WTN/BTN: Beaujolais, Bourgueil, Musar, Bamberg, Norway

P-U-R (Production Unique Rebelle) / Cyril Alonzo Beaujolais Nouveau Sans sucre ajouté 2010. 11% abv. I feel a little ashamed at saying so about something so unfashionable as Nouveau, but this is awesome. Light, refreshing, wonderfully pure Gamay aromas; pleasantly tannic and acidic, so it isn't just vibrant fruit though it has that, too.


Yannick Amirault Bourgueil "Les Grands Clos" 2008 was pretty nice. I of course preferred their more open St. Nick de Bourgueil "La Mine" now, but even this brought more than just intellectual pleasure though it is very much a wine that requires ageing. Dark fruit, rather more Bordeaux in character than "La Mine" which was perhaps a purer example of Cab Franc and the Loire than this more ambitious cuvée. Oak is a little present, but not so much that I would find it alarming. Medium bodied, lovely high acidity which gives this focus. Long, refreshing. A bit harsh at the moment, so I don't think many others will derive great pleasure from it now. Keep.


With the future ex-wife's birthday yesterday, I decided to splurge on a Musar 2003 Rouge (she likes Orval, and since there is the occasional post about Musar being the Orval of wines, I had to try it out!). A bit of couscous with lamb marinated in herbs was for dinner. And they were lovely together. This was a darker toned, less expressive Musar than usual, also a little inky which is something I haven't experienced with the wine before. Not dirty enough to smell of Orval, but refreshingly bittersweet like cherries. I like it very much, but do agree that it is a bit different from the usual Musar profile. I wonder if a year or so will bring out more typicity?


Smoke in beers can be lovely. And one that I love every winter is the Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock Rauchbier from Bamberg. It is a heavier, richer version of the Märzen. I have never really figured out why I tire of the Märzen so quickly, though I love smoke aromas, and why I never seem to tire of the Urbock - especially because when it comes to wines, using the words "heavy" and "rich" are not positives for me! Perhaps part of this beer's addictiveness is that it is only available here from November until December, whereas the Märzen is perennial.

For a long time I used to think that the smoky beers had smoke aromas very similar to each other, and that - like spoofulation or extreme "natural" wine making - the smoke diminished the differences between aromas of beers. But now that I have had this beer, their Märzen and Weizen, and Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar's Bravoure, I realize that the smoky aromas aren't uniform. The Bravoure and this Urbock I find much like bacon; the Weizen I find much like lightly smoked "this fish is good enough for Jehova" and the Märzen, I hate to admit it, I just find a little boring and pedestrian and the smoke just doesn't make my mind wander about anywhere - it was a good beer until I recently simply had too much of it - its only "personality" is that of having strong smoke aromas without personality. (Perhaps, I'm being too cruel ... I'm sure a break from it will make me like it again?)



Nøgne Ø - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales - Stone Brewing Co - Special Holiday Ale. Everything about this bottle would suggest something I wouldn't enjoy: three brewers (more than one cook will destroy a dish, right?), high alcohol (8,5%), American hop varieties (I do prefer the brighter aromas of most European varieties) and the addition of sage, caraway, juniper berries and chestnuts all made me feel a bit apprehensive.

But it was like one of those rare, good, Italian, medicinal bitters: deliciously bittersweet instead of either cloyingly sweet or just disgustingly bitter. I guess I just let the camels on the label influence me! How could one not like something with camels on the label? They are ill tempered, foul smelling, brutish animals that kick and bite and are immensely lovable.

I can't help but think that this is "spoofy" beer, and though I probably drink more beer than wine (with my ex-colleague from the bookshop now importing Belgian beers here), so I shouldn't like "spoofy" beer, but I do. How strange.

I went and bought a second bottle. If I tire half way through that, I'll let you know. For now, Nøgne Ø seems like a brewer that does nothing wrong (as long as one enjoys the aromas of American hop varieties).

For a long time I used to think that the smoky beers had smoke aromas very similar to each other, and that - like spoofulation or extreme "natural" wine making - the smoke diminished the differences between aromas of beers. But now that I have had this beer, their Märzen and Weizen, and Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar's Bravoure, I realize that the smoky aromas aren't uniform. The Bravoure and this Urbock I find much like bacon; the Weizen I find much like lightly smoked "this fish is good enough for Jehova" and the Märzen, I hate to admit it, I just find a little boring and pedestrian and the smoke just doesn't make my mind wander about anywhere - it was a good beer until I recently simply had too much of it - its only "personality" is that of having strong smoke aromas without personality. (Perhaps, I'm being too cruel ... I'm sure a break from it will make me like it again?)

My limited sampling of rauchbiers from gifted brewers indicates that there is indeed diversity within the smoke, and a diversity worth exploring. For example, De Molen Bloed, Zweet & Tranen, Emelisse Rauchbier, and Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast are all different expressions of the style--different interpretations of a theme rather than one-note repetitions. So far, my take on rauchbier seems to parallel Thor Iverson's conclusion on the possibilities for individuality in orange wine:

The claim has occasionally been made that the orange wine regimen, like oak or botrytis, so heavily marks the wines that it trumps varietal character, terroir, and even individuality. This set of wines shows that to be mostly nonsense; there’s plenty of diversity evident, and the wines are as different as one would expect them to be in any other context.

Nøgne Ø - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales - Stone Brewing Co - Special Holiday Ale. Everything about this bottle would suggest something I wouldn't enjoy: three brewers (more than one cook will destroy a dish, right?), high alcohol (8,5%), American hop varieties

I have to warn you, there are some even higher alcohol beers (10 or even 11 percent) that are delicious and taste quite balanced to me. It undoubtedly becomes harder to keep things in kilter at that level, but some brewers are excelling in doing just that.

As for multiple cooks, brewer collaborations are all the rage right now in the American beer world and I'd say it's a much more interesting and delicious trend than the last fad of barrel-aged this-and-that that seemed to be filling the shelves a few years back. I actually like Stone's collaborations a lot more than I seem to like their own line of beers. From Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary collaborations to Stone, Dogfish Head and others, the range of collaboration beers available has created a buzz among beer geeks not just for the rarity and novelty of the beers, but that they seem to be offering new and delicious interpretations of beer styles that really rock. I wouldn't shy away from trying other collaborations if you have the chance.

P-U-R (Production Unique Rebelle) / Cyril Alonzo Beaujolais Nouveau Sans sucre ajouté 2010. 11% abv. I feel a little ashamed at saying so about something so unfashionable as Nouveau, but this is awesome.

That's a pretty ambitious name for it not to be!

I like all of Aecht Schlenkerlas beers. Even the Lager is a nice change of pace (when you need something both refreshing and smoked at once! Märzen is probably my least favorite too. The type of wood used plays a big role in the flavor of the beer as does the style. A-S uses beechwood for most of the beers, with oak used occasionally (as in the Doppelbock.)

Cheers,
Bill