CORK CITY HOSPITALS CHILDREN'S CLUB RECEIVES TOP HONOUR AT COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWARDS

CORK CITY HOSPITALS CHILDREN'S CLUB RECEIVES TOP HONOUR AT COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWARDS

John Looney from the Cork City Hospitals Children's Club presented with the Judges Overall Award by Carmel Lonergan (Trigon Hotels). Pic: Brian Lougheed

Winners of the Cork International Hotel Community Spirit Awards announced at gala event

 

Cork City Hospitals Children's Club has been named the overall judges winner at the Cork International Hotel Community Spirit Awards 2023.  The charity organises magical and exciting adventures and trips of a lifetime for children and their families who are going through a difficult time.

 

This is the third year of the awards which celebrate the outstanding contributions of individuals and groups dedicated to enhancing the lives of people in their community.  Each month, a winner is announced and these people are all considered for the overall prizes at a gala ceremony which was held in the Cork International Hotel recently.

 

Founded in 1994, Cork City Hospitals Children’s Club started out as a small group of Cork University Hospital staff who got together to raise money to give children attending the hospital a fun day out.  The charity now has more than 40 volunteers made up of security personnel from CUH, Gardai, doctors, nurses, social workers, children protection officers, ambulance personnel and pharmacists.

 

The Public Vote Winner was John Calnan of Raffeen Creek Pitch & Putt Club and Leevale Athletics Club.  John was an active member of Leevale AC and Hilltown for 30 years, serving as a committee member and volunteer at Leevale where he worked with some of Cork’s finest athletes. He also played a part in the sporting lives of several Olympic athletes including Derval O’Rourke, Lizzie Lee and coach Donnie Walsh.

 

The Lifetime Contribution Award went to Mary Foley of Passage West.  Mary has been the driving force behind the Passage West Children’s Choir, the Harbour Amateur Dramatic Group, the Sunshine and Smiles Club for children with disabilities and the Passage West and Monkstown Cardiac First Responder group.

 

Eoghan Murphy, General Manager of the Cork International Hotel said; "The Community Spirit Awards provide a platform to celebrate the unsung heroes among us, whose contributions often go unnoticed. It is heartening to see the immense impact these individuals and groups have on our community. As we celebrate the achievements of this year's winners, we also extend our gratitude to all those who strive to make Cork a vibrant and inclusive community. Their dedication serves as an inspiration to us all."

 

Director of Group Operations with Trigon Hotels, Carmel Lonergan was on the judging panel and she said;  “We had a group of 12 very worthy monthly winners and each and everyone of them should be so proud of all their efforts to help others.  We had a difficult decision to make and I would like to congratulate the three winners, Cork City Hospitals Children’s Club, John Calnan and Mary Foley.  They have all given so much of their time to helping the lives of many people.  I would also like to thank those who nominated them for the award.”

 

The awards are sponsored by The Cork International hotel in association with The Carrigdhoun Newspaper and Gerald McCarthy Giftware. The judging panel was made up of private and public sector representatives including Carmel Lonergan; Nicola Radley, Cork County Council; and Vincent O’Donovan, The Carrigdhoun Newspaper.

 

Throughout 2023, there was one winner per month awarded and they were:

 

●       January - Cork City Hospitals Children’s Club

●       February -  Templebreedy SOS

●       March - Jim Griffin

●       April - The Shandon Area History Group

●       May - Cork Cancer Care Centre

●       June - Eileen McGough

●       July - Kinsale Community First Responders

●       August - Mary Foley

●       September - John Calnan

●       October - Donal Kelleher

●       November - Kevin O’Driscoll

●       December - Bernard and Ann Lynch

 

2023 Winners:

 

●       Judges Overall Winner - Cork City Hospitals Children's Club - Presented by Nicola Radley and Eoghan Murphy

●       Public Vote - John Calnan Raffeen Creek P, Leevale Athletics Club - Presented by Vincent O Donovan and Eoghan Murphy

●       Lifetime Contribution - Mary Foley - Presented by Carmel Lonergan, Trigon Hotels and Gerald McCarthy

Mitchelstown's Praline Bucks The Trend. Expanding Its Café Business In Mitchelstown, Co. Cork With The Opening Of Eye-Catching New Confectionery Concept

press release

Mitchelstown's Praline Bucks The Trend 

Expanding Its Café Business With Eye-Catching New Confectionery Concept

 Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café's award-winning Praline Opera Pastry. All pics: Kirsty Lyons

Award-winning chocolatier, Norma Kelly, has bucked the trend and expanded Praline - her flourishing café business in her hometown of Mitchelstown, Co. Cork - with the opening of a striking new twenty-seater confectionery concept.

