The inaugural international Literary Festival of Food and Wine took place at Ballymaloe House, Grainstore and Cookery School over the May Bank Holiday wekend, 3 – 6 May. A magical weekend was had, with many wine & drinks events, and here are a selection of photographs and some links to write-up on the weekend. We are already looking forward to 2014 Literary Festival!
Jancis Robinson MW Wine Grapes presentation and tasting at the Literary Festival
olm pictured with Jancis Robinson MW at Ballymaloe Literary FestivalGer Buckley, Master Cooper, Midleton Distillery pictured with Bill Yosses, Pastry Chef, The White House
Tom Doorley and John Wilson ‘Wine & Words’Peter Corr and Literary Festival wine & drinks crew
Douro – still and fortified with Maurice O’Mahony, Wine Alliance
Mary Dowey and Pascal Rossignol ‘Going Natural – New Trends’
Ger Buckley, Master Cooper, Midleton Distillery
Sherry with Leslie Williams, wine writer, the Irish Examiner
Rieslings to be Cheerful with John McDonnell, Wine Australia IrelandNick Lander, Joe McNamee, Paul Flynn and Niamh ShieldsSingle Pot Still Whiskey from Midleton Distillery matched with Irish Farmhouse Cheese by L Mulligan
A Wine Goose Show with Susan Boyle
Pierpaolo Rapuzzi, Ronchi di Cialla, Friuli
Penfolds Grange and The Rewards of Patience with John McDonnell, Wine Australia IrelandJohn Wilson, The Irish Times and Juan Gil, Albarino, Rias Baixas
Tom Lynch, El Comandante Wines, MendozaWine & Literature with John Wilson, wine writer, The Irish Times
William O’Callaghan, Longueville Irish Apple Brandy and CiderMaurice, Pascal and Geraldine checking the wines.Sherry in The Big ShedDaphne launching the literary festival with NyetimberJohn Bowman with the box office crew – Nicola, Aoife and Ka
We held a Sherry Dinner in the Big Shed at Ballymaloe, showcasing the Sherry from Gonzalez Byass, on the Friday evening, 3rd May, for the Bord Bia Taste Council Summer School, during the weekend of the Literary Festival of Food and Wine.
Ted Berner, of Wildside Catering (and sherry fan!) and his team of chefs created a wonderful dinner matched with Gonzalez Byass Sherry, including Tio Pepe Fino, Tio Pepe En-Rama Fino, AB Amontillado and Palo Cortado Leonor. Thank to Oscar Bayo and all at Gonzalez Byass for their great support, and to all at Barry & Fitzwilliam for their fantastic support as always. We also had a traditonal venencia on hand for people to try their hand at pouring their own Sherry.
The inaugural wine served in the Big Shed was Sherry – won’t be the last time….
During her Wine Grapes presentation at the Literary Festival, Jancis Robinson MW showed a Equipo Navazos La Bota Palo Cortado as one of the seven wines shown, and a show of hands at the end of the night, showed just how well recieved it was, being one of the most popular in the show of hands. Sherry on a roll?
Leslie Williams, wine writer, The Examiner, also very kindly presented the Fino & Manzanilla tasting during the weekend, and that was also very well recieved, along with Sacha Whelan’s Iberico Jamon. Simply Delicious!
Some pictures capturing the set-up for the Sherry Dinner in The Big Shed at Ballymaloe
Sherry and BarrelsTasting the Tio Pepe Fino En-Rama. Thumbs-up!
Setting up for Sherry & Tapas in Big ShedPour your own Sherry using a traditional venenciaSally, Con, Ivan and John – all Sherry fansAll set up for Sherry & Tapas
Some other recent Sherry events at Ballymaloe include visit of Oscar Bayo from Gonzalez Byass and also the visit of the Consejo Regulador Jerez in assoc with Wine of Spain, and a pop-up Sherry bar at Cork Food Festival. There is a Tapas & Sherry course, run three times at year at the cookery school, and we have a Sherry module during the 12-week cookery course.
We are also planning an event to mark World Sherry Day/Week here on Wed 22nd May – pls e-mail colm@ballymaloe.ie if you are interested in this.
The inaugural Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine, which takes place 3rd – 6th May 2013, will include well known wine & drinks writers, Jancis Robinson MW, Mary Dowey, Tom Doorley, and John Wilson, to name but some of the 40 national and international speakers attending.
