CorkBilly’s Drinks Digest. Wines, Spirits and Beers.

CorkBilly’s Drinks Digest

Wines, Spirits and Beers

Bierhaus New Year Beer Trek (was supposed to be Christmas!)

Jan 9th at 6.00pm

“More like a New year Pubs do this year!!!
Join myself David, John & Conal on a epic tour of the best beer spots in Cork! It’s an annual event and everyone who know us is welcome to join us!

The route
5.45pm meet at Bierhaus
6pm The Abbots Ale House
6.45pm quick one in Maureen’s if open?
7.15pm Impala
8.15pm Rising Sons (pizza stop)
9.30pm Back to Bierhaus to end the night in style”

Richy’s BYO Offer

Clonakilty restaurant Richy’s are offering a helping hand when dining out. “Feeling the crunch after Christmas? Why not save some dosh by bringing your own wine to Richy’s! T&C's apply. Available 14th Jan - 28th Feb 2019. Corkage €5.”

Cask Ales and Strange Brew Fest

Our favourite festival of the year....The Cask Ales and Extraordinary Brew Festival running from Jan 31st to Feb 2nd. 

Featuring a range of special brews using curious and interesting ingredients, the festival will showcase the growing experimentation of Irish brewers and their ability to challenge the norms of brewing.

Yellow Belly, Rising Suns, Metalman and West Cork Brewing are just some of the brewers at the festival and will compete in the Beoir Cask Competition to see who can come up with the most extraordinary beer under categories: Best lager, best "pale', best stout and best specialty. Judged by The national Beer enthusiasts club, winners will be announced on the Saturday of the festival. 

Live music, performances & Pompeii pizza! Admission is free

Feature on old vines

Most Popular Spanish Wine Stories from 2018. In English!

The informative and entertaining Spanish wine social media outlet, Spanish Wine Lover, recaps its most popular English language from 2018 here https://www.spanishwinelover.com/enjoy-353-most-popular-stories-in-2018. A Trio to Watch; Old Vines Stand Out; Sought After Producers, are among the titles.

New Zealand Tasting Coming Soon (trade and press)

New Zealand Winegrowers will host its 22^nd tasting of New Zealand wines in Ireland on Monday 14th January 2019 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8.  Time: 2.00-6.00 p.m. It will be preceded by a Masterclass at 13.00. Queries to jean@jeansmullen.com 

Visit Bordeaux and stay at Chateau Feely

Thinking of visiting Bordeaux and the new Cité du Vin in 2019? A special offer on accommodation at the vineyard of Chateau Feely in the Dordogne may help you make up your mind.  Sean and Carlo would love to see you there! Details here. 

The Wine Brief. Bradley’s Host Wine Tasting as Street Lights Shine

Bradley’s Host Wine Tasting as Street Lights Shine

Bradley's celebrate the switching on of the North Main Street Christmas lights this Friday with a wine-tasting in the famous old food and drink shop. The tasting, from 5.30 to 7.30, is in conjunction with Findlaters and there'll be a selection of reds and whites. You may well get something for Christmas table.

Rioja Reserva

Looking for a really versatile, food-friendly red?  This Marqués de Murrieta Reserva 2014 Tinto could be just the job, available at O’Brien’s at a reduced price of €20.95. See review here.

Australia Day Tasting

The 2019 edition date is January 31st. All the details on the poster. Do note this is a Trade tasting.

Chateau Feely

Do you love someone enough to gift them a share in a vineyard? Yourself? Pourquoi pas?Chateau Feely in Bergerac gives you the opportunity for this and more unusual presents. Check out their “classic vine share “. To order the excellent Feely wines for delivery in Ireland or to find a stockist near you please contact Mary Pawle organic wines info@marypawlewines.com .

Chateau Minière

One of the best wine tastings I ever had was outdoors at Chateau Minière in the Bourgueil area of the Loire Valley. 

Their broad range of vine ages and of soils allows the production of delicate fruity wines to be enjoyed young, as well as more full-bodied wines with great ageing potential with tannins that become silky over time. The “Vignes Centenaires de Minière” is a unique wine, produced from their oldest vines. I bought a fair bit of that during my visit but well gone now!

The good news is that you stay here nowadays - details here.  

Excellent Portuguese Reds. + Wine Briefs

Herdade do Peso Trinca Bolotas Alentejo (DOC) 2016, 14%, RRP € 19.99 wineonline.ie

It’s a vinho tinto (red wine), a blend of Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional and Aragonez (Tempranillo). It has a vibrant mid ruby colour and intense ripe berry aromas. Fruity and dry, full-bodied, very well balanced with a prolonged finish. Thanks to the equilibrium of tannins, acidity and fruit, this is an excellent food wine and Very Highly Recommended.

After malolactic fermentation, the wines are transferred to French and Caucasian oak barrels, where they are matured for around six months. To maintain its high quality, the wines are bottled without cold stabilisation. It may thus throw a slight deposit during bottle-ageing.

Serve: Trinca Bolotas Red should be served at between 16ºC-18ºC.

I read the story of the local pigs on the bottle label: This pig is part of the "Porto Preto" breed, and meat from this pig is called black pork (pata negra i.e. black hoof). During the fattening-up phase, these pigs, which have never been crossbred, roam freely over the countryside and eat the acorns of holm oaks and seeds of cork oaks that are native to the area. The acorns are the secret that makes these pigs so special. The Alentejo pig or black pig (porco alentejano, porco preto) is a native of Portugal, the only surviving species of grazing pig in Europe. It is a gastronomic treasure, part of local cuisine since time immemorial. See more on the ham here.

The Alentejo pigs are classed as Iberian and therefore may be used to make the much desired Iberico ham (of which the Bellota is the highest standard of quality). So the Iberian pig is not exclusively Spanish. And if you can get your hands on the Portuguese ham, you know where to get a lovely wine to match it!

Casa Ferreirinha Esteva Douro (AOC) 2016, 12.5%, RRP €14.99, Stockists include JJ O’Driscoll Cork, The Cinnamon Cottage Cork, Bradley’s Cork, winesonline.ie

Mid ruby is the colour of this Highly Recommended Portuguese wine. Intense aromas feature fruits and floral plus a hint of spice. Light red fruits too and again some spice on the harmonious palate with polished tannins a benign factor. There is good acidity and the finish is long and dry. 

It is a welcome wine at the table. You could well come across it on restaurant lists - I enjoyed it recently at Killarney’s Great Southern - if you do see it, go for this easy drinking example of Douro reds.

Like many Portuguese wines, this is a blend and the grape varieties are Tinta Roriz (40%), Tinta Barroca (35), Touriga Franca (15) and Touriga Nacional (10).

Wine Briefs

Red Nose Wine

"We will keep this simple and tell you that we have added 10 more wines to the special 25-30% Offer wines and we even left a few from the last list on. You can see what wines are now on sale ( they include Mirabello Pinot Grigio, Gassac Picpoul, 30 Mile Shiraz, Chateau Valcombe, Bordeaux  and many more ) 

Lots open for tasting and don't forget, the Ladder SALE is still on until the end of the month

Beautiful Wines at Beautiful Prices."

+++++++++++++

Chateau Feely is a winery in Saussignac, a winery with an Irish interest. The excellent wines are imported by Mary Pawle. 

News from Chateau Feely https://chateaufeely.com/

Harvest 2018 took place under gorgeous Indian summer conditions. The good weather meant no need to rush and perfect timing for all the wines. Quality is excellent and quantity is more than last year's frost affected vintage but not as much as 2016. Read on for news of this happy harvest, the early season tour and course schedule, accommodation and more.