Kinsale Mead Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged

Kinsale Mead Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged

IRISH DRINK AWARD

BY KATE RYAN

Kinsale Mead, established by Kate and Denis Dempsey in 2017, is Ireland’s first commercial meadery for over 200 years. Ireland has a mead heritage that reaches back to the ancient mead halls of the high kings and queens at the Hill of Tara, making this fermented honey drink older in origin than Irish whiskey. Kinsale, with its long-standing reputation as Ireland’s premier gourmet destination and its historical trading routes to Spain, is reflected in the ingredients crafted into their white and red mead: Spanish orange blossom honey, local botanicals and fruits grown in Ireland. In 2020, Kate and Denis, inspired by the legends of Ireland’s Wild Geese, wanted to explore the potential of their mead further by ageing it in French wine barrels for 12 months. The Irish Food Writers’ Guild Irish Drink Award is for their Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged, a three-year-old fermented off-dry mead flavoured with tart Irish blackberry and juicy cherry, then aged for 12 months in Bordeaux wine casks. ‘We wanted to add another layer of complexity and depth to our smooth, eminently drinkable Wild Red Mead, particularly with an eye to pairing it with food,’ says Kate and Denis. ‘We found the maturation and micro-oxygenation process of ageing in barrels resulted in a fruity liveliness with juice and bright fruit flavours that were fantastic on the palate.’

IRELAND HAS A MEAD HERITAGE THAT REACHES BACK TO THE ANCIENT MEAD HALLS OF THE HIGH KINGS AND QUEENS AT THE HILL OF TARA, MAKING THIS FERMENTED HONEY DRINK OLDER IN ORIGIN THAN IRISH WHISKEY.

‘Historically mead was stored – and by default, aged – in barrels, and as Kinsale was such an important wine port, we knew we wanted to follow that wine trail. Wild Geese Merlot barrels were available and that was an obvious fit, both for flavour and history. Kinsale in the eighteenth century was a thriving port, one of several in Ireland licensed to import wines from France, Spain and Portugal. The harbour and warehouses were full of barrels of the finest wines, ports and sherries. In a sense we are completing the circle, bringing those precious barrels back to Ireland.’ 2020 was a challenging year for the duo. The closure of the hospitality trade impacted on direct sales, meadery tours were limited and tastings, food festivals and other promotional opportunities all ceased. They responded by creating virtual Online Mead Talk & Taste Zooms comprising a tasting of three meads from their collection and intriguing insights into the history of mead in Ireland, including the myths and legends surrounding it and the Bee Laws (part of Ireland’s ancient Brehon Laws), demonstrating the importance of mead in Irish food culture, held in high esteem and value. Kinsale Mead’s Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged showcases the creativity, innovation, determination and attention to detail put into every drop of their honeyed elixir. This mead may well have influences of Spain and France, but to taste it is to experience a contemporary expression of the original wine of Ireland. kinsalemeadco.ie

Boozy chocolate brownies with Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged

Recipe by Kinsale Mead

Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged pairs exceptionally well with good-quality chocolate, so the folks at Kinsale Mead Co. decided to experiment by adding some mead into a chocolate recipe. The results were amazing: fudgy, boozy brownies. They added walnuts from their local beekeeper’s trees, but you can leave them out or use other nuts if you choose. Kinsale Mead has many more recipes online at kinsalemeadco.ie. MAKES 16 SMALL BROWNIES

60g dried cranberries (or other dried fruit of your choice) / 175ml Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged / 180g dark chocolate, roughly chopped / 115g butter, plus extra for greasing / 3 large eggs / 250g caster sugar / 40g cocoa powder, sifted / 150g plain flour / 1/2 tsp salt / 60g walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)

Soak the cranberries or dried fruit for at least 30 minutes in the mead, until the fruit plumps up. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a 20cm square brownie and line with non-stick baking paper. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and stir to combine, then add the flour and salt and mix well. Mix in the cranberries and mead, then fold in the walnuts (if using). Pour the mixture into the prepared brownie tin and bake in the preheated oven for 22–25 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out with small fudgy crumbs on it. Remove the tin from the oven and cool it rapidly in a baking tray of cold water. This preserves the fudgy centre and stops the brownies from overcooking. Cool in the tray before cutting, then cut into small pieces so they last longer – theoretically! Serve with a generous glass of Wild Red Mead – Merlot Barrel Aged.