My weekend drinking plans went all anew! We were supposed to finish the dregs of last night's tasting's wines today, but we were thirsty still so I opened up a couple more:
Lammershoek Roulette 2003 14,5% Shiraz (60%), Carignan (13%), Grenaché (sic! - why the accent? 18%) and Viognier (4%) (Swartland, S Africa)
This rocked! Upon opening it was deliciously bretty: I thought it smelled like Cantillon's Gueuze with it's cloudberry and peach stone aromas, and a judicious hint of shite. In Cantillon, these unique and (for me) lovable scents are apparently caused by Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. These were supported by healthy fruit and so made the nose utterly beguiling for me. The palate was fine also, but a bit too low in acid and high in alcohol. But the whole was very positive.
Since I mentioned Cantillon's Gueuze so many times while sniffing the glass, I decided to open up my last bottle of it to compare. Yup. They smell remarkably similar. Cantillon, IMO, makes consistently superb beers.
Finns are known to be thirsty folk, so we opened up one more wine reputed to be infiltrated by Brett: Ch. Musar 1997. It was its typical self. This wine needs about 8 hours decanting at the moment to show its true self, but what was visible was that it is a very ripe year as there are some raisiny scents to it. The fruit is very vibrant as are the earthy aspects. There is some brett to it for sure, but it isn't a dominating aspect IMO. The palate is a bit thick and smooth at the moment with the acidity giving a nice kick at the end. I'm glad I have quite a bit left of both wines (the Cantillon beer was finished) for tomorrow. The Musar will surely be singing tomorrow.
What fun to drink such wines and a beer that have such a distinctive personality!
-Otto-
I'll get a camera for loan so I can get a picture. I'll need some help on how to up/down/whatever-load it on the forum, though. Volunteers?