"Order my book on the Roussillon wine region (colour paperback) DIRECT FROM ME SAVING £4/€4 (UK & EU only), or Kindle eBook on Amazon UK. Available in the USA from Barnes & Noble in hardcover, paperback or eBook; or Amazon.com. For other countries, tap here." Richard Mark James

15 June 2012

Cider: Aspall, Suffolk and McCann's, Co. Armagh

Tried a bottle of these two quite different ciders recently (when it was hot a couple of weeks ago...), both available at Asda stores. Aspall in Suffolk prefers ye oldie spelling of cyder, as this indeed old-fashioned style is pretty full-on with 7% alcohol and intensely appley yeasty flavour, crisp and dry vs fair body as I said. Made from organic apples too. Definitely a food cider I'd say, pork being the obvious dish that springs to mind although should also go well with mature or blue cheeses. £1.50 on offer. More @ www.aspall.co.uk.

Northern Ireland apple and pear growers and juice and cider maker P McCann and Sons are based in rural Co. Armagh: "the apple county of Ireland," according their website mccannapples.co.uk. This 6% alcohol "traditional country cider" is softer and 'fruitier' than Aspall's, nicely refreshing with again lovely appley flavour but has 'sweeter' edges (it's still quite dry though). £2 for a larger bottle.

Latest post on cider here:
Cider: Duché de Longueville 'Gros Oeillet', Normandy (June 2013):
"Another post in my occasional series on quality ciders that have crossed my apple-strewn path, which brings us to the curious Gros Oeillet variety mentioned in the title that I'm told makes up at least 90% of this "naturally sparkling craft cider." Funny enough, this means either 'big eyelet' in French, as in curtain rings, or 'large carnation', as in oversized buttonhole filler..." Click on the red title.

No comments:

Post a Comment

'RED'

'Red is for wine, blood, revolution, colour... Time-warped slices of mystery, history, fantasy, crime, art, cinema and love...' Buy the e-book or paperback novel on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Click here to view the RED blog!

Send an email

Name

Email *

Message *

Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.