It Came From Outer Skipton...

It Came From Outer Skipton…

The Wright Wine & Whisky Company has teamed up with The Liberator, Richard Kelley MW (Master of Wine) to bottle a limited-edition red blend, which is inspired by a 67 year-old French law relating to UFO’s.

Liberator Skipton

“It Came From Outer Skipton…” is a from the Newton Johnson winery in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley on the South African south coast. A blend of Syrah and Mourvèdre grapes, it is an assemblage not dissimilar to that which you would encounter in the Châteauneuf du Pape region of France, where a ban on UFO’s has now been in force since 1954.

The law, which was created to protect the vineyards, forbids the ‘flight, landing and take-off of spacecraft’, known as soucoupes volantes or cigars volants.

Due to Skipton’s location not too far from the RAF Menwith Hill military base, whose giant ‘golf balls’ (called Radomes) give the moorland the look of a science-fiction film set, as well as a love of the Syrah and Mourvèdre blend, The Wright Wine Company and Richard Kelley devised a plan to bottle something a bit special and quirky.

Richard (whose Liberator alter-ego is known as Rick) took the brief and ran with it – combining his long-standing connections within the South African wine industry and well-known sense of imagination to come up with “It Came From Outer Skipton…” which plays on the UFO and obscure French law theme.

Richard Kelley MW, said;
“I love South African wine and am a Francophile at heart too. The similarities between these South African and French blends were too similar to ignore, so was perfect for Julian and team at the Wright Wine Company to do something a bit different for their customers.”

Stella, Les, Richard, Julian and Katie

Julian Kaye, Managing Director, The Wright Wine & Whisky Company added;
“We absolutely love The Liberator wines and the chance to do something bespoke with Richard was too good to miss. Having our faces on a bottle is a bit strange to say the least – but giving a wine-themed nod to our local area – as well as a classic wine such as Le Cigare Volant is fantastic. Plus, the wine is spectacular too.”

“It Came From Outer Skipton…” was launched at the end of October and is available in store and here.

Ardnahoe Whisky Distillery

Ardnahoe Whisky Distillery

With all the clamour about gin over the last many years many people’s focus has been juniper-led, however the whisky industry has continued in an upward curve and is enjoying great success. Some of the gin we’re all seeing is often the result of a new whisky distillery bedding itself in and creating cash flow with a product which can come to market much quicker than maturing whisky.

Back to whisky though, and recently Julian has paid his bi-annual visit to the Hebridean island of Islay which now boasts 9 active whisky distilleries. Considering the island has a population of just over 3,000 people (with many more sheep and midges), this concentration of distilleries is quite amazing. Even more so if you consider the globally-known names such as Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Bowmore who call the island home.

Very much ‘family time’, Julian still found some time to visit Islay’s newest distillery, Ardnahoe. Sitting on the east side of the island in-between Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila, Ardnahoe also boasts amazing views over the sound of Islay across to the Paps of Jura.

Founded by the Laing family (Stewart, Andrew and Scott), ground was broken in 2016 and distillation commenced in 2018. Whilst not having the history which it’s neighbours do, the Laing family carries much whisky heritage, so it’s no surprise the distillery was up and running so quickly.

Being a modern distillery, the tour doesn’t take you on twists and turns which are usually borne from expansion over decades. It’s a straight forward set-up, with some additionally points of interest such as their 100-yo Boby Mill which, unconfirmed comments suggest it *may* have originated in Fettercairn…

The mash-tun gleams, and the washbacks are Oregon Pine as you’d expect. But then the next little twist is the tall and elegant copper stills which overlook Jura. Much debate may be given to the type of whisky they will produce due to their shape, but what caught our eye was the incredible length of the lyne arms – if I remember correctly – 4m in length. This is of course to maximise the contact of the condensed / condensing spirit with copper.

Another point of interest in the process was the exterior worm tubs (with handily-placed mirrors for you to look inside). As well as taking advantage of the climate (although gloriously sunny on our visit), they create another point of difference on the island, as well as visual appeal too.

Now it’s too early to comment on the whisky, as it’s not yet matured and although we were given samples which *may* indicate a direction for the distillery, we’d much rather comment on the real thing. Ardnahoe is, as expected, a ‘polished’ environment and experience (the food is really good as is the service and engagement from the staff) – and over time (as with ALL young distilleries) we’ll get to see more personality and unique character come from this.

In conclusion, a great start to a new distillery which – let’s be honest – has picked some heavyweight neighbours to compete with. But as Kilchoman showed, there’s still room on this little island and Ardnahoe has made itself at home. However, with the legendary Port Ellen under refurbishment which will make 10 working distilleries – is there room for the much-rumoured 11th and 12th…!? Watch this space..

