Baronscourt Venison listed in top 50 Foods

Venison Loin from Baronscourt Estate in Northern Ireland is listed among the Top 50 Foods organised by the UK Guild of Fine Food in the Great Taste Awards 2014.

Baronscourt Estate is located near Omagh in county Tyrone and is one of Northern Ireland's great estates. The venison loin comes from wild sika deer that freely roam the huge estate. Great Taste experts said "this lean joint of venison is tender, moist and carries great gamey flavours, without being too overpowering."

"It has great character," the judges said. "The meat has impressive, long lasting flavours.

Baronscourt Estate is the home of Ireland's finest wild venison, situated in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains in Tyrone. The herd of Japanese Sika deer were initially introduced into a deer park in 1751, but since 1920 they have existed wild on the estate.

Baronscourt's Sika deer thrive in forests and woodlands on the estate's natural and nourishing flora and fauna. Throughout the year they feed on succulent myrtle bog, ryegrass and tasty saplings which are naturally free of any additives or growth promoters.

The meat produced when the herd is culled is fully traceable and processed in the estate's EU approved game handling facility, one of only two in Northern Ireland. All meat is vet inspected and passed before leaving the estate.

Baronscourt Wild Venison is therefore a sustainable source of meat; an annual deer count is arranged each year by trained stalkers who assess the population and its general health.

A selective cull then takes place in order to balance the breeding population with the likely food source for the season. The estate's detailed management of this herd was recognised when it received the Laurent Perrier Award for Wild Game Conservation. Sika is a very lean and succulent meat, having the lowest calories and cholesterol levels compared to any other red meat products. Combined with the high levels of protein; venison can be classified as a red meat "super food".

In addition to high quality venison, the estate also produces oven ready pheasants and ducks during the shooting season, all of which are home reared.