The All Whites. Including a Mendoza Double.

Valle Aldino Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Central Valley (Chile), 13%, €12.70 Karwig Wine

Have you been reading The 24 Hour Wine Expert by Jancis Robinson? At €6.80 (Waterstones), it is well worth getting. 

In a section called Be Adventurous, she lists 15 pairs, one wine The Obvious Choice, the other tagged The Clever Alternative.  In Sauvignon Blanc, the obvious is Marlborough while the alternative is Chile.

The alternative, she says, can “be sometimes cheaper, often more interesting”. This Valle Aldino is certainly cheaper and, while not more interesting than the better Marlboroughs, is a good alternative at a decent price.

Colour is a light straw with tints of green. Fresh and grassy aromas, white fruits there too. Gooseberries and citrus flavours, with strong melon-y notes too, on the zesty palate, plus a decent finish. Recommended.

Mendoza’s Domaine Bousquet

A Blend Double

In 1990, the Bousquet family from Carcassonne in Southern France began to explore wine-making possibilities in Argentina. In 1997, they settled in Tupungato (Mendoza) in one of the highest vineyards in the world.

It is no less than 1,200 meters above sea level. There is a large difference between day and night temperatures. This variation (the thermal amplitude) helps create fully ripened grapes with good acidity. The heat of the day promotes the ripening, the chill of the night preserves acidity. Grapes are hand-picked and the vineyard is certified organic.

Domaine Bousquet Chardonnay - Pinot Gris Reserva 2010 (Tupungato, Mendoza, ARG), 14%, €18.80 Mary Pawle Wines

Colour is a light gold, clean and bright and a ring of bubbles stay around the rim for a while. It is strongly aromatic, some exotic white fruit and floral notes too. Concentrated white fruit flavours announce its arrival on the palate and the acidity ensures a happy balance. It is an elegant style with a dry and pleasing finish. Highly Recommended.

The mix is 85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Gris. And the Reserve apparently means that the grapes have been picked from the best plots.

Domaine Bousquet Cameleon  Selection Torrontes - Chardonnay 2014 (Tupungato, Mendoza, ARG), 14%, O’Donovan’s Off Licence.

The Cameleon, one of their brands, symbolises the family story of Jean Bousquet, the leaving of France and adapting to the new life in Argentina. Adapted quite well going by this bottle, also Highly Recommended.

The blend here is fifty fifty. Aging is in stainless steel plus four months in bottle. Ideal, they say for seafood, fish dishes and cheeses. I say fine on its own and worth a try too with white meat and Asian dishes.

Colour is a light gold, clean and bright, much like the first bottle above. Aromas are of white fruits, floral notes too. On the palate there are fresh white fruit flavors, some sweet spice, an oily mouthfeel, more body here, that expected acidity and a long, dry and very pleasing finish.

This is what the family wanted from the blend and from their soil. “With its subtle attunement, this Chameleon is a conspicuous presence in a landscape of indistinguishable wine.” Don't know what the neighbours made of that statement!

New Life For Old Butter Road. Putting North Cork on the Food Map

New Life For Old Butter Road

Putting North Cork on the Food Map

Carrigcleena Farm Poultry duck with Annabella Farm carrot puree, pickled carrots on crispy quinoa

An old butter road is set to become the centre of a new North Cork food venture. For a year or so now, a small group of people, with support from Taste Cork, have been working on the plan to bring producers and providers from the area together and showcase the result under the Old Butter Road Food Trail. 

It will cover a large area, from Macroom to Blarney, from Coolea to Mallow, from Kanturk to Castlelyons. You should be able to get your first taste of the new trail on the May Bank Holiday weekend 2017.

Mc Carthy's of Kanturk black pudding wrapped in puff pastry and served with house piccalilli

Chairperson of the Old Butter Road Food Trail Maire ní Mhurchu welcomed us to a networking meeting at The Square Table in Blarney earlier this week. “This has been in gestation for the past 12 months. Many have come onboard including producers, butchers, growers, hotels, and restaurants.” 

Longueville House, Macroom’s Castle Hotel, Ballyvolane House, McCarthy’s of Kanturk, and Blairs Inn are among those “onboard”. Eventually each participant will be entitled to display a churn at his or her entrance.

