Cantillon Vigneronne

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Il mio primo 5/5 su ratebeer. Non credo ce ne saranno molti; non credo. Però il 5/5 è una scelta programmatica, più che un risultato; è difficile accorgersi dell’eccellenza a posteriori, l’eccellenza è determinata in un istante, è l’unica vera valutazione in cui entra in gioco solo l’istinto, l’istinto e la completa soddisfazione di ogni senso. La Vigneronne di Cantillon è stato proprio questo per me, una soddisfazione completa, senza alcun difetto; e pensare che mentre la stappavo, mi chiedevo se fosse il caso di berla da solo, mi chiedevo se non sarebbe stato troppo in una serata così comune. La serata non è più comune, è una delle serate birrariamente più felici della mia esistenza. Questa Vigneronne è preziosa come una pietra rara, come un fiore sconosciuto. E’ la tipica birra... che dico birra, lambic! impeccabile, sofisticata, unico, però di cui berrei litri e litri senza stancarmi. Non ci sono parole. Forza Cantillon

I love cantillon. Aroma gives sourness, apples and orange also come through later, typical of the cantillon brilliance. Taste is similarly complex yeast creates some softer fruits with the white grapes having a just a little say and mellowing the sourness a little, however this does take a little of the dryness away. An excellent beer, but then id drink cantillon all day everyday if i could. RERATE: Had this as my beer while im cook beer, i always have a beer when i cook and i havnt had it foir a long time, so seemed a good idea. Indeed it was a good idea. Fromn the start the cantillon goodness is put on hold by a madera wine like character, a desert wine of sop quality ads sweetness, like as if someone popped in some awsome polish mead. The grapes are soo suble but can be found in the sweetness. Wow blown way back by this chap, awsome stuff, mindblowing, the bottle was gone in the 50 mins of cooking or so, which is pritty good concidering the prep took and easy 25 mins. One can be glad to know that such a beer is made, just incase they are too hungover to drink straight cantillon to save themselves from certain fear.

Bottle 1997 Vintage: The man I bought this from told me that the bottle couldn’t have been there for more than three months or so. HA! more like 5 years. So I had my doubts about it after I checked the cork. As I pour a giant fociferous head appears...and then slowly creeps off into the ’corners’ of my glass. HAzy and polluted, the yeast in this bottle has long since died off and broken up, smearing itself all over this beauty of a beer. The nose is intensely baconlike. Honestly this brew smells like the best gueuze ever blended, ever thought up ever! Take Girardin black and add bacon fat and my friends you have what I amdrinking. This is the most complex and overpowering brew I’ve ever let flow down my gullet. Nose is azy and bricklike. Around the edges a faint dry oak emerges. If I had as many technical terms as Joris Pattyn I’d have to use them all. Citrus, chalk and lactic acid collide creating heaven. The palate on this is massive. Still effervescent even after all these years. This coats like salty molasses, filling every crevace of my mouth. The bacon in the nose really shines on the palate, filling out the citrus with a punch that makes Cantillon one of...if not...my favorite brewery. Friends this is masterful. Jean Pierre Van Roy is a mad genius. I love him. G-rat

2001 Vintage. Light golden orange in colour. Aroma was citrusy, lots of grapes, leather and a wonderful sourness. The flavour was outstanding. Very funky and sour at the start, very tart, starts of very gueuze like and then the slight sweetness of the grapes kick in. An amazing mouthfeel and a beautiful tartness. Medium bodied. Finishes was a huge sourness and very long. Simply amazing.

Rosy-speckled orange-gold. Slight white head. Nose of muscatgrape, malonate, "Muscat de Samos". Sour taste but with typical muscat-background, very outspoken. Sharp finish. Grapes seem to give a nice oily perfume overlying the beer, like fondue-oil. Just superb. One of my favourites.

(Bottled. 03/2006). Oh my god. This is incredible. Aromas of dirty gym socks. Complex tastes that do not deserve my feeble attempts to describe ’em. Get a bottle and drink it and shame on you if you pour it out. Suffer through this one no matter what you do ... it is worth every agonizingly wonderful sip.

Bottle, 2005 vintage at Akkurat. So first of all , this had some age on it... I didn’t have the regular gueuze to compare with, but to me, this seemed pretty much like Cantillons usual stuff. Couldn’t really pick out any grape character at all, luckily I have a really fresh vintage waiting in the wings and I’m eager to see if that’s going to make a difference. Re-rate, 2006 vintage. Yup.. drink this as fresh as possible for maximum grape character.. what a difference!

Spectacular. Bretty to the mellower extreme - not new as in Mo Betta (which is still great!). This was a 7 yr old bottle (1997), so 9 or 10 yr old beer, essentially. The Shelton Bro import city was Durham, NC, which must have been right before Miami, and MA now. Sour and perfectly smooth on the tongue, the fruit here is nearly completely gone, as a miss in blind tasting confirmed. Wet wood, not the tinder dry balsa. Delicious.