Named Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café, the mecca for dessert lovers on Lower Cork Street flips the traditional café menu on its head in celebration of all things sweet. 

The focal point of the sleek new space is an eye-catching chocolate counter from where customers can choose their own selection of Kelly’s hand-crafted creations to sit down and savour alongside a speciality coffee, or decadent hot chocolate.

Meticulously made and individually hand-painted, Norma’s chocolates showcase her favourite ingredients from some of Munster’s top artisan producers. The café’s signature Praline & Coffee chocolates comprise a ganache made with 35% single-origin milk chocolate from Papua New Guinea infused with coffee from Mean Bean’s roastery in neighbouring Co. Waterford, that is topped with a crunchy hazelnut praline layer. 

Other flavours include Ivy Heather Honey from Galtee Honey Farm in Burncourt, Co. Tipperary, which is complemented by a homemade Orange gel, and a Vanilla Salted Caramel seasoned with O’Neill’s Irish Atlantic Sea Salt from the beautiful Beara Peninsula in West Cork. 

The newest addition to their offering is a collaboration with Mitchelstown-based craft brewer, Eight Degrees Brewing, featuring their Knockmealdown Irish Stout - a beer whose dark malt characteristics and distinctive espresso aroma pair perfectly with rich chocolate.

As you’d expect from a chocolatier of Kelly’s standing and reputation, each filling comes delicately encased in the finest sustainably sourced Cacao Barry chocolate.

And, in homage to all things chocolate and keen to minimise their impact on the local environment as much as possible, Praline’s take home gift boxes are crafted entirely from cacao pods - a by-product of the chocolate making process - which ensures that they are 100% compostable. 

As the café’s name suggests, on any given day you can also expect to find its impressive pastry display brimming with freshly baked and individually-portioned patisserie, many of which are inspired by Norma’s regular research trips back over to her beloved France.

Hazelnut & Chocolate Mousse 

Visitors will have their heads turned, tempted by Tiramisu, Hazelnut & Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry & White Chocolate Cheesecake, Pear & Almond Tart, and their Blas na hEireann award-winning Praline Opera Pastry, amongst many other delectable delights.

The menu also includes a slightly shorter than usual selection of homemade sandwiches and soups, along with some savoury pastries, including sausage rolls from Hanley’s Butchers next door.

Sausage rolls aside, everything served at Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café is handmade daily at Praline’s production kitchen, located a three minute drive away on the site of the business’s original premises just off Brigown Road. From here, the fast-growing corporate catering element of Norma’s operation is fulfilled, with the location also doubling up as a customer collection point for bespoke celebratory cake and chocolate orders, as well as offering takeaway teas and coffees.

Chocoholics living further afield than Co. Cork will be pleased to hear that Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café’s entire range of delectable handmade chocolates and other delicacies are available to order online for nationwide delivery via their website, www.praline.ie. 

Commenting on the opening of Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café, owner & chocolatier, Norma Kelly, said: “I am very excited to see the concept brought to life and have a space that showcases our handmade pastries and chocolates in a way that allows our customers to see and appreciate the work that goes into creating them. Pastry and chocolate have always been my first love, and it was always my dream to make them the headliners in my own café business.”

Since opening Praline seven years ago, busy mum of three, Norma, has successfully pivoted her business in order to overcome all of the obstacles that the COVID-19 pandemic put in her way. Despite more recently also having to battle rising costs and an uncertain business landscape, she has thankfully been able to buck the hospitality industry trend and expand her operation, when many others are being forced to close their doors, with the opening of her second premises. Future plans also include the opening of a Praline Pastry & Chocolate School.

Kelly attributes Praline’s success not only to the staunch support she has received from local customers from the get-go, but also that of her fellow café owners in Mitchelstown, who actively support one another - something which she feels has helped build a greater sense of community and togetherness in the close-knit Cork town.

