Stonewell Dry Irish Craft Cider
€3.99 for a 500ml bottle
It felt a little strange to be eating my dinner while watching it on television at the same time. I had bought a collar of bacon from Ety Schuurmans who rears Tamworth pigs (Ethicalpork.com) at the Sheridan's Irish Food fest. Two days later Ety and her pigs were on a TV programme while I ate my delicious pork.
The Stonewell Dry Cider I drank with it was equally good. Relatively full and rounded, and packed with rich apple flavours, this is a delicious cider, interesting, thirst quenching and great with food.
Daniel Emerson founded Stonewell in 2010. ‘We started off with the medium-dry cider. Everyone I asked said they preferred dry cider but when given the choice, eight out of ten went for medium-dry,’ he says. ‘Back then sales were 80/20 in favour of our medium-dry. This has changed to 65/35. Drinkers are starting to move towards dry. ‘I think there were always lots of people who had tried out and enjoyed dry ciders abroad; they now know they can find good dry cider here in Ireland.’ Watch out for Daniel’s latest release, the Esterre Sparkling Prestige, which may well feature here in the coming weeks.
Les Voiles de Paulilles de Collioure 2013
€17.49 Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer take a bit of trouble with their wine, and have several qualified and experienced winemakers who travel the world seeking new wines, advising producers, and sometimes even making the wine.
Belinda Kleinig studied Viticulture & Oenology at Adelaide University, and then worked in various wineries in France and California before joining Marks & Spencer. A job such as this requires tact, patience and a strong will (possibly explaining why so many of the M&S team are women), persuading producers to do things differently.
According to Belinda, the better, more established producers are less likely to accept advice, although the opportunity to list their wines with M&S usually helps.
Belinda specialises in the wines of France, Australia, the USA and Germany. Collioure was once better known as a retreat for Fauvist artists, but this tiny little-known appellation overlooking the Mediterranean by the Spanish border produces some excellent red and white wines. The Les Voiles, made from a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, is a big wine with plenty of rounded spicy dark fruits. Belinda helped select the blend for this wine and is delighted with the result.
