Take it home: a cider for grown ups and some fizz for celebrations

Highbank Proper Cider Traditional Organic Dry Cider 2013 

6% €5.50

I didn’t get this cider the first time I tried it. I was at a Cider Ireland event, and after the more polished and sweeter versions I had tasted just before, it seemed a little too much. It had quite a deep colour, a pithy tannic edge and was pretty dry. I tried it again recently and loved it; still deep in colour and full of wonderful complex appleyness, it was a revelation. This is a cider for grown-ups and great to drink with or without food. "Only about one-in-five go for this one," says Julie Calder-Potts, "most people prefer our Medieval Cider with mead added in, which is a little sweeter."

Made by Julie with her husband Rod Calder-Potts, this is one of the few (or only) estate-bottled ciders on the market, completely organic and fermented with wild yeasts to give extra interest. No sulphites are added, and the lees are used for bread making once they have done their job on the cider. The Calder-Potts also make a unique alcohol-free cider for drivers, an apple gin "from Ireland’s smallest distillery" with a 253-litre capacity, and an apple syrup – an Irish alternative to maple syrup. Julie was in London when I spoke with her, launching her gin on the British market. "The cider is flying," she says, "and the apple syrup is being used in cocktails big time." So far they are not exporting the cider as demand in Ireland is so high.

The Calder-Potts have a long and fascinating history, with the family involved in everything from game-keeping on the Orkneys, the Farmley estate in Kilkenny,  flying planes in the second World War to living under apartheid in South Africa. Read the full story on their website. They are a lovely couple, making great cider and lots of other goodies (including oats for Flahavan’s). All of them from their own farm and all of them organic.

[ Highbankorchards.com ]

Cremant de La Loire Rosé NV Bouvet-Laduday

12.5% €23.95

"I don’t like rosé and I don’t really like sparkling wine from the Loire. But I love this". It was a very good sales pitch, and I certainly fell for it. But then I agreed with most of what she had just said. I am not a huge fan of rosé and Lorie fizz can be very up and down. The sales assistant in Whelehan’s was right about the wine though. This is a delightful summer sparkling rosé with plenty of raspberry and redcurrant fruits, and racy acidity. The grape used is Cabernet Franc, a cousin of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely used to make red wines in Saint Emilion down in Bordeaux and in the Loire Valley too. Enjoy it as an aperitif on a sunny summer’s evening, or if you have a minor celebration to mark with a little fizz.

Available from Whelehan’s Wines, Loughlinstown