Throughout the weekend, there will also be talks and tastings on wine & drinks including Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey from Midleton Distillery, wine and sherry tastings, cooperage display by Ger Buckley, Master Cooper, Midleton Distillery, and also a ‘Pop-up’ wine shop  Please see www.litfest.ie for full programme of events.  Wine & drinks events taking place during the Literary Festival:
Saturday 4th May, 11.30am-1.00pm
‘RIAS BAIXAS and ALBARINO’ talk and tasting with John Wilson, wine writer, The Irish Times, in conversation with Juan Gil de Araujo González de Careaga, President of the D.O. Rias Baixas, Galicia, followed by ‘SHELLFISH and ALBARINO LUNCH’ at 1.30pm  Shellfish and Albarino – a match made in heaven. The Ballymaloe kitchen will cook the freshest shellfish to demonstrate this fantastic pairing. Juan Gil de Araujo González de Careaga, President of the D.O. Rias Baixas, will leads us through this lunch (In the Long Dining Room at Ballymaloe House) Book tickets €50
Saturday 4th 12.00pm, 2.00pm and 5.00pm
‘SINGLE POT STILL IRISH WHISKEY’ from Midleton Distillery  Talk and tasting, on Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey from Midleton Distillery, alongside Irish Farmhouse Cheese
Saturday 4th May, 2.30pm – 4.00pm
‘WINE AND WORDS’ with John Wilson and Tom Doorley,  Talk and tasting, with wine writers John Wilson, wine writer, The Irish Times, and Tom Doorley, wine writer & restaurant critic, who will talk about wine books in general, including a talk on the books of Maurice Healy – Ireland’s first wine journalist. Healy, a barrister, wrote a number of books, including The Munster Circuit, as well as two very amusing books on wine – Stay me With Flagons, and The Wines of Bordeaux. There will be a tasting of some featured wines specially selected by John and Tom, and helpful advice on ‘Wine tasting tips’. (takes palce in The Carrigaun Room, at the Grain Store, at Ballymaloe House) Book tickets €25
Saturday 4th May, 3.00pm
‘IRISH APPLE BRANDY and CIDER’ talk and tasting with William O’Callaghan of Longueville House, Mallow, Co. Cork
Saturday 4th May, 4.00pm Â
GER BUCKLEY, MASTER COOPER of MIDLETON DISTILLERY Â Presentation and demonstration on everything to do with barrels and the ancient craft of cooperage (in The Big Shed)
Saturday 4th May, 4.30pm – 6.00pm Â
‘GOING NATURAL – NEW TRENDS’ with Mary Dowey and Pascal Rossignol  Talk & tasting, with Mary Dowey, well known Irish wine writer, and Pascal Rossignol, guest wine lecturer at Ballymaloe Cookery School, and award winning Le Caveau wine specialist, with a focus, and tasting on new trends in the wine world, with an emphasis on topics including ‘Natural’ Wines; Old Vines; Sulphur, and Biodynamic Wine (takes place in The Carrigaun Room, at the Grain Store, at Ballymaloe House) Book tickets €25
Saturday 4th May, 6.30pm – 8.00pm
A ‘QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS’ SPECIAL ON FOOD AND WINE chaired by John Bowman,  A debate on food and wine issues with an expert panel, chaired by John Bowman, who will take your food and wine questions and demand answers from an expert panel. (takes place in the main part of the Grain Store, at Ballymaloe House). Book tickets €25
Saturday 4th May, 8.30pm
****this event is now sold out – waitlisted****  Darina Allen dinner at home, with Skye Gyngell, and Pierpaolo Rapuzzi of Ronchi di Cialla, Friuli, Italy, with wines from the indigenous grape varieties of the region, including a particular focus on the Schioppettino grape variety.
