Wye Valley Meadery Traditional Mead (70cl Bottle), 14.5% ABV

Product Information

Matt joked how his drama GCSE qualification has come in very handy given the brothers' regular TV appearances (Image: Mark Lewis) We have our own car park where we can take cars and small coaches. Unfortunately, large coaches are unable to access it due to a bend in the drive.

A delicate primrose yellow with a gentle cloudy hue. A beautiful honeyed nose with wafts of wild flower and the foraging environment of the bee. Hints of the hive and bee are mellow yet blend beautifully to deliver a really appealing character. Sweet, gentle, rounded, smooth aromas translate through to the palate delivering a delightful, fully flavoured, fragrant, floral, soft, yet rich, fruity mead. Hints of citrus balance the honeyed sweetness. There are suggestions of both sweet orange and zesty lemon. A truly lengthy and luxurious finish. Carefully and beautifully balanced, levels of sweetness and acidity are spot on. Complex and vibrant which a flavour that keeps delivering on flavour. An utter treasure." For many people, the word ‘mead’ conjures images of Vikings and medieval feasting halls. For brothers Kit and Matt Newell, it means something very different. After a tour, it is usually possible to book a meal at one of the local hotels. The Wye Valley Hotel is at the bottom of our drive and Sue and Barry would be pleased to hear from you. (Phone 01291 689441). The plan now is to have the taproom and seating area open to the general public by the end of July, with the view to hosting boardgame nights, comedy nights and events featuring local food suppliers. As we try to fulfil demand for our expanding market for mead and honey, we have taken on staff to assist with the beekeeping and ensure a good supply,” says Matt. “Most beekeepers in the UK are hobbyists, which is amazing if you think the vast majority of the insects that pollinate all of our food are owned by hobbyists.”

Wye Valley Meadery also pioneered a lighter sparkling mead, which is four per cent. "Everyone thinks of mead as this really heavy sweet drink that monks and Vikings had," said Kit. This means our honey has a distinct botanical taste. And it is for this reason that we like to keep our flavours simple, to allow the delicious flavour of our honey to shine through! The business has also hired a full-time brewer and is planning to grow its on-trade presence after rolling out its first kegs. My drama GCSE has come in very handy,” Matt joked. “We don’t go out seeking it,” Kit said. “I think people just love the bees and it makes good TV. Matt is so passionate and charismatic on the camera when he talks about the bees and wildlife here. We just try and say ‘yes’ to everything if we are asked. I often think we probably don’t shout enough about being on TV – perhaps we need to make more of it.”

Wye Valley Meadery's new premises in Caldicot's Severn Bridge Industrial Estate Picture: Ollie Barnes The raspberry gives a nice acidity and it’s quite aromatic, quite punchy and quite fruit-forward. We then aged it on vanilla pods for six months to mellow it out,” says Kit. “It’s an unusual style, more commonly found in the US, and we are excited to see what the UK market thinks of it. It is expensive to brew as it is taxed heavily and the ingredients are more expensive compared to a typical wine – but it’s worth it.” I was about 13 or so when I approached a beekeeper at a country show and said I’d love to learn how to keep bees,” he explains. “The wages were terrible – a jar of honey for a day’s work – but I learned a lot.”Set up by brothers Kit and Matt Newell, Wye Valley Meadery use locally sourced honey, water and yeast to create a modern take on a drink which has been made for centuries. Along your way you'll pass the first stone built castle in Wales at Chepstow, the majestic ruins of Tintern Abbey, the Georgian Monmouth Shire Hall, a Michelin stared restaurant and fantastic views over the valley. The founders of Wye Valley Meadery take a thoroughly modern approach to one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, having developed a range of sparkling brews far removed from the historic traditional mead made by monks.

As with any new product and a new business, to win such an accolade is incredibly reaffirming, and shows we are making something that has appeal to the consumer,” says Kit. The move is part of the ongoing drive to modernise the image of mead while being careful not to alienate traditionalists, including sword ‘n’ sorcery lovers and historical re-enactors. Setting some of our award winning Traditional Mead aside to age in Oak whiskey barrels has created a wondrously dark, deep, woody celebration of the best parts of oak and honey. This mead is layered with natural vanillins from the oak barrel with undertones of whiskey that used to call it home, beautifully balanced with our delicious late summer honey. The meadery team is also expanding, the business having recently taken on a full-time beekeeper as caring for the hives was taking up too much of the brothers’ time.Mead, simply put, is an alcoholic beverage that is made by mixing honey and water and allowing it to ferment. The finished product is a deliciously sweet nectar that can be enjoyed as is, as it has been for centuries! If it is not through the rise of craft-brewing, the interest in home-brewing or even the surge in viking themed TV series, then maybe mead will be made popular again because of our passion at the Wye Valley Meadery. We want to make people see that mead is less ‘monks-and-druids’ and more ‘craft-beer-cool’. We want to breath new life into this age-old classic. We want to make mead new. The brand new seating area at Wye Valley Meadery in Caldicot, which opens on September 18 (Image: Mark Lewis) I used to have to explain to everybody what it was,” Kit said. “When we went to do the fine food shows and wine fairs people had no idea what it meant.

Parva Farm Vineyard is situated on a south facing slope in the Wye Valley, above the village of Tintern and its historic Abbey. A large selection of award-winning wines are sold in the farm's shop along with mead, fruit wines, ales, cider & perry and local honey, preserves and gift items. That’s the product we’re most excited about. "The label artwork is done by an artist from Ross-on-Wye – Jessie Watkins." The result was the 14.5%Traditional Mead that scooped a Gold Award in April at The Farm Shop & Deli Awards.

On the plus side we had all this time to do everything ourselves and make sure we’re ready to re-open properly. We’ve learned how to drive diggers and we’ve turned the place around. It was completely empty for more than 10 years. Kit, a 31-year-old former product designer, moved home from Reading to help Matt with the business. Fast forward to the 21st century, (and the invention of bee-suits) and mead still gets slightly overlooked in the current marketplace, where shelves are often overflowing with award winning wines, craftily crafted beers and flavour-loaded ciders. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community. We kept getting asked for a traditional mead and decided that, if we are going to do one we are going to go all in and make the best product we possibly can and really champion the wonderful honey from this area,” says Matt.