Lindisfarne Mead

.../> The mead produced on Lindisfarne is made not only from honey but also grapes and is fortified with various spirits too; strictly speaking mead should be made only from honey and a drink made from fermented honey and fruit is more correctly known as "melomel". The ingredients used mean that Lindisfarne Mead is both sweeter and stronger than some more traditional meads. It is perhaps most similar to sweet sherry and those who enjoy sherry ...
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Lindisfarne mead comes in two bottle sizes, the full size bottle of 70cl (regular wine or spirit bottle size) and a smaller 35cl bottle, which is ideal for gifts or if you aren't sure whether you will enjoy it or not. The bottles are clear glass and screw cap which makes it easy to store once opened and allows you to see the rich golden colour of the liquid within. Once opened it is probably best to consume it within about a month ... more

Walking into an off licence these days we are faced with what is often a bewildering array of new drinks all designed to make more pleasurable the ingestion of that old drug, and poison, alcohol. Every year there seems to be an increase in our choice with all manner of outlandish cream or fruit flavoured liqueurs becoming available and wines from countries of which few of us have heard. Sometimes though, if you are lucky, you may chance upon an ancient drink which has been quenching thirst and invigorating soul for many hundreds of years, a drink which has been around for possibly as long as wine and beer.

☼☼☼What is Mead? ☼☼☼

Simply put, mead is just a type of white wine. However, whereas most wine is made from grapes or other fruits, mead is made from honey. The high sugar content of honey means that a fairly strong wine can be produced (up to about 15% alcohol by volume) as long as the fermentation is controlled in an appropriate way and some extra nutrients are added to help the yeast ferment the sugar. The result is a pale golden liquid with many of the properties of wine, although one thing it does not have is a honey flavour: it has been said that a mead that tastes of honey is as good as a wine that tastes of grapes. The flavour can be anywhere from dry to sweet and as such can be enjoyed as an aperitif, alongside a meal or after a meal as a liqueur.

Mead has been produced for centuries and both the Ancient Greeks and the Celts are reputed to have brewed it; legend has it that it was the nectar of the Gods of Ancient Greece. It was also a particular favourite of the Vikings who used mead to fuel their aggression before battle and quench their thirst afterwards. The drink was very popular during medieval times and many an English monastery had an area set aside to ferment mead from the honey gathered from the beehives which were very much a part of the monastery gardens. In recent times though, Mead has fallen out of favour and is no longer as easy to come by as it once was unless you wish to try making it yourself. However, one source of the drink is St. Aidan's Winery on the Holy Island (Lindisfarne) in Northumberland which has long had a reputation for producing mead.

☼☼☼Lindisfarne Mead☼☼☼

The mead produced on Lindisfarne is made not only from honey but also grapes and is fortified with various spirits too; strictly speaking mead should be made only from honey and a drink made from fermented honey and fruit is more correctly known as "melomel". The ingredients used mean that Lindisfarne Mead is both sweeter and stronger than some more traditional meads. It is perhaps most similar to sweet sherry and those who enjoy sherry will enjoy mead too. However, this mead is more versatile than sherry and does not need to be served chilled to be enjoyed the way sherry should be.

Lindisfarne mead comes in two bottle sizes, the full size bottle of 70cl (regular wine or spirit bottle size) and a smaller 35cl bottle, which is ideal for gifts or if you aren't sure whether you will enjoy it or not. The bottles are clear glass and screw cap which makes it easy to store once opened and allows you to see the rich golden colour of the liquid within. Once opened it is probably best to consume it within about a month or so but I have kept it for longer with no change in the taste or aroma. The labeling is quite attractive too and makes this product stand out from other drinks on the shelf; I particularly like the "Lindisfarne Mead" logo which is rendered in a colourful medieval-style font.

☼☼☼Taste Test☼☼☼

The mead is 14.5% alcohol by volume which is about the same as a strong wine and slightly weaker than the average liqueur which is usually around 17-20% alcohol by volume. Mead is normally served at room temperature although you could try chilling it as an experiment and it might be nice to drink it this way in summer. The liquid is a gold colour and has a slightly sweet alcoholic aroma much like any other sweet wine. On tasting the first thing you notice is a slight sweetness and despite its strength there is no "bite" from the alcohol on your tongue or throat; therefore it is a very smooth drink. I could go into vivid Jilly Goolden- type descriptions of its taste ("silk stockings leaping up and down in a field of gooseberries with cinnamon flakes swirling around….") but it is probably best for you to try it and make up your own mind. As I said, for me it resembles a sweet sherry with a slight spiciness but definitely no taste or aroma of honey and is, I think, delicious.

Even though it is not much stronger than wine I tend to serve it in small liqueur glasses rather than in wine glasses; its flavour is very pleasant and not too strong but its sweetness means it can be a bit overpowering if served in large wine glass-size measures. Personally I prefer to drink wines and sherries that are absolutely bone dry and dislike sweet drinks unless they are dessert wines. This I think is why I find mead a little too sweet to drink in quantity, but others with a sweeter tooth may find it just the thing. Perhaps best of all would be to serve it in sherry glasses if you have any of these; these would be the ideal size for this drink. I also don't think that this drink is intended to be mixed with anything, even soda water (a mead spritzer?). Of course it is possible to make cocktails with mead or to mix it with anything from ginger ale to tonic water but I think that defeats the purpose of drinking mead and you would certainly lose the character and subtlety of the mead in doing so.

☼☼☼Availability & Price☼☼☼

This is where the mead runs into some difficulties. This drink is not really widely available although it can occasionally be found in certain large supermarkets. I think the best places to find it are well-stocked off licences particularly the independent ones rather than the large chains. It is also possible to find it in specialist drink shops, such as those places selling hundreds of varieties of whisky or beer which have sprung up in recent years. Instead of searching for retailers selling this you could of course pay a visit to Lindisfarne itself, where the winery showroom has been open since 1968 in the centre of the village on the island.

The producers of this mead must be aware of the difficulty in buying their product because if you visit their website (www.lindisfarne-mead.co.uk) you will find not only an online shop allowing you to buy mead by mail order but a very handy product finder. This is simply a pull down menu of counties and towns in the UK and selecting the one where you live will give you a list of all stockists of Lindisfarne Mead in your area. However, if you choose to buy online you will also be able to purchase a wide variety of other items including fruit-flavoured meads and liqueurs, biscuits and craft items all produced on Lindisfarne.

In terms of price, the online shop is currently offering a 70cl bottle for £6.99 and a 35cl one for £4.29, although prices at individual stockists around the country may vary. This price is I think good value for money as it is approximately the price of sherry which as I have said is equal to mead in strength. If you haven't tried mead before then I recommend buying the 35cl bottle in case it is not to your taste. This 35cl bottle might also make a good Christmas stocking filler and will certainly be more unusual than many other drinks purchased for this purpose.

Whether or not you enjoy sweet wines, mead is certainly something different to drink occasionally or to offer guests. Although I have said it is similar to sherry I like it best after a meal and think it might be most enjoyable served instead of Drambuie or Baileys; indeed, it would go down very well after Christmas dinner. However, it is also light enough to be served at any time and if you drink it in small quantities you are unlikely to feel the worse for wear. Who knows, one drink of this and you might even feel the need to connect with your inner Viking by putting on horned helmet and indulging in a spot of raping and pillaging; just don't blame me for the consequences, that's all!

 

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