Praline Pastry & Chocolate Café is located at 53 Lower Cork St, in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, and is open Monday to Friday, 8am - 4.30pm, and on Saturdays from 9am - 4.30pm. The café is closed on Sundays.

Taste of the Week. Knockanore Vintage Cheddar

Taste of the Week

Knockanore Vintage Cheddar

Not for the first time, Knockanore Vintage Cheddar is our Taste of the Week. As it matures on the farm in West Waterford, the cheddar becomes drier and more crumbly. It has the expected subtle and creamy tones but is stronger than the younger version with a delicious satisfying tang that cheese lovers crave.


Knockanore Cheddar is produced using raw milk on the Lonergan farm in Ballyneety, Co. Waterford. All of the milk used comes from their pedigree herd of Friesian cows that graze on the lush rolling hills of the countryside. It is produced using traditional cheddaring techniques which involve stacking the cheese curds on top of one another to produce a firm but slightly open textured cheese.

Eamonn and Patricia Lonergan began making cheese on their Knockanore farm in 1987. The cows graze on quality grass, they’re milked and the Lonergans use traditional methods to make a variety of delicious cheeses right on the farm. This beauty is just one of them! Well worth seeking out.

Bramley Lodge. Breakfast to dinner seven days a week

Bramley Lodge. Breakfast to dinner 

seven days a week

Bramley Lodge is a conveniently located restaurant, quite a popular one, just off the main Cork-Waterford road at Cobh Cross, making it a great option for both locals and travellers. No shortage of parking here. Casual and family-friendly, it is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week.

The team of chefs under the guidance of Head Chef Norbert Tomo are busy from the crack of dawn each morning until late in the evening. Owner Gillian Kearney has always concentrated on ensuring that local ingredients "are responsibly sourced and prepared with lots of passion and love".

Chef Tomo adds a unique twist by incorporating international flavours into the dishes. This creates a menu that's both familiar and exciting, offering a delightful "tour of cuisines" as we experienced in a midweek visit for lunch.


We started with Fish Tacos that came with a Harissa Mayo, followed by Italian Sausage with Pasta Fiarelli for one of us and Swedish Meatballs for the other. Quite a tour of cuisines in just three dishes from a restaurant that also has an Asian influence. But good food, as is the case here(as it is in many Irish restaurants), can spill across cultural borders and the customers benefit.

Quite a few years back, a market trader in France almost put me off Harissa (before I even got on it). "Très fort, " he warned as he handed me a small tube along with my couscous royale. He was très sérieux and he called out his embarrassed son (who had as little English as I had French) to make sure I understood. I did and enjoyed it so much so that we went back to him almost daily.

A Pear and Goats Cheese Empanada, Thai Sticky Chicken Wings, Seafood Chowder and Chicken Liver Parfait were listed, among other temptations in the starters but my pick was the Fish Tacos. Beautifully presented, they came with the aforementioned Harissa, lettuce and pickled onions. A delicious dish indeed, really superb, and that spicy harissa, the amount nicely judged, livened up the tacos as effectively as any Mexican spice.

The choice of mains was also wide-ranging. You could pick from the likes of Fillet of Hake (with Colcannon galette), Thai Chicken Curry (with Jasmine rice), an Agnus Beef Burger, Tempura of Fish (with Parmentier potatoes), or a Miso Chicken Salad.

I liked the sound of Pasta Salsicca e Fiarelli. The salsicca is Italian sausage and there were also wilted greens, pancetta and saffron. I am almost certain I've never come across Pasta Fiarelli (a Southern Italian Pasta cut) previously in an Irish restaurant but immediately saw the tubular shape and ruffled edges of this unique Italian noodle allows it to capture sauces beautifully. And my meat and greens were very finely cut indeed to benefit. I really enjoyed the panoply of flavours and the textures (the pasta was cooked al dente).

We don't see much Swedish food here in Ireland so the Swedish Meatballs (Potato puree, artichoke, red onions, shimeji mushrooms, chausseur sauce) were new to us. The chasseur sauce (the hunter's sauce) is a simple or compound brown sauce used in French cuisine, Italian too. It often includes mushrooms (traditionally picked by the hunters as they came home) and shallots and may also include tomatoes and herbs. There are many versions. The portion size of the Swedish Meatballs made quite a substantial dish, and it was packed with flavour but the artichokes and greens proved difficult to cut with the knife. Overall though it was very satisfactory.

