“Owned by the O’Callaghan family since the 10th century except for 200 years when they were driven ‘to Hell or to Connaught’ by Oliver Crowell,” Longueville House Cider was an apt addition to my store. Shawn Fine Wine & Spirits was a gunrunning front for the Irish Republican Army throughout The Troubles, and while attitudes toward the Brits have since softened, I figured I ought to get us this cider in homage to those discordant days of yore. Besides its historical appeal, Longueville House Cider offers a lot to the palate: slightly sweet, but also sour enough to come across as balanced. The cider is fermented from Dabinett and Michelin apples — popular varietals in Ireland, where cider apples outnumber their dessert counterparts by a considerable ratio.
Longueville House Cider is cloudy gold in color, with a light effervescence. On the nose, I pick up cloves, tartar sauce, and old hay. While coming across sugary at first, the cider’s autumn honey notes quickly give way to drier tones of bleu cheese and apricot tea. Medium-dry, Longueville House strikes a fine balance between the sweet New York ciders I grew up with and the funky, skunky stuff coming out of the Basque. I would pair this with sole picatta, pork chops, or a cheese plate.
Visit Longueville House online at http://www.longuevillehouse.ie/, and if you’re interested in learning more about Cromwell’s infamous conquest of Ireland (what good would I be if I recommended booze, but not books?), pick up a copy of Peter Berresford Ellis’s Hell or Connaught! at your local bookstore.
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