"Honeymoon"

A SOJOURN to the rather fetching Eltham Palace, the 1930's Hollywood inspired art deco former home of the Courtaulds, yielded an impromptu mead tasting in the shop.

Mead, made of honey, water and yeast, is thought to have a history potentially even further reaching than wine, dating back more than 8,000 years.

Of three sampled, my favourite was the Malmesbury Reserve (far left) from Lurgashall, an excellent Sussex based company of specialists generating liquer, mead and fruit wines. This was aged in oak, with a delicate, dry nose, but a full (though not fat), lingering, plush aftertaste. [£12-13, fairly widely available]

Incidentally, according to Wikepedia, a "honeymoon" was "the practice of a bride's father dowering her with enough mead for a month-long celebration in honor of the marriage", such was the auspicious nature and rich regard in which it was held.

Further Link: Mad About Mead