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

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We had rapidly outgrown our old space near Chepstow train station (which we had only just finished renovating) and wanted to future-proof our business," he said. It’s not hard to understand why and with no other meaderies in south Wales excitement is building – and the Newells have chucked all their chips in on the venture. The local area has limited options when it comes to employment and local amenities so we want to grow Monmouthshire’s reputation for quality food and drink while doing our bit for the bees and highlighting the importance of honey as a product with many applications.

AnotherWye Valley Meadery innovation is set to launch in November:Traditional Mead aged in whiskey barrels. 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. Admire the wonderful views from the top of the vineyard and perhaps bring a picnic and relax in a quiet place to enjoy it. The Abergavenny Food Festival and the Usk Show are two of the many upcoming events which will again show off much of the posh nosh and fine wine some of the most impressive chefs and vintners Wales have to offer. Convinced we had something worth bragging about, we entered our Hopped mead into the Great Taste Awards and won two stars!There are many, many different recipes, each one using varying types and quantities of three main ingredients. Somewhere in the Henan province in China, a pot of honey, carelessly left out in the elements filled with rainwater. 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. 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. With far more honey sold in the world than bees produce real and good-quality honey is hard to come by and can be an expensive and lucrative trade.

Wet honey will start to ferment and would usually go to waste, but we are happy to use it in our meads as we are going to ferment it anyway. It was selling well, we were getting great feedback and winning a Great Taste Award in 2019 was very encouraging,” says Kit. Monday to Thursday, the area is production space, and then on Friday we tidy up, fold down the tables and open it to visitors,” says Kit. This area is known for its high concentration of small leaf lime trees, and a high overall biodiversity of flora and fauna. In the 5th Century AD, when people still used the moon as a measure of time, mead was believed to be an elixir of health, fertility and longevity and it thought to instil good luck.Matt (pictured, above right) continued beekeeping as a hobby, having bought a few hives from his mentor, while going on to study geology at university. Contrary to what you may think, this blushing mead from Lindisfarne doesn't get its colour from berries and the like – it's actually from the addition of orange!

Splendid in all manner of serves, and we're not just talking about splashing it in your prosecco or lemonade, it's pretty great drizzled over ice cream too! We bit the bullet and decided to heap even more work and stress after what had already been an exhausting 12 months.

Kit left cushy office life and moved from Reading back the Wye Valley where together, they are brewing full time and increasing batch size month after month. While other meaderies will not be shy about the fact they make out of half sugar (or more) and half honey, ours is 100% honey.