IRISH FOOD & DRINK MONTH RETURNS WITH A NEW FORMAT

 IRISH FOOD & DRINK MONTH

RETURNS WITH A NEW FORMAT

Irish Food & Drink Month returns with a Wicklow themed set of events in Powerscourt Distillery, BrookLodge Hotel and a new pop up in Hen’s Teeth. 

Last year, Great Irish Beverages launched the inaugural Irish Food & Drink Month (IFDM) project. Its aim was to showcase all the wonderful pairings of native Irish drinks with our homegrown foods. Few would argue that local foods taste best when enjoyed with local drinks and Ireland is no exception. Great Irish Beverages are extremely excited to announce their new plans and partnerships for the 2023 edition running throughout October. 

This year a new strategy is in place that provides an unparalleled approach to highlighting what is the absolute best from the one county. A hyperlocal celebration of a county’s finest produce alongside its finest beverages. And the one county they are focusing on is the Garden of Ireland, Wicklow. 

All of this is being done with the creation of four different events taking place in October and with the partnership of Scoop magazine editor and event coordinator Dee Laffan and Wicklow Naturally, the county’s food & drink network. The ultimate goal is to inspire bars, restaurants and hotels around the country to include more Irish food & drink offerings in their menus. The possibilities of pairing Irish made drinks with Irish foods are endless, even if we just solely focus on the one county. 

First off, October Feast is taking place in Wicklow during October. Kicking off with a stellar event in Powerscourt Distillery on Sunday, October 1st. This day-long event will include a Wicklow producers market, foraging walks, Harvest Craft demos and discussion panels and talks from local champions including Catherine Fulvio on life as a TV chef. Powerscourt Distillery, who produce the award-winning Fercullen whiskeys, will be hosting whiskey tastings and masterclasses for attendees. There’ll be live music from Wicklow trad musicians and the singing trio, Victory Dolls as well as the "Poetry in Bloom" poetry reading hosted by actor Patrick Bergin. Booking will go live from September 10th, here.

October Feast continues with an event on Saturday, 14th October in the incredible location at Brooklodge & Macreddin Village. Another day-long event, this will be themed around sustainable food from the local area and includes a producers market, craft demos, discussion panels with leading experts, Wicklow drinks masterclasses and also some live music. There will be a Wicklow-themed menu available in Brooklodge Hotel. With a bus to and from Dublin City centre. Booking will go live from September 10th, here.

Finally, October 19th & 20th will see the best of the Garden of Ireland pop-up in one of Dublin’s best venues – Hen’s Teeth. Named Beár Bia (the Irish for Food Bar), it’s a county by county event celebrating first-rate homegrown food and drink pairings. Each of the two nights will showcase a tailor-made menu solely composed of Wicklow’s finest food & beverage producers.

The mission behind Beár Bia is to highlight all the amazing producers we have in Ireland and to praise them in unison with each other over a sumptuous four-course dinner. Pairing our native food and drinks is an integral means to further develop our Irish culinary culture and it is also a delicious means to bring people together. The October edition, which places Wicklow centre stage, launches a series of events with Hen’s Teeth and will return in the new year shining a light on different counties each month. Tickets for Beár Bia are €65 each (plus booking fee) and include drink pairings. 

The October menu was created by Hen’s Teeth head chef, Dylan Mullen who himself is a Wicklow native. 

Beár Bia Wicklow Menu 

Grangecon Kitchen Sourdough with a Ballyhubbock ricotta and Olly's honey dip

Kilruddery House leaves & grilled courgettes in a Wicklow rapeseed oil dressing, with Hollywood Farmhouse Goats cheese, Dunnes black pudding and pear

Ridgeway Wagyu BBQ brisket with Mic's Chili, creamy mash, celeriac slaw & cucumber salsa

Coconut & Moo Moo basque cheesecake with a Conroys raspberry compote

All courses will be paired with drinks from Wicklow producers including Fercullen Irish Whiskey, Rí Rá Beer, Larkin's Brewing Company and istil 38 Premium Irish Vodka. 

