Showing posts with label River Lee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label River Lee. Show all posts

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Morning by the River Lee

 Morning by the River Lee

(pics 25.06.2022)



Tall Things





Panorama

Has the old silo sprouted an extension?

Marquee

All together



Saturday, February 5, 2022

Mardyke Area Walk. Shaky Bridge - Fitzgerald's Pk - Banks of the Lee Walk - St Vincent's Bridge - Mardyke Parade - return to Shay Bridge

 Mardyke Area Walk

Shaky Bridge - Fitzgerald's Park - Banks of the Lee Walk - North Mall - St Vincent's Bridge - Mardyke Parade - Fitzgerald's Park - return to Shaky Bridge

Sunday January 30th, 2022.

Cork Public Museum (left), Bandstand, Lord Mayor's Pavilion (distant centre)




Street art on a utility box


Shaky Bridge (close) and, below, from the Sky Garden in Fitzgerald's Park


Shaking bridge! Or was it my hand



Bike, across the River Lee from Fitzgerald's Park


In the Park: Girl Dancer by Oisin Kelly.


Natural sculpture


The relatively new Mardyke Bridge
could badly do with some TLC


Signs of Spring on the walk, approaching the North Mall


Mural on sidewall of Filipino café (Sensei) on Dyke Parade.


Hints of  Orient: Structures in Fitzgerald's Park, above & below.


Fitzgerald's Park bandstand with Lord Mayor's Pavilion in background.





Ducks go bottom up

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Saturday Morning Stroll Through Cork's Millennium Garden

 Saturday Morning Stroll Through Cork's Millennium Garden

Sean MacCarthy's "Eden"



Coat of Arms


Ducklings and mother at edge of the river
Bridge over Lr Glanmire Rd to Carrig House etc. Most of pics taken from here.
Approaching from the east

South bank



North bank

South

ESB Marina

Carrig House


North

New buildings on north bank

South bank

Pairc Ui Chaoimh


Solar Power (Air Synergy) Lr Glanmire Rd

Millennium "2"

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The Winemason do Spit in Cork. My focus on Riesling and Portugal


The Winemason do Spit in Cork. 
My focus on Riesling and Portugal

Soizic (Les Gourmandise) with Ben
Last week, one hundred bottles of “wine without make-up” were up for tasting in the River Lee Hotel thanks to the combined efforts of four Dublin wine companies. Spit, as the combination is called, consists of Winemason, Nomad Wine, Vinostito, and Grapecircus and virtually all the wines were organic. And there wasn't a dud among them. In this post, we’ll look at Ben Mason and his Winemason contribution.


Winemason is owned by Barbara Boyle (MW) and Ben and they provide restaurants and independent retailers with original and distinctive wines from Germany, Portugal (a favourite), Austria Spain, France, Italy and South Africa. “We are constantly evolving with the ever-changing wine world and we work to reflect this in the wines we sell.”

Graham was helping Ben in the River Lee and I asked him if there was a wine on the stand that deserved to be better known, one that was maybe under-appreciated at present, and he soon filled me a taster of the Julien Schaal Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay 2016. The winery is in Elgin Ridge, South Africa, the winemaker is “from Alsace” and the wine itself is very pleasantly distinctive. Crisp on the palate with citrusy flavours and minerality, tart on the finish, very engaging indeed.

I had picked a trio of Rieslings and started with one from the Nahe region, the ES Trocken 2016 by Emrich Schonleber. Quite intense on the palate, with a light spiciness and outstanding minerality. My favourite kind of Riesling.
Chardonnay to note
from South Africa

The next Riesling came from the Mosel and was the Zeppelin (Mulheim) 2016 by Max Ferdinand Richter. Apparently this wine was served on the flying Zeppelins. This too is elegant, no shortage of minerality, well balanced, and it is the tropical nature of the fruit flavours that catches your attention.

And, if we were in the skies for the Zeppelin, we now moved up a notch to the Kingdom of Heaven with the JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett 2016, the Himmelreich being the heaven. Here the aromas are a subtle but tempting floral, it is soft and fruity right through to a sustained finalé. Quite a hat trick of Rieslings there!

Ben had a superb selection of reds also but again I focused on a hat trick, all from Portugal, an area where Winemason is strong though Ben has noted that prices are rising there. First up was the Mouchao Dom Rafael Tinto 2015 from Alentejo, a blend of Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez, Trincadeira. Ripe dark fruits and tannins, a bit of spice too, combine in a rich and complex wine. 
Zeppelin

Next we called to the Lisbon area and tasted the Fossil Tinto 2015 by Vale da Capucha, an organic producer; this a blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Syrah. Rich dark fruits, hints of spice, fresh and elegant, and with a long dry finish. Excellent.

Then I enjoyed very much the Niepoort Vertente 2015 from the Douro, enjoyed it as Graham sang its praises: the rich blend (Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and others), its long dry finish. “And it’s low in alcohol as well,” he said. It’s a gem, elegant and smooth. One to stock up on before those prices rise or even when they do!

Would have loved to have stayed longer and tried more of the Winemason wines, including those from Austria and South Africa, but time to move on up the line! Here’s to the next Spit.


Read about Nomad Wines at Spit here
Read about Vinostito at Spit here 
About  Grapecircus here