Mon 31 May 2021
Mediate BC's Mead Tasting
Posted by Ann.Lee
Join us for Meadiate BC mead tasting event on Wednesday, June 23 from 5:30 to 7pm! We will be trying out various meads, including traditional honey wine style, sparkling and beer style, as well as some honey from Meadow Vista Honey Wines in Kelowna.
What is mead, you may be asking. It’s a fermented honey beverage that is millennia old - older than beer and older than wine! Despite the styles mentioned above, it really isn’t beer or wine; it is its own thing and may have all sorts of flavours and ingredients added. There seems to be quite a resurgence in mead’s popularity recently - see this, this and this article about it.
Find out for yourself why mead has been drunk in almost all cultures in some fashion or other! Feel free to invite household members of drinking age. The cost is $10/household, regardless of household members attending.
Meet our Tasting Guides
From Meadow Vista Honey Wines:
Emily Vanderschee and Electra Logan are the sisters behind Meadow Vista! They are joined in ownership by the Meadow Vista Head Meadmaker, Andrew Durrant.
As the principles of Meadow Vista, they are busy bees! Emily will be heading up the hosting of this Virtual Tasting. Emily has been in the Food and Beverage industry for over 25 years. With multiple years in making wine menus and a number of years working in wineries, she had a passion for wine but wanted to do something just a little different in the beverage industry! She has found her dream in the Meadery, with its focus on sustainability and endless possibilities!
From Mediate BC:
Ashley Syer is a Board member and Civil Roster mediator, as well as lawyer, avid food & beverage industry insider & champion. She has a wealth of knowledge in wines, but is a mead newbie. She is excited to try out these new drinks and host the session.
A drink for every taste!
Meadow Vista is offering 2 specially priced packs for us: 3-pack ($70: Cloud Horse, Bliss Sparkling Blueberry Haskap, Pictish Beast) and 6-pack ($124: all meads below). They are also including some beautiful, wildflower, strawberry and blueberry honey sticks for tasting with these packs. Prices include taxes and complementary shipping in BC (look for the code on Meadow Vista's page).
Cloud Horse - Cloud Horse is a traditional style mead, so the only "ingredient' is honey. The aromas are floral with clover, honey and beeswax, but also you'll find this wine not unlike some Rieslings with a streak of lime zest. This honey wine is dry and refreshing to taste! Extremely versatile for pairing. Pairing: Fish tacos, Antipasti, paella, creamy cheeses. Cellaring: This wine is perfect now and the flavours will mellow together through 2025. Alc 12% | Dry | Served Chilled
Bliss Sparkling Blueberry Haskap (500ml) - A very cool combination of flavours. Local blueberries and haskaps combine with the honey base to lift all the aromatics up. Haskaps are flavourful and tart. This is a great compliment to the gentle, more leisurely blueberry. Dark in colour, rich in flavour and highly refreshing! Pairing: bbq meats or pork with berry compote, brunch, happy hour. Cellaring: Enjoy now over ice! Alc 12.0% | Just off dry | Serve over ice
Bliss Sparkling Apple Cyser (500ml) - A "Cyser" is a beverage that uses honey instead of sugars to achieve its desired sweetness and alcohol. This aspect of the ferment adds to the unique flavours and also, perhaps, some health benefits. The Bliss sparkling wines from Meadow Vista are refreshing - this one showing off amazing floral notes and lovely granny smith apple skin. Drink over ice with a friend! Pairing: poolside chats, Fish n chips, slaw. Cellaring: Enjoy now over ice! Alc 12.0% | Off Dry | Serve over ice
Rubus - Rubus is a "melomel" style mead, outlining that it is made with both honey and fruit - in this case, local blackberries. The blackberries add body, structure and dark fruit flavours to the traditional mead. If you're a red wine drinker, this is your style! Pairing: lasagna, pulled pork sandwiches Cellaring: Drink now through 2025 Alc 12.5% | Dry | Serve chilled or cellar temp (10 degrees)
Mabon - a metheglin (traditional mead with spices) that opens your eyes to how delightful spiced wine can be! Notes of coriander, cardamom and nutmeg pop out. Dare we say, it's like pumpkin spice, but 100 times better. This wine is very well balanced and the notes of wildflower honey and spice balance perfectly with the underlying structure. Pairing: Aperitif, holiday desserts. Cellaring: Drink now through 2027 Alc 12.0% | Off Dry | Serve chilled or even warm (mulled)
Pictish Beast - B.C. honey, hops and malt come together to make this easy- drinking mead. Crisp, fresh and mildly hopped Pictish Beast is called True Braggot as the honey is fermented with the malt and hops to produce a light flavour with plenty of depth! Pairing: Chicken Wings & Burgers. Cellering: Drink now through 2022 Alc 10.0% | Dry | Serve chilled 4 degrees
Alternative Purchasing
Meadow Vista products are also sold in various liquor stores around the Province - see their list of Where to Buy. However, with the current pandemic, finding the various bottles that we’ll be tasting may be a bit hit & miss. If there is a Save-on-Foods Wine Store (various locations), JAK’s (various locations) or Brewery Creek Liquor Store (Vancouver) near you, contact them to see if they have any of the meads listed.
Join Us
Regardless of how you’d like to get some or all of the above meads, do join us for Meadiate BC's mead tasting with #mediators!