Tickets for Beár Bia are €65 each (plus booking fee) and include drink pairings. They can be purchased here.

press release

The New Powers John's Lane Cask Strength Whiskey.

 press release

The New Powers John's Lane Cask Strength Whiskey

"reaching new flavour heights"

Proudly honouring the history of Powers Irish Whiskey, Irish Distillers is excited to announce a new, permanent expression to the Powers family, Powers John’s Lane Cask Strength. Launching 12 years after the introduction of Powers John’s Lane whiskey, this twelve-year-old cask strength edition will be batch-released each year. A celebration of the 18th and 19th century heritage of John's Lane Distillery when Powers whiskey was sold straight from the barrel at cask strength, the higher abv, 57.8% in the initial 2023 release, amplifies the much loved full bodied character of the original, reaching new flavour heights.

Born from the same meticulous attention to detail that created Powers John’s Lane whiskey, the distillers at Midleton Distillery in Cork have crafted Powers John’s Lane Cask Strength, a highly anticipated release. Characterised by soft pot still spices that are integral to the flavour profile of the Powers brand, the intensity in the cask strength edition is magnified to create a wonderfully complex liquid. An initial medley of rich aromatic woodland notes intertwines with worn leather and tobacco, before cocoa, treacle toffee, crushed black peppercorn, and dried herbs assail the senses. Bold pot still spices mingle with creamy vanilla, manuka honey and warming notes of nutmeg on the palate, before a wonderful spice-laden finish of toasted oak coated in a gentle honey sweetness.

Powers Distiller, Eric Ryan comments: “A brand of firsts, Powers whiskey continually challenged the old way of doing things and advocated careful experimentation throughout the years. With a rich heritage that goes back to its establishment in 1791, John's Lane Distillery’s well-earned reputation is brought back to centre stage with the launch of this new permanent cask strength Powers expression.”

200 bespoke bottles of Powers John’s Lane Cask Strength will be available exclusively at The Palace Bar in Dublin from today to celebrate 200 years since the iconic Dublin bar was first established.  Powers John’s Lane Cask Strength will be available on general release from 2 October in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Dublin Airport and online at MidletonDistilleryCollection.com at RRP €90.  


Tasting notes:
Aroma: An intense medley of woodland aromas intertwined with worn leather and tobacco. Layers of charred wood and cocoa meet with concentrated treacle toffee while the pot still spices continue to build towards additional notes of black peppercorn and dried herbs.

Taste: Rich pot still spice facets trailed by creamy vanilla, manuka honey and dried apricot. Additional nutty notes of freshly grated nutmeg work in harmony with the sweet wood-derived elements and bold spice intensity.

Finish: Toasted oak wrapped with honey sweetness that gently recedes, leaving the distillate-led nature of the spirit to endure until the end.
 

CorkBillyBeers #42. Craft with four of the best: White Hag, Heaney, Wicklow Wolf and Dupont

CorkBillyBeers #42

Craft with four of the best: White Hag, Heaney, Wicklow Wolf and Dupont.

Session. Saison. Pale Ale. Stout.

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White Hag Little Fawn Session IPA 4.2% ABV, 330 ml can Bradleys

I’ve come across Little Fawn quite a bit over the last few years on draught across the country and I’m always glad to see it, always glad to see any White Hag beer in a pub or restaurant. Its wide availability confirms its status as a classic Indian pale ale and, also because of its lower-than-usual ABV, as a go-to session beer.

The White Hag are rightly proud of its modern independent craft brewery from Sligo, on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. “We brew innovative and groundbreaking beers, inspired by ancient and classic styles.”

They certainly hit, and continue to hit, the bull’s eye with this one, an easy-to-drink American-style session IPA. Brewed with 100% Irish malt for a pale, very clean base.

An easy-to-drink American-style session IPA. Brewed with 100% Irish malt for a pale and layered with Mosaic hops, famous for their ever-changing fruity aroma. The colour is a light gold with a slight haze. No shortage of bubbles rising to a soft white head. Citrus-y in the aromas with a hint of something softer as well. The flavour is fruity hops with aromas of blueberry, passionfruit, grapefruit and more. Well balanced, with a mild lingering bitter finish. Lip-smacking stuff!

Very Highly Recommended.

They use ancient tales in selling their many and varied beers including this Little Fawn yarn. He was discovered “as a child on the slopes of Ben Bulben by Bran & Sceolan, this young and sprightly warrior spent his summers foraging and hunting the mountains and woodlands. These local flavours are reflected in the taste experience.”

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Heaney Notifications Off DDH Nelson Sauvin Pale Ale 4.7%, 440 ml can Carry Out Killarney

“Switch off and enjoy this double dry-hopped pale ale, bursting with grapefruit, gooseberry and tropical fruit, brewed and canned by Heaney Farmhouse Brewery at The Wood, Bellaghy. Co. Derry.”, exhort the Heaneys.

