A Flowery Song

Background: This dry white wine from Greece is produced by Cambas Winery from Moschofilero grapes grown at high altitude in the Mantinia region.

Nose: Light and flowery, with some hints of rose petal, peach, and lime.

Taste: Also very light, with fresh flavours of peach and plum and some surprising minerality. Medium acidity and a lingering limestone finish.

Overall: Very laid back and easy drinking. Perfect for sipping in the summertime, which throws the fact that I’m drinking it the day after a light snowfall into stark relief. Good thing I never claimed to be good at adhering to proper seasonal thinking.

Background: Celebration Distillation Corporation was founded by artist James Michalopoulos and his art is featured on the inside back label of each bottle. The Crystal is a white rum made from Louisiana molasses and flavoured with vanilla.

Nose: Fairly straightforward with vanilla and caramel dominating over a background of mild alcohol.

Taste: Sweet, rich body with notes of vanilla and toffee. Despite whacking you in the face on the nose, here the vanilla fades into a smooth complement to the underlying molasses flavour. Fairly smooth for an unaged spirit, but still some slight alcohol burn.

Overall: Heavier than many white rums, this well-balanced spirit can stand on its own for sipping or add a bit of extra character to a cocktail.

Background: Another wine from St. Julian that I considered doing for WBW, this Syrah was aged for 12 months on French oak and weighs in at 12% ABV.

Nose: Raspberries and peppercorns right up front, with some oaky vanilla and blueberry jumping in.

Taste: Rich berry fruitiness, soft rounded tannins, and a light tartness. More peppercorns and some toasted oak in the finish.

Overall: Very nice indeed. Elegant balance and deep, layered flavours.

The Mission: [C]omparing how more northerly and more southerly vineyards produce different results with the same grapes.

Being from Michigan, the natural choice for North was to go with a local wine, so I rummaged around and found a bottle from St. Julian. St. Julian is Michigan’s oldest winery, and is also the largest. They source grapes from a large number of growers, all of which are located within 50 miles of the winery.

For South, I turned to the sunny climes of California. Honig is located in Napa Valley (Rutherford, to be precise) and has a terrible Flash-infested front page that refuses to work on my computer.
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Background: Weighing in at 12% ABV, this is mead at its simplest: no fruit, no sweetness, no nonsense.

Nose: Gentle, fruity honey.

Taste: Much like the nose. Slight bready notes from the yeast. A hint of alcoholic heat.

Overall: Nothing stunning, but decent (and dry, which all too few commercial meads are).

Background: The big brother of the Special 16 Reserve, this is bottle 7071, bottled in September 2007.

Nose: Heather and honey, a hint of smoke.

Taste: Sweet smoked game meat first, with hints of vanilla and tar. Dry, oaky finish.

Overall: Another excellent beer from Harviestoun, though a bit pricy at $15 for a 12 oz. bottle; were I independently wealthy (and if the only place I’ve seen this beer hadn’t closed down) it would be nice to do a horizontal tasting with the other versions.

The mission: “I’m sure I’m not the only one whose early drinking career featured pale lager in abundance, so consider this a return to our roots as beer drinkers. [...] I want pilsners, light lagers, helleses and those ones that just say “beer” because, well, what else would it be?”

First, some rumination on the topic. This is about as far from my roots as a beer drinker as you can get. My early drinking career, once I got around to beer, featured dark ales (mainly porter) in abundance, with the occasional pale or amber ale for variety. I wasn’t avoiding lagers, but I wasn’t seeking them out either.
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Background: This apple wine is made by Wölffer from apples grown by the Halseys of White Cap Farm in Watermill, New York. The wine is fermented with Côte des Blancs yeast, a strain known for preserving fruit flavour and aroma, and contains the following apple varieties: 20% Braeburn, 20% Gold Rush, 20% Pink Lady, 20% Fuji, 9% Ida Red, 6% Jonagold, and 5% Mutsu.

Nose: Fresh, crisp apples and hints of yeast.

Taste: Lightly sweet, mild acidity and good apple flavour. Creamy yeast notes.

Overall: Clean, refreshing wine with enough acidity to cleanse the palate after robust foods like bacon and blue cheese.