An Evening of Darkness

Join us on Friday 27 May for a special vertical tasting of five vintages of The Art Of Darkness, expertly matched with locally sourced fare, curated and cooked over the open fire in our Cider Garden.

This evening offers a unique opportunity to savour all five vintages, beginning with the inaugural 2015, which kicked off our journey exploring how Ellis Bitter from our home orchard fares in barrela, aided and abetted by Foxwhelp, through 2016, where 10 months of wild fermentation was followed by 15 months maturation in barrel, into 2017, where not one, but three bottles will be served – 2017 was the year when we deconstructed the blend. Part 1 offered three-quarters Foxwhelp, one-quarter Ellis Bitter, Part 2, the reverse, and Part 3, an even-stevens blend.

Next up will be 2018, a layered, bold expression of Ellis Bitter and Foxwhelp, really coming into its own now, before finishing with the current vintage, 2019, with its beautiful structure, elegant body and long finish.

Tickets are strictly limited, due to the small number of bottles available. To gather in the necessary stock, our archive has been plundered and Club members have kindly donated from their cellars. 

To mark the occasion, we are teaming up with talented young chefs Richard Potter and Andy Glynn who many of you will know from The Faun in Malvern and Andy's previous guise as The Pork Peddler. Specialising in feasts from flame, where locally sourced ingredients take centre stage, join us to see your dinner cooking over the open fire.

Expect dishes like fire roasted Herefordshire forest-reared pork with crackling and apple butter; chalk stream trout with local, foraged leaves and nettle salsa verde.

With special vegetarian and vegan menus also available, those of us not of the meat persuasion can look forward to Wye Valley asparagus served with truffle and pickled mushroom; ember roasted vegetables with herbs and black garlic oil, and macerated strawberries, aquafaba meringue and vanilla shortbread. 

Throughout, James and Susanna will be taking you through the ciders, while Rich and Andy share their food inspirations.

If you're travelling from outside the county, with much to explore in Herefordshire and its neighbouring counties, why not make a weekend of it? For those looking for accommodation, do check out our Where To Stay and Taxi pages for some local suggestions.

Bromyard is known as the Town of Festivals, and, as luck would have it, the famed Bromyard Speed Festival takes place on Sunday 29 May

THE NITTY GRITTY

Tickets: £60, covering everything, from welcome drink through to tea and coffee at the close. (no ticket fee)

Date & Time: Friday 27 May, 6 for 6.30pm.
Carriages at 11pm

Ticket deadline: 20 May.

Food preferences & allergies: please stipulate in the Notes section.

Menus: Vegetarian and vegan menus are available. Please specify in the Notes section.

In the event of cancellation due to COVID restrictions, tickets will be refunded. Similarly, personal cancellations can be refunded up until 20 May.
After that date, please get in touch anyway, since we will be operating a waiting list.

Any queries, please contact us on wassail@littlepomona.com

label illustration by Ariana Sauder