Food, Drink, Entertainment

Beer: Belper House

Located just off the Market Place, by the High Street and Church Street Junction in Belper, the newly opened Belper House takes up a commanding position at the top end of town.

Formerly an ironmonger’s at the turn of the last century, and then later a barber’s, the current owners have tried to make reference to Belper’s Industrial Heritage in the décor within the building. “The building was originally called Belper House, included in the old deeds which go back to the 1780s and the Strutts, so we felt no need to change the name! You can actually see a sign at the top of the building in the old photos with Belper House on it.”

With restrictions starting to be lifted and as we look to start leading normal lives once again, the timing of opening this new venture looks like a well-thought-out plan. However, that wasn’t always the case. “We initially started the refurbishment a few years ago with planning consent for new front windows and all the other sash windows having some tender loving care. The building is Grade II Listed, so everything had to go through a Listed Building process as well as normal planning applications. Our initial business plan saw us looking to open up in early summer 2020, however, everything ended up being around 6-9 months behind. Given the circumstances, we just rolled with it!”

With Belper becoming a bit of a destination when it comes to pubs and bars, I was keen to understand what offering the newly opened venture would bring to the beery landscape. “We will offer up to 6 traditional cask ales on hand pull and 8 keg lines catering for cider, lager and IPA drinkers. We will always have cask beers from local and independent brewers, as well as stocking other well-known popular brands, working on taste rather than popularity with what we do stock. Ale, lager, cider, gin and all spirit drinkers will be catered for with local distillery Shining Cliff Gin from Ambergate featuring. We are so proud of Derbyshire products and want to support other local businesses too. Food will also be sourced locally where possible.”

As the new owners find their feet there are plans to introduce pop-up events such as quiz nights: “Our main aim is to become a part of the Belper community and fit in with the local real ale pub scene. It’s nice to be a part of the town I grew up in; Belper still has that lovely town feel – people know one another, and we are lucky to have a community feel, now lacking in many towns. It would be nice for the bar to feel as if we’ve always been here, after all the building has been part of the street scene for over 200 years! We have seating outside, just off the Market Place, and it’s a great place to sit, relax and watch the world go by, as long as the weather permits!” With the re-opening up, post-pandemic, of many bars and restaurants, Belper has never had it so good when it comes to choices to quench your thirst or enjoy a decent meal.

By Sean McKeown

Word on Wine

Following on from the last ‘Word on Wine’ article, when I was talking about the problems of the wine industry in South Africa, I thought I’d now look at the red wine that immediately comes to mind when we think about South African wines – the ‘Pinotage’ grape.

This is South Africa’s own addition to the long list of grape varieties used to make wine. As far back as 1925, a viticulturist A. I. Perold at the Stellenbosch University created a new variety by crossing a Pinot Noir and Cinsault vine to create what was then commonly called ‘Hermitage’, before being contracted to ‘Pinotage’. It was not until 1961 that Pinotage appeared on a label of South African wine. Originally, the wine was looked upon with scorn, as a coarse red wine with flamboyantly sweetish and paint-like pungency. This has now been developed to produce a rich, long-lasting deep red wine whose wild fruitiness has been controlled by time and good oak ageing.

Pinotage performs well, particularly on the coastal area of South Africa, producing intensely coloured grapes, easily reaching ripeness and with good acidity. Some of the best wines come from older low yielding ‘bush vines’. By the 1990s, producers had started to treat the wines with respect and experimenting in prolonged, cooler temperature fermentation. With the addition of using French and American oak barrels they have taken the grape to a new level by adding vanilla notes to the wine.

In 1992, Pinotage produced the cheapest red wine in South Africa, but by 1997 the old bush vine wines were demanding the highest prices for the grape. In 2003 the price of the Pinotage grapes had started to fall and winemakers started to use the grapes in what became ‘Cape Blend’ wines. However, the ‘Pinotage Producers Association’ started the revival of the grape and the modern ‘Pinotage’ range of wines came to the forefront. To a limited extent the vines are grown in Brazil, California, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

The wine that I would like to present to you is the Fairview Barrel Aged Pinotage 2019 from Waitrose. The Fairview winery, founded in 1693, is on the south-western slopes of the Paarl Mountains, just 40 minutes from Cape Town. Fairview have been championing Pinotage since the 1970s. This wine is made by Charles Back and bottled exclusively for Waitrose. It is aged in a mixture of new and seasoned French and American oak barrels, to respect the bright fruit of the grape. It is a medium-bodied wine from old bush vines, with aromas of ripe plums, red fruits and blackberries. On the palate hints of clove spice with good mouthfeel and soft tannins, with a fresh spicy lingering finish.

Technical Details:

Grapes: 100% Pinotage Appearance: Clean, clear wine. Nose / Aroma: Aromas of red fruit, blackberries, cranberries and spice. Taste: Good mouthfeel with soft tannins and clove/spicy finish. Alcohol by Volume: 14% Food match: Charcuterie, BBQ meats and meaty stews. Available from: Waitrose online shop, £9.99.

Visit www.waitrosecellar.com to see the full range of wines and have them delivered to your door in a matter of a couple of days if you don’t live close to a store. Visit www.fairview.co.za to see more of the winery and their other wines.

If you like wine and would like to learn more, please visit our website at www.kiburnwinecircle.weebly.com or visit our Facebook page for details. You can also find details on the website of our planned programme of tasting in 2021, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

By David Savidge, Kilburn Wine Circle

Recipe

Lemony Pea and Broad Bean Red Rice Risotto

A delicious, comforting dish. Red rice has a wonderful nutty flavour and is rich in fibre and antioxidants, making it a healthier option than white refined rice.

Serves: 2 Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 49 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 red onion, finely chopped 500ml hot vegetable stock 125g Camargue red rice Zest of 1 lemon 1 tbsp lemon juice 100g frozen peas 100g shelled broad beans (fresh or frozen) 4 asparagus spears cut into 2cm pieces 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Nutritional information per serving: calories 403kcal fat 9.9g carbohydrates 59.4g protein 14g

Method:

Heat the oil in a large shallow pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil.

Add the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then simmer covered for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the lemon, peas, broad beans and asparagus and cook for a further 4 minutes until tender.

Spoon into bowls and scatter over the parmesan to serve.