Welsh Wines: Ancre Hill Estates

We are drinking Welsh wines on the Food Blog. That is more of a challenge than you might think, because there are now around twenty Welsh vineyards producing a range of different wines.
 
Only about 1% of wine consumed in the UK is home-produced. However, climate change (milder winters and extended summers) is favouring wine production. Meanwhile, in Wales at least, local and regional produce is increasingly sought-after in restaurants and shops. Therefore, the market for Welsh wines could significantly expand in the future.

This week, we have been drinking White and Rosé wine (both 2010) from the Ancre Hill Estates vineyard, supplied by Fine Wines Direct (Penarth Road, Cardiff).

 

Ancre Hill Estates was the first wine to be recognized in the Wales the True Taste Awards. In 2010-2011 (Wine, Spirit and Other Alcohol category), Ancre Hill won a Gold Award for their 2009 Medium Dry White and a Bronze Award for their Rosé.

The White (11% ABV) is made using Seyval Blanc and Madeleine Angevine grapes. We found it to be dry, sharp and crisp. The taste was particularly clean, with pleasing citrus (limey) and elderflower notes. A good wine to pair with fish.

The Rosé (11% ABV, £12.79) is made from Seyval blanc and Triomphe grapes. We found it sharp and very fruity. I detected lots of strawberry. There were also floral and citrus notes. This was particularly refreshing when well-chilled. I usually consider rosé to be almost an aperitif, but this one stood up very well to mildly spicy food.

Both the White and Rosé sell for £12.79 a bottle.

Ancre Hill Estates also produce Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sparkling White and Sparkling Rosé wines, on a south-facing slopes in the Wye Valley just outside Monmouth. You can visit the vineyard during the summer months for lunch and tours.

The high quality of Welsh wines, such as Ancre Hill Estates, may surprise you if you've not tasted them before. Now is a good time to start checking out what the emerging wine nation of Wales has to offer.

Ancre Hill Estates

Richard and Joy Morris, Ancre Hill Vineyard, Monmouth NP25 5HS
01600 714151
http://www.ancrehillestates.co.uk
 

Fine Wines Direct

242 Penarth Road, Cardiff CF11 8TU
029 2078 7500
http://finewinesdirectuk.com/
Welsh wine:
http://finewinesdirectuk.com/wines/welsh-wines

Previously, on the Food Blog

Cock Hill from Bryn Ceiliog Vineyard, Vale of Glamorgan:
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/winde-from-dinas-powys-cock-hill.html

The Ancre Hill Estates wines reviewed here were supplied free of charge by Fine Wines Direct.

The Welsh Menu Live, Swansea

The Welsh Menu Live (25-27 August 2012) is the first food festival to be staged in Swansea for many years. Swansea Market ("established 800 years") used to hold a food festival. This modern revival similarly champions local produce and independent local traders. I attended this afternoon (Sunday).

The Welsh Menu Food Theatre is located in The Dragon Hotel. Here, I saw Luke Thomas cook Welsh lamb with summer vegetable fricasse, braised lettuce and goats cheese. For the past six months Luke has been Head Chef at Sanctum on the Green in Berkshire; at 18 he's the youngest Head Chef in Britain. He passed on some useful tips. Wine Merchant N.D. John paired his food with a Martinez Lacuesta Rioja Crianza (plenty of oak, I do like a good Rioja).

A late addition to the programme proved to be my highlight of the day: Andrew Hanson (pictured) from the nearby Chelsea Café cooked poached salmon, risotto, scallops, asparagus and buerre blanc. Fish is a key feature of his restaurant's menu. There were generous portions for the audience afterwards; it tasted great. I'll definitely be cooking my salmon and scallops more delicately in the future.

The programme of chef demonstrations tomorrow (Monday) includes Bryan Williams and Anand George (from Cardiff's Purple Poppadom).

Elsewhere, the event centred on Castle Square (pictured). There was live music of a nostalgic variety (below the big screen showing the Aviva Athletics from Birmingham) and several food stalls.

 

I had a gourmet burger from the Got Beef bus: a Soprano (with chorizo, bacon, jalapeno mayo and mozzarella cheese). Some of the ingredients in their burgers (e.g., pesto, beetroot puree) seemed a bit "out there" (although fried onions and relish usually does it for me), but there was no doubting the quality of their Welsh black beef. Other "Live Street Feast" caterers offered hog roasts, a Taste of Persia, and ice cream.

The relatively small number of producers in the festival's pavilions was a little disappointing. However, there are lots of competing events and markets this weekend. The meats, seafood, cakes, cider and wines that were on offer looked good. Wales’ largest indoor market is nearby.

The Welsh Menu Live food festival marks the launch in June of the Welsh Menu Website, which promotes local and regional food and drink within Wales.

 

The Welsh Menu

http://www.thewelshmenu.com

 

Swansea Market / Marchnad Abertawe

http://www.swanseaindoormarket.co.uk

 

Hanson at the Chelsea

http://hansonatthechelsea.co.uk/

Got Beef

http://www.got-beef.co.uk

 

 

Creating a Community Garden 3

In a couple of previous posts (links below) I outlined how to go about turning an area of wasteland into a Community Garden. In particular, our project involves taking an abandoned play area in Dinas Powys (between Nightingale Place and Sir Ivor Place) and turning it into the Dinas Powys Community Growing Area.

