Aurum modern honey mead has taken mead, the oldest beverage in the world, and has catapulted it into the 21st century.
Chief meadmaker and former winemaker/brewer Louis Costa has created an exquisite new range of modern honey wines, or ‘meads’, made from local Byron Manuka and Macadamia honey and native botanicals, that taste just like a fine wine or champagne – but with no grapes!
These premium “modern meads”, as Aurum has called them, are not sweet, but dry and elegant, and have surprised and delighted sommeliers worldwide with their finesse, taste and complexity. A great choice for those with traditional wine allergies, or looking for a healthier alcoholic beverage that doesn’t leave you with a nasty hangover, they also pair delightfully with food – especially foods with unique and intricate flavours that are often hard to pair with traditional wine.
“We have some of the best honey in the world, right here in the Northern Rivers”, says Costa, a French winemaker originally from Bordeaux, and former Stone & Wood brewer who had been missing winemaking since moving from France to Byron to be with his partner 11 years ago. “I wanted to create a range of still and sparkling wines that truly reflected the beautiful area in which we live – the terroir of the Northern Rivers”.
Aurum is at the forefront of a new revolution for the mead industry, which is seeing a resurgence recently due to the health benefits of honey. Louis has been a pioneer in this area, and differing from other meaderies by creating a highly premium wine-style product that can be seen on the tables of the finest restaurants in Australia and Europe. “I want people to see how honey-based wines, made the right way, have the potential to hold their own amongst the most prestigious grape-based wines on the market.”
The health aspects are also very promising. “Many of our customers who suffer from allergies to traditional grape wines – even natural and organic ones – reported no allergic reaction whatsoever to our range, and our own market research and experience has shown no hangovers after drinking Aurum” says the head meadmaker, “it’s very exciting, we are still running lab tests and are discovering more and more about the health benefits in our products…it’s early days, but it is looking very promising”. Louis believes this is due to the highly medicinal antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the honey he uses, as well as the lower levels of histamine and sulphites than most other wines, the lack of grape skins (which can contain sprays and allergens) coupled with his dedication to natural winemaking techniques and the fact that honey is also naturally preserved. “Of course we always advocate drinking any alcohol consciously and in moderation,” says Costa.
Aurum is gaining in popularity and is garnering attention worldwide, and they have nearly already sold out of their 2020 vintage red melomel (a chilled summer gamay-style red mead using honey and organic red berries). Aurum also produces premium high-strength medicinal Manuka honey in 300+ and 800+ MGO varieties, and are releasing a Christmas bundle consisting of a jar of their premium Manuka honey with a bottle of white sparkling champagne-style mead for $99.
Not yet open to the public, although a local cellar door is in the pipeline for later in 2024 (stay tuned!) you can buy Aurum’s range directly from their online cellar door at www.aurummead.com and find it at some of the local restaurants, and a few select bottleshops such as the Bangalow Cellars, Bottle and Hoop, The Natural Wine Shop and the North Byron bottleshop.
If you live locally, pop in the discount code BYRONLOCAL for 10% off and free shipping on your first order. The cut-off for ordering before Christmas is December 21, they will be closed from December 21 to January 13.
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