Browse Month

June 2008

How much beer could a Pennichuck chug?

[label]Pennichuck “Feuer Wehrmann” Schwarzbier (New Hampshire) – Just enough char and brood for typicity, but not so much that the beer becomes oppressive. This isn’t a “fun” drink, but it’s a good one, with a sticky, tar-like swirl amongst a vague hickory smoke…like catching the whiff of a distant neighbor’s grillfest. (6/08)

Pennichuck “Saint Florian” Doppelbock Lager (New Hampshire) – Lager? Does that account for the watery finish to an otherwise appealing intensity of fermented stone fruit and spice? It’s not bad, exactly…it’s as if a way has been found to make bock more of a thirst-quencher than a sipper…but I think I’ll stick with the ales for now, thanks. (6/08)

Exalted

[bottle]Dominio de Tares 2003 Bierzo “Exaltos Cepas Viejas” (Northwest Spain) – Overwhelmed with coconut and vanilla, which completely obscure any other characteristics in the wine. Just no good. (6/08)

Sergeant Schultz

Klinker Brick 2005 Zinfandel “Old Vine” (Lodi) – 15.5%. Soupy oak and the harsh burn of Scotch, spice, and not much identifiable as fruit…mostly a browned-out anonymity that might, once, have been grapes. (6/08)

Louis sings

[bottle]Roagna “Opera Prima XV” (Piedmont) – The first Roagna I haven’t much liked. There’s some nice aromatics – leafy and dark, with a lot of wet earth involved – but the wine seems forced, troubled, even a bit harsh. Extended aeration doesn’t seem to help, either. It tastes like the outcome of difficulty and strain, rather than a smooth transition from grape to glass. (6/08)

It’s full of stars

Mittnacht Frères 2006 Gewurztraminer “Terre d’etoiles…” (Alsace) – Pretty classic, with most of the sugar absorbed (though it’s there) into a nutty, stone fruit liquid without too many blobby edges. A bit of minerality infuses the expected spice, and there’s actually some acidity as well. Simple, but quite tasty. (5/08)

Mittnacht-up

Mittnacht Frères 2006 Pinot Gris “Terre d’etoiles….” (Alsace) – Good, showing red fruit alongside ripe pear and a certain low-grade crispness. There’s cold minerality, too, which should be further exposed with a little time. Not too much, though; this is a tasty quaffing-style pinot gris, with good balance and not too much residual sugar. (5/08)

The meading of life

[label]Picassic Pond Hálfsætt Traditional Mead (New Hampshire) – Strikingly transparent, with raw honey front and center. It’s not like eating honey itself, but it seems devoid of mitigation or trickery along the way to getting an alcoholic version of same. Terrific. (5/08)

Picassic Pond Elderberry Melomel (New Hampshire) – The flavor’s OK, sort of a tarted-up version of honey with black fruit notes and a little surplus acidity, but the smell is fetid and atrocious. (5/08)

Picassic Pond Pumpkin Spice Mead (New Hampshire) – Not bad, but the obscuring spice (which is more anonymous than pumpkin-y) mostly just serves to fatten the mead rather than add anything of true complexity. (6/08)

I like you boy, you’ve got Saaz

Carlsberg “Jacobsen” Saaz Blonde (Denmark) – A Belgian-style blonde ale with Czech Saaz hops. And in fact, there’s a slightly spicy, zingy edge to the usual Belgian ale smoothness (with its own measure of spice), yet the overall impression is one of light and refreshment. It doesn’t have the complexity of great Belgian ale, but it’s a good beer. (5/08)

Aprés moi, le Delu

[diagram]Scholium Project 2006 “Heliopolis” Delu (Suisun Valley) – Utterly fascinating. It’s got the blast door-crashing-down weight of some of the nuttier Friulian wines (which I like), a cyclone of minerality and dried-past-individuality “fruit,” and a long, claypot finish. I wouldn’t want to drink a whole bottle of it, because it’s just too much, but it’s really compelling in smaller quantities. (5/08)

Bouches & bulles

Trévallon 1996 Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhône (Provence) – Wow, is this drinking well. Still structured, but in a loose-fitting way, letting the complex and somewhat mature fruit revel in its newfound freedom. Dark, chewy, but full of space and transparency through which shows the ultraviolet glow of an ancient soil. A bit of meat thrown to the lions. And confidence. Lots and lots of confidence. (5/08)