Learning about Wine at Ballymaloe Cookery School
The Beaujolais Nouveau 2011 Рil est arriv̩ Рto Ballymaloe!
Bernard Georges, of Georges Duboeuf, treated the students of the 12-week Cookery Course to a tasting of the 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau, along with Peter Corr, of Febvre Wine Merchants. Pictured below, and much enjoyed by all. Merci á Bernard & Peter.
The famous Spanish wine company, Gonzalez Byass, established in 1835 in the Jerez region, it is still a family owned business and it is now at the 5th generation.
They produce wine in different regions of Spain: Rioja, Toledo, Jerez, Somontano, Penedes and Cava. Oscar Bayo presented a selection of wines – Cava, White, and Reds from different regions of Spain, and of course a selection of Sherry, including the range of their very special 30year old Sherries – Del Duque Amontillado, Apostoles Palo Cortado, Mathusalem Oloroso and Noe Pedro Ximenez – a stunning range and line-up of some of the most complex Sherries.
IWSC Spanish Wine Producer of the Year 2010. González Byass, Jerez, Spain
Pictured recently in the wine cellar at Ballymaloe, in advance of the Gonzalez Byass wine event, were Joe Cronin, Ballymaloe (who celebrates 60 years working at Ballymaloe this month) and Colin Downey, Barry & Fitzwilliam Wine Merchants, who co-hosted the event with Ballymaloe.
Oscar also spoke to the students of the 12-week Cookery Course at the school, with an emphasis on Sherry and Food, in particular how well Fino goes so well with food, especially Iberico Ham
(Pictured is the Grain Store at Ballymaloe set for a previous Sherry event in Ballymaloe, earlier this year, in May,when we welcomed Cesar Saldana, Consejo Regulador, Jerez, in association with Wines of Spain and The Irish Times)
Launch of the New Season’s Olive Oil, at Ballymaloe on Wednesday 9th November 2011
Wines and Olive Oil of Tuscany,
Wednesday 9th November at Ballymaloe
We had an amazing day with the launch and masterclasses of the new season’s Tuscan Olive Oil.
I hope some of these photographs can convey the excitment and sense of occasion in Ballymaloe throughout the day – Billy Lyons ‘Restaurants and Food in Cork’Â also has written a very nice article about the launch here.
And also see ‘The Vine Inspiration’ wine blog nice article here on the Winemakers Dinner that evening at Ballymaloe House
Also on some more photos the Ballymaloe House Facebook here and here
Pictured, in the entrance hall at the cookery school, are Bea Contini Bonacossi, from Capezzana, Carmignano www.capezzana.it, Federico Giuntini, Selvapiana, Rufina www.selvapiana.it, and David Gleave MW, of Liberty Wines who showed the olive oil of Fontodi www.fontodi.com, along with Darina, Rory and Gillian.
Beatrice and Federico, pictured by the Olive Tree in the gardens at the school.
In association with, and special thanks to Gerry, Ben, and all at Liberty Wines
Gillian Hegarty, pictured with David Gleave MW, prepared an amazing lunch, along with Rory O’Connell, specially for the occasion.
Roaringwater Bay Scallops with Capezzana New Seasons Extra Virgin Olive Oil – delicious!
We all very much appreciate the time and effort that Beatrice, Federico and David, took to come to Ballymaloe, and our thanks to them for a memorable day – we look forward hopefully to welcoming them back soon again.
John McDonnell, Wine Australia.
Delighted as always, to welcome back regular guest wine lecturer, John McDonnell, Manager Wine Australia Ireland – and the students were treated to a masterclass on Australian wine by John.
Pictured in the hall at the cookery school, are John McDonnell, Wine Australia and Joe Cronin, Ballymaloe (Joe is 60 years working at Ballymaloe this month)
Pictured: John McDonnell, Darina Allen and Malachy McKenna
Wines we showed included:
Petaluma Croser, Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills, South Australia, 2006
Cape Mentelle Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, Margaret River, Western Australia 2008 (Robert Mann, Estate directer, visited Ballymaloe, May 2009)
Turkey Flat ‘Butcher’s Block’, Barossa Valley, South Australia 2010 (Christie Schultz, owner, Turkey Flat visited Ballymaloe, May 2011)
Skillogalee Cabernet Malbec Rosé, Clare Valley, South Australia 2010 (Dave and Di Palmer, owners, Skillogalee, visited Ballymaloe, September 2011)
McHenry Hohnen Cabernet/Merlot, Margaret River, Western Australia 2009 (David Hohnen visited Ballymaloe, October 2011)
Tim Adams Shiraz, Clare Valley, South Australia (Tim Adams visited Cork, September 2011. Billy Lyons, ‘Restaurants and Food in Cork’ Blog here on Tim’s visit to Cork)
Pictured: John in the demo room with the students for the Wine Australia presentation.
