A lot has happened since our last Newsletter, so we thought it time to share some news with you as well as details of upcoming events.
Our wine list is bursting at the seams with lots of new and exciting wines thanks to the Wine Shop we introduced during Covid. The shop has become an integral part of the ‘New’ L’Atitude. Not only does it enable us to carry a far greater number of wines (over 300 bottles at last count), but it means we have a greater variety to offer by the glass.
Every week we pull a couple of wines off the shop shelves to pour by the glass – always different, always special, they bring you on a journey and never fail to pique the interest of the wine-curious. It’s proving an extremely popular way to explore the list. As always, all our wines are ethically sourced with sustainability at their core and we are delighted to see that this is becoming increasingly more evident when people are choosing which wine to buy.
On the food front, much has changed in the L’Atitude Kitchen. When we opened in 2011, our food offering was well-sourced, but simple. Our kitchen has been going from strength to strength since we reopened in 2020, constantly improving and evolving with the seasons, under the guidance of Simone Kelly, who you’ll all know from Rocketman. And consequently, we find more and more people making L’Atitude their destination for a night out over a meal, as opposed to popping in for a quick pre-dinner aperitif or a digestif on their way home – although we still very much welcome both. Since August we have introduced a new menu that changes every month, maintaining some of the popular dishes from the previous month and adding a number of fresh new dishes for the new month, using in-season ingredients sourced from the best local producers who practice sustainable farming. The format is the same – an informal menu of small plates and sharing dishes, but as a whole, a really enjoyable way to dine and catch up with friends.
Our opening hours remain unchanged, but here’s a reminder:
Wine Shop: Wednesday to Saturday from 1pm till late
Wine Bar: Wednesday to Saturday from 3pm till late.
Kitchen: Wednesday to Friday from 5pm. Saturday from 4pm.
Keep an eye out for our ‘Limited Edition’ Sundays!
As a trial, we opened for a few Sundays over the summer months to make the most of our wonderful riverside terrace during the warmer days, and it proved a huge success. But sadly due to the staffing shortage, we were only able to run these on a limited basis. However, we do hope to open for more ‘Limited Edition’ Sundays in the coming months – starting this Sunday 30th October when we’ll open from 3pm especially for the Jazz. The kitchen will open from 4 that day. We’ll be taking walk-ins, but booking on these busy weekends is generally advisable, so drop us an email if you’d like to join us this Sunday for a little escapism from the bank holiday weekend madness.
We continued to run our informal pop-up Guerrilla Tastings over the summer, and reintroduced some more formal tastings as well. Our Masterclass on Natural Wine was one of the highlights. Natural Wine is such a hot topic as it’s shrouded in a mist of confusion. The lack of legal definition often leads to mistrust or scepticism and we are often asked for advice on how to recognise or know if a wine is natural or not. So, we decided a masterclass on the subject might help to answer all those questions and dispel some myths. It was great to see such interest and we’ve received a lot of requests to run another. We don’t have a date yet, but we are hoping to run the next one on a Monday or Tuesday evening to facilitate anyone working in the trade. So keep an eye out for this!
In other news, we were delighted to be nominated for a number of food and wine awards and thrilled to win best Wine Experience in Cork at the recent Restaurant Association Awards.
But the real good news is that given the collective craving for tastings and the freedom to be able to plan them again, we have been able to put together a full and exciting programme of events for the coming months. Starting this Thursday 27th October with our first ‘Meet the Winemaker’ Tasting in over 3 years! Check all upcoming events out below.
Education, Tastings & Events
A TASTE OF THE DOLOMITES – Thurs 27th October 2022 7pm
This is our first Meet the Winemaker Tasting since 2019 and we’re starting big; this Thursday we’ll welcome Theo Zierock of legendary biodynamic winery Azienda Foradori in the heart of Trentino to L’Atitude for ‘A Taste of the Dolomites’.
