The Irish Wine Geese

Irish and Wine? Surely I can't mean to be using those words together?!? If this is an article about Irish spirits I must mean whiskey or stout, right? Or maybe I meant to say "Wild Geese"? No, I meant Wine Geese. They are an interesting story of the Irish Diaspora. But, first, why isn't Ireland known for fine wines? Happily, that the European Commission had finally listed Ireland as a wine producer in 2000. Why did it take so long?

It turns out that Ireland's climate may be the culprit that has kept the island from consistently producing wine quality grapes. In general, the island's average temperatures are just plain too chilly to grow the needed grapes, except, perhaps, in an area south of an imaginary line drawn between Drogheda and Limerick. Add too little sunshine and the possibility of frost and establishing a wine industry becomes a challenge at best.

The Irish Times reported about one family who had achieved some success by 1998. The McGraths had moved from England to the Blackwater Valley in Co. Waterford in 1989 and finally managed a fine white wine of Irish grapes. Horticulturists at work on the challenge point suggest taking whatever advantages are available. It could be as simple as a south-facing slope with the possibility of more sun, or soil tests to find areas with optimal mineral composition.

Even absent large local wine production, the Irish wine market has grown considerably in the last half century. According to the Wine Development Board, close to 45 percent of adults in Ireland are wine consumers. So where do they get the wine? Well, at least some seem to purchase their wine through e-commerce organizations. An online purchase can mean that a buyer must purchase a case of twelve bottles. Some vendors even offer selections from the vineyards of the Wine Geese.

There I go again! Who are the Wine Geese?

To be sure, to understand the "Wine Geese", you must first remember the "Wild Geese." When James II was defeated in 1691, and the Williamite War came to an end, many Irish who had been loyal to him chose to leave Ireland. Many settled in France, and chose to continue the traditional Irish bond with the land. The "twist", however, was that in the Bordeaux region, commercial agriculture didn't mean cattle or grains, as it had in Ireland - it meant grapes and the wine trade!

If you were to look for those vineyards today, look for labels bearing the names Lynch, MacCarthy, Dillon, Phelan, Hennessy and Barton. The Bartons reportedly still consider themselves Irish, and carry Irish passports. Ownership has changed hands for the other chateaux. Still a piece of history lives, even in their labels. Michel Lynch, you see, fought with James II at the Battle of the Boyne.

Other Irish emigrés have taken their places in wine producing countries around the world. James Concannon, of the Aran Islands, settled in California's Livermore Valley in the 1880s. Others vintners of Irish heritage in California include Murphy-Goode and Kenwood (owned by the Lee family). New Zealand's Hunter and Forrest houses have Irish ties through Ernie Hunter's Belfast roots and Brigid Forrest's Cork connection.

This story of a piece of the Irish diaspora has come together at the International Museum of Wine housed in Desmond Castle, Kinsale, Co. Cork. Even if you can't pay a visit, consider searching out a bottle from one of the Wine Geese the next time you're ready to uncork a bottle. It might bring some history to mind.

Beer

Beer has been brewed commercially in Ireland since medieval times. While much of that industry was concentrated in microbreweries who focused on pleasing the palates in their local markets, there was a concentration of brewing companies in Dublin by the end of the 18th century. Competition was keen and in modern times only a few of those companies have maintained their national and international reach. Among those that have survived into modern times are:

Beamish & Crawford, which began brewing in Cork as the Cork Porter Brewery in 1792, was the largest brewery in Ireland in 1805 when they produced 100,000 barrels of suds. In 1995, Scottish & Newcastle Plc acquired them and since 1996 they have been brewing Miller Genuine Draft, a lager, as a franchisee for the Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Company.

Murphy Brewery Ireland, established in 1856, also in Cork, initially produced brands known as Lady's Well Ale and Murphy's Porter, which was lighter than stout, but similar in its use of roasted barley. They entered the stout market in Ireland in 1889 but it was almost 100 years before the Murphy's Irish Stout was exported. Its current parent, Heineken International, acquired Murphy's in 1983.

Guinness was established at St. James Gate, Dublin, in 1759. Within a decade they were exporting porter to England and had essentially removed imports from the Irish market. By 1799, ales were no longer on the menu - Guinness brewed only stout. They overtook other breweries to become the largest in Ireland by 1833 and the largest in the world by 1886.

In recent times, there has been a revival of microbreweries throughout Ireland. Some brew stout, while others offer other ales and lagers as well.

So what's so special about stout?

Beer is a drink that dates back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. In its earliest forms, it was made from grains, or bread, which were allowed to ferment and liquefy. Hence, its alter-ego "liquid bread". Over time the process evolved, with most Europeans settling on barley and wheat as their grains of choice and flavorings introduced with the addition of "grut", a mixture of herbs that varied from brewer to brewer. Hops came next, adding flavor and acting as a preservative and eventually replaced grut as the primary flavoring agent.

The next evolution in the brewing was the shift from top-fermenting yeast, a successful process when a relatively warm climate, typical of the Ireland and Britain, allowed fermentation to take place at room temperature. In colder climates, such as German areas of continental Europe, bottom-fermenting yeast proved more successful for fermentation. The result was a split between the ales (of which stout is but one type), popular in Ireland and Britain, and lagers, popular in German regions.

Irish brewers came to use roasted barley for their ales and stout became a national preference. It is an opaque ale, almost black in color and with a creamy head. Ingredients vary with the brewer but generally include dark roasted barley, which contributes a slightly roasted character and hops with a medium-to-high bitterness. Fermentation is a two-step process; started around 17-18ºC and increased to 23-27ºC.

So . . . the next time you hear about raising a pint in the Irish fashion, make sure it's not a lager tinted green but an ale known as stout.