Sunday 5th May 11.00am
‘A SPECIAL CORNER OF ITALY – FRIULI’ with Pierpaolo Rapuzzi  A wine tasting of indigenous Italian grape varieties from this special corner of north-east Italy, with Pierpaolo Rapuzzi of Ronchi di Cialla, a key Friulian producer, located in the commune of Prepetto, very close to the border with Slovenia. The line-up of wines for this tasting is Ciallabianco 2011, Ciallabianco 2001, Ribolla Nera 2010, Schioppettino di Cialla 2008, Schioppettino di Cialla 2001, Refosco dal Peduncolo 2006, Refosco dal Peduncolo 2003 and Picolit 2008. The winery is known for the ageing power of its indigenous whites, and for the finesse of its red wines, made from exotic and mythical local grapes. The Rapuzzi family have been awarded for their work in rescuing endangered indigenous grape varieties. (Please e-mail colm@ballymaloe.ie for more details on this event)
Sunday 5th May, 12.00pm, 3.00pm and 5.30pm  ‘SINGLE POT STILL IRISH WHISKEY’ from Midleton Distillery  Talk and tasting, on Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey from Midleton Distillery, alongside Irish Farmhouse Cheese
Sunday 5th May, 12.30pm
‘WINE and LITERATURE’. John Wilson, wine writer, The Irish Times, will give a light-hearted wine tasting, accompanying each wine with a quote from some literary source, including Shaw, Fields, Colette, Rabelais and Pablo Neruda!’ (Fringe in The Big Shed)
Sunday 5th May, 1.30pm
‘FINO AND MANZANILLA’ Dry Sherry – a tasting of Finos, including En-rama style, and Manzanilla (Fringe in The Big Shed)
Sunday 5th 12.00pm, 2.00pm and 5.30pm
‘SINGLE POT STILL IRISH WHISKEY’ from Midleton Distillery  Talk and tasting, on Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey from Midleton Distillery, alongside Irish Farmhouse Cheese
Sunday 5th May, 2.30pm – 4.00pm
‘SPICE MIXES – WINES TO SUIT SPICY ASIAN DISHES’ with Mary Dowey  Wines to go with spicy dishes from range of different cuisines. with Mary Dowey, wine editor, The Gloss Magazine, and author of many wine books, including ‘Food & Wine Matching Made Simple’ (takes place in The Carrigaun Room, at the Grain Store) Book tickets €20
Sunday 5th May, 3.00pm Â
‘DOURO VALLEY – STILL & FORTIFIED’
White, Red & Port – talk and tasting on the Douro Valley, with Maurice O’Mahony, Wine Alliance (Fringe in The Big Shed)
Sunday 5th May, 4.00pmÂ
GER BUCKLEY, MASTER COOPER of MIDLETON DISTILLERYÂ Presentation and demonstration on everything to do with barrels and the ancient craft of cooperage (in The Big Shed)
Sunday 5th May, 5.00pm
‘RIESLINGS TO BE CHEERFUL’ with John McDonnell  John McDonnell, of Wine Australia Ireland will showcase a selection of styles of Riesling, both from Australia, and from other parts of the wine world. (Fringe in The Big Shed)
Sunday 5th May, 6.30pm – 8.00pm
‘WINE GRAPES’ with Jancis Robinson MW  One of a handful of wine communicators with an international reputation, Jancis Robinson MW writes daily for JancisRobinson.com (voted first-ever Wine Website of the Year in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards2010), weekly for The Financial Times, and bi-monthly for a column that is syndicated around the world. She is also editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, co-author with Hugh Johnson of The World Atlas of Wine, co-author of Wine Grapes – A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, each of these books recognised as a standard reference worldwide.
‘REWARDS OF PATIENCE’ with John McDonnell, Wine Australia  A tasting of some very special Australian wines with John McDonnell, Wine Australia Ireland (Fringe in The Big Shed)
Sunday 5th May, from 9.00pm
‘TANGO & MALBEC’ – talk and tasting of a selection of Malbec wine from Argentina, with Tom Lynch, El Comandante Wines, Mendoza, Argentina, followed by Tango in association with the Cork Argentinean Tango Society (in the Carrigaun Room, at the Grain Store at Ballymaloe, which is adjacent to the Big Shed)
More information, and to book tickets on-line, please see www.litfest.ie and wine events are listed here www.litfest.ie/wine-events or e-mail Colm for more information on any of the wine events colm@ballymaloe.ie To book tickets, or to request a brochure, please telephone Literary Festival box office 021 4645777 Â E-mail: info@litfest.ie
Jancis Robinson MWMary DoweyJohn WilsonTom DoorleyJohn BowmanPascal RossignolJuan Gil de Araujo González de CareagaPierpaolo RapuzziGer Buckley, Master Cooper, Midleton Distillery and John McDonnell, Wine AustraliaMaurice O’Mahony, Wine Alliance and DarinaTom Lynch, El Comandante Wines, Argentina
The Fringe Events at ‘The Big Shed’ during the Literary Festival, at Ballymaloe 3rd – 6th May 2013
As well as the talks and demos, the real heart of the festival will be the Fringe, where everyone will go to eat, drink and meet, in what promises to be a brilliant event. There will also be additional wine & drinks events here as well during the weekend. More details to follow shortly on these additional events.
