That fruit sure comes through well but there is enough acidity, just about, for the cider to merit its Medium Dry tag. It is close to being perfectly balanced.
It is early days yet in their admirable Nohoval venture and, already Daniel, the Master Cider Maker, has a product to be proud of. Good cutting in it, as they say. Now, all we need to go with it is a summer’s day!
Must say though that this cider doesn’t really need the sunshine to illustrate its quality which is orchards ahead of some of the bland insipid watery stuff being imported.
Loads of info on the label, including that one of the three Apple varieties used is Michelin, but if you haven’t brought your reading glasses, don't worry: you’ll know the country of origin by the eye catching Celtic design on the front.
Stonewell. Another good reason to buy local, buy Irish. I got mine in Bradley’s (North Main Street) and you can see the full list of stockists here.
PS: My first bottle was chilled down fast in the freezer while the second was treated to a more leisurely and less extreme cooling in the fridge. The second tasted better. Wonder what the recommended serving temperature is?
