Kevin Ecock's WinePod Kevin Ecock

I met Olly Nolan at the Gifted Fair in the RDS last Christmas. He was showing a range of honeys. I was captivated. Each honey had a captivating scent. Intoxicating even.  Olly's Farm Dublin Honey had taken me prisoner!

Wine, Tea, Honey, Whiskey, Stout, and on and on can only stand out as being exceptional if they attack our senses in a visceral way. This should be immediate, lasting and memorable. I just had to find out more about Olly's Farm.

I paid Olly a visit recently and we recorded in his Honey House up on the edge of the Dublin hills. What a view!

My knowledge of bee keeping and honey production is, to be honest, rudimentary to the point of being non existent. Thanks must be given to Olly for guiding me through the process and a lot more besides. Choosing to live the life of a small holding farmer on the edge of Dublin city is not for the faint hearted. That said Olly Nolan has made a fabulous success with limited resources. 
Olly's Farm Honey is among the very best tasting products on sale today. Enjoy.
The Honey House
 

In this podcast we talk with Zoltán Heimann whose family, HEIMANN & FIAI, has a long and distinguished history of quality winemaking in the southern Hungarian wine region of Szekszárd - on the border between the Large Hungarian Plain and the beginnings of the Transdanubian Hills.

Zoltán likes to refer to himself as the 'Kadarka Man'.  After this tasting and podcast I'll always be in his debt as knowing my Kekfrankos from my Kadarkas! Each grape is brilliant. Each is unique and completely different to one another. 

This podcast was recorded at The Lodge at Ashford Castle where Zoltán gave a masterclass food and wine matching meal the night previous. At the tasting we progressed from Village (Szekszárd) to Single Vineyards (Bati Kereszt and Baranya-volgy) to Szivem (a parcel selection wine from Baranya-volgy).
These are wines to explore and to support. Really excellent. 

The Lodge at Ashford Castle : A Red Carnation Hotel

It's a sobering thought to many winemakers that they work at companies and enterprises that, in many cases, are younger than they are themselves! For those lucky enough to work in wineries where age and tradition has seen decades upon decades of continual success they might only contribute to a very limited number of vintages. 

It is very unusual that a family can trace its lineage back over 250 harvests. That's a very big number. 1772 - Captain Cook sets sail to find the Anti Arctic: Rutherford discovers Nitrogen gas: The American Revolution begins: The Boscaini family gather in grapes for the first time in the Vaio dei Masi, a little valley in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico region, northern Italy.

Yes, Masi Agricola by the Boscaini family celebrated its 250th harvest last year.
There were events across the world as MASI is one of the greatest names in the world of wine. We were treated to a celebratory dinner at Glovers Alley by Andy McFadden. Giacomo Boscaini opened and poured for us a special label  Vajo dei Masi 1997 double magnum produced to honour the 2022 celebrations.

In this podcast, recorded in Dublin at last years' celebration, Giacomo Boscaini brings us on the journey that his family continues to travel. It's been a long and extraordinary time and a story with many more vintages to come.
ENJOY.
 
Looking forward to visiting our signed bottle in Valpolicella one day! The MASI portfolio of labels is represented and distributed in Ireland by the Findlater & Co.
 
 

Recently I met with David Llewelyn at his farm in Lusk, north County Dublin. It's a small holding where he grows a fantastic collection of fruits that include, pear, apple, cherry and grape. 

It's also a business where David makes truly interesting products. Try his Perry (sparkling pear wine). It's really very good!
David has a wine label called LUSCA. It's a collection of red wines and a new sparkling wine. They are genuine finds.
In this podcast David tells us his story. Why does he not grow any white grapes? Where did his love of the RONDO grape come from? This a unique story where hard work meets vine growing and wine making talent. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot! Really?
On the day David was very generous. It was a tasting for the ages! The Lusca Sparkling Wine is the real deal. Remember, David only grows red grapes so this is a Rose. It's so good that I can see a lot of the vineyards' grapes heading towards it in the future. 
The Lusca Rondo is a very versatile grape. The wine ages really well and one sample of a Rondo made with semi dried grapes really impressed these taste buds. Mind you that's testament to David's wine making skills.

Quantities of the various LUSCA wines are small. Hence you won't find any inexpensive bottles! Google Lusca, though, and you'll find a collection of the finest wine stores in Ireland. They all want a slice of the action because ' the action' is so very good. Read an excellent Producer profile here on the Terroirs wine store web site.
Enjoy.

Bruce Tyrrell was in Dublin recently. His fame and expertise in the world of wine is well known. His wines are among the most awarded. His Semillon considered as among the best ever produced. He was in Dublin behind the Tyrrell Wine's stand at the Cassidy Wines Portfolio tasting serving the wines himself. There are many who would have passed this along to an agency, a distributor or to whoever else. This is Bruce Tyrrell. He tells a fabulous story and continues to work hard at what matters - his customers.
Tyrrell's Wines is family owned since 1858 and its website tells us that, 'Having lived and breathed wine growing and winemaking in the Hunter Valley for more than 160 years, we’ve amassed an unrivalled knowledge of what makes the Hunter one of Australia’s, and indeed the world’s, greatest winegrowing regions'.
 

In this podcast Bruce Tyrrell brings us on the fabulous journey this family has taken, the brilliant wine they produce from the most extraordinary vineyards and how keeping an eye on the future is totally dependent on respecting the past.
Enjoy
Tyrrell's Wines is a founding memebr of of Australia’s First Families of Wine, an organisation that helps to build awareness of premium Australian wines and their heritage.       

April the 17th 1853. Who'd have thought back then that it would be a date celebrated the world over as  World Malbec Day. After all, back in 1853 it was just an idea presented to the national legislature of Argentina that it might be a good plan to establish a 'Quinta Normal and Agricultural School'. Up to then the wine industry in Argentina didn't have any great focus. As it happens it wasn't until September 1853 that the idea was given the green light and even then it was for the project and had nothing in it specific to Malbec at all!!

Fast forward. Malbec today is to the wine industy in Argentina what barley is is to whiskey; what Earth, Wind, Fire and Water are to the elements; what John and Paul were to the Beatles. I could go on. Malbec is Essential and without April the 17th 1853 it may never have been imported to Argentina (from France) at all.

Essential, of course, should not be read as singular or indeed as unique. The wine trade in Argentina is diverse with regards to grape types grown, regionality, terroir and wine making brilliance. It is vibrant and fascinating, superb value and totally unique in its offering to the world. No wonder World Malbec Day is so often celebrated as Argentina Wine Day.

We are honoured in this podcast to chat with Phil Crozier, Wines of Argentina Ambassador. How do you become an 'Ambassador'. How do you know so much about Argentina? Phil tells it all! Phil Crozier really does talk Argentina.
Enjoy.
This podcast was recorded in June 2022 in Dublin at the very successful Wines of Argentina tasting titled: