Drinking through Portugal wine regions I. An engaging Alvarinho from Minho.

Drinking through Portugal wine regions I. 

An engaging Alvarinho from Minho

Foot Trodden (2021), a book on Portuguese wine that I am currently reading, covers these eight regions: Minho, Douro, Dao, Bairrada, Colares, Ribatejo, Alentejo and Madeira (home of one of the most age-worthy wines). Other regions noted are Algarve, Setubal, Beiras Interior, Tránsmontano, Bucelas, VR Lisbon and Carcavelos. This is the start of an occasional focus on Portugal over the next month or two and I’ll try to get my hands on as many of the wines as I can. Any tips or help will be most welcome!

Quinta de Gomariz Alvarinho, Vinho Regional Minho, 2020, 13.5% ABV, €18.00 Bubble Brothers

I’m starting in Minho (where Vinho Verde comes from ) and I bought this Alvarinho at the Bubbles Brothers stall in the English Market. It has a bright and clean straw colour, no tints of green in this twilight hour. The nose is quite complex with scents of fresh citrus fruits as well as floral hints and a hint of honey. Quite a lively duet of flavour and freshness in the mouth on the way to a lip-smacking finalé. 

Very engaging, Very Highly Recommended.

At a tasting some years ago in Cork, I heard a wine importer posit that it was difficult to find a bad Albarino. 

António Sousa, winemaker at Gomariz would agree. In conversation with Jamie Goode, interview here, Sousa said: 'It's almost impossible to have a bad wine from this..’. He was speaking of Alvarinho, the same grape as Albarino. Gomariz operate in the extreme north of Portugal, close to the Minho River, the border with Spain, (you’ll know the area better as Vinho Verde). 

I thought, for a long time, that Vinho Verde meant green (or young) wine and the most recent World Atlas of Wine seems to agree but I’ve also seen that it refers instead to the wet and green landscape. 

Foot Trodden (2022) refers to Minho (the country’s second biggest wine region after the Douro) as “Portugal’s sister region to Galicia”. Here in the Spanish homeland of the ancient Celts, Rias Baixas, also wet and green, is home to the crisp light and refreshing Albarino.

Amazing how Albarino has taken off in Ireland over the past decade or more but you don’t see that much Alvarinho here. Many wines from Portugal are blends, sometimes with many grapes, and the less experienced customers find it difficult enough. But this one is 100% Alvarinho, surely not more difficult to pronounce than the successful Spanish equivalent. Perhaps the busy label here is off-putting for the casual wine-shopper.

We owe the Irish introduction of Gomariz wine to Bubble Brothers of course but the initial inspiration was provided by baker Declan Ryan. The Ryans had drank these wines while in the area and brought the info home and shared it with Bubble Bros who made good use of it!

Bubbles elaborate: ..the Alvarinho, which bears the legend 'Vinho Regional Minho' ...... The Quinta de Gomariz Alvarinho is a terrifically appealing wine from beginning to end, and it's not hard to see what appealed to the Ryans about this thrilling liquid..Thank you Declan Ryan for a fantastic tip, not to mention all the great loaves from Midleton and Mahon Point market.. .. .. .” 

Portugal mini-series

Part IV (Vinho Verde, Lisboa and Alentejano).

Part III (Alentejo) 

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

Part 1 (Minho) 

CorkBillyBeers #20. Craft Lager with Cotton Ball, Whitefield, Tom Crean and Obolon

CorkBillyBeers #20

Craft Lager with Cotton Ball, Whitefield, Tom Crean and Obolon

*******************

Cotton Ball Mayfield 5 Lager, 5% ABV, 500 ml bottle O’Donovan’s

This lager, from my local, has a mid-amber colour, fountains of little bubbles, white head slims down rapidly but then hangs around for a good spell. A modest touch of hops in the aromas, more of the malt though. The refreshment factor immediately appears on the smooth palate, spot on balance between the German hops and malts. Has more character going for it than many lagers, good mouthfeel too. A thirst cutting clean bitterness rounds off an excellent lager experience with the gorgeous malt still clinging to the lips. 