They are talking about their relatively new Pale Ale, crammed with Nelson Sauvin Hops from New Zealand, “Tradition refreshed.”

The colour is a weak orange, quite murky, almost opaque, with a fluffy white head. Aromas are fruity and their tropical nature bursts out as the liquid roams the palate before a lip-smacking finish. 

The Nelson Sauvin hop has been regularly compared to the superb local wines made from Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, and there are similarities. That hint of gooseberry is one (grape and passion fruit are other characteristics of the hop) and there’s a bracing acidity as well. The beer is perfectly balanced, quite a thirst quencher on sunny days and also on not-so-sunny ones.

Very Highly Recommended. Another good one from the Heaney brewery.

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Wicklow Wolf Apex Oatmeal Stout 6.5% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

“A full-flavoured stout that will leave you wanting more.” That’s the message from Wicklow Wolf.

The stout is black with a coffee-coloured head. Coffee in the aromatics as well. And also on the palate, intense stuff with a slightly sweet creamy smoothness. And yes, more is the request!

Apex champions a heavy malt bill, brewed with only the best flaked Irish Oats, specialty chocolate and coffee malts. No wonder this stout is the base for quite a few Wicklow Wolf variations.

Very Highly Recommended

Geek Bits

Hops: Bravo

Malts: Pale, Chocolate, Roast Crystal, Brown, Carafa, Oat, Cara

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Saison Dupont 6.5% ABV, 33 cl bottle Bradleys

A Standard. A Classic. The Best.

I’ve been enjoying it every summer for the past six years. I've enjoyed quite a few others as well but none comes near. If there were a Saison World Cup, then the Dupont team would be favourites and would win. As Michael Creedon of Bradley’s told me a few years back “if you don’t like this, you don’t like saison”.

Beer has been brewed here in Belgium’s Hainaut for centuries, though it is only in the last 20 years or so that the Dupont Brewery has become a global reference for saison. 

Farm beers of this type – light, rather dry but fruity – were traditionally brewed during the winter, ready to quench the thirst of the seasonal field workers (saisoniers) during the summer to follow.

It is a cloudy mid-amber, with fountains of micro-bubbles. Aromas of citrus. Light and fruity, zesty and refreshing, yet no shortage of hearty flavour. Reckon any labourer, even a keyboard one, would be happy with this impeccable beer. Superb finish also with the bitterness now at the forefront. Nothing quirky, nothing extreme other than extremely good.

They say: Saison Dupont was first brewed in 1844. This copper-blond beer yields amazingly delicate aromas paired with pronounced hop bitterness. The house yeast and the local hard water, drawn from a well, play an important role in the creation of this beer. An in-bottle refermentation makes a major contribution to the development of this complex and highly aromatic beer.

Reds from the DÃO and the Douro. Concluding the Portugal mini-series

Concluding the Portugal mini-series (with two from Liberty Wines)

Reds from the DÃO and the Douro

Part V of the Portugal mini-series

The Douro is perhaps the best-known of the Portuguese wine regions, mainly because of its historic connections with Port. While the British were enjoying the fortified sweet wines, the locals were enjoying their own simple table wine, even the infants were drinking wine rather than water, according to the chapter on the Douro in Foot Trodden.

The Douro Valley is a spectacular place and draws all kinds of tourists including of course wine lovers. As you know, much the same grapes are used for Port as for still red wine. 

The Dão is one of the oldest established wine regions of Portugal, located just south of the famous Douro Valley. The mountainous region is home to Touriga Nacional, and only became a DOC in 1990.

The region’s wine industry, for so long shackled by the dictator Salazar’s imposed cooperative system that rewarded quantity over quality, certainly needed the improvement in quality that has taken place in the last 30 years or so.

More on these two regions here in Part II of our mini-series on Portuguese wine.

Quinta Dos Carvalhais Touriga Nacional Dão (DOC) 2019, 13.5% ABV.

RRP €32.95. Stockists: Baggot Street Wines; Wineonline.ie; The Corkscrew; Martins Off Licence

An outstanding expression of Touriga Nacional

This intense, complex, and elegant Touriga Nacional from the heart of the Dão is a dark ruby colour with slightly lighter tones at the rim. Aromas of black fruit and well-integrated spice from its 12-month oak ageing are followed by vibrant dark fruit and spice on the palate. The wine has great depth, acidity, and smoothness, and the finish is long and persistent.