If you don't fancy a big meal, then check out their Small Plates (Crock Pot Portuguese chicken) or Poke Bowls. They also offer two Hummus Plates, one featuring Lebanese Chicken skewers. For children, there are three choices on the Kids Menu while the Granny Grant consists of Soup, Sandwich and Cake.

The chefs can move up a gear or two towards the weekends when the new Orangey Room comes into play. The Orangey dinner menu is full of temptation. How about Persian Slow Braised Lamb Shank? Maybe Wagyu Burger with Smoked Pancetta? Perhaps Yakitori Chicken Skewers with Japanese Curry or Muhammara with Aubergine Schnitzel?

* Total for the three dishes above, including tip, was €50.00
*  Check out the Lodge and all its menus here

Superb Lunch Dishes And Service At Market Lane

Superb Lunch Dishes At Market Lane

Saturday 9th March 2024

Catalan Suquet fish stew of mussels, squid, hake and smoked haddock with saffron
 and paprika braised potatoes and crusty sourdough

Dal Vada lentil cakes, forbidden rice, cashew yogurt, broccoli,
sweet-pickled cucumber, chutney and dukkah.

 It was a busy Saturday in Market Lane yet the food and the service were superb. With the restaurant packed, the people out front did a magnificent job. Courteous and helpful throughout yet no pressure on the customers to hurry up at all. Indeed, it was more or less the opposite. You are given ample time to decide on your choices and no shortage of helpful info either. No rush but very efficient, so there was no delay and the service overall was as smooth as could be.

The menu is extensive with no less than ten main dishes available. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are marked and there is also a Gluten Free menu (just ask!)

This pic via Market Lane.

On the craft trail with a couple of Stouts and a Red Ale to begin. Kildare Brewing, O Brother and Left Hand.

On the craft trail with a Stout double and a Red Ale to begin. 

Kildare Brewing, O Brother and Left Hand.

Kildare Red Ale, 4% ABV, 440 ml can, Bradleys

The colour of our Kildare Red is a strikingly dark red with a soft off-white head that sinks quickly enough. Aromas are malty and there’s a malty element too as it starts in the palate. Toffee and toast are also in the background along with fruity and flowery notes from the yeast and quite a streak of acidity helps keep it nicely balanced. A really excellent classic Irish Red and quite refreshing.

“The classic beer for the modern beer lover.” That’s the description of this red ale from Kildare Brewing, the first beer I've tasted from the Sallins micro-brewery. “Store cold, drink fresh and enjoy,” is what the brewery advises. I did and it is Very Highly Recommended. And 4% ABV puts it in the session basket!

Good Food Ireland says the brewery’s Lock13 pub “serves up pub grub favourites made with local ingredients as well as a wonderful selection of craft beers made on-site by the Kildare Brewing Company”.

Must call there on my next visit to Kildare.

O Brother The Nightcrawler Milk Stout, 4.5% ABV, 440 ml can, Bradleys

Dark, rich, roasty, chocolate, and vanilla are the words on the label of this milk stout from O Brother.

I’m always a bit worried about stouts that mention chocolate and vanilla and those, like this one, that have lactose listed in the ingredients. I don't like my stout too sweet.

First things first though; it is dark, deep brown to midnight black, with a coffee-dust-coloured head that didn’t hang about for long. The expected creaminess is there and you get some of that “roasty” in the aromas. Also on the deliciously smooth palate. And the bitterness of the hops toward the finalé provides a nice bit of balance.

All this without any nitro and no sign of any excessive sweetness. An excellent stout then and Highly Recommended.

O Brother Brewing is the brainchild of three brothers from Co. Wicklow, Ireland – Barry, Brian, and Paddy O’Neill. “In December 2014 we swapped the 9-5 jobs for beer 24/7 and set up our brewery in the beautiful village of Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow.  We haven’t looked back since!”

Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout Nitro, 6.0% ABV, 404 ml can Bradleys

I like the nitro theatre at the start and like the finish but the overall experience is all a bit modest, a little on the slight side, more butterfly than bee, a dance at arm’s length rather than a clinger. More shadow than substance. Give me a local like Cotton Ball, Elbow Lane, or Casey Brothers any day. And besides the American can is smaller!