Wright Wine Company, Yorkshire Air Ambulance

Wright Wine Co donates over £450 to Yorkshire Air Ambulance

Skipton-based wine and spirits merchant, the Wright Wine Company, have donated over £450 to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, mainly from the sales of wooden wine packaging crates to customers.

The retailer and wholesaler, whose shop has been a feature in Skipton since 1982, is traditionally known as a wine merchant, although also stocks several thousand bottles of spirits too. Their wine is delivered from all parts of the globe, with French wine in particular coming in branded wooden crates for protection.

Julian Kaye, Managing Director said;

“Some of the vineyard’s branding on the crates is quite ornate – and customers started taking a shine to them. At first we just gave them away, or used them for firewood – but we then had the idea to charge a small, nominal fee – every penny of which goes to charity.”

Customers have reportedly been using the crates as window boxes for herbs, additions to ferret runs or simply re-purposing them as presentation boxes for gifts. As the crates are not returnable to the vineyards, finding a way to reuse and upcycle them is an additional benefit alongside the fundraising.

Julian continues;

“The Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a fantastic service that covers the more rural and inaccessible parts of Yorkshire, as well as the well-travelled and more densely populated. It’s certainly of benefit to us in this part of North Yorkshire, and we’re proud to support them.”

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity was set up in 2000 to provide fast medical reponce to the Yorkshire region. It costs around £4.4 million pounds per year to run.

Linda Stead, North Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said:

“We would like to say a huge thank you to The Wright Wine Company for their support and generosity and raising an impressive £450 through selling old wine crates. This is such an inventive way to not only raise money for a fantastic cause, but help give older items a new lease of life.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s Air Ambulances maintained and in the air and the money raised will help tremendously towards the vital running of our service and help us continue saving lives across region.”

The importance of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance cannot be understated – flying time from Skipton to Leeds General Infirmary, for example, is just 11 minutes – whereas by road could take over 60 minutes.

Photo: Wright Wine Company’s Dave Baxter readies more boxes in the name of charity. (Happy Birthday Dave!!).

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About Yorkshire Air Ambulance

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an independent charity providing a life saving rapid response emergency service to 5 million people across the whole of Yorkshire. The service is operational seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Charity currently attend an average of 5 incidents every single day. Last year (2019) they attended 1,598 incidents and carried 364 of those to hospital for emergency treatment.

Sauvignon Blanc

If you love…Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a consumer favourite and one of the most fashionable white varieties in the world today. Not unsurprisingly it is widely planted around the world. Its origins are believed to be the Loire Valley and Bordeaux in France and may have got its name from the combination of French words sauvage – meaning wild and blanc meaning white. Interestingly it is also the “mother” of Cabernet Sauvignon from a believed crossing with the black Cabernet Franc grape.

The grape is today most famously associated with two Loire Valley appellations – Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé along with the Marlborough region at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. But the grape is widely grown, and other star areas include South Africa (Walker Bay and Elgin) and Chile (Casablanca and Leyda Valleys). These styles are predominantly made in a fresh, fruity and aromatic manner with no us of oak at all.

Maybe the surprise is Sauvignon’s long association with Bordeaux. Today, many of this region’s dry whites are very much Sauvignon based (sometimes 100%) and in the star region of Pessac-Léognan you find one of the rare examples of Sauvignon which is barrel fermented and aged. These are some of the richest and most refined wines and top examples can challenge the best of white Burgundy in quality, if different in style.

The typical smells and flavours of Sauvignon include green and citric fruits such as gooseberry, lime and grapefruit, but also herbal and vegetal notes of (green) bell pepper and asparagus. In warmer New World areas attractive notes of elderflower and passion fruit emerge.

Sauvignon works well with many seafood dishes (including more robust flavours such as mackerel and smoked salmon) and lighter meats. It is a good partner to salads, crudités and mixed vegetable dishes. It also does a star turn with sushi. Maybe the real surprise is also how well it works with goat’s cheese (chèvre)!

The first Friday in May is celebrated as “International Sauvignon Blanc Day”

Forget Dry-January. Celebrate Pie-anuary.

There was no room for ‘Dry January’ or ‘Veganuary’ in this corner of Skipton over the weekend.

Committed as we are to fine wines and accompanying food, we embraced ‘Pie-anuary’ – where, at our regular end of month in-store wine tasting, we matched a series of wines with some of the finest pork pies from Skipton. And Skipton does some good pork pies.

On the last Saturday of very month (except December) we host an informal and free wine tasting between midday and 3pm, with visitors taking advantage of 10% off the wines of the day.