A beer for all seasons, they indicate, saying: This Pilsner Lager, like the Noble Northsider’s adventures, spans the Atlantic, brewed using 100% Irish malted barley, clean bittered with three U.S. grown hops followed by a late kettle addition of Noble Hops (Hallertau Perle and Hersbrucker). Pour is clean and refreshing with a subtle aromatic hop flavour arising from a bed of light caramel malt. The Classic brew to compliment party food. This inviting pilsner goes down smoothly with gourmet burgers, pizzas or wings. A perfect hit at BBQs a great choice for alfresco dining.

And the Northsider they refer to on the label is Humphrey Lynch, who left Ballyvourney (now the home of 9 White Deer) at 15 years of age and settled in an American town known as Byefield which he later used in naming his Cork estate house. After working for two years with Joseph Longfellow, cousin to the famous poet, he worked for a year in the ship yard at Newburyport until the American civil war in which he fought in a string of “engagements”. He returned to his native Cork in 1874 and set up in Mayfield, calling his newly-purchased public house The Cotton Ball. And the Lynch family are still here today, the brewery one of the latest additions to the family’s businesses.

Very Highly Recommended.

*******************

Whitefield Ivy Hall, Dark Lager, 5.2% ABV, 500 ml bottle No. 21

DUNKEL! A lager style almost single-handedly saved by the descendants of the last king of Bavaria König Ludwig III it belies the senses, but don’t be afraid of the dark!

That’s the message from Whitefield Brewery of Templemore as they offer their dark lager. It is called Ivy Hall but was once Dark Lady. A rebrand in recent years has seen the Tipperary brewery change the names of its various beers and even the brewery name itself from White Gypsy. “As part of the rebrand we wanted to link everything to our locality and Ivy Hall is a townland in Templemore.”

The beer is indeed dark and if you didn’t know you’d be inclined to think you had a stout ahead of you, right down to the tan head and the roasted aromas. The brew is put together with Bohemian and Munich malts, roasted barley, Saaz hops, and Czech yeast.

A dark brown colour conceals the soul of this European dark beer that turns out to be a lager; as the bottle label says “don't be afraid of the dark”. The dark beer also turns out to be well-made, well mannered. Nothing sinister here, just a very interesting beer from Templemore, not for the first time. The notes from the roasted barley are a prominent feature though, in fairness, it has an excellent rounded flavour all the way through to a very satisfying finish.

A (slightly) sweet malty dark lager, as you might expect to get in Munich, a really top notch beer. Another Irish beer that proves you can do without Nitro.

Very Highly Recommended.

*******************

Tom Crean St Brigid’s Irish Lager, 4.5% ABV, 440ml can, Carry Out Killarney

A lovely golden colour on this one, bubbles galore and the bubbly head is not retained for very long. Good balance of hops (Slovenia) and malt (German) on the palate with the malt getting an edge on the finale as it has in the aromas. 

More refreshment from this one than I remembered from a previous tasting a few years back. Brewer Bill Sheppard has his own methods - go to Kenmare and take that tour! - and this is a very satisfying lager indeed that reminds me of the traditional Central European style.

This is one of the Crean beers that was awarded in last year’s Blas awards. It got bronze while their 6 Magpies Stout did even better with a gold.

They say: “This is our salute to an accomplished medieval brewer.  Rich golden colour, German malts with hops from Slovenia. We allow six weeks to bring this classic to perfection. St. Bridget known in Ireland for her saintly status, her feast day (1st Feb) and her cross made from reeds, less known for being a fine Irish brewer.”

Bill Sheppard also had a story about the saint: “…quite a lot of the early brewers were women and the church wasn’t very happy with that situation. The brewers wore a special hat for the trade and kept a cat (to protect the grain from mice) and that eventually led to some of them being called witches with dire consequences.”

Lager of course ties up your brewing kit for longer than ale and maybe that was why there was a shortage of lager from the current wave of craft breweries in the early stages. No shortage now though. Still takes extra time though and Tom Crean allow six weeks to bring their lager “to perfection”.

Very Highly Recommended.

For a recent post on the brewery please click here.  

*******************

Obolon Premium Lager, 5.0% ABV, 500ml can Bradleys

Clear gold is the colour, head short-lived. Sweet malty plus boiled rice aromas. Much the same in the mouth too but well balanced, sharply refreshing and easy drinking. Just the job for the brighter days ahead. Very affordable also at two euro for the large can.