Still, it is an interesting stout, easy to drink, well worth a try and I fully understand why quite a few drinkers rave about nitro. Just not me. The body colour is black, and the pillowy head, which really stays around, is tan. There is coffee and cream in the moderately (if even that) intense aromas. The sensation on the palate is ultra smooth, creamy/milky, and that head coats your upper lip, a bit on the sweet side though. Initially roasty, mocha flavours rise up, with slight hop and roast bitterness in the finish.

In all fairness, as a Corkman might remark, I’ll give Left Hand their say: Experience America’s Stout. Milk Stout Nitro is a full sensory experience. Gaze at the mesmerizing cascade of all those tiny Nitro bubbles. Breathe in the aromas of roasted coffee, milk chocolate, brown sugar and vanilla cream. Savor the super smooth Nitro sensation. And, smile as the perfectly pillowy head coats your upper lip. This portable draft beer experience is Good to Go straight from the can or served Like a Pro in a glass. From the bottle, Pour Hard to release the Nitro magic inside.

Geek Bits

IBU 25

Malt: 2-Row, Crystal, Chocolate, Munich, Rolled Oats, Flaked Barley, Roasted Barley

Hops: CTZ, US Goldings

Lactose is also listed in ingredients.

For the best experience, pour hard at 180 degrees into a your glass. 

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Italian Natural Wine Royalty Represented At Le Caveau Spring Portfolio Tasting In The Old Apple Store

 Le Caveau Tasting In The Old Apple Store.

Italian Natural Wine Royalty Well Represented  

Colm McCan (l) of #lecaveauwinemerchants with artist Tom Campbell in the Apple Store (Barrack St Cork) Wednesday.
Pic taken during Le Caveau spring portfolio tasting where Tom ( #tomcampbellart ) was guest artist.

Celebrating 25 years, Le Caveau moved its annual Cork Spring Portfolio back to the 200-year-old Apple Store for the first time since 2019. For much of its life, the building facilitated the local apple trade. Its most recent and continuing role is as headquarters and collection branch of the Neighbourhood Food organisation.

The modest high-ceilinged building proved quite an eye-catching venue with plenty of artwork scattered around the stone walls, quite a bit of it (lots of dogs) created by Tom Campbell, the guest artist on the day.

Time to Garg 'n Go

Humble it may be but the Apple Store also showcased the amazing wines of Italian Natural Wine royalty. Angiolino Maule, Arianna Occhipinti, Elena Pantaleoni and Elisabetta Foradori are names to remember and respect and in each case are featured pictorially (and otherwise) in a recent in-depth study of wine in Italy, VINO by Joe Campanale. This book concentrates on artisanal producers, exceptional terroir and native grapes. Joe and Le Caveau's Pascal Rossignol sing from the same hymn sheet.

Angiolino Maule and his family are featured because of what he is doing to his Garganega grape which got a bad rap through its association with mass-produced Soave. Nowadays, in the Veneto region, Maule is doing "as little as possible to his Garganega grapes in order to illuminate their mineral spirit". 

Le Caveau stocks his delightful La Biancara Masieri Rosso and Bianco. But it is not all serious stuff here. Produced with Garganega and vinified in stainless steel, Garg’n’Go is a fun, approachable sparkling wine (a frizzante) and that was the very first one we tried and enjoyed in Barrack Street. It is vinified in stainless steel and bottled at the end of February. Refermentation in bottle is started with dried Garganega must. 

Similarly, Arianna Occhipinti, who celebrated her 20th harvest in 2023, is well-known for her SP 68 Rosso and Bianco, each named after the neighbouring highway in Sicily where she operates. Her "Il Frappato," a red, is also listed in "VINO" as a top pick

At the Apple Store,  SP68 Bianco was on show but, with one in the queue here at home, we gave it a skip and moved on to her Siccagno, our first red of the day. That too got a big thumbs up and, as it is a terrific expression of Nero D'Avolo. It is fermented with native yeasts with 30 days of maceration. It ages 22 months in large 25HL Slavonian oak barrels and is bottled unfiltered.

Chief fancies
Verdicchio

Campanale calls her "a young force of nature" and lauds her "resurrection of Frappato". She is not the only family member producing excellent varietal Frappato (rather than as part of a blend with Nero D'Avolo). VINO sums her up by saying "she embodies the future of Sicilian winemaking in particular and, one hopes, of Italian winemaking in general".

