Showing posts with label Bertha's Revenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bertha's Revenge. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Ballyvolane House Lunch with Munster Wine & Dine. Gardens, Glamping, Gin

Ballyvolane House
Gardens, Glamping, Gin
Munster Wine & Dine on tour!
Initials galore at Ballyvolane House on Sunday when Munster Wine and Dine (MW & D) visited for lunch. Ballyvolane is the home of Bertha’s Revenge, so G and T (or maybe gin and just a few drops of water) was a topic. And it was our host Justin Green who brought up PG, paying guests!

Indeed, those first paying guests were a turning point for the house and the Green family who had been farming (dairy and tillage) there since 1953. The farming wasn't going very well by 1980 and it was then they started to take in paying guests.
Glamping!
Justin told us the house had been built in 1728 by Sir Richard Pyne and has been remodelled since, the 19th century remodelling included the Italian facade.

The PG model worked quite well until the crash and, like many other places, the Ballyvolane enterprise “fell off a cliff in 2008-10”. And then the wedding offering was put centre-stage and another rescue pulled off.
Play with me? Please

With vast grounds, of parkland and gardens, including a three acre walled garden, it is gorgeous setting for a wedding. And a fun one two. There is a 7-a-side soccer pitch laid out for the young to let off steam, tennis courts too and so many beautiful locations, particularly in the Rock garden, for special photographs.

With just six bedrooms in the house, accommodation was a bit of a problem. But then Justin and wife Jenny came up with Glamping! And just last year, they started producing Bertha’s Revenge, their little distillery in part of an old barn.

In the Rock. Walled Garden to the right.

That Rock garden, with its tall trees and shrubs and many extra plantings (colour all year round), is a delight and is often the setting for outdoor weddings. Justin’s 83 year old father has put great work into the area (this was overgrown and out of control a few years ago). He is still a great help and regularly clocks in a nine hour day just mowing the lawns.

The walled garden is also put to good use, providing vegetables and greens for the table. And soon, more fruit trees will be planted, with distilling in mind!
One of the lakes, once dug by hand, now restored.
Our walkabout with Justin had now reached the distillery, As you probably know, Bertha’s Revenge is milk based. The Whey spirit they use here in Ballyvolane is made by Carbery in West Cork, a spirit that is richer and smoother than others. It is Irish of course and also carries spices well. It is delivered at 96% and then about twenty botanicals, including love, are added. Their own spring water is used to cut the abv to 42 per cent before bottling.

“We knew that we wanted our gin to be local in nature, brimming with integrity and to possess an individuality that at some point might exceed the sum of it parts. Most important of all for us was the desire to produce a gin that other people would enjoy as much as we do.”
One of the twin stills

And so, with Anthony Jackson and Justin as “step-fathers”, Bertha was re-born as Bertha’s Revenge Irish Milk Gin in 2015. Bertha, the oldest cow in the world (dying just a few weeks short of her 49th birthday), was well loved. There was a huge attendance at both the wake and funeral! Read the full story of the Kerry legend here

Bertha produced over 39 calves so she has a lot of relations still alive and the gin producers intend to get some of the younger ones and raise them in Ballyvolane. “She was a wonderful old lady,” said Justin,  “and we are delighted to bring her back in spirit.” 


Justin in the distillery

He took us through the various stages of making the gin which is then bottled and labelled on site. Four to six hundred bottles a week are produced here. “It is a neat sipping gin, maybe add a few drops of water!” So no G & T!

Then it was time for lunch, over 40 of us seated at the long table in The Barn, warm and cosy despite the cold outside. Our starter was : Pear, rocket, nuts and Cashel blue cheese salad. The main course was Ballyvolane Saddleback Pork with outstanding vegetables and beautifully roasted potatoes. And dessert was Fresh Lemon Tart with extra including ice-cream, cream, and mixed berries.
Checking out the botanicals

The food was delicious, beautifully cooked. They believe in local: “This means from Ballyvolane’s walled garden, farm, river and from the local area. We rear our own rare-breed pigs (Saddlebacks, Gloucester Old Spots & Durocs). We are lucky being situated in County Cork as there is an abundance of fantastic artisan food producers close by.”

