#ravensworth

[americanbuildings]

Ravensworth, House & Stable, 5200 Port Royal Road, Ravensworth, Fairfax County, VA

[myfairynuffstuff]

John Wallace (1841-1905) - October Bloom, Ravensworth. 1901. Oil on canvas.

[northsydneycellars-blog]

Ravensworth Riesling

Ravensworth. I’d say it’s just about the best wine producer in NSW right now.

Winemaker Bryan Martin, often referred to as Tim Kirk’s assistant at Clonakilla, is in his own right a superb wine producer.

This Ravensworth riesling, the best white we have ever tasted (and heartily smashed!) from his stable, is a stunner.

Give it some air (and don’t serve too cold) and it’s got jump-out-of-the-glass fragrance and expression; flowers and limes. It’s juicy but tangy and textured and detailed and very long in the mouth. Drinking it is a glorious experience.

It is not one of those made-for-aging but hard-as-a-rock-with-acid Clare or Eden jobs. This is natural and unforced, the acidity providing joy, bounce and grain to the fruit. Best of all, that joy is on offer right now.

Few critics have more recent experience with Canberra District wines than The Wine Front’s Mike Bennie, who said of the current 2015 vintage:

“It’s not just a wine of class it’s a wine of compelling drinking. Perfume is a little shy but pretty with frangipani floral notes, wet slate, ginger and lemongrass spice. The palate is zingy and tingly with crispy, fine acid and lacy with tangy, limey fruit flavours. In a high drinkability zone right now, the finish is mouthwatering and impressively long. It’s a wine that dances across the palate, fresh, vibrant, juicy yet never feels broad or freewheeling. So very fine to drink. Brilliant release. Rated: 95+ points. Drink: 2015 - 2020+.”

600 dozens were made, so not a lot. Sommeliers are all over Martin’s gear like fat kids on chocolate cake right now, so dive in before it appears on your favourite restaurant’s list at three times the price.

[huonhooke]

New Tasting Notes: Alternative Reds

The biggest tasting I did last month was of 150 mixed red varietals – these are made from grapes other than the staples, shiraz, pinot noir, cabernet and merlot.

This grab-bag of ‘alternative’ varieties is blossoming – both in the number of varieties being produced by our winemakers, and their quality.

It’s very encouraging. Happily, there are fewer of the green, weedy sangioveses and over-extracted petit verdots; the bretty chambourcins and raw, acidic tempranillos than there used to be. What’s happening? Are winemakers finally realizing that they can’t produce these wines using the same recipe they’ve always used for their cabernet and shiraz. Each variety is a special case and needs individualized attention, like bringing up a brood of recalcitrant kids. They are all individuals with different needs.

As well, winemakers seem to be stepping back more, and permitting the grape variety to speak, instead of slathering it with oak or harvesting it overripe so that it ends up just another oaky, jammy Aussie red.

Here’s a list of the varieties tasted. Tempranillo, sangiovese, nebbiolo, barbera, dolcetto, lagrein, graciano, tannat, zinfandel, montepulciano, touriga, sagrantino, malbec, durif, saperavi, bonarda, teroldego, aglianico, petit verdot and nero d’avola, as well as the old faithfuls grenache and mourvedre.

Some people have really worked out how to do it. Bryan Martin’s Ravensworth nebbiolo (tasting) and sangiovese (tasting) 2013s are both utterly delicious. He is also involved with Clonakilla of course, whose 2013 Ceoltoiri (tasting) (a GSM blend) is a wonderful wine. From Inverell, Topper’s Mountain’s latest Red Earth Child (tasting) is another cracker. It’s an unlikely blend of nebbiolo, shiraz, tempranillo and tannat. The Willson sisters of Bremerton fielded a 2012 malbec (tasting) and a ’12 mourvedre (tasting) under their special release label, and both impressed.

Fox Gordon’s nero d’avola (tasting) is an interesting interpretation, and Teusner delivered with a mataro (tasting) and a durif (tasting) in their typically big, bold style.

Mudgee’s Stuart Olsen impressed yet again with his Eloquesta label: this time with a non-vintage, non-varietal red charmingly labeled A Boy With Fruit (tasting). And there were several very good zinfandels and a raft of excellent Rutherglen durifs to keep you big red lovers happy. 

[lovebabyessentials]

Larklands Pet-Friendly Cottage, Ravensworth, Yorkshire Dales (Ref 4068)

Larklands Pet-Friendly Cottage, Ravensworth, Yorkshire Dales (Ref 4068)

Description: Larklands is a superb 16th Century, stone-built barn conversion on a working cattle farm one mile from the pretty village of Ravensworth on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The cottage is all on the ground floor and has three bedrooms (one twin, one double and one family room with a double and a single day bed and ensuite facilities) and a family bathroom making it possible to sleep…

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[teeyomedia]

Searching for Middleton

After a fortnight of fantastic feedback regarding the scripts, as well as our production team falling into place, it was time to find our village, Middleton.

Getting a feel for the actual village itself would allow the team to create a stronger mental image of the series, and certain scenes in particular.

As I left York at 8:30am on Saturday 9th March to pick Glen Fawcett up from Stockton, I felt confident that we would find the perfect location come the end of the day. 

We knew that our village was to be located within reasonable driving distance of Middlesbrough and York, to allow better access for our cast and crew. 

Our knowledge on local villages wasn't great, but we had been advised of a couple of villages on the outskirts of Darlington. Unfortunately, on the morning of Saturday 9th, there had been a crash around the town centre, causing heavy traffic and meaning there was no way of us passing through from Middlesbrough. This forced us to change our plans and drive, almost aimlessly, from village to village to see if anywhere fit the bill.

In addition to this, the weather deteriorated drastically, and before we knew it, we had ended up towards Whitby, almost ninety minutes from where we ideally wanted to be.

The weather turned on us almost instantly, and the above image gives an idea of the conditions we were dealing with. It was after driving through the ice, fog and snow for about an hour that Glen thought it best we turn our attention back towards Darlington in the hope that the traffic caused by the earlier crash had cleared.

Thankfully the traffic, and the weather, had cleared slightly and approximately an hour and a half after setting our sat-nav, we arrived in the small village of Ravensworth, situated on the outskirts of Darlington. 

We instantly fell in love with the place!

Scenes that we'd only visioned in our heads were suddenly starting to become a reality. Within the first two minutes of stepping out of the car, we'd organised three scenes.

For the next twenty minutes we walked around the village and discussed possibilities for the shoot. Unfortunately the pub was closed and nobody could be found at the local church, meaning we weren't able to have a chat with any locals in regards to the project.

Finding Ravensworth had made the entire journey worthwhile. However, our search hadn't finished just there, as we stumbled across a larger village, Melsonby, on the way home.

Again, we seen massive potential for the shoot and were able to discuss numerous possibilities. However, I think we both, silently, agreed it wasn't as 'perfect' as Ravensworth.

Despite this, we intend to visit both Melsonby and Ravensworth again over the coming weeks, once we've worked through the scripts again with both villages in mind.

Our journey back to Stockton consisted of Glen scribbling ideas on our producer, Lydia-Graces', notes, and long silences, as we considered the possibilities of the location. In addition to this, we also called a potential actor to arrange an audition slot.

It was during this journey home that the reality of the production hit me.

There's no doubting that the scope of this project is huge, but we feel more than confident to take on the challenge. The commitment and willingness of everyone to get involved has been incredible, and I'm sure everyone will continue to work as hard in order to pull off a great series!

Next up for us are the first auditions, to be held at Middlesbrough College on Sunday, where we hope to bring some of Middletons' characters to life.

If you, or anybody you know, would be interested in getting involved in Middleton, then please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected], or visit of Facebook page.

[thenortherneko-blog-blog]

Anyone seeking to kidnap Ian Botham's dog now knows the authorities are unwilling to use brutal tactics in combating the crime of Bothan dognap. Thank you Brussels.