Elena Pantaleoni inherited La Stoppa vineyard in Emilia-Romagna in 1991. It took her a while but she eventually "turned hard towards nature". Elena has visited Cork and it was with her at a Le Caveau lunch in Skibbereen that I was introduced (not only me) to the marvellous Ageno, an amazing orange wine, a blend of 90% Malvasia and 10% Ortrugo, named after the previous owner, who hailed from Genoa. 

She has ripped up French grapes such as Chardonnay in favour of native ones and VINO emphasises that she also has a gift for blending. We would see that gift in the old Apple Store as Wine #116 was La Stoppa's Trebbiolo Rosso, a radiant light blend of Barbera (mostly) and Bonarda. The name Trebbiolo is derived from the name of the nearby Trebbia River valley and it isn't a combination of Trebbiano and Nebbiolo! 

Elisabetta Foradori is praised by VINO as the "Queen of Teroldego". She is also its saviour. She took over the family vineyard as a 19-year-old and immediately took the side of native grapes that many looked down on. These included Teroldego. She had her ups and downs (including "A Year of Extreme Weather" according to their 2023 Harvest Report) in a long battle but eventually, Teroldego now has the respect it deserves. If you haven't already done so, treat yourself to a bottle!

Manzoni Bianco was another of those unfashionable grapes and we tasted it for ourselves here. This is a single vineyard expression from the Fontanasanta vineyard. Manzoni Bianco is an early-20th-century crossing of Riesling and Pinot Bianco created by Luigi Manzoni. Manzoni Bianco is not unfashionable nowadays and the Foradori version can be highly recommended. 

It was #106 at the Apple Store and, according to my companion, knocked the socks off #105, a Colle Stefano Verdicchio di Matelica that I highly regard and which Le Caveau lauds as "an Italian classic". The fruit grows in their 15 hectares nestled in a cold and dry microclimate alongside the Esino River between the Appenine Mountains and the Adriatic.

I confess to leaning towards brighter and more elegant Matelica than the Verdicchio of its neighbour Castelli di Jesi which can have a little more by way of fruit. Actually, that superb Metelica was one of several Italian wines not made by my "big four" in the tasting.

Grub's up.
Thanks to Simone

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Denavolo Catavela is, after four months on its skins, an exuberant wine that is amber in colour, full of character, dry, tannic with aromas of yellow plums, dried flowers and more. It is a blend of 25% each of  Malvasia, Ortrugo, Trebbiano and Marsanne. An orange wine but it is still very much at home in the white zone!

That was the last of our whites but we still had some excellent reds to go through, beginning with the impressive Barbera Brich Agricola Gaia.

No duds here at all in the old shed, as you might expect from a wine company celebrating 25 years. The good wines continued with the delicious Palmento red by Vino di Anna. Anna is an Australian who while travelling in Europe met Eric Narioo. In 2007, they settled in Sicily, in Etna,  and this is where our red comes from.

 

In VINO, Monte Dall'Ora's Alesandra and Carlo Venturini are shortlisted as one of the top producers of Amarone/Valpolicella in Veneto. So I was expecting good things from their Valpolicella "Saseti" from the hills outside Verona. And I got it in spades, red fruits all the way to a fresh and tasty finish. It is a blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Oseleta and Molinara. The label features five wine-coloured handprints, those of husband-wife winemakers Carlo and Alessandra Zantedeschi and their three children.

The Rodano Chianti, wearing its 15% lightly, lived up to its Classico designation and, like the Palmento, is available by magnum and bottle. Though small and artisanal, Fattoria di Rodáno is a top source for classically made, user-friendly and complex Chianti. The Montefalco Rosso ‘Pomontino', from Umbria, with its large Sangiovese input (80%), maintained a high standard in the Le Caveau portfolio as did the Rosso di Caparsa, another Sangiovese wine.

For me, the star of this final red wine lap was the Casina Bric 460 Mesdi Rosso. This is 100% Nebbiolo and quite an amazing introduction to the stunning wines of Piemonte. One to watch, one to order!

High standards all the way then without touching anything from France, Germany or Austria. Next time!

How much is that
doggy in the window