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WINE O’CLOCK:  Something hot to mull over

By Kilkenny Now 18th December 2020 0

Mulled wine is popular at this time of year – but not with me. I like the smell from the bubbling cinnamon, cloves and fruit, and I like the idea of a warming winter drink.  But, in truth, I usually find it a disappointing waste of good wine. A lot of shops sell a ready-mixed […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Sweets for the Christmas sweet

By Kilkenny Now 11th December 2020 0

I like Christmas pudding but it is usually St Stephen’s Day, or later, before I get to taste it. It is too rich and heavy to enjoy on top of the big festive meal. After turkey, ham and all the trimmings, I have no wish for any more food and I am usually happy to […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Time to talk turkey – not to mention spiced beef

By Kilkenny Now 4th December 2020 0

When planning Christmas dinner I always start with the best of good intentions. Quality before quantity, don’t go mad on the sauces, remember the vegetarians in our midst. Then I add a bit of this, because it was a big hit last year, a bit of that because my grandchildren love it, and a load […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: The wine that dares not speak its name

By Kilkenny Now 27th November 2020 0

The grapes for Champagne are picked by hand and always have been since the seventeenth century when the monk, Dom Pérignon, is said to have discovered the wonderful, sparkling drink. Of course they didn’t have much choice back then – that’s how all grapes were picked in seventeenth century France. Today the grapes for most […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

MICHAEL WOLSEY: Turning good cider into fine wine

By Kilkenny Now 20th November 2020 0

What’s the difference between cider and apple wine? Well, about €30 a bottle for one thing. But there are some other factors that make the wine a rather more subtle and decidedly more alcoholic product than the cider we like to pour from pint bottles over loads of ice. The process for both products begins […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Box clever and let the shop make the choice

By Kilkenny Now 13th November 2020 0

Good wines, like good books, are best bought from shops where you can look at the stock, savour the atmosphere and get advice from somebody who knows what they are talking about. However, successive lockdowns have persuaded many of us to shop online and, while it is not a trend I would like to see […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: Just right for drinking the duke’s health

By Kilkenny Now 6th November 2020 Post a comment

According to Shakespeare, the third Duke of Clarence was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine at the behest of his brother Richard III. It’s most likely that he was executed by more conventional means on the order of his other brother, Edward IV. But it is a good story and it has immortalised the […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: A sweet, rich winner to end your dinner

By Kilkenny Now 30th October 2020 0

In 1698, eight years after the Battle of the Boyne, English kings had grown tired of fighting each other and went to war with France. The French, unsportingly, stopped sending their wine to England and the English, resourcefully, looked for another supply. They found it in Portugal’s Duroro Valley but the wine did not travel […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: With Sherry, the cream is at the top

By Kilkenny Now 23rd October 2020 0

Sherry comes in many hues and flavours. Last week I looked at some of the clean, white varieties we tend to drink in summer or as an aperitif. But in Ireland Sherry is seen largely as a drink for autumn and winter, and it is the dark shades we go for. Dark and sweet, some […]

Food & Drink News Opinion

WINE O’CLOCK: A lot of good wine goes up in smoke

By Kilkenny Now 9th October 2020 0

Fires have been rampaging through California’s Napa Valley in recent weeks, destroying thousands of acres of vine-growing country and causing severe damage to at least 20 wineries. The fires have also destroyed hundreds of homes and small businesses and claimed some lives, so wine is not top of their worry list just now. But it […]