Lindisfarne Mead is a

mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...

from

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

. It is manufactured in

St Aidan's St Aidan's is a 355 hectare (877 acres) nature park located between Leeds and Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. The land was formerly an opencast coal mining area that was flooded in 1988, after the riverbank collapsed. Repairs and remedia ...

Winery on

Holy Island Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

. The mead is unusual in that it blends honey, the traditional main ingredient of mead, with grapes.

History

Lindisfarne Mead has its roots in the medieval period, when monks inhabited Lindisfarne Priory; they are believed to have made mead. In the 1960s, J. Michael Hackett opened St Aidan's Winery on the island. The mead is distributed internationally. In 2006, after four decades of negotiations, Lindisfarne Mead began exporting their mead to the United States. US authorities claimed that Lindisfarne mead, as it contained grapes and herbs, was not mead by their definition. It was reported that the product was to be exported to the USA under the name Lindisfarne ''Mede'' in order to differentiate it from honey-only meads.

Production and style

Like other mead, Lindisfarne Mead is fermented from

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

. The mead is blended with fermented grape juice, herbs, natural well water and a neutral spirits. The honey is sourced from around the world. As a mead that contains grape juice or wine, Lindisfarne mead is considered a pyment.

References

External links

*
"This Tiny Island Is Still Making Mead the Medieval Way"
- ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

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