For more information on Australian wine www.apluswines.com and www.wineaustralia.com
We had a visit recently to Ballymaloe from Giacomo Alarai, of Cantine Leonarda da Vinci, Vinci, Tuscany, Italy, with Gerry Gunnigan, Liberty Wines Ireland.
It was lovely to welcome Giacomo to Ballymaloe, and we took the opportunity to show him the artisan coffee roaster, based at Ballymaloe, Marc Kingston of The Golden Bean – Marc does his roasting in ‘An Tigin Beag’, which is beside The Grain Store and his coffee can be found at Co.Cork Farmers Markets.
Samuel Guibert, of Mas de Daumas de Gassac, Languedoc, South of France on his first visit to Ballymaloe. Co-hosting for the evening, were well known Munster wine merchants, Gary Gubbins of Red Nose Wine, and Mike Kane of Curious Wines. Mike has done a great blog on the evening.
Helping Ballymaloe Sommeliers, Colm amd Samuel, highlight the event, are Darina and Rachel in the wine cellar at Ballymaloe, along with co-hosts for this great event, Gary Gubbins, Red Nose Wine, and Mike Kane, Curious Wines.
 Samuel Guibert, Mas de Daumas Gassac, Languedoc, South of France
Friday 21st October 2011
Samuel Guibert presented the story of this great Estate and a selection of his wines. Described by Gault & Millau as “a Lafite in the Languedocâ€, “the only Grand Cru of the Midi†by Hugh Johnson and “Exceptional†by Robert Parker.
Organised in association with, and our thanks to Mike Kane of Curious Wines and Gary Gubbins of Red Nose Wines
Jane Ferrari’s visit to Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School
Guest author of this blog: John Quinlan, Ballymaloe
On Thursday 29th of September I was delighted to meet with Jane Ferrari, the wine ambassador of Yalumba which is located in The Barossa in South Australia., and have lunch with Jane in the Ballymaloe Cookery School earlier in the afternoon. Over lunch, Jane met with ‘’ Famous Auntie Florence’’ (see Jane’s blog here about Aunty Florence here ) and fellow Ballymaloe Sommelier and wine tutor Colm McCan. We had a really interesting conversation about Yalumba and The Barossa as I heading to The Barossa in 2012 to get work experience in the wine industry.
After lunch we went to the Afternoon Demo in which Darina Allen was teaching, and Darina very kindly took some time out of the busy afternoon cooking schedule, and welcomed and introduced Jane to all the students. Pictured below is Jane and Darina with all the students getting a talk from Jane about the region and history of Yalumba and The Barossa. She spoke about the food, heritage and wines of her region which was really interesting. Our thanks to Kieran Coady and Aonghus Walsh from Cassidy Wine Merchants for arranging the visit of Jane Ferrari to Ballymaloe)
Later that afternoon we attended a wine tasting of a very interesting selection of some of the different wines from Yalumba. (also see Billy Lyons ‘Restaurants and Food in Cork’ great blog and line-up of wines here about this Yalumba event at Ballymaloe with Jane Ferrari). I picked up some very interesting information on the wines.
Jane gave a fantastic presentation and tasting – she got a standing ovation at the end (first time ever this has happened at a wine talk in Ballymaloe – well done Jane), and also mentioned her enjoyment and love of all things Sporting, especially Rugby and Horse Racing (two things Ireland excel at – come on Ireland in the Rugby World Cup), and Jane is a fan of local rugby hero, Corkman Ronan O’Gara (Munster and Ireland)
Jane also spoke about her background – growing up in Alice Springs with her Italian background – she remembers having wine on Sunday as a young person – with a drop or lemonade or water added to it! All part of life in the good old days. She had the room in knots of laughter when she compared Viognier to Paris Hillton – ‘constantly needs lots of attention’ and compared Grenache to George Clooney – ‘turns up well dressed and well mannered all the time!’
John Quinlan, author of this blog on Jane Ferrari’s visit to Ballymaloe, pictured here at another recent very interesting event at Ballymaloe Cookery School (in the middle of the glasshouse at the Ballymaloe Cookery School – ‘Outstanding in the Field’ – a concept where 100 people have dinner at one long table ‘outstanding in the field’ – as close as possible to the source of the ingredients for the dinner- see Ballymaloe’s Colm McCan wine blog on this event here the blog of The Irish Country Houses and Restaurants Association ‘The Blue Book’.