Michael Twomey Butchers Wagyu beef burgers 

with Whitechurch (Hegarty’s) cheddar, 

house tomato chutney made from Annabella Farm tomatoes

The Cronin sisters, Trish and Martina, who own the Square Table, are enthusiastic members of the steering committee. “We can't do good food without producers…there is great produce in North Cork and we are trying to put it on the map. It will be a slow-burner to start with but the knock-on will boost the local profile. And we hope that other restaurants will source local, even in part.”

Maire, who runs the Blarney based Activity Days company, pointed out that there are farmers markets in Mallow, Fermoy and Macroom but they are not so well known.  She and the other members of the steering group, including the Blair brothers from Blairs Inn, are determined to put the region firmly on the map.

Ardsallagh goat cheese
with house beetroot chutney on parmesan shortbread

And when you've eaten, you’ll have no shortage of attractions to choose from in the area. The list, from the lovely Lee to the majestic Blackwater and beyond, includes Blarney Castle, Doneraile Park, Millstreet Country Park, Mallow Castle, and The Gearagh in Macroom.

From the late 18th century, for many decades, Cork was the centre of the world butter trade. Supplies came to the Butter Exchange in Shandon in the city by a network of butter roads. 

Liscannor crab with Annabella Farm carrots, pickled ginger, avocado Vietnamese rollsOld Mill Bank Smoked Salmon blended with Velvet Cloud sheep's yogurt and avocado on home made brown bread made with Macroom wholemeal flour

Perhaps the most famous is that from Castleisland in North Kerry to Cork, via Millstreet. East of Millstreet and west of Rylane, in a small place called Aubane, you’ll find a couple of roadside plaques (right) remembering the heyday of the road.

And here too you’ll see the Kerryman’s Table, a large slab of rock, where the travellers stopped for refreshment and no doubt to exchange gossip. 

And possibly to check their pocket-watches! When a supplier reached Shandon, he would ‘bring home the time' by adjusting his pocket watch at the clock tower.

Did he not know that the clock, with its four faces, one on each wall of the tower, was and is known as the four-faced liar? Read the full article on the butter road, by Jo Kerrigan, here. 

The old road was busy then, a hive of activity. And the meeting in Blarney gave every indication of making it, and the surrounding roads, every bit as busy again, feeding all the hungry travellers. Maybe, come May, there’ll be a bite or two out on the Kerryman’s Table! And if you don’t know the time, just check your mobile!

Carrigcleena Farm Poultry duck on crostini with Annabella Farm kale and house beetroot chutney

Before the meeting, the Cronins illustrated just what they were taking about with an amazing spread of tasty bites (more than enough to cover the Kerryman’s Table), all made from local produce. 

We had Old Mill Bank Smoked Salmon blended with Velvet Cloud sheep's yogurt and avocado on home made brown bread made with Macroom wholemeal flour; Ardsallagh goat cheese with house beetroot chutney on parmesan shortbread; Liscannor crab with Annabella Farm carrots, pickled ginger, avocado Vietnamese rolls; Carrigcleena Farm Poultry duck with Annabella Farm carrot puree, pickled carrots on crispy quinoa; Michael Twomey Butchers Wagyu beef burgers with Whitechurch (Hegarty’s) cheddar, house tomato chutney made from Annabella Farm tomatoes; Mc Carthy's of Kanturk black pudding wrapped in puff pastry and served with house piccalilli; Carrigcleena Farm Poultry duck on crostini with Annabella Farm kale and house beetroot chutney.

Beer FAQ. All that’s left to know about beer.

Beer FAQ

All that’s left to know about beer.

Brewer Cormac hard at it in Dungarvan Brewery

Beer FAQ, by Jeff Cioletti, packs a lot into its 400 pages. It claims to be a no-nonsense guide to the world of beer, answering many burning questions about the diverse array of styles, ingredients, and international brewing and drinking and the traditions that drive the world’s most celebrated beverage.

And it certainly does that. Just be aware that this is an American publication so you’ll see the odd geographical faux pas, like placing the University of Sunderland in Scotland. Generally though the contribution of the old world, especially England, Belgium, Germany (he suggests that Munich is not the “beeriest city” in Germany, giving that accolade to Bamberg) and the old Czechoslovakia is handsomely acknowledged before the big statement (pretty well backed up) in which the origin of the latest wave of craft brewing is claimed for the USA.

Beer selection at recent festival in Cork's Franciscan Well

And since the US is our next parish, we do have an interest there as residents, relations, visitors, drinkers and importers. Many of the US beers - Sierra Nevada and Brooklyn Brewery - have long been favourites here.

