Food

Take it home: A not-so-new World producer and a very old beer

Each week John Wilson selects a great wine and a great beer to try right now. This week: Bethany Estate G6 Shiraz, Barossa Valley and Shepherd Neame Double Stout

Fri Nov 13 2015 - 12:00

Bethany Estate G6 Shiraz, Barossa Valley

Geoff’s Schrapel’s ancestors arrived in the Barossa Valley, Australia in 1845 as part of three shiploads of Silesian farmers and tradesmen fleeing religious persecution in Germany. For the next century, the population retained a strong German identity. Even today, each town in the Barossa has a bluestone Lutheran church, a good pork butcher and a baker selling various German specialties. The names are German; Henschke, Buring, Peter Lehmann and Glaetzer. Wolfgang Blass and Johann Gramp (Jacob’s Creek) both started out in the Barossa. The arriving immigrants also planted vines, and some of the world’s oldest vineyards survive in the valley.

The  original Schrapels bought some land in Bethany, the first settlement in Barossa. Geoff Schrapel is the fifth generation of his family to run the estate and the sixth, his daughter Tania, continues the tradition. The Barossa is best known for massive big muscular wines made from Shiraz. Bethany is in a slightly cooler part of the valley, so the wines are a little more elegant than most. The G6 Shiraz is restrained but still retains those delicious ripe dark fruits overlaid with a classic spicy edge. You can meet Geoff and taste the G6 Shiraz at the O'Briens Wine Fair in the Mansion House - tickets are still available for the early session tomorrow – see www obrienswine.ie for details. Available from O'Briens for €19.49.

Geoff Schrapel of Bethany Estate

Shepherd Neame Double Stout

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Shepherd Neame claims to be the oldest brewery in England, having brewed continuously in Faversham, Kent since 1698. The company is probably better known for Bishop’s Finger and Spitfire, two ales that are widely available in off-licences and supermarkets. This may be a craft brewery, but it certainly isn’t micro, producing fifty million pints of beer annually. It controls 370 pubs in southeast England as well as some hotels. The company is still owned by the Neame family. It had been a few years since I had tried any beer from Shepherd Neame, but I came across the double stout in my local off-licence and was pleasantly surprised. This is a medium-bodied stout with plenty of roasted oats and coffee, finishing with some bitter chocolate.  Available at off-licences for €3.80.