Book charting history of Irish ‘ winegeese ’ launched in Belfast.
The Irish News – 29 March 2007
A history charting Ireland’s involvement with wine from pre-Christian times to the present day, including drinking traditions, wine-making and wine trading, has been documented in a new book launched in Belfast’s Linenhall Library.
A Kingdom of Wine by Ted Murphy has already won the Best Wine History Book in English at this year’s Gourmand World Book Awards. Ted has applied the term of ‘ Winegeese’ to the Irish people directly involved in wine around the world, in deference to the many families who emigrated to France in the 17th and 18th centuries and engaged in the wine trade. ‘‘ Their names and labels have become synonymous with some of the finest win growing regions in the world, stretching from the Maipo Valley in Chile to the Napa Valley in California, to the Loire Valley in France, to the Duoro Valley in Portugal, to the Clare Valley in Australia, and to the Hemel En Aard Valley in South Africa, ’’ he said.
Château de La Ligne in Bordeaux, who sponsored Mr Murphy’s book launch, is owned by one of these latter day Winegeese, Belfast businessman Terry Cross, who heads up Delta Print and Packaging in west Belfast. Other illustrious Winegeese châteaux with Northern Ireland connections, going back to the 18th century, include Château Leoville-Barton and Château Langoa, owned by the Barton family originally from Fermanagh, who arrived in Bordeaux in 1725. The present owner Anthony Barton is a direct descendant and regularly visits Northern Ireland. Another very successful wine family in Bordeaux were the Johnstons. Nathaniel Johnston from Armagh had cellars that held the equivalent of six million bottles in the early 19th century.
Since the Northern Irish people have gone to other parts of the world, with Hunter Wines being established in New Zealand by Ernie Hunter from Belfast in 1983 and a wine named after Coleraine man Samuel Morrow, who emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1900s.
For Mr Murphy, who has a passion for the history of wine, this is his first book and follows the 1900 six-part television series The Winegeese, inspired by his discoveries of the numerous links between Ireland and the wines of the world.
A Kingdom of Wine, published by Onstream Publications, is available in bookshops and online at www.onstream.ie