In a chapter titled The Birth of Beer, Jeff says that beer, “for both the Romans and the Greeks, was the beverage of barbarians”. Long after the fall of the wine-drinking Roman Empire, beer “was considered an underclass drink”.

Later on, the monasteries took a hand and started to brew beer, “a central form of sustenance when you couldn't trust the water”.  Later, science and the industrial revolution would play major roles in spreading beer globally.

He delves into the history and the different types of hops, concentrating on a few including Cascade, Hallertau, Simcoe and Sorachi Ace. You can learn too about malt and yeast. And the various styles of beer.

Beer in the New World is covered in great detail, even recalling some old advertisements, many of them openly sexist. Remember “Mabel. Black Label” and the subservient doting wife. Some detailed insight too into the renaissance of American beer that was led by the craft revolution. In 1873, the number of US breweries reached 4,131. In 1941, it was down to just 857 and stayed around that mark until 1995. Now there are close to five thousand!

The breweries that were prominent in the rise of craft are detailed. Anchor Beer, Boston Brewing and Brooklyn are included. By the way, did you know that Brooklyn have partnered Carlsberg in two breweries, one in Sweden, one in Norway.

And Jeff poses the question: “but what exactly defines ‘craft beer’? That answer is a little complicated”. He gives it a few pages, pointing out that micro-breweries, by their very nature start out small and some then get large. Can a large brewery be a craft brewery? 

The author looks to his colleague John Holl who has written an editorial in the March edition of the All about Beer magazine with the title: “Craft Beer is Dead. Long Live Craft Beer!” Holl went on to write that the simple five letter word “has caused so much ‘confusion, blind passion, and confrontation’”.

Black's of Kinsale, one of the first Irish craft brewers to can.

“Most people silently agree with me,” Holl reveals. “It’s a word that’s been fraught with all kinds of baggage. It’ll continue to change. Most brewers simply are thinking of making beer of exceptional taste and quality.” 

Cioletti claims that beer is a better match with cheese than wine. “..cheese’s fat content coats the palate and beer’s carbonation scrubs the palate clean, preparing it for the next course.” In fairness he also acknowledges that sparkling wines can do the same.

Garrett Oliver at Ballymaloe LitFest

Pizza, pasta, burgers and Barbecue have been the traditional invitation to open the beer. But go that bit further, Cioletti suggests. Try a delicate beer, a Belgian wit for instance, with sushi.

And then he moves on to fish in general, including crustaceans - “stouts are a winning match with oysters”, “spicier options with crab”. Porters and stouts are “quite comfortable” with stews. “..now, if we’re talking..beef Carbonnade, which usually has a wine base, consider something on the sour side..” If you’re on a wild game stew, “the strong flavours should harmonize with something on the wilder side: perhaps a saison with brett.”

Peter Curtin in his tiny brewery over the Roadside Tavern in Clare

There are chapters on pubs in the US and around the world (just one in Ireland, Dublin’s Against the Grain, gets a mention), on beer in films and TV (think Jaws, Cheers), on containers including cans (started in 1935!), on beer cocktails, and a nod (a small one) to Kindred Spirits eg cider, mead and spirits.

Quite a tome if not quite the encyclopaedia, packed with info and insights from leading figures over the decades, something here both for the beer beginner and the expert. 

Jack Lynch in Cork's Cotton Ball brewery, under the pub of the same name

Beer FAQ is “the ultimate primer for getting better acquainted with the world’s favorite adult beverage” and is published by Backbeat Books. Available at Amazon for £17.95.

The New Republic in Ballincollig. Plush, Spacious Restaurant.

New Republic in Ballincollig

Plush, Spacious Restaurant

The Republic Bar & Grill, the newly opened upstairs restaurant in Ballincollig’s East End, is plush and comfortable and the food too is of a high standard. Owners John and Darina Gately have also opened a bar downstairs and that is called JD’s.

Visited the Republic last week and was immediately struck by the decor, the comfortable and spacious split-level areas with a small bar in the middle, the views over the main street, the many paintings and the friendly welcome.

Later, my focus would switch to the food and the service and both turned out to be faultless. The grill is emphasised of course so plenty steaks, burgers too. But there is much more in this impressive place. Lots of tables for two but it is also designed to be family friendly both in terms of seating and food - there is an extensive kids menu.

