Brady’s Lookout 2017 Cuvee

Brady’s Lookout 2017 Cuvee Cider is a story of apples, convicts and Batman. It stretches from Manchester to Tasmania and back to France. I’m probably going to need to explain what I’m talking about. 

Imagine you are a good-looking young rooster living in Manchester in 1820 born to Irish parents, employed as a gentleman’s servant.  You knick a few rashers of bacon to use as gifts for not one but two young ladies in town. Next thing you know, you get caught by the fuzz and you’re on a convict ship bound for Sydney. You clearly don’t like being a convict in Sydney, so you stick it to the man. This results in 350 lashes before being sent to the convict island’s convict island a jail within a jail, Sarah Island, on Van Demonsland, modern-day Tasmania.

This is what happened to Matthew Brady. Brady was locked up on Sarah Island for around a year where he formed a gang of other convicts who stole a whaling boat and escaped the island and sailed to mainland Tasmania. About as far away from the civilisation of Manchester as you can get.

The next few years Brady and his gang roamed around Tasmania being bushrangers. Brady’s good looks earnt him a reputation with the women in the area who he never robbed and used the finest manners when robbing men. Brady and his gang tried to sail north to the mainland of Australia. Bad weather forced them back. One of his crew snitched on him to the Old Bill. In the next few days, the law enforcement soldiers went on the hunt for the gang.

As night fell, Brady’s gang lit a campfire on the hill. And guess who spotted it. Yes, that’s right. It was spotted by Batman, John Batman, who would later go on to be the founder of Batmania, modern-day Melbourne. Batman captured Brady and brought him to justice. The hill where he was hiding is now known as Brady’s Lookout not far away from the orchard growing these apples.

But you have probably come here for information about the cider and not a history lesson.  Brady’s Lookout 2017 Cuvee uses the Methode Traditionelle technique learnt in France and reflecting the cool climate wines made in the area. The orchard grows 85 different types of rare apples blended to make cider.

The Nose

The elegant minimalism of a Swiss railway station clock.  Apple blossoms sit above a background of oxidising cider apple pulp. It displays all the information you need, nothing more, nothing less.

The Taste

I put my headphones and had a sip of the golden blonde Cuvée cider before the music started. One hundred thousand bubbles burst against my teeth with the sound of summer thunderstorms downpour. As the storm passes and the bubbles die down, there is a bright happy yet relaxed vibe of rare apple varieties and sweet rockmelons

Just as you mellow into its vibe, the bushranger in this Brady’s Lookout 2017 Cuvee jumps out and politely slaps you around with a bitter sharp acidic finish.

An undercurrent of wild earthy tones is begging this to be paired with prawns, fresh juicy prawns. So much so after 1 glass, I ordered a prawn pizza from my local wood fire bakery. Would recommend.

Final Thoughts Brady’s Lookout 2017 Cuvee

Brady was hung for his crimes alongside cannibals and murders. He and the locals protested against this.  He was showered in cakes and flowers by the women in the area. They say he died more like a martyr than a convicted felon.

Brady’s Lookout 2017 Cuvee follows much the same path. The bottle’s label is dapper and inviting. The first sip is turbulent. That leads into a well-mannered mellowness, but it all finishes with a bitter sharp conclusion.

The tails of the bushrangers grow and get romanticised over the years but just like the Cuvée I just want to find out a little more and yeah, I’m going to have another sip.

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