“Our beef, lamb and mutton come from Michael McGrath in Lismore, fish and shellfish from O’Connell’s Seafood in the English Market, Cork and from Ballycotton Seafood in Midleton, our bacon, sausages, black and white puddings and loins of bacon come from Caherbeg Pork Ltd in Rosscarberry and artisan cheeses from all over Cork, Waterford and Tipperary.”
Just some of the botanicals

It was a lovely meal, generous plates. Take the salad for example - you just helped yourself to the freshness of the leaves and found tasty cubes of the cheese and more. The pork, their own, was top class and the vegetables (carrot and leek) and roast potatoes were outstanding. And the dessert too was spot on. We were all well fed and fed well and nobody was stuffed with heavy sauces or chips or anything like that. 
Dessert. You get the tart and then add to it yourself. So the presentation is all mine!

Country living at its best to bring the curtain down on another successful Munster Wine and Dine season. See you all in the new year when the 2017 programme will be sketched in at the launch in February or March. Watch this space!
MW&D chairman Colm McCan welcomes the members to the long table.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Kinsale’s Supper Club. Good Food. Friendly.

Kinsale’s Supper Club
Good Food. Friendly Faces.
 Great to see the Supper Club up and running in Kinsale. It’s a friendly place with very good food too of course. And a terrific selection of cocktails. If you like your gins, they've more than a few here. 

They can take singles and couples and larger groups and, on fine days, they have an outdoor covered area available. And, at present, they are open seven days a week from 6.30pm.

You’ll notice on one of the blackboards that they support local producers and you’ll also notice a few specials boards around the place. Conveniently though, they have the specials listed on a page in the menu so you can spend a little time studying them. And the list, includes a highlighted pair of wines and also a special drink.



 So okay. I’ll admit I started with that night's special drink. Bertha’s Revenge Gin with Poachers Tonic (with rosemary and orange) and, to make the whole glass sing, a little sprig of rosemary and a slice of orange were added to make the perfect mix. There was also the option of taking the excellent Kalek vodka instead of the gin. Next time! So local gins and local beers and cider too. Most of the beers come in bottle but you may have the 9 White Deer beers, Stag Ban and Stag Rua, on draught.

And the food. As soon as you begin to read the menu, you'll note that quite a few dishes come in small and large sizes and that can be very convenient indeed.  CL choose the Duck Spring Roll, House Salad, Hoisin and orange sauce and was very pleased with it. And I was most impressed with my Herb Crumbed Egg, Asparagus, Smoked Bacon, Dijon Hollandaise. Very tasty indeed and that little bit different!


Onto the mains then and her pick was the pan-fried fillets of sole, chorizo, bean and tomato sauce and fondant potato, one of the evening's specials and a very special combination indeed.

My choice was from the regular menu and was Braised Beef Short Ribs with Sesame Crusted Sweet Potato, Pak Choi, Star Anise Jus. It wasn't on the bone by the way but a delight to dispatch. And one other tip, the sides here are brilliant and worth the few euro extra. I had the aubergine cassoulet, full of bright flavours and juicy to boot, a dish in itself and indeed a larger version features on the list.

Not that much room for dessert after all that so a decision was reached to share the Passionfruit and Lime Tart and its crème brûlée topping. The decision was amicable but we should really have had ordered two!

Service was excellent, not overly formal, nice and friendly yet efficient. And a discreet watch kept on the tables - your water was refilled promptly, the window was closed if you shivered (even before), they checked if a plate or drink wasn't going down well. So pro-active but not in an in-your-face way. So go in and enjoy yourself. You’ll feel very welcome here.
Some of you will be familiar with the Cork Street venue as this is where Crackpots were based.

The Supper Club
3 Cork Street, Kinsale, Co. Cork
Phone: +353 21 477 2847
email : thesupperclubkinsale@gmail.com
Twitter: @kinsalesupper