Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Grabbed another bottle! Wine bears the vineyard named to honor the Red-shouldered Hawks and other birds of prey that play a vital role in sustainable farming practices. Bright yellow with aromas of tropical fruits and sweet floral scents. Aged for 14 months, 75% in new French oak and 25% in stainless. On the palate melon, pineapple and peach flavors and hints of citrus, subtle yet complex and well balanced. Lingering finish, savory, ending with mineral tones and toasty oak. Outstanding! — 6 years ago

Eric Vishria

8.9

Solid but very simple and straightforward. — 7 years ago

Barb Pendleton

8.9

A bit sweet, refreshing. Costco — 8 years ago

Sergio Licea

8.9

Lemon zest, lime pulp, white gummy bears, gardenias. Snapping acidity, oily texture, light bodied, crisp slightly bitter finish. — 8 years ago

jonathan Hamcock

9.7

Tastes of yellow seed grass with hints of plastic. Fantastic! The flavour is beyond delectable. It just tickles my fancy like no other. It swims down your throat like a yellowfin tuna swimming downstream the St. Lawrence River. Sometimes i dream of this wine while watching the stars on my private island. — 9 years ago

Yin Song

9.5

Good citrus flavored white not too sweet -m — 9 years ago

Scott Barber

Wine Educator Meadowood Napa Valley

9.1

Classy smoky savory Syrah — 10 years ago

Kristian Sørensen

9.0

A Pinot closer to a Syrah. Smoky and interesting. Has actually matured nicely over the past year. — 10 years ago

Joe Carroll

Owner/Wine Director Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau, St. Anselm & Gotham Artisanal Provisions

9.5

Jean Van Roy's amazing story of Zwanze 2013. When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.

Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.

Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn’t hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.

This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.

Since beers commonly referred to as “abbey beers” are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our “Cureghem” beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little “extra something” in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.

The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year’s Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard “abbey” beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago — 11 years ago

Brittany Whitmore

9.6

so good! Easy drinkijg. — 7 years ago

Kellie Stocker

8.9

Easy afternoon winter wine. Love the hints of dark chocolate! — 7 years ago

Kaushal Kantawala

9.1

Amazing pinot! — 8 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.1

Its not setting the world alight but hard to ignore the quality. — 8 years ago

Yuriy Roman

9.7

My favorite tequila to mourn the loss of the Bears in overtime. If you like smooth, nicely balanced and fine tequila, this is the right choice. — 9 years ago

Karina Rowan

9.6

Chocolate covered gummy bears — 9 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.3

I hate it when people use Burgundian to describe New World wine. But damn if this isn't the most Burgundian Pinot I've ever had from California. Dominated by mineral and earth and structure, with beautiful, quiet, well delineated fruit. I'm down with @Pax Mahle's Syrah, and he's slowly convincing me that he knows something about Pinot, too. — 9 years ago

Dave Mills

9.7

Wine tasting — 10 years ago

John Manus

9.5

The Hidden Cave Devils Lair Shiraz rocks! A drink now wine, I bought for dinner to have with slow cooked lamb. Quintessential red fruit, plum, raspberry followed by a hint of dark chocolate and peppercorns. Everyone devoured it and was only surpassed by the meal. I give it a 8 1/2 our of 10 — 11 years ago

Chadé Severin

9.8

Delicioso with Eileen, Erin and Lili! — 11 years ago

Nadine Wu

9.8

Best in Show at Vancouver Magazine's International Wine Competition. I tasted this wine at their gala Big Night event, paired with Dungeness crab in dashi custard and yuzu. Heavenly! — 11 years ago

Dmitri

9.5

Light effervescence, alive, moving on the pallette. Bears some similarity to Corniellsen's Contadino but with less Etna smoke. A little boarish (would pair well with a boar stew, manchego cheese) — 7 years ago

Willie Carter

9.1

Crazy motley of aromas going on here. Cherries, blackberries, cedar, and gummi bears on the nose. On the palate, vanilla, black currant, cloves, dark fruits, red fruits, I could go on and on. Smooth, spicy finish. Straight Bordeaux here. It's nice to drink wine made by people who know what the heck they're doing. — 7 years ago

P A

9.4

Watch out Napa your friends up north are getting better. — 8 years ago

Sergio Licea

9.3

Honeydew melon, rhubarb, gardenias, kiwi, almonds, gummy bears, saline, sea shells. Rounded acidity, lean body, mouth coating oily texture, floral slight berry notes on finish. Highly gulpable, excels with delicate scallop preparations. — 8 years ago

Travis Morningstar

8.9

Gamay bears.
. — 9 years ago

Deborah Lyman

10

Full bodied, with hints of Syrah. On the pricey side but well worth it. Hard to find. — 9 years ago

Chris A

9.2

Love me some Sancerrre: for me this is the Goldilocks of white wine: not to sweet, not to dry...just right. If she had this with the porridge, the Bears would have approved! — 9 years ago

Bill Crites

9.3

A little tannic at first opening of this magnum. From Griffin's Lair Vineyard. Very delicious. — 10 years ago

d hutto

9.7

Fruity, not overly sweet. Easy to drink — 11 years ago

Leo Bley

9.1

Crisp white stoned fruit with a dry, bitting finish. — 11 years ago

with Megan