Remembering #Ireland #Wines!

Kinsale, Ireland

It's been almost a year since we went to Kinsale, Ireland, a small fishing village in Cork County. Located some 25km south of Cork City on the coast near Old Head, it sits at the mouth of River Bandon. We were fortunate to be there with about 12 others from my husband's paper company. This group of people won a contest by specifying a certain brand of paper from a well-known paper mill on the east coast. It was the most exciting trip I have ever been on, and since I had never been across the pond, that made it so much more inviting. We toured many famous sites such as the Timoleague Friary, Old Head of Kinsale (where the ladies had private golf lessons, company meetings, and the men played the course), the Blarney Castle (and no I didn't kiss the stone-it looked gross), Jameson Whiskey Distillery, and the Drombeg Stone Circle. We even drove over to Cobh (in 1912 it was called Queenstown) and saw where the Titanic stopped for the last time before making its fateful journey to New York and the beautiful St. Coleman Cathedral.

But at night (or any time for that matter), we ate at the most amazing restaurants in Kinsale. Now, Kinsale is known as the foodie capital of Ireland and is also a popular holiday resort for Irish and foreign tourist. It even holds an annual "Gourmet Festival". 

I wanted to share some of the places we ate and wines we drank so that if you ever have a chance to go to Ireland, you'll know where to nosh!

The first place we ate was "Crackpots", a restaurant in town down the street from our hotel, which was also amazing. I recommend the Perryville House, a Manor House Hotel. It's like a bed and breakfast, sort of. Sweet place to dine, and a fabulous gift shop attached to it.

Courtyard of the Perryville House

I wanted to share the wines we drank at each restaurant in this blog. They were all exceptional and worth sharing! At Crackpots, we had this bottle of wine.

Masi Costasera Amarone Classico 2007 ($64) is an Italian wine from the Veneto region with an outstanding pedigree from RP, WE, and WS. This is a full-bodied wine for grilled or roasted red meats and game, and strong cheeses.

The next wine I remember having was at a private home of the company that took us to Ireland. 

This is a 2010 La Lancelotta Gavi ($20-25), a product of Italy. It is a dry white wine from the Piedmont region where Cortese is the primary grape grown. This grape has a moderate acidity and light flavors making it a favorite for pairing with local seafoods caught off the coast of Genoa.

One restaurant we ate at was The White Lady. With 14 people eating and drinking we had so many wines that I didn't get a really good picture of this one.

Pic via the internet

This is a nice, low priced (under $20) Beronia Rioja Crianza 2008 from Spain. This is a wonderfully deep, complex Rioja, where bright, juicy blackcherry fruit is overlaid with more earthy notes of licquorice, leather and coconut. The wine is underpinned by a smooth, sleek texture and fine tannins which provide the perfect backdrop to highlight the rich, ripe dark-fruit flavours and toasted vanilla finish.

Another place we ate was called Man Friday. Here we had two different wines that I have good photos of.

 This is a excellent Bordeaux blend from France. Chateau Vieux Chevrol Lalande de Pomerol 2008 ($19). Good luck finding it! 

The last bottle I have a picture of from our trip is this Contessa Giovanna Manci Pinot Grigio 2010, ($20) an Italian wine. Nice wine, worth the money. I can't find it anywhere though!

Enjoy!