Budmo, the Ukrainian toast, means 'let us be' and is the shortest and the most popular Ukrainian toast. Appropriate too in more ways than one these days.

This is what the Ukrainian brewery says about it: Obolon Premium is a lager beer which presents an extremely soft and rich taste. Aromatic hops in combination with a special ingredient-rice, provides this beer with a distinct flavor and a pleasant bitterness. Especially refreshing and effervescent beer with pronounced taste and palatable bitterness. This is one of the most popular beer due to its mild taste.

Seafood Delights at Cliff House Hotel Festival Lunch

Seafood Delights at Cliff House Hotel Festival Lunch

West Waterford Festival of Food Highlight

The minute I read that the House Restaurant were doing a Seafood Lunch Tasting Menu as part off the West Waterford Festival of Food, I booked our table. And my confidence was rewarded spectacularly as we absolutely enjoyed the meal served up by Chef Patron, Tony Parkin. I have enjoyed a few splendid meals at this elegant cliff-side location but this was perhaps the best.  I could be back there again soon as it just 45 minutes from my door.

After a gentle welcome we got a prime window seat with a view of the bay. We’ve had better weather here but never a better lunch. First the wine had to be settled. The list is extensive but I concentrated on the list of five whites available by the glass.

Haddock croquette
canape

The Guerila Rebula from Slovenia (left) immediately caught my eye as I was very impressed by their wines at a recent La Rousse tasting at the Glass Curtain. This golden wine is made from biodynamic grown grapes; it has complex aromas, and is fresh and elegant on the palate, quite close to an orange wine, and combined well with the fish.  

We also very much enjoyed the Weingut Malat Höhlgraden, Grüner Veltliner, from Kremstal, elegant and fine and a classic expression of the Austrian grape, always versatile at the table.

Then the food began with a couple of canapés, a Smoked Haddock croquette (right) and John Dory tempura, each a tempting hint of delicious things to come.  

Then we were into the menu proper beginning with Tuna, Nahm jim, Galangal. Just a sliver of tuna with the Thai sauce giving a sweet and sour and spicy flavour enhanced by the ginger of the Galangal.

Red Mullet

The Red Mullet (carrot, ginger, orange, jalapeño) followed in a foamy liquid. Another slightly spicy and delicious dish and here the wines played a role as well. A memorable dish indeed - there was a spoon to take up the liquid, otherwise we would have tempted to use a piece of the earlier bread! A pity that we don’t see more of this fish in Irish restaurants and fish shops.

No problem getting your hands on John Dory but not like this serving of the fish with asparagus, morel, wild garlic and a sauce of mushroom and truffle. Quite a simple dish with every single element a star. It is an outstanding fish in any case but surrounded by such an assembly of delicious local and seasonal elements, the dish was amazing and memorable.

Tuna

And we would finish on a high as well with the 63% Manjari Chocolate (Marsala, Coffee and Yoghurt Sorbet).  I was wondering where the fruit notes were coming from and it was from the Manjari itself, a single origin Madagascar, which is made from rare cocoa beans giving it a fresh, acidic, sharp bouquet with red fruit notes. Add in the Sicilian Marsala, the coffee and the sorbet and we had quite a chocolate symphony. Perhaps the best chocolate dessert I have tasted.

Not quite finished yet as, with the coffee, came our Petit Fours, a Chocolate Truffle and a gorgeous White Chocolate piece loaded in the middle with a white chocolate ganache. Lovely finalé to a splendid meal indeed. Bravo to Tony Parkin and his team at The House.

White Chocolate Petit Fours
with white chocolate ganache filling

On this trip

Mount Congreve, Kilmeaden

The Local, Dungarvan

The Baker's Table of Lismore

Vinilo, Lismore

Marvellous Sunny Morning On The Vee (Waterford/Tipperary)

360 Town Stay, Dungarvan

The Shamrock

Seafood Delights at Cliff House Hotel Festival Lunch

 

INTO KILDARE TO PAINT THE TOWN RED FOR PUNCHESTOWN

press release

INTO KILDARE TO PAINT THE TOWN RED FOR PUNCHESTOWN

Pictured are Áine Mangan, CEO Into Kildare and Joanne Byrne – Digital Experience Officer Into Kildare.

