Moist, heavy clouds sit haughtily on crags above the moors. A rocky beach is littered with dark green sea-weed, washed ashore by the rough, black sea. A dark city of red brick and grey stone stands stalwart against the wind and rain, a warm pub being the only comfort from the cold and damp. Thick cattle move lazily over fields of emerald verdure. A broken castle is torn apart by the thistle and covered by the yellow-flowered gorse. This is the land of the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, the ancient Baile Átha Cliath, Temple Bar, the hills of Cork and Kerry, and Giant’s Causeway. This is Ireland.
When people think of this ancient place, they might think of Celtic symbols, rolling green hills, tattered castles, or pubs, but few ever think of wine. And there is a good reason – grapes will not grow here! But thousands of years ago, people from this area fashioned a wine in a similar way to their continental counterparts – but fermented their alcohol from honey. They called the intoxicating alcohol mead.
Mead is a delicious drink. Its smell only slightly resembles honey. Rather, it smells more of a mixture between humid, tropical flowers and a cool, damp rum cellar. Its taste is sweet and warm, both smooth and sticky while drinking, but dry in the aftertaste. With only a casual observance of the glass, one could mistake the color and texture for a Chardonnay or other moderately colorful white wine. But one sip would give this wine away as something unique and rare to the palate.
Though the drink is originally from Ireland, it is rarely still found in that country. It is about as rare to find as the famous, highly-alcoholic, home-brewed Poitín. Only the older Irish really recall the days of honey-based wines and moonshine sweetened with honey.
But while the drink is losing its popularity in its homeland, it is gaining prominence in other areas of the world. It is increasingly popular in the Northwestern portion of the United States, where many varieties of honey can be found. For you see, like any grape-based wine, mead can come in a variety of tastes due to the type of flower the honey-bees gathered their nectar from or the fruits that the mead is fermented with or aged with in the barrel. Many new tastes of mead are just now being crafted in areas thick with honey. It is an exciting time for this unique, ancient-yet-still-developing wine – and well worth a taste.
When people think of this ancient place, they might think of Celtic symbols, rolling green hills, tattered castles, or pubs, but few ever think of wine. And there is a good reason – grapes will not grow here! But thousands of years ago, people from this area fashioned a wine in a similar way to their continental counterparts – but fermented their alcohol from honey. They called the intoxicating alcohol mead.
Mead is a delicious drink. Its smell only slightly resembles honey. Rather, it smells more of a mixture between humid, tropical flowers and a cool, damp rum cellar. Its taste is sweet and warm, both smooth and sticky while drinking, but dry in the aftertaste. With only a casual observance of the glass, one could mistake the color and texture for a Chardonnay or other moderately colorful white wine. But one sip would give this wine away as something unique and rare to the palate.
Though the drink is originally from Ireland, it is rarely still found in that country. It is about as rare to find as the famous, highly-alcoholic, home-brewed Poitín. Only the older Irish really recall the days of honey-based wines and moonshine sweetened with honey.
But while the drink is losing its popularity in its homeland, it is gaining prominence in other areas of the world. It is increasingly popular in the Northwestern portion of the United States, where many varieties of honey can be found. For you see, like any grape-based wine, mead can come in a variety of tastes due to the type of flower the honey-bees gathered their nectar from or the fruits that the mead is fermented with or aged with in the barrel. Many new tastes of mead are just now being crafted in areas thick with honey. It is an exciting time for this unique, ancient-yet-still-developing wine – and well worth a taste.
photo; orange honey mead, from Ring of Fire, Homer Alaska
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