WTN: Passetoutgrains, Stellenbosch, Douro, beers

Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand Bourgogne Passetoutgrains "Omayga" 2006
70% Gamay and 30% Pinot Noir from 30-60yo vines. This isn't you average cheap Passetoutgrains: were it available here it would cost over 20€! But it is one of the purest and brightest and most delightful wines I have had in quite a while. Wonderful light red aromas, crisp, clean, elegant, light but intense. Could do with a bit more age since it still seems so primary (when have you heard that said about Passetoutgrains?). Outstanding wine. It evaporates very quickly.

Post House Penny Black 2008 - Stellenbosch; SHIRAZ (33 %), MERLOT (31 %), CABERNET SAUVIGNON (24 %), PETIT VERDOT (8 %) AND CHENIN BLANC (4 %)
This is chiefly interesting for being a whopping 15% abv and not showing it. Otherwise, it seems to have fairly anonymous dark fruits, plenty of wood (though "only" 35% new oak). Some slight interest is had from the admirably crisp tannins and fair acidity, but these don't provide enough real interest to make me recommend this at the 20€ it costs here. Not offensive; just boring.

Churhill's Estates Reserva 2008 - Touriga Nacional (40 %), Touriga Franca (30 %), Tinta Roriz (30 %); 14% abv; 19,49€
This was a fairly interesting recent arrival. The color is, of course, very dark and youthful. The aromas are open and very pleasurable: ripe but crunchy dark fruit, and (something I don't actually often see with Douro table wines) it is very similar in profile to Port, with some of the floral character I expect in e.g. Fonseca. The wine is aged in Barriques but IIRC only 15-20% are new, so there is no obvious oak influence which is something I am very glad of. So I can say that the scent is very pleasing and promising.

The palate is however a bit disappointing. Full bodied, soft, fruit forward. It is too round and lacking in acidity which makes this tiring to drink since I am assaulted by such massive amounts of fruit. A shame, since I enjoyed the aromas.

Collesi Imper Ale Ego Bionda is an Italian beer, hugely expensive here at almost 10€ / half-liter. It smells like a German wheat beer without the banana yeast. Crisp but bland. Why this price? Fancy packaging? Boring.

La Trappe "Puur" is an organic beer from perhaps the most boring Trappist brewery. But I quite enjoyed this one. It smells delightfully grassy; has a slight yeasty and honeyed touch to it, but mostly seems crisp and grassy from its hops. Only 4,7% abv so it is available in grocery stores here - and for such a beer it is a nice change from bulk lagers. But perhaps not terribly exciting anywhere else than in Finland!

Collesi Imper Ale Ego Bionda is an Italian beer, hugely expensive Why this price? Fancy packaging? Boring.

Interesting. Italian craft beers across the board seem to have a reputation of being rather expensive. And often it's only the category of sour ales (which tend to be more expensive) where they seem to be competitive pricewise. But we see so few of them, I can't be certain.

La Trappe "Puur" is an organic beer from perhaps the most boring Trappist brewery.

Though made in a style I'm pretty sure you wouldn't care for, the Trappe Quad offered plenty to keep me interested. And, not properly a Trappist (but made by the same brewer) the Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale has a whole lot going on. Though all of my experience with the brewer is on the more recent side (past year or so), so I don't know if the products have shifted along with the turmoil regarding their Trappist status over the last decade.

As with the above, I very much enjoyed the La Trappe Quadruppel (the Engel, Dubbel, and Trippel were good too) when the monks were still mostly in control. I had fallen away from all of their beers at about the time the outside brewing conglomerate came in to run things, the loss of complexity was apparent to me. Apparently the abbey is now more involved so I might have to go back and revisit the brews.

Interesting,I love good PTG, but have never heard of Naudin-Ferrand, surprised they can command that kind of price (more expensive than Lafarge, Chevillon, etc).