Jane also hosted a great wine dinner that evening in Ballymaloe – pictured are JR Ryall, Pastry Chef, Ballymaloe House, with Jo, Chef, and Colm, Samuel, and John (taking the photo!) at Ballymaloe working (hard at work – someone had to do it!) on matching the Yalumba Botrytis Viognier to a desset by JR – we matched it with Raspberry Almond Tartlet, Creme Brulee and Autumn Raspberry Ice-cream – delicious!
Penfolds ‘Bin 144’ Yattarna Chardonnay 2004
Thanks to Edward Dillon & Co Wine Merchants, we had a very nice treat for the students of the 12 week course, during the Chardonnay module of the wine class – we were able to show the Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2004.
Picturted below is the brilliant Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds (and the iconic Penfolds Grange – the Yattarna is sometimes referred to as the ‘White Grange’). During his visit to Ireland last year, Colm did a short video clip with Peter for the iPad Wine List at Ballymaloe – focussing on the high-profile ‘Penfolds Re-Corking Clinics undertaken around the world. (See the nice article ‘Apples for Dinner’ by Jancis Robinson MW on the Ipad Wine List at Ballymaloe here)
Sealed under Screwcap – no cork taint, no random oxidation and promoting freshness & longevity. Penfolds has had well over a third of a century’s successful experience with white wine screwcap closures (e.g. the ideally preserved 1972 Penfolds Dalwood Riesling, 1980 Penfolds Autumn Riesling).
Pictured, is the matching dish I had with the Yattarna Chardonnay in the Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant, Adelaide, South Australia – this dish is Kangaroo Island Marron with Samphire, Young Shoots, Peas and Organic Honey – this really matched well – great dining experience – with Chef Jock Zonfrillo, waitress Megan, and Sommelier Joshua Picken – delighted to see the Riedel Eve Decanter in use here as we also have one in use at Ballymaloe.
This wine was matured for 11 months in one year old (50%) and two year old (50%) French oak barriques.
Winemaker comments:
Colour: Pale straw.
Nose: Complex nose of fruits, custard apple, white nectarine, peach and freshly cut lime aromas are embraced by spicy, roasted hazelnut, vanilla and wheatmeal characters.
Palate: This wine is tightly structured with a fine backbone; Apple, grapefruit, melon
and subtle citrus flavours are surrounded by barrel ferment characters of fresh nougat
and roasted nuts. The subtle oak provides structure and complexity.
Skillogalee is a boutique winery, owned and run by the Palmer Family, set amongst wooded hills in one of the most picturesque parts of the Clare Valley, in South Australia. We welcomed Dave and Diana Palmer, Skillogalee to Ballymaloe for a winemaker dinner on Friday 16th September.
Skillogalee has won great acclaim – “Our favourite South Australian winery†Lonely Planet; ‘Australian Top 100’ – Matthew Jukes; and ‘5 star wines; delicious, complex, and multi-dimensional’ – Decanter, September 2011 (The Skillogalee Clare Valley Riesling 2010 came top in a Decanter tasting of Australian and New Zealand Riesling’s – and also was the highest scored wine in the entire September 2011 issue of Decanter magazine)
Over a matching dinner, we served the following wines, starting with the Skillogalee Sparkling Riesling (also see Billy Lyons ‘Restaurants and Food in Cork’ wonderful blog here on Dave and Di’s visit to Ballymaloe)
Skillogalee Sparkling Riesling
Skillogalee Riesling 2010
Skillogalee Gewürztraminer 2011
Skillogalee Trevarrick Riesling 2008
Skillogalee Cabernet Malbec Rosé 2010
Skillogalee The Cabernets 2006
Skillogalee Shiraz 2007
Skillogalee Liquer Muscat
Dave and Di also finished the evening with a little quiz – with some great bottles of Skillogalee for the winners – rounding off a superb evening. We very much look forward to their return to Cork.
Dave Palmer also co-hosted a Wine Australia Sommelier Masterclass in Dublin before his journey down south to Ballymaloe, with John McDonnell, Wine Australia Ireland (and regular guest wine lecturer at Ballymaloe Cookery School), and John Wilson, well known wine writer, all pictured below during the Riesling Masterclass
A great event – one long table for 100 people ‘outstanding in the field’ in the Ballymaloe Cookery School gardens glasshouse- as close as possible to the source of the food, along with great company – and of course great wine to match.
Pictured, is the Albarino amoung the tomato plants in the glasshouse – read on, to see why, at Colm’s blog about the event, menu and matching wines, on the Irish Country Houses and Restaurants Association ‘The Blue Book’ website
Also a great article on the event on Ms Marmite Lovers blog