The arts, craft and culture area will showcase works by Lucinda Robertson, Sacha Whelan, and Adam O’Connor to name but a few and a cooperage display by Ger Buckley, Master Cooper, Midleton Distillery. Art installations will abound and include the Cully and Sully wall and the fabulous Queens of Neon doing their glamorous thing. In the family corner, a host of fun interactive and creative activities based on the principle of food education will take place. For those with food and drink on their minds, the market stalls will be a feast of Green Saffron, Gubbeen Smokehouse, Annie’s Roasts, The Rocket man, Golden Bean Coffee Roaster, Lolo’s Cuisine, Murphy’s Ice Cream, Petite Treats, The Greedy Pig, Ardsallagh Goats Cheese, Woodside Farm, Bill Casey’s Smoked Salmon.
There will be a selection of drinks including wines with ‘Irish wine making connections’ from the Ballymaloe wine cellar, beer from Irish Craft Brewers from around Ireland, and a line-up of the finest Irish Whiskey from the award winning local Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, Midleton Distillery
We look forward to welcoming you to the Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine.
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– Visit of Jean-Charles Cazes, of Chateau Lynch-Bages, Pauillac, Bordeaux, to Ballymaloe on Sunday, 10th March 2013, in association with Michael Barry, Barry & Fitzwilliam
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– Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine, 3rd – 6th May 2013 with national and international food and drinks writers from Ireland and all over the world, coming to East Cork for the inaugural international ‘Literary Festival of Food and Wine’ – including Jancis Robinson MW, Mary Dowey, Tom Doorley, John Wilson alongside iconic food names, to name but some of the 40 speakers (see www.litfest.ie – full confirmation of programme of events & details soon)
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– Hennesy Cognac event, at Ballymaloe, 10th October 2013, in association with Edward Dillon & Co
2013 is already looking like a good vintage Рfor wine events at Ballymaloe. We are looking forward to great line-up of wine events, and to welcoming Jean-Charles Cazes of Ch̢teau Lynch-Bages, on March 10th, and to welcoming back Jancis Robinson MW in May 2013 as part of the Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine.
Jean-Charles Cazes
Château Lynch-Bages, needs no introduction in Ireland – one of the best known, respected, collected and followed, of the ‘Irish Wine Geese’ Château of Bordeaux. We are delighted to be welcoming Jean Charles to Ballymaloe – and as part of The Gathering 2013, there will also be a series of other wine events, which are being planned for Cork City and County, throughout the year, with ‘Irish Wine Geese’ winemakers from all over the wine world, ‘flying home’.
Born in Bordeaux, Jean-Charles Cazes grew up in Pauillac in the heart of the family vineyards at Château Lynch Bages, and since 2006, taking over from his father, Jean-Michel Cazes, he has been in charge of all the family vineyards, in France and abroad. Join Jean Charles at Ballymaloe, for one, or both, of the following events – a wine tasting & presentation in the Grain Store at Ballymaloe, followed by a wine dinner, with the wines of Château Lynch Bages and The Cazes Family Collection wines. Wine tasting & presentation, by Jean Charles Cazes, at The Grain Store, Ballymaloe, 6.30pm, Sunday 10th March €18. Followed by a wine dinner, with Jean Charles Cazes, in the Yeats Room dining room, at Ballymaloe House 8.30pm €95. Advance booking advised. Special rates also available for accommodation
Jancis Robinson MW
One of a handful of wine communicators with an international reputation, Jancis Robinson writes daily for JancisRobinson.com (voted first-ever Wine Website of the Year in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards2010), weekly for The Financial Times, and bi-monthly for a column that is syndicated around the world. She is also editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, co-author with Hugh Johnson of The World Atlas of Wine, co-author of Wine Grapes – A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, each of these books recognised as a standard reference worldwide.
An award-winning TV presenter, she is invited all over the world to conduct wine events and act as a wine judge. In 1984 she was the first person outside the wine trade to pass the rigorous Master of Wine exams and in 2003 she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen, on whose cellar she now advises.
She loves and lives for wine in all its glorious diversity, generally favouring balance and subtlety over sheer mass.