Azienda Agricola Foradori is situated in Campo Rotaliano, a high plateau surrounded on all sides by the jagged Dolomite peaks that cast immense shadows across the valley below. Teroldego reigns supreme here, but was on the verge of extinction until one woman, Elisabetta Foradori, stepped in and single-handedly brought this intriguing grape back from the brink of disappearance. Since taking over her family’s winery at the age of 19, Elisabetta made a life’s work of elevating the Teroldego grape to heights unimaginable. The gradual transformation of the family farming and winemaking over the last 30 years has elicited wines of extraordinary purity and elegance and firmly established Foradori as a standard-bearer for native varieties throughout the wine world.
Now it’s the turn of the younger generation to carry the Foradori name forward. Elisabetta has been joined full-time in the vineyard by her sons Theo and Emilio, and we are really excited to have Theo with us for our first ‘Meet The Winemaker’ tasting since 2019.
We’ve chosen 6 wines to show the range and greatness that can be achieved in this fascinating terroir, accompanied by some Tyrolean-inspired bites. In a nod back to the L’Atitude-at-Home days of lockdown, we’ll be resurrecting some of those recipes from the Trentino Box that brought a smile to so many faces in those dreary times.
Tickets €40 for tasting & a chance to meet winemaking royalty. Booking essential – spaces are filling up fast
Cork International Film Festival Tastings – we are delighted to partner with Cork’s 67th International Film Festival for some of their food and wine screenings.
Saturday 12th November – Terroir to Table – Film starts at 12pm.
From the Danish filmmaking team behind Michelin Stars – Tales from the Kitchen (2017) and Nordic by Nature – Michelin Stars II (2021), comes this decadent and cool documentary about winemaking and tasting. Exploring the flavour, physics, chemistry and microbiology of what makes great wine, the film gives a true portrait of contem
porary viniculture and it’s Dionysian pleasures, featuring contributions from the likes of Japanese Michelin-starred chef Yoshihiro Narisawa and British food writer Nick Solares.
Afterwards, join the winemakers from Château Vignelaure (featured in the film), for a tasting of a selection of wines from the estate, served with accompanying bites to match. Guaranteed to delight all those with a passion for wines as well as the merely curious.
Film Screening + Wine tasting combination ticket: €35pp (Festival Best Friends: €26)
Click here to book https://www.corkfilmfest.org/events/terroir-to-table-633d694b8ce9b70093675b2f/
Tuesday 15th November -Come Back Anytime – Film Starts at 6pm
For over 40 years, ramen master Masamoto Ueda and his wife Kazuko have bee
n serving legendary ramen in their tiny Tokyo ramen shop. On weekends they travel to the countryside to dig up bamboo shoots and wild mountain yams. This is a beautifully observed, rich and joyful, true hygge of a food documentary about creating community and real connection through a bowl of tasty heartwarming food.
Join us for a ramen-themed pop up, created by head chef Mike McGrath from Cork’s own master of Japanese cuisine, Takashi Myiazaki’s renowned take-away on Barrack Street. Miyazaki will find a temporary expanded home at L’Atitude 51 – one of Cork’s most beloved wine bars – for one night only 
Film Screening + Ramen + one glass of sake/wine/beer combination ticket: €35pp. (Festival Best Friends: €26)
Click here to book https://www.corkfilmfest.org/events/come-back-anytime-633d694c8ce9b70093675b7d/
Please note that bookings for both these films and tastings is via the Film Festival’s website, not through L’Atitude.
Beaujolais Nouveau 2022 – Thurs 17th November – from 5pm €45pp
Beaujolais Nouveau Night is always a big night in our calendar and this year is going to be no different!
Last year, we created a Parisian-style street festival on Union Quay to honour the arrival of the first wine of the year and it was an absolutely magic night with French-inspired dishes, 6 amazing wines, and one hell of an atmosphere.