The Touriga Nacional is a much-loved indigenous variety, but it is rare, in Ireland at least, to see it bottled on its own. Quinta dos Carvalhais is located in the Terras de Azurara sub-region of the Dão, to the southeast of Viseu.

The 105-hectare estate, with 50 hectares under vine, was purchased by Sogrape in 1988. They invested a huge amount into improvements in both the vineyards and the winery – and are credited with spearheading the quality renaissance of wines from the Dão in the early ‘90s.

Following decades of state control and a cooperative monopoly in the region that favoured quantity over quality, they replanted the region’s indigenous grape varieties, such as Touriga Nacional and Encruzado, and saved them from near extinction.

Our wine here may be a single varietal but the art of blending has been utilised. Even the single-varietal wines here are complex blends of different plots on the estate, vinified separately before blending. The Touriga Nacional showcases the signature black fruit and violet characters of this prized indigenous grape alongside a well-integrated spiciness from 12 months in French oak.

The final blend was made to fully express the high quality of the Touriga Nacional, as well as the distinctive character of the Dão region. 

Overall, this is an outstanding expression of Touriga Nacional. It is complex and elegant, with great depth and length, a welcome “guest” at any wine lover's table. It is advisable to serve at a temperature of 16-18 degrees Celsius. It is a "very gastronomic" wine that pairs well with dishes such as octopus à lagareiro, oven-roasted pork, and mushroom risotto.

Very Highly Recommended.

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Check my growing list of top wines for 2023

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Check out my Good Value Wine List here

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Casa Ferreirinha Papa Figos Douro Tinto (DOC) 2021, 13% ABV.

RRP €20.95 Bradleys, McHugh’s Off Licence - Malahide Road/Kilbarrack Road,

Wineonline.ie, Baggot Street Wines, Pinto Wines, Drink Store, The Vintry Rathgar.

A feast for the senses.

The label sums this Douro red pretty succinctly: mid complexity, medium tannins, mid-body, full fruit. It advises serving it at 16 degrees with fish and shellfish, poultry and beef. Pasta with a tomato-based sauce should also be considered. Also quite delicious on its own.

This ruby red wine is a feast for the senses. The nose is bursting with aromas of juicy strawberries, blackberries, and cherries, with hints of violets. On the palate, Papa Figos is smooth and balanced, with velvety tannins and lively acidity. The ripe fruit flavours linger, making it an easy-drinking treat.

It is, like most of the country’s wines, a blend and in this case consists of 30% Tinta Roriz, 30% Tinta Barroca, 25% Touriga Franca, and 15% Touriga Nacional. It may well be from the land of cork but it does come with a screwcap closure. 

By the way, Tinta Roriz is also known as Tempranillo, and it is the most widely planted grape in Portugal. It gives the wine its red fruit flavours, such as cherries and strawberries.

There was no use of oak in the winemaking process and the wine remained in a mixture of stainless steel and concrete vats until bottling and this helped it towards a fresh and fruity profile.

The wine is called 'Papa figos' or 'fig muncher' which is the nickname for the golden oriole (featured on the front label), a migratory bird that passes through the Douro. 

Highly Recommended. Talking about the wine here, not the bird (though it looks beautiful)

The grapes for this blend are sourced from high-altitude vineyards in the Douro Superior region, with around 25% coming from Quinta da Leda (the flagship estate) in the far eastern reaches of the region, close to the border with Spain. Soils are predominantly schist (right)

The Duoro Valley, in brief:

• The Douro Valley is located in northeastern Portugal, along the Douro River.
• It is known for its steep slopes and rocky soils, which are well-suited to growing grapes.
• The region is home to a wide variety of grape varieties.
• Both red and white wines are produced, as well as Port (for which it is justly famous).
• The wines of the Douro Valley are known for their complexity, intensity, and longevity.

The valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Portugal. A number of wineries in the region offer tours and tastings. It is also a popular destination for hiking, biking, and river rafting.

Portugal mini-series

Part V (Dão, Douro)

Part IV (Vinho Verde, Lisboa and Alentejano).

Part III (Alentejo) 

Part 11 (Douro, Dão, Alentejo and Setubal.)  

Part 1 (Minho)