Honey WineWhat is honey wine?Honey wine is one of the most popular and delicious forms of non-grape wines in the world. Traditionally known as mead, it is made from a mixture of honey, water and yeast, called ‘must’. The ‘must’ is allowed to ferment until the sugars are converted into alcohol, at which point it is called mead or 'honey wine'. The sweetness of the wine may be adjusted by varying the amount of honey used or by the type of yeast added, making available wines of sweet, semi-sweet and dry varieties. Mulled mead is a traditional winter holiday drink for many European cultures.And, no, it’s not made from crushing honeycombs with your feet. And no bears are employed in the process. The honey is collected the conventional way – with the permission of the bees, of course. Varieties of Honey WineMade from honey, it is often flavoured with the addition of fruits, spices and just about anything you can think of. And when I say ‘anything’, I mean anything. Quite remarkably, the mead aficionados of www.GotMead.com report a mead of the Beef Jerky variety! Some more palatable, but no less imaginative varieties have their own special names.Here is a list of just a few: Braggot – traditionally brewed with honey and hops, now with honey and malt Hydromel – Greek for “water-honey”, this is the French name for honey wines and for a very light or low-alcohol mead Melomel – bearing no relation to the dulcet toned jazz singer Mel Tormé, this is the name given to mead made with any fruit. Depending on the fruit used, melomels may be known by more specific names, like cyser, pyment, and morat Metheglin – herbs and spices are added to traditional mead to produce metheglin. Common varieties of it include ginger, tea, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla Mulled mead – traditional mead flavoured with spices and warmed – traditionally with a hot poker plunged into it! A traditional winter holiday treat Make It Yourself!Making wine out of honey is popular not only for its flavour, but also for the ease with which it is made. Click the link for honey wine and mead recipes you can make at home. Or check this site for mulled mead recipe: www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/roman/fetch-recipe.php?rid=roman-mulled-mead.Honey Wine tasting!If trying honey derived wines sounds like the new experience you’ve been waiting for, why not try out a wine tasting at one of the many honey wineries, traditionally called meaderies, present in North America. There is an array of such wineries across Canada and the United States that offer the best in honey derived wine tasting. And in the cooler months, don’t forget to treat yourself to a taste of mulled mead. Delicious!Here’s just a small sample of some of the best mead tasting venues around: Intermiel, 10291, De La Fresniére Rd. Mirabel, Saint-Benoît, Quebec, J0N 1K0 Lunenburg County Winery, RR#3 Mahone Bay, Lunenburg County, Newburne, Nova Scotia, Canada Middle Mountain Mead, 3505 Euston Road, Hornsby Island BC, V0R 1Z0 Munro Honey & Meadery, 3115 River Street, Alvinston, Ontario, N0N 1A0 Alaskan Wilderness Wines, PO Box 3574, Kodiak, AK 99615, US Bargetto Winery, 3535 N. Main St. Soquel, CA 95073, US Blue Dog Mead Company, 1819 E. 9th St. The Dalles, OR 97058, US Bonair Winery, 500 South Bonair Road, Zilah, WA 98953 US Camas Prairie Winery, 110 S. Main St. Moscow, ID 83843, US Celestial Meads, 700 W. 41st Ave., Unit H Anchorage, AK 99503, US Honeymoon Meadery, 1053 N. State Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 US Long Island Meadery, 1347 Lincoln Av Suite 11, Holbrook, NY 11741 US Rocky Mountain Meadery, 3701 G Road, Palisade, CO 81526, US For Canadian wineries, see winesofcanada.com/mead.html
History of MeadMead is one of the oldest forms of wines in the world. Honey wineries are known to have existed in ancient India, Greece, and Rome. Honey derived wines or meads were commonly brewed by Germanic tribes of Northern Europe and features prominently in the Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf:“In proper time that ring-adorned queen excellent in mind brought the mead cup to Beowulf.” - Beowulf, translated by Dr. David Breeden. The tradition of making wine out of honey continued throughout the Middle Ages in medieval monasteries, often as a by-product of bee keeping. For centuries, this delectable wine provided sustenance for discerning palates in regions where grapes could not be grown, and it continues to delight wine connoisseurs to this day. Mulled mead, indeed, is still a winter holiday favourite even in North America. - Article by Kevin Vaughan Did you know? It is a popular belief that the practice in medieval Europe of supplying a newly married couple a month’s supply of honey derived wine or mead is the origin of the name ‘honeymoon’. Need More Info? For more information on honey wines or mead, check out the following websites: www.GotMead.com
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