Pic: Conor Healy / Picture It Photography.

 

Into Kildare, the tourism board for County Kildare has joined forces with Punchestown Racecourse and officially launched the ‘Paint The Town Red’ campaign.   The campaign is a best dressed window and building competition which will help promote and support businesses in Naas before and during the Punchestown Festival.  The initiative will see shops and traders in Naas being encouraged to decorate their buildings and shop fronts in a racing inspired, Punchestown theme.

 

The Punchestown Festival this year runs from Tuesday 25 - Saturday 29th April and there are plenty of great places in Naas for racegoers to visit both pre and post racing including some of Ireland’s best boutiques, men’s shops, hotels, restaurants, and pubs to mention but a few.

Naas businesses are being encouraged to embrace the fun and the energy of the famous festival and to ‘Paint The Town Red’ by incorporating the colour red in their window displays. Into Kildare has also sponsored flags which have dressed the streetscape and Naas Town Centre and which create a festival and party atmosphere in the town centre.

The trader with the best window will win a wonderful opportunity to be a tourist in their own county! The winner will get a host of fabulous prizes including dinner, bed and breakfast for two people at Kilkea Castle Hotel and Golf Resort, dinner bed and breakfast for two at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort and dinner, bed and breakfast at Clanard Court Hotel. The top prize also includes hospitality for two in the La Touche Restaurant on the 29^th of April at the Punchestown Festival.  The fun doesn’t stop there… there’s also a family pass to the Irish National Stud to include the Racehorse Experience and Japanese Gardens and to top it all off there’s two tickets to see all of the flat horse racing action at the 1,000 Guineas Raceday at The Curragh on May, 28^th.

The two runners up will win hospitality in the La Touche Restaurant on the 29^th of April at Punchestown, a family pass with the Irish Racehorse Experience for use at the Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens and two tickets to the 1,000 Guineas Raceday at the Curragh.

All entrants in the Paint The Town Red best dressed window competition will be given a pair of complimentary tickets for the opening day of the festival, Tuesday 25^th of April when the overall winner will be announced.

To enter, entrants need to email a photo of their shop front all decorated in the Punchestown colours and racing theme to jcreaton@punchestown.com The deadline is Tuesday 18^th of April. Punchestown Racecourse will announce the finalists on social media on Friday 21^st of April and the winner will be announced and presented with their prize in the Parade Ring at Punchestown Racecourse on Tuesday, 25^th of April.

Speaking about the campaign, Áine Mangan, CEO of Into Kildare said, “The Into Kildare, Paint the Town Red initiative aims to encourage racegoers to eat, sleep and shop in Naas and to spend their money with local businesses.  The Punchestown Festival will attract over 130,000 racegoers to the racecourse this year and those racegoers will of course need somewhere to eat, sleep and shop. 

Kildare is known as ‘The Thoroughbred County’ but we also have lots to offer away from the track including fabulous cultural, dining and shopping experiences.  Flags and creative displays will help to create a fun, festival atmosphere and will remind people that there is plenty to see and do in the area before and after racing.  We are calling on all businesses to embrace the racing theme, decorate Naas and Paint the Town Red! “

She went on to say, “It is up to all of us collectively to entice visiting racegoers into the town with attractive offers and showcase the great community spirit that is alive and well in Naas. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our members in the tourism network in county Kildare - Into Kildare who have been most supportive and engaging.”

Conor O Neill, CEO of Punchestown Racecourse said, “Last year was our first year back to racing as we knew it post pandemic. We were just blown away by the atmosphere, the crowds and the goodwill.  We called last year our ‘Great Comeback Festival’ and it was certainly that!  We look forward to welcoming great crowds and glad to see that most people have availed of the early bird discounts and got great value tickets. Sales are strong, hospitality continues to impress us with the level of popularity and UK visitors return year after year and account for 20% of the festival attendance.  The Paint the Town Red concept was introduced to create that welcome for visitors and connect the town to this massive flagship event that’s happening just on the outskirts. We would like to thank those businesses that really put in such great efforts. It all adds to the event which in turn contributes massively to the local economy. We look forward to welcoming the people of Kildare and beyond to the 2023 Punchestown Festival.