There are no specials here but the menu is quite large. Amazingly, for the third restaurant in a row, we availed of a blue cheese and pear salad but this time a warm one - a very good one too: Warm Pear & Cashel Blue Cheese Salad, withToasted Walnuts (7.95). 

Wings

My own choice was the JD Gately’s Famous Spicy Chicken Wings (7.95), with Blue Cheese and Celery sticks. This was a trademark success in a previous Gately restaurant and is as good as ever.

When it came to the mains, I decided to try something from the grill. I picked Wagyu Beef Burger (15.95) with crispy onion stack, french fries and peppercorn sauce. The meat is from Macroom and you have a choice of sauces. It is served on a Brioche bun and is very tasty indeed.

Chicken

Sounds of approval too from the other side of the table as CL tucked into her Oven Roast Supreme Of Chicken (14.95), with Creamy Mushroom & White Wine Sauce, another well presented dish, well cooked with excellent texture and flavour.

Desserts are tempting enough and very hard to resist when the choice comes to your table on a trolley! Our share was the Velvet Cake with vanilla pod cream infused with strawberry. Quite a decadent finish in the new Republic.

Burger

The total, excluding tip, came to €60.80 for two starters, two main courses and one dessert plus a glass of Jameson Crested. 

A day or two later, I found the bill in my pocket and saw the whiskey cost €7.50. I got the same for €5.00 in Ballina (Grand National Hotel) in October and for €5.65 in Killarney (Celtic Whiskey Bar) in November. Overall though, we were well pleased with the food, the service and the splendid new room. A fine new place to go in Ballincollig.

Dessert

• By the way, you can study the menus (including Sunday lunch) here before you visit.

Republic Bar & Grill

Main Street

Ballincollig

Co. Cork

tel: 021 4873252

email: info@republicbarandgrill.com

web: http://republicbarandgrill.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Republicbarandgrill/ 

Open: from 5.00pm Tues to Sat; 1.00-6.00pm Sun.

Amuse Bouche

On visits to Moscow, Helmut (Kohl) invariably looked me up at the Gorbachev Foundation. In 2002, in our small dining room there, we arranged an intimate supper with just him, his assistant, myself, my daughter Irina, and a member of the Foundation staff. He cheerfully drank two or three glasses of vodka, followed by beer. Kohl was very proud of his role in the creation of the Euro, and signed a 20-Euro banknote, added the date, 1 January 2002, and gave me it as a souvenir.

from The New Russia by Mikhail Gorbachev 2016. Very Highly Recommended

Club Brasserie. Out of the ordinary

Club Brasserie. Out of the ordinary

The Club Brasserie must be the most stylish dining room in Cork. Mirrors, chandeliers, flowers, the lighting and more, all brought to a perfect harmony by co-owner and front of house Beth Haughton.  All is in perfect balance then and much the same could be said about the cooking of Harold Lynch. 

Harold and Beth were well experienced together before they opened the Lapps Quay venue in 2007 and the fact that they are still going strong, when the neighbouring Oysters and Boardwalk have closed, speaks volumes for their offering.

And the offering? They are both chefs and known for their commitment to quality ingredients, sourced locally where possible – and for cooking unfussy food with style. Our menus offer a zesty take on a range of modern classics and many dishes are well-suited to appearing under various guises at different times of day.

Outside view

We called in for dinner last weekend after visiting a wine fair in the adjoining Clarion. The welcome was warm as always and the service was very friendly indeed and on the ball too. The regular menu is supplemented by a strong list of specials and we were soon going through the options. They have an excellent wine list too but, after close to three hours at the fair, we had to “be good”.

CL started with a Warm salad of roasted pear, crispy pancetta and Cashel Blue cheese (€10.00). Perfection, a terrific combination, enhanced hugely by the pear and the pancetta.

The bar

There were four starters on the Specials and my pick was the Chargrilled spicy chicken salad, toasted almonds, roasted harissa oil, lambs lettuce, avocado and mint dressing (10.00). Another gem, with the oil and dressing lifting it well out of the ordinary.

CL likes the duck here and so it was no surprise when she choose the Crispy Duck Confit, with creamy flageolet beans, green beens and a wine sauce (19.00). Another perfect little creation from the Brasserie kitchen.

I went off piste a little with Baked Risotto, wild and fresh mushrooms, spinach, Toonsbridge Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. This is a regular on the menu and a high-scoring one at that. Delicious.

