Cock Ale? Ahem.

Reading the words “Cock Ale” while finding myself in Portland recently led to a string of unintentional associations. Oregon. Craft beer. Lumberjacks. Wow, who knew? Alas, cock ale has nothing to do with Oregon or its (no doubt sexy) men. It’s literal. Cock ale is beer made with rooster meat. As reported by Gastro Obscura, cock ale was once a British mainstay and many a pub’s name is a tribute to it: The Famous Cock, The Cock and Bottle, and so on. Much appreciated in the 1600s for its medicinal properties, cock ale was made (often by women) by immersing a rooster in a batch of boiling ale along with raisins, dates, nutmeg, and Sherry. Cock ale’s medicinal and restorative properties were legend. Besides purportedly curing tuberculosis, it was considered an early form of Viagra. So: cock ale to the rescue for what ails you. Think of it as craft beer meets chicken soup. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always a cocktail.

The world’s only train station vineyard is located in:

A. Zurich, Switzerland

B. Shiojiri, Japan

C. Mendoza, Argentina

D. Principality of Monaco

Shiojiri, a modest city in central Japan, is famous as the hub of the Kikyogahara Wine Valley in Nagano Prefecture, one of the country’s oldest wine regions. Domestic wine production in Japan, using locally produced grapes, only really began with the adoption of Western culture during the Meiji restoration in the second half of the 19th century. The Shiojiri Station Platform Vineyard was originally planted in 1988 as a way to promote the area’s wine culture and specialty grapes. “Trained” into high trellises overhead the third and fourth platforms of the station, the vineyard benefits from reflective floor tiles and exposure to the sky that provide the grapes plenty of sunlight. The merlot and niagara grapevines are tended by local winegrowers, and community members volunteer to help cultivate and prune the vines. The Kikyogahara Wine Valley is home to 10 wineries, with a reputation made on merlot and chardonnay.

“Wine for me had always been something larger. Wine to me is passion. It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization and the Art of Living.”

–Robert Mondavi (1913 – 2008)
Harvests of Joy

Cock Ale? Ahem.

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