 

For further information about Into Kildare please see www.intokildare.ie or email into info@intokildare.ie

 

Tickets now on sale for the Cork County Mayor’s Charity Dinner

press release 

Tickets now on sale for the Cork County Mayor’s Charity Dinner

Set sail for Bantry on Saturday May 27th

Cllr. Danny Collins, Mayor of the County of Cork, Christy Walsh, Bandon Hyperbaric Oxygen Centre and Helen O Driscoll, Cancer Connect,at the launch. Pic: Brian Lougheed

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Councillor Danny Collins, will host a not to be missed Charity Dinner on Saturday 27th May 2023 at the West Lodge Bantry.

It promises to be a memorable summer evening of great food and entertainment, celebrating the best of Cork County and its maritime heritage, with 100% of proceeds going to Cancer Connect and Bandon Hyperbaric Oxygen Centre.  The event will also mark the Mayor’s year in office.

Tickets, which are priced at €100 each, are expected to sell quickly for the evening, which includes a drinks reception, 3-course dinner showcasing some of the best local produce from across the county plus lots more. 

Master of Ceremonies for the event will be none other than Irish stand-up comedian, bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster Colm O’Regan.  He will be joined by C103 presenter Patricia Messinger, while special guests include celebrity comedian Bernard Casey who will do a cameo performance on the evening, ensuring spirits are high and kept high as attendees round off the evening with The Boogie Band. 

It will be one of the networking and social highlights of the year in Cork County but above all Mayor Collins is keen to raise as much funds as possible for his chosen charities.

Commenting on the event, Mayor Collins, said “It has been my highest honour to serve Cork County over the past year. Cork County has global status when it comes to food, culture, tourism, and business.   I’m really looking forward to welcoming everyone to my hometown of Bantry for this year’s edition of the Mayor’s annual charity event. I hope business, tourism and cultural representatives from around the county will come out in support of the night.  It will be an evening of fine food and entertainment but above all it will raise much needed funds for two very deserving charities that need our support.”

Cancer Connect is a not for profit organisation with charitable status that co-ordinates transport to Cork hospitals for passengers attending Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy treatments, and cancer related appointments.

Bandon Hyperbaric Oxygen Centre (B.H.O.C.) is another not for profit which houses two state of the art oxygen chambers treating a wide range of conditions and patients across West Cork.  Fundraising is an integral part of this volunteer-led registered charity.

For more and to book tickets see corkcoco.ie, email: corkcountymayorsdinner@corkcoco.ie or call The Cork County Mayor’s Secretary on (021) 4285367.

CORK STUDENTS WIN TOP PRIZES IN TEXACO CHILDREN’S ART COMPETITION

CORK STUDENTS WIN TOP PRIZES IN TEXACO CHILDREN’S ART COMPETITION

Mitchelstown's Amy O'Brien 

 

Three Cork students have won top prizes in this year’s 69th Texaco Children’s Art Competition.

 

In the 16-18 years age category, Amy O'Brien (age 17), a pupil at Presentation Secondary School, Mitchelstown, won second prize for her artwork entitled ‘The Bond’.

 

Amy’s work is described by Final Adjudicator, Professor Gary Granville as “a highly detailed and fascinating study of her immediate physical and emotional environment.”

 

Isauro Ramalho, a Special Merit winner with this painting.

In addition, two Cork winners each won Special Merit Awards for artworks that Professor Granville said ‘were imaginative and displayed high levels of skill and creativity’.

 

They were Keelin Ní Laoire (17) from Scoil Mhuire Dromanallig, Ballingeary and Isauro Ramalho (11), a pupil at Scoil Naomh Fionán na Reanna in Belgooly.

 

A Special Merit for Keelin Niģ Laoire

The Texaco Children’s Art Competition is popularly regarded as the longest-running sponsorship in the history of arts sponsoring in Ireland, with an unbroken history that dates back to the very first Competition held in 1955. This year, as has been the case throughout its life, it has been a platform on which young artists from Cork and counties throughout Ireland have had their talents recognised and their creativity commended.

press release