Gingerjo’s Blog

I’ve tried all sorts of country wines and liqueurs - there’s a surprising variety to be found if you know where to look. The problem is I forget which ones I liked and which I wasn’t so impressed with so from now on I shall record my thoughts here. Hopefully this will stop my buying the ones I didn’t like again in the future. Obviously this is an ongoing record.

Lindisfarne (St Aidan’s Winery, Northumberland)
Web: http://www.lindisfarne-mead.co.uk/

We visited St Aidan’s Winery on our trip to Northumberland in April 2008. I was very disappointed - you could have a free taste of the mead but not any of their other products of which there are many. You just have to guess which wines you might like. You couldn’t tour the winery either. It was all very commercial and not very friendly. They still make great mead though. It’s worth noting that sometimes it can be cheaper to buy your Lindisfarne products from the Somerfield in Berwick-upon-Tweed although they don’t stock the full range.

Bilberry Wine - has a very strong and distinctive smell which is quite pleasant, but while it’s nice to drink I don’t think I’d buy it again.

Mead - golden, light and lovely. Probably my favourite mead. Very sweet but without being sickly.

Rhubarb Wine - wow, smells and tastes very strongly of rhubarb but is still quite light to drink. I’ve tried a few Rhubarb wines and never been impressed but this one is simply lovely.

Moniack (Highland Wineries, near Inverness)
Web: http://www.moniackcastle.co.uk/

We visited Moniack Castle on our March 2008 trip to Loch Ness (it’s only 7 miles outside Inverness). It was well worth the trip. The staff were incredibly friendly and you could taste all of their products (generous portions too). Unfortunately they weren’t offering tours when we visited because they were reorganising or something but we did get to watch a charming little video about the place (quite amusing in it’s tweeness). While we bought lots of wine and preserves fortunately they also do mail order, which is just as well, because Inverness is a long way to go for a bottle of cherry wine.

Black Cherry Wine - yum. Easily the best cherry wine I’ve tried. Smells and tastes very strongly of cherries but is still light and fruity. Some cherry wines are a bit like treacle - you almost have to chew them, but not this one. It’s delicious.

Mead - quite a dark mead. This one seems to be Mark’s favourite. It’s also one of the easiest mead’s to get hold of too, we’ve bought it in quite a few places. I also like this mead but prefer the lighter Lindisfarne mead. I think this one also has some fruit in it. Mark says it is similar to the Polish mead we bought from the Christmas markets in Manchester.

Silver Birch Wine - some silver birch wines can be syrupy but not this one - this one’s very light and lovely. Most silver birch wines are nice, but this is the one I like best.

Sloe Liqueur - not as harsh as sloe gin because the base alcohol is plain rather than flavoured with juniper berries. It is much gentler on the palate and not as high in alcohol as slow gin so is a lighter, more easy drinking liqueur.

Whisky and Ginger Liqueur - we didn’t buy this one but only because we’d run out of room in the boot of out car. It blows your bloomin’ socks off. Very tasty on a cold winter’s night.