Beaumont 2008 Chenin Blanc (Walker Bay) – Heavy, slurpy, and ham-handed. Yellow fruit and overdriven yellow tomato, thick and unstructured, with a whack of alcohol on the finish. This is the absolute opposite of how I thought Walker Bay would express chenin. Huh. (5/10)
Browse Month
July 2010
John’s society
White Birch Belgian Style Pale Ale (New Hampshire) – Fairly enticing. I’ve realized, after extensive sampling (perhaps too-extensive), that most domestic Belgian knockoffs don’t really do it for me, outside the spiced white ale genre. The reason is that they mostly stop at heaviness and sweet alcoholism without the complexity or inner life. Here, thankfully, there’s more: spice, swirl, and light within. Perhaps even a woodsy note? Tasty. (6/10)
White Birch Belgian Style Pale Ale (New Hampshire) – A confident, white-hued interpretation, perhaps not overly authentic but very, very appealing despite the idiosyncrasy. Fruit, spice, not too much weight, and a pleasant counterpoint of mild bitterness. Nice. (5/10)
Spock, mind-meld with the big pizza blob thing
d’Orta e de Conciliis 2008 Falanghina del Beneventano (Campania) – Aggressive citrus-aisle fruit, with a little too much alcohol and a lot too much polish. Never goes anywhere. I feel like it’s trying to say something, but I can’t comprehend anything interesting given all the shouting. (5/10)
Fidelity
Castro Ventosa “El Castro de Valtuille” 2007 Bierzo Mencia “Joven” (Northwest Spain) – Aromatic, like freshly-crushed handfuls of dried flowers and dried berries, but with a weird imbalance between stridency and abruptness. It screeches forth at volume 11, and then…poof. Too much intensity up front, not enough to sustain later on. (5/10)
Haberle a merry little Christmas
Lageder 2006 Pinot Bianco Haberlehof (Alto Adige) – I don’t know if this is mature, because this is as long as I’ve ever let a bottle of it age, but this is certainly rounding into something more interesting than its fallow infancy. Fruits have yellowed (but the pinks and greens remain), minerality has helixed with texture to provide something sinuous in the background, and there’s a slowly-enveloping sense of roundness. Quite impressive. (5/10)
Jumpin’ Juniper
Juniper Crossing 2005 Shiraz (Margaret River) – It’s the power of suggestion, perhaps, but this does taste like its eponymous aromatic. Maybe it’s pine needle, maybe there’s a cedar element, but after consideration it really does smell of juniper and forest. There’s dark, dark, dark fruit as well, though the weight of it isn’t as heavy as such opacity usually indicates. It’s a simple, basic wine, but it does have that intriguing individualism, and I enjoy it as the bargain it is. (5/10)
Take your Fentimans
Fentimans Dandelion & Burdock Drink (England) – My first, and possibly my last, note on a soda. No alcohol here? No. I know it’s shocking. But the floral and complexing bitter/medicinal notes here are rather extraordinary. Frankly, I’d love to taste a version of this in which the sweetness was entirely abandoned, but then we’d be talking about some sort of non-alcoholic amaro. Which would be fine with me. This is absolutely one of the best sodas I’ve ever tasted. (4/10)
Fentimans “Curiosity Cola” (England) – Yes, this is a soda note. But I think it belongs here anyway. A bitter slosh of herbs and amaro-like anti-sugar complexities, with just – barely – enough sugar to compensate, though this is decidedly on the not-sweet side of sodas. I completely love it. (6/10)
By gham
St. Peter’s Sorgham Beer (England) – Beer people are always surprised when I say that I don’t like lager. Well, I don’t, much. There’s just something watery and unsatisfying about the style, no matter how well-executed, unless it’s in contrast amidst a tasting or present on a very, very hot day. All the reasons I don’t like lager apply to this, an ale that will find its principal audience among the gluten-intolerant. I applaud the effort. I can’t applaud the beer, which is bitter, watery, and insipid. (4/10)
D’arcy
Shipyard “Pugsley’s Signature Series” Smashed Pumpkin Ale (Maine) – As much pumpkin as I’ve ever tasted stuffed into one of these ales, and light on the spice (but not absent its lurid influence). Mostly, pumpkin ales are exceedingly heavy and a very acquired taste. Usually, that’s due to excess spice. Excess pumpkin is a new experience, for me, and just for the sake of originality this has appeal. But it really, really tastes like pumpkin. (4/10)
Oh, brother
Anderson Valley Brewing Company “Brother David’s” Double Abbey Style Ale (California) – Mildly thick and a little herbal, which is a new experience in this style. A little spicy. A little insufficient. (4/10)
Anderson Valley Brewing Company “Brother David’s” Triple Abbey Style Ale (California) – Heady and heavy, with the requisite spice and liqueur-like tendencies, but lacking much other than the bare fact of each. (4/10)