by David Llewellyn » Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:37 pm
I grow Cab.S., Merlot, Sauv.Bl, Chardonnay, Gewurz, and various others, all in tiny amounts. The later ripeners I assist by the use of temporary polythene covers over the rows. ("Aha! I knew there must be some trickery here!", I hear you say!) They are not growing in actual polytunnels as, for example, Beenleigh vineyard in England. The covers are off from post-harvest until early the following summer. The less fussy grapes like Rondo and Madeleine Angevine dont have the privelege of the covers, and ripen ok entirely exposed.
Well, Peter, the only other 'commercial' wine I am aware of is the wine which Longueville House makes occasionally from grapes bought from Thomas Walk. His self-named 'Amurensis Walk' is actually Rondo!! And it seems he only gets fairly erratic crops from his vineyard in Cork. Longueville used to make some wine from their own vineyard, but there remains only a neglected remnant of the former vineyard, which does not yield usable crops, as I understand, even though one occasionally hears claims to the contrary!
As for cider, Paul, well thats a fairly sorry state of affairs in Ireland. There is no remaining tradition of cidermaking here. Everybody's idea of cider is that stuff produced by the Magners/Bulmers monopoly, which is to me not cider at all, but rather, sweet sparkling apple-flavoured fermented glucose-water. I make an artisan cider and sell it in a small way, and there are 1 or 2 others in the country who do the same, and of course a scattering of others who also make the real thing for their own enjoyment.
