David Llewellyn is a familiar sight at farmer's markets around Dublin where he sells his apples, ciders and juices.
David also grows grapes and is now producing a range of wines under his Lusca brand, including a sparkling wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes – and according to wine critic John Wilson, it’s a very fine wine indeed.
David has been growing vines for nearly two decades, trying to find varieties that might thrive here. "I’ve been growing grapes experimentally for years. I’ve been sourcing different varieties, researching what hardy or short season, early maturing varieties might thrive here"
He now has two acres under vines, some in the open, some under polythene. He’s had some disastrous years, particularly with the vines in the open.
In a very cold wet windy summer, the outdoor grapes don’t thrive at all. However his perseverance has paid off and he now produces three different red wines from his grapes and two years ago began making a sparkling wine from his Cabernet Sauvignon crop.
David makes his sparkling wine using the same traditional production method as champagne. In September grapes are harvested by hand, crushed and pressed before yeast is added, to allow the juice to ferment. Several months later the wine is bottled in heavy glass, strong enough to withstand considerable pressure.
Sugar and yeast is added to encourage a second fermentation inside the bottle, without letting the gas escape, which gives the wine its bubbles. The wine is left in bottle for at least a year to allow this process work, topped with a metal cap rather than a cork.
A yeast deposit slowly forms at the top of the bottle, helped along by a vibrating process – all done by hand over a three week period. Once the yeast deposit forms it needs to be removed.
This is done by freezing just the top of the bottle, removing the cap and then the frozen yeast deposit. The bottle is now ready for final corking. Some 18 months after the grapes were picked, the sparkling wine is ready for drinking.
One of David’s fans is Irish Times Wine Critic John Wilson: "I was amazed when I first tasted this, how good it is. It’s an absolutely gorgeous drink. Its got those light strawberries and redcurrant fruits, it’s got this lovely acidity going through it, it’s dry on the finish, it’s an adult sparkling wine."
David is really encouraged by the reaction to his blanc de noirs Sparkling Wine, to the extent that he has decided to use most of his grapes for this wine into the future.
Who’d have thought, a sparkling wine made by an Irish horticulturalist by the sea in Lusk, Co Dublin.
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