The project was initiated and is being steered by Elizabeth Millard, Chair of the Dinas Powys Residents’ Group, and Councillor Keith Hatton (Plaid Cymru). Rob McGhee of Creative Rural Communities (Vale of Glamorgan Council) is project-managing:  that’s him on the left in this picture of the trio photographed on the site this week.

I previously reviewed the type of grants available in the Vale of Glamorgan for this type of project (they may be similar in other parts of the UK). A couple of weeks ago the project was awarded £28,000 by Tidy Towns Wales, a Welsh Assembly government initiative that funds community projects aiming to improve the quality of the environment.

Earlier this week, Emma Hancock met Rob, Elizabeth, Keith and I on the site. Emma is a Landscape Architect working within the Planning and Transportation Department of the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Among her tasks will be to look at Utility Plans (e.g., to decide on the best route to bring water pipes to the site) and to oversee the work of contractors.

A contractor - Gerald Davies - has been chosen from among those who put in estimates/bids for the work. The company has experience of similar work around the Vale.  Work can start after the bird nesting season, and the contractors are expected to be on the site by the end of October. Firstly, part of a wall will be taken down to allow vehicle access from Sir Ivor Place (the wall will be rebuilt afterwards). The rubber and concrete surfaces will then be broken up and removed, topsoil will be put down, and a security fence erected around the site.

Before the contractors start work, however, there will be an initial clearance day to cut back overgrown hedges etc. This will be held on Saturday 20 October, starting at nearby Youldon House around 10.30 am. Everyone is welcome (bring tools!); it will be an opportunity for those interesting in having a plot on the community garden to meet and find out more. Creative Rural Communities will be there with plans of the garden, which will include communal areas and individual plots. It will also be the first step in forming a Management Committee for the long-term maintenance of the community garden.

The Dinas Powys Community Garden has the backing of Community Foodie, a project under the umbrella of Creative Rural Communities and the Vale of Glamorgan Council, to identify, develop and support community food growing. Their aim is to strengthen communities by increasing the amount of food produce grown and consumed locally, to develop skills (e.g., local schools will be invited to participate in the project), to promote healthy lifestyles, and to bring people together. With a bit of luck, the Dinas Powys Community Growing Area will achieve all these things.

I will post again shortly, with a more detailed look at the plans for the site.

Previous Dinas Powys Community Garden posts:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/creating-community-garden-2.html

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/creating-community-garden.html

Festival Food: Green Man 2012

The best thing I ate at Green Man 2012 was probably the Spicy Lamb Bourek from Moorish: North African & Arabic Souk Food. It was a deep-fried filo-pastry parcel containing meat and goats cheese; served with a spicy tomato and pepper sauce, and salad (£7).

This was the tenth Green Man Festival. It has one of the most beautiful festival sites in the UK, on the Glanusk Estate in the Black Mountains of Wales.

Highly recommended are the home-made falafels served in the Chai Shop Organic tent. We shared a falafel platter (£8).

Chai Shop were again in prime spot on the top of the slope looking down to the main stage. In the nearby corner, in what seems to have become a guest spot, was Vegetarian Mexican, who did a good curry (there’s a whole family buying and sampling food here, not just me).

An interesting addition this year was Trealy Farm. They sold bread and smoked meats. I would like to see Green Man include more Farmers’ Market stalls, selling fresh fruit, breads, cheeses and meats; maybe even a Farmers’ Market area.

We have an annual trip to the Pieminister van at the Green Man. This year we bought Moo Pie! and Chicken of Aragon (made with tarragon) pies.

Our final evening meals were pretty good too. Bake and Stew in the courtyard served up an appetising Malaysian Chicken, while the ever-reliable Paella concession at the back of the main arena hit the mark with its chicken paella.

My breakfast coffee, as in previous years, was from the Community Café run as a fund-raiser by the local Cwmdu church and school (see link below); they also do good-value bacon baps.

Also enjoyed were ice creams from Shepherds of Hay-on-Wye, who use sheep’s milk in their ice creams. My choice of flavour was the coffee and hazelnut (our youngest, predictably, went for the chocolate).

My food was washed down with real ales from the bar, mainly the festival’s own brew – growler from Wye Valley Brewery) - and some Otter ale.

Among my music highlights this year were Van Morrison, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Feist, Dexys, The Walkmen and Michael Kiwanuka.

 

My Review of Green Man 2011 (last year) for Buzz:

http://www.buzzmag.co.uk/uncategorized/green-man-2011-festival-review/
 

More Green Man Festival Food

Cymdu School:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/festival-food-cymdu-school.html

Iechyd Da:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/festival-food-iechyd-da.html

Goan Seafood Company:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/festival-food-goan-seafood-company.html

Hall’s Dorset Smokery:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/festival-food-halls-dorset-smokery.html