Polgoon

Polgoon is a newly established vineyard and orchard based just outside Penzance in south Cornwall. The owners, John and Kim Coulson, have developed a derelict farm into a flourishing business, producing award winning products.

Their wines are already highly regarded, but for me the stand out product is the Polgoon Aval - a sparkling champagne style cider made using the traditional French champagne method of a second fermentation in the bottle. The result this a crisp, elegant and very refined grown up tipple. Ironically it is everything that I am not, but I just love it! It is deliciously appley, yet dry and very refreshing. It makes a great English alternative to the more obvious Champagne and certainly stands up to its French counterpart in terms of taste and quality.

Only a couple of years in to the new venture when their grape crops failed due to the terrible weather, the Coulson's, not to be deterred, focused their efforts on producing other products. They created and perfected the Polgoon Aval using apples from the orchard and it soon became a big hit. Even better then that this great British drink arose from such adversity.

Aval is the Cornish word for Apple, so what more appropriate name for a Cornish drink made from Apples. They also make Aval Rosé with the addition of raspberries, very much like pink champagne, and a pear cider called Polgoon Peren (that's Cornish for pear).

We dropped by Plogoon for some cellar door sales but as it happened we managed to gate crash a tour of the vineyard. The Three Hungry Boys from the Channel 4 TV show were being shown around and we were lucky enough to be invited to join in. Clearly very passionate about what they are doing at Polgoon, the friendly and enthusiastic owners deserve to suceed.

It's difficult to find Polgoon Aval outside of the South West but most definitely worth tracking down. It is is being stocked by River Cottage and Rick Stein, amongst others, and a full list if stockists can be found on their website.

Polgoon Vineyard

Rosehill, Penzance, Cornwall, TR20 8TE

This post forms part of a series about our 2010 gastro camping trip in Cornwall.

Princess Louise

After the disappointment of the football we were in need of some more liquid refreshment and so, in the name of drowning our sorrows, we headed to the Princess Louise.

Built in 1872 and named after Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, the Princess Louise is one of London's most beautiful and historic pubs. Its classic Victorian interior has been gloriously preserved; from the high and heavily ornate plastered ceiling, flamboyantly decorative tiles, huge dark carved wooden bar and elaborate cut glass and mirrors. It is a Grade II listed pub and is also on CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

During 2007 the pub went through a comprehensive restoration which saw the reinstatement of the wood and etched glass partitions, creating the sort of subdivided drinking areas common to the popular and lavish nineteenth century "gin palaces". It has created a wonderfully confusing warren of snugs and alcoves, each with its own access to the central island bar.

The pub is now owned by Sam Smiths, a notable if rather eccentric independent brewery from Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Common to all their pubs, the Princess Louise sells only Sam Smiths branded drinks. Their own range of lagers, ales and ciders is reasonably comprehensive and good quality, some available on draught and some only bottled. Their Old Brewery bitter is a great pint when on form and at £1.99 is staggering value, even if this wasn't Central London.

The location and unassuming exterior means it would be easy to pass by the Princess Louise, but if you are in London it is definitely worth a detour for a lovely pint of traditional ale in amazing surroundings.

Princess Louise
208 High Holborn, Holborn, London, WC1V 7BW

Nearest Tube: Holborn

Damnson Good Gin!

I’ve been looking forward to this moment since we were given a load of ripe damsons at the end of summer and, along with a couple of batches of jam, I started some Damson Gin.

To make approx 1 litre of Damson Gin:

1 lb (450g) Damsons
0.75 Litres Gin
5 oz (140g) Sugar (Granulated or Castor)

Rinse the damsons and get rid of any bruised or decaying fruit. Prick the damsons with a fork and place into a 1 litre receptacle - a large wide necked Kilner or Le Parfait jar is perfect.
Pitch in the sugar and then add the gin until the fruit is covered and the jar is full to the brim.
Give the jar a good shake and repeat this for the first week or so until the sugar is properly dissolved.

I doubled the quantities given above and the 2 resulting jars were stored away in a cool dark place to do their thing.

This damson gin will hopefully not result in a thick syrupy ultra-sweet tipple but it can be sampled after a couple of months or so and, if necessary, topped up with sugar. For my taste I deemed that no extra sugar was required.

Anyway, my damsons have now been steeping in the gin for just over 3 months and have hopefully done their job imparting a delicious fruity tartness to the spirit. The gin has certainly taken on a lovely deep plum colour.

So today’s job was to filter the gin through some muslin and re-bottle the strained liquor.

Waste not, want not and so the macerated fruit is now in the fridge waiting to be made into a delicious (adults only) boozy damson crumble.

Damsons are ripe in early September, a happy coincidence then that the liqueur is now bottled and ready for drinking as a Christmas treat! I’m thinking Damson Gin Fizz on Christmas morning; 1 part Damson Gin / 3 parts English Sparking Wine.

It would be rude not to. Although past experience of this particular snifter suggests that might not be the most sensible idea, but then it is Christmas and I can always sleep it off after lunch!