This year, on Thurs Nov 17th, wine lovers around France will take to the streets again in a series of festivals to welcome the first wine of 2022. We have Paris’ thriving natural wine scene to thank for making this one of the highlights on the wine calendar with many of the city’s natural wine bars getting involved and pouring nouveaux wines from a variety of top organic and biodynamic Beaujolais producers. So, on Nov 17th, we’re going to try to emulate, Cork-style, how our Gallic brothers and sisters will be celebrating in the City of Light that night. Weather permitting, we’re going to head out onto the Quay for our own Parisian-style street festival. We’ll have flights of Beaujolais Nouveau from our favourite Beaujolais producers to try – Foillard, Lapalu, Dufaitre, Chanudet, Desvignes and Vionnet, accompanied by a classic hot dish to keep you warm and plates of charcuterie and cheese.
This is a ticketed event. Tickets cost €45pp and include flight of 5 different Beaujolais and hot dish/platter. We’ll be kicking off at 5pm. Please email info@latitude51.ie to book.
It’s a street festival in November, so expect it to be cold – please dress warmly! But we will also be holding the celebrations indoors should the weather turn against us. Note: L’Atitude will only be open that evening for Beaujolais Nouveau ticket holders to facilitate this.
Join us on November 17th and experience Beaujolais Nouveau Night like a Parisian!
Grower Champagne Masterclass with David Cahill of Veraison Wine
Thurs 1st December 7pm – €70pp
Grower Champagnes are not new, but definitely garnering a lot of interest. A bit like The Sopranos of French Champagne: keeping it all in the family. the beauty of grower Champagne is that it comes from one vineyard.
And we have one man to thank – David Cahill of Veraison Wine – for bringing some incredibly exciting Grower Champagnes to Ireland. Veraison Wine is a small Irish importer working with a range of small, organic producers who make single vineyard champagnes. David’s passion and knowledge for these champagnes is second to none and the wines he imports are remarkable, so this promises to be a very special evening. Join us and David when he’ll be showing a selection of his favourite Champagnes and we’ll be rustling up some bites to match. We first tasted these wines with David over the summer, and were literally blown away by their quality and character, so are excited to bring you this tasting so that you can experience the sheer excitement that these wines generate.
On the evening we’ll taste 6 top quality Champagnes showing the diversity of styles influenced by terroir and winemaker along with accompanying bites.
Tickets €70pp. Booking Essential.
Christmas Wine Fair – Sunday 4th December 12-5pm
We are excited to announce our 2nd Christmas Wine Fair on Sunday 4th December (which is also our 11th anniversary).
In answer to your requests for recommendations for Christmas drinking and wine gifts, we’ve selected a variety of wines that we feel are perfect for the festive season. We will be opening especially for a Christmas Wine Fair with over 30 festive wines open for tasting to help you choose some wines to pour over the Christmas period.
There will be special discounts for any orders placed on the day and wines ordered will be available for collection the following week.
Tickets cost €12.50pp. Spaces are limited.
WINE FUNDAMENTALS COURSES
Running over 4 Saturday afternoons, our next wine course will run in early Spring 2023.
This is a wine appreciation course ideally suited to people who have an interest in wine and want to take their knowledge to the next level. The format is both fun and educational, covering the following:
Wee
k 1 Basic Tasting Techniques, Introduction to Winemaking and the Main Wine Regions
Week 2 Major Grapes of The World
Week 3 Influence of Winemaking Techniques, Climate and Regionality on Wine Style
Week 4 Sparkling Wines & Food & Wine Matching
The price per person for the full course is €180.
As soon as we have specific dates, we will let you know, but in the meantime send us an email to register your interest.
GUERRILLA TASTINGS – Ongoing 
Our Guerrilla Tastings have been continuing regularly. These are informal tastings where we pour a flight of 4 or 5 wines along a given theme. They aren’t tutored tastings, but we give a brief explanation of each wine and then leave people to their own devices to enjoy the drinks. It’s proved the perfect way to catch up with friends. As with all our events, we serve some accompanying bites to pair with the wines.
Events are advertised on our website and on social media so keep an eye out for upcoming Guerrilla Tastings.