Adam Bailey

9.0

Small production vineyard at 1400' in Sonoma produces a huge Zinfadel that starts big and gets bigger as it goes. Tons of berry, but a bit young and explosive yet. Lay it down for a year or two. Sorry for the unintentional Pope reference. — 10 years ago

Scorewine

Wine writer http://www.israelwines.co.il

9.0

Gosset is a fine champagne house that I have only recently got exposed to, I can regret what I missed or try to catch up :-) as you can see I went for the more pleasurable option. The excellence is indeed excellent, lovely light gold color, a fresh stream of small sexy bubbles, appealing nose full of lime, grapefruit, apple, yeasts and healthy dose of minerality, on the palate smooth and fresh, silky yet tingling, fresh finish. My score 90. Drink when you feel like having a fresh pleasure. — 10 years ago

William Leslie

9.3

Nose has a sweetness and distant oak characteristics. Flavors have a small tobacco flavor yet predominant smoke texture. Underneath there are quality cherry, mild raspberry and plum flavors with a medium spice that lingers. Overall, medium body, quality spice, smoky oak. Great flavor for the price. Comparable with more tobacco and smoke: Mad Duck. — 11 years ago

Elizabeth Smith

9.0

This wine is a riper Albariño, with dominant flavors of melon and stone fruits. However, it still demonstrates lemony acidity and salty minerality. It's crisp, yet has a more substantial mouthfeel due to a small percentage of the wine being fermented in French barrels and aged on lees. It's the duality of warmer climate/citrus fruits and crispness/mouthfeel that make this wine interesting. ¡Feliz día de Albariño! (only $14-$18/bottle, widely distributed). — 10 years ago

Noble Cloche

9.4

Quite possibly my favorite Rye ever. Nice spice yet smooth on the palate with a delightful burn. Not too little, yet not too much either. The perfect nightcap. — 10 years ago

Kevin Cuturi

9.3

incredible wine from mallorca. peppery, yet with full
length. very small production — 10 years ago

Nicole Dodson

9.7

Grower-Producer and so small all the wines are riddled by hand. 2004 was a cooler vintage and will age tremendously. Lots of toasty notes, yet delicious citrus and bursts of minerality! — 12 years ago

Marshall Todd Herron DPM

9.0

the cork - which I now document- came out beautifully. There is a 2mm rim of perfect proportion around the cork base. The color is dark black purple and opaque. The legs last a full 10 seconds - 13.2% alcohol - this is going to be a big wine! Drink responsibly is my first thought. Its thick! The boquet is fresh plumb and wildflowers. The initial palate is tart on the tip of the tongue and very smooth on ghe finish with a slight tang on the back sides of the tongue. The flavor is blackberry and green (not yet ripe) apple after taste. I love it!!! There is a small amount of dryness left in the palate which leaves you wanting another sip!
This is good wine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So if you like wine with a tart after taste , which I do, this wine is for you! - Thank you for reading! Until next time, I am Todd Herron with Dr. Todd's Wine Notes! See you next time!
— 10 years ago

Jessica Senning

Sommelier Restaurant Trattoria Popolare, Writer Dinvinguide.se/Rosemary and the Deerhunters, Taster Aperitif horeca magazine

9.5

It's everything that the 2011 vintage was and more. Fresh, crisp notes of red berries and white meat. High yet integrated acidity, small yet numerous tannins and a balanced finish with soft fruit. Young and promising. — 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 — 12 years ago