Isaac Pirolo

9.6

For as much ritz and glamour that is typically associated with Napa Valley, this week highlighted who the real rock stars are in their community... the farmers and firefighters. Haley Wight is the sixth generation to farm her family’s estate, the historic Lewelling Ranch in St. Helena, originally established by her great-great-great grandfather John Lewelling in 1864. She also happens to make extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignon. So extraordinary, that I’m going to skip writing a note and just tell you that Robert Parker hits the nail on the head... “The wine displays gorgeous licorice, lead pencil shavings, black currants, loamy soil undertones and a touch of barrique. Dense purple, it has a full-bodied, multi-layered mouthfeel and a stunning finish with good acidity and velvety, well-integrated tannin, alcohol and wood. This is a scrumptious, full-throttle Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 15 or so years. 96 points.” — 8 years ago

LM Segal

9.7

Top 2-3 Napa Cabs I've ever had. Magical nose, cassis, cocoa, red flowers. Rich but nicely aged mid-palate, spreading into a wide swathe of candied red and black fruit, soft but powerful. Secondary stuff in spades. Then - an explosion at the back-end of cedary fruit and fig, tobacco, dark chocolate that lasted for >60 seconds. Just a monumental wine, sadly a solo.
This is note #500 for me, grateful to so many Delectable contributors who take the time to educate and expand my wine perspectives (or, in the case of @Bill Bender...other stuff, too!). Thanks to @Anthony Lombardi @Kimberly Anderson @Jörgen Lindström Carlvik @Jeff Savigny@Ron R@Shawn R @Richard Steinberg @Martin G Rivard (who is living the dream), @Greg Gregory among so many others, not to mention @Roman Sukley with magical reach to inaccessible, iconic SQNs (and the will to pop them) and frank open perspectives from legendary winemakers like @Mike Smith and @Cathy Corison, you all make this a neat community of which I try to be a small contributor.
Finally - a renewed plea to @Antonio Galloni to return "trending" to this community, as it was stolen by the bean counters! I'm no social media expert (I do have 2 teenagers!) but I'm pretty sure that "trending" speaks to the integrity and will to contribute of an entire community...take a look! — 9 years ago

with Melissa

Bill Bender

9.2

Fun model but she's wasn't down to pose for the Delectable community and ducked away when I started to snap the pic haha....so this is for the elbow and shoulder lovers. The Core is a treat. Mocha and full blue/black fruits. A bit of bite when it warms up but a very nice wine. — 9 years ago

Nicole EC

9.0

Same grape as cote de rhone. Blueberry & chocolate undertones. Sipped at Community Tavern. — 11 years ago

with Dana

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 — 12 years ago

Chris England

9.4

Taking one for the community & testing the latest release @ £115 - liking the newly embossed bottles 😁 Obviously don't drink until 2020+

🍇 85% Cab S & 15% Cab F

💨 10 hr

🍷 Dark ruby

👃 Finessed gorgeous aromas of violet, black berries, red cherry, smoke, sweet cedar & herbs w/ spice, earth, tea & minerals 😍

👄 Med body of black berry/current w/ fine dry tannins that need time w/ black tea

🎯 Med dry black/red fruits & black tea

Loaded w/ potential just lighter than the 09/11/12 more like 10/13 👍 — 8 years ago

Bill Bender

9.8

Some wines are divisive because of the wine maker, others draw criticism for style or marketing or some other of a myriad of reasons. As much as I love my wine lover brethren the "haters gonna hate" description is very apt in our community. Screaming Eagle is one of those wines for sure. The prevailing criticism is that it doesn't merit the tariff or something similar. Well....this is my first SC since the '97 and it was absolutely f'n amazing and profound. Tremendous depth with bright, lively fruit, rich gravely soil, smoke and camphor. A difference maker. — 8 years ago

with Ron, Martin and 1 other

jesus g

Hospitality Schramsberg Vineyards

9.7

Had the privilege to march with my sisters mothers grandmothers aunts cousins all women of my community dt napa — 9 years ago

Steve Medbery

9.3

I highly recommend this to the Delectable community. — 9 years ago

Neal Bryce

9.4

Full flavor, light tanin, amazing with the home style vibe of the lounge. Recommended for those heavier entrees #community — 9 years ago

with John

Michael Halleck

9.5

Strong chocolate aroma, tastes like a Hershey's chocolate bar but better. Highly recommend, worth the price. — 11 years ago

MH

Marketing/Public Relations, Joseph Phelps Vineyards

9.3

Honored to own a few bottles of this beautiful Cabernet. In the days following the #NapaQuake the Matthiassons wanted to help our community, even though their own home had sustained extensive damage. Quake Cuvée raised over $32k for those in need. #matthiassonwine #napastrong #napavalley — 11 years ago

Greg Gibson ✔

8.9

I was surprised at the relatively low-ish ratings this wine's received from the Delectable community since I found it to be very pleasing to multiple senses. Tiny bubbles indicative of the traditional "Champenois" method (aka Traditional / Traditionnelle or Bottle Fermented) follows by a striking minerality that I was happy to discover. Lots of notes including strawberry, wild cherry, rose petals, tropical fruits and a slight hint of pepper on the backend. Overall I would say this is certainly a Wine I will buy again simply given the value for the price point. — 8 years ago

Joshua Pollak

9.2

Round but with firm acidity, wonderful wine donated to a dinner supporting the contributions of immigrants to the restaurant community. — 9 years ago

Velma Cooper

9.1

Velma had this 9 years ago

with Justin

Brandon Boesch

9.9

I had this in Chicago 2 years ago and thought it was good, but didn't stand out of all the hoppy beers I was having. Now drinking it on its own, it is one of the best and most unique beers I've ever had. So awesome they can be found in California now.it is literally the perfect balance of a pale ale, wheat beer, and tea. Perfect blend. — 9 years ago

Daryl Calhoun

9.0

WOTN at community wine and beer (what's that?) fest. Parked ourselves and our tickets in front of the rep and "re-tasted" several times. Smooth tannins with even notes of red current raspberry. Made the night enjoyable! — 9 years ago

with Ryan

Mitchell Mulder

10

Re-review of this classic landmark beer, why? New label, new description on label, this was and still is such a important beer in the craft beer Community, brewed since 1997 and still stands as one of the best IPA' s in the world, Centennial, Chinook and Magnum hops give it that classic base of West Coast IPA, that started the whole IPA movement in other beers and breweries, this was the beer that set the stage for what is now the great IPA 's in the west and east coast, such a monumental and important beer, The influence cannot be understated, still as I said, it holds its place as a great beer today — 10 years ago

Bobby Stuckey

Master Sommelier, Partner Frasca Food & Wine, Vintner Scarpetta Wines

10

Good morning Dallas wine community. @scarpettawinecompany — 11 years ago

Michael Brown

9.8

Galaxy tasting, community plate, 2013 — 12 years ago