Two happy customers at that point. No thought of dessert but, after the gentlest of persuasion, we surrendered and shared Ice-cream with rum and chocolate chips (70%). Not declared on the specials but it was rather special. Chocolate and rum = yum!

Dessert. My pic, others by Club Brasserie

Club Brasserie

City Quarter, Lapps Quay, Cork.

(021) 427 3987

Email: beth.theclubbrasserie@hotmail.com

Website: www.theclubbrasserie.com

Facebook: The Club Brasserie

Twitter: @clubbrasserie

Stonewell Cider Cheers! Win yourself a hamper.

Stonewell Cider Cheers!

Win yourself a hamper.

Stonewell Irish Craft Cider have enjoyed  “an astonishing year” and are spreading the cheer on Social Media. 

In 2016, the Nohoval (Cork) cidery were crowned the Supreme Champion at the National Irish Food Awards (Blas na hEireann) and also won accolades at international events. “None of which would have been possible without the support and encouragement from you, our customers."

So, for Christmas, they are running a competition on all their social media. It starts today 1st December and the winner will be announced on 15th December. The prize is a Stonewell Christmas hamper containing a selection of Stonewell Cider products along with produce from local businesses such as Hassett's Bakery and Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese.

It is easy to enter. Simply ‘like’ the Stonewell Facebook page and post a photograph of a Stonewell Cider (drinking, cooking, wrapping presents etc) using #stonewellchristmas on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Good luck!

And, speaking of cooking, watch out for the Cinnamon Apple Cake video which will be up on the 5th December.

Web:  www.stonewellcider.com

Twitter: @stonewellcider

Facebook: /Stonewellcider

Whiskey and Sherry. Patience and Time

Whiskey and Sherry

Patience and Time

Time, patience

These are two of the best drinks. Two of the best birthday presents also, one I gave myself, the other from a good friend of mine. There is a strong relationship between the distillery in Midleton where the John’s Lane is produced and Jerez area in Spain where the Neo comes from.

Powers John’s Lane Release, Single Pot Still Whiskey

I’ve been enjoying this rather special whiskey recently. Started with a glass (€9.00) in the Grand National Hotel in Ballina. Next up, it was part of a tasting trio in the Midleton distillery. I loved it there and had another glass (7.50) in the Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder in Killarney. The affair was fully cemented when I treated myself to a birthday bottle at Bradley’s (69.00).

Let’s start with the bare bones. This is a Single Pot Still whiskey. The ABV is 46% and it has been produced at the distillery in Midleton where it has been matured for not less than 12 years in first fill Bourbon casks.

What first attracted me, still does, are the outstanding flavours. It is nicely spiced from the still. Raised in US (mainly) and Spanish casks, there is vanilla on the nose, also a light apricot.

Twelve years (at least) of maturation is rewarded with outstanding flavour and complexity, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, spices, all there together to a long long finish. It is 46% so the advice is to add a few drops of water. Nothing else is needed to get the best from this Very Highly Recommended beauty.

* When you buy a bottle, you’ll also get Alfred Barnard’s detailed account of John Lane’s Distillery in the Dublin of 1886. Wonder what’s his Twitter handle?

Gonzalez Byass Noe Old Pedro Ximenez Sherry, 15.5%, RRP €39.50 (on offer at €31.60 here at Wines of the World).

If you like sweet wines, as I do, then this sherry, aged 30 years, is irresistible.

The Pedro Ximenez, and this is one hundred per cent PX, is a usual grape for sweet sherry. Here, the PX has been enriched by the age old “soleo” sun-drying method, then matured in oak for thirty years.

And the result is incredible, one of the best wines you’ll ever come across. The colour is a deep ebony. The warm aromas are rich with sweet succulent raisins, figs, spices too. 

It is complex and intense on the palate, rich and dense, very sweet, smooth, luscious and silky, concentration is very high yet it is fresh and clean. And the finish, with notes of coffee, caramel, toffee, and liquorice, goes on and on.

It is the perfect dessert wine, even on its own. But you’ll find it excels over vanilla ice-cream or with dark chocolate. The advice is to serve it slightly chilled or indeed at room temperature. 

You’ll long remember the superb fragrance and intense bouquet acquired in the silence and shade of the cellars. Very Highly Recommended.

* Noe has been ranked in the Top 100 wines in the US and is distributed by Barry & Fitzwilliam.