Rabbit Ridge Winery - 2013 "Allure de Robles" red blend (California)

Finally, about time for another wine post. Here's one that caught my eye in Trader Joe's recently -  a red blend from Paso Robles, CA-based Rabbit Ridge Winery called "Allure de Robles."

The wine itself is billed as a "Rhone-style red wine", which piqued my curiosity. Rhone refers to a large winemaking region in southern France; it produces both red and white varietals derived from Syrah, Carignan, Viognier, Marsanne, and a host of other grapes. Since the Rhone-style encompasses such a large region, with a variety of styles and taste profiles, I'm curious to see what elements of the Rhone style they choose for this wine.

A bit about the winery - originally founded in 1981 in Healdsburg, CA (home to Francis Ford Coppola's winery, a tour of which I took several years back), Rabbit Ridge moved to Paso Robles, CA, much farther to the south in 2000. Paso Robles is a big winemaking town, with a dry Mediterranean climate, perfect for grape-growing. It's also home to Firestone Walker Brewing Co., makers of a fine anniversary ale as well as the "Luponic Distortion", a nice IPA.

Now that the wine has breathed for about 10 minutes, let's give it a shot. It's red in the glass, sort of a blood-red when candled.

Initially, there's a slightly tart flavor followed by mellow berry, soil, and grape skin flavors. It's a bit sweet, but generally full and nicely balanced. It's interesting also to note the wine is a bit "hot" - a wine term used to describe a higher alcohol content. This wine is almost 15.0% ABV, which is generally at the high end of the range for wine. Despite this fact, I find the wine to be very approachable, tasty, and decent.

In the end, it's a nice dinner wine with few strong advantages or disadvantages. I served it with rice and homemade goat curry, and it turned out great. It's available at Trader Joe's, and elsewhere, and at $6.99,  it's a very affordable wine to drink every day and would make a good gift to bring to a house party. This would also pair well with tomato sauce dishes.

St. Peter's Brewery - "Sorgham Beer" ale

For those out there who are gluten-intolerant, a trip to the bar can be an unpleasant experience. Most beer is made with wheat or barley, which contains the protein gluten - and would make for a pretty rough drinking session for anyone unable to process such a protein. But brewers have picked up on this and have created several beers made from ingredients that don't contain gluten. Today's post is of one such beer - it's St. Peter's Brewery's "Sorgham Beer" ale, a 4.2% ABV German pilsner-style beer made with sorghum. Interestingly, the proper name of the beer spells sorghum with an "a", whereas the ingredient is spelled with a "u". The label has both spellings.

Sorghum is actually a grass with many variants. My research reveals that the variant of sorghum used in today's beer is most likely Sorghum bicolor, pictured below. This kind of sorghum is used around the world for various purposes like livestock feed, and grain substitutes in food products. But most importantly for our purposes, it's used as a wheat substitute in gluten-free recipes.

A field of Sorghum bicolor.

I should note as well it's a neat-looking bottle; it's a green flask-shaped thing reminiscent of really old apothecary bottles. I should also note that of all the colors of glass bottles, translucent green glass is one of the worst for blocking harmful light. So don't let this sit in the sun!

OK, let's see how this is.

It pours swiftly, a clear maple color, and produces a very thin layer of white foam. When candled, it's clear and tiny little bubbles are evident.

It's got a sweet, brown sugar nose. The taste is malty, somewhat flat, but actually not that bad. It's light, with a nice caramel malty flavor and a slight bit of hops (really not that much though.) The flavor dies away quickly though, and the aftertaste nonexistent.

It's interesting. It's not super flavorful, and rather light, but I admit it's not what I was expecting. I was expecting a sort of stale, dry taste reminiscent of grass ('cause that's what it is) but I was wrong. The flavors were subtle, but the caramel maltiness was kinda nice. Reminds me a bit of a watered-down bock. And while it's not a super-flavorful creation, I feel this is a serviceable lager. And in all consideration, it's not a bad option for those who are gluten-free.

Beer Flash: Doylestown Brewing Co.'s "R5" lager

Here's a quick spotlight on what I've been drinking lately - it's Doylestown Brewing Co.'s "R5" lager, an easy-drinking 4.5% ABV American lager. The brewery itself is located in Doylestown, PA, a town located in southeast Pennsylvania. Today's beer has been thoughtfully provided by my colleague (and verified Pennsylvanian) Kathleen.

It pours quickly, generating a thin white head. It's golden yellow in the glass, with a LOT of little bubbles rising to the top. It's got a very wheaty, thin taste which is typical for this kind of beer. There's something on the finish that's a bit hard to place - it's got a very honey-like flavor to it that's rather pleasing. The aftertaste is clean and smooth, and I can see myself drinking a bunch of these over the course of a day. A nice refreshing beer for a hot day!

DC Brau - 5th Anniversary Collaboration Flight

Today's beer is actually five - I'll be reviewing a flight of beers. Last month, it was DC Brau's 5th anniversary, and in celebration, they released a mixed 6-pack with 5 different collaborative beers from different breweries across the US. They are:

• "Pink Pallet Jack" - a 5.0% saison in collaboration with Perennial Artisan Ales
• "Zehn von Zehn" - a 5.5% dunkel lager in collaboration with Port City Brewing Co. 
• "Celestial Garden" - a 7.0% ABV India Pale Lager in collaboration with Austin Beerworks
• "Ripa the Dipa" - a 9.0% double rye IPA in collaboration with Sun King Brewing Co.
• "The Wise and The Lovely" - a 10.0% imperial stout in collaboration with Cigar City Brewing

The sixth in the pack is DC Brau's "On The Wings of Armageddon", which as you may recall has been reviewed here before.  So I'm not going to go into that here. But I'm very interested in seeing the five new one-offs that they've developed - particularly, I'm interested in the diversity of styles represented in the six-pack. Some collaboration packs I have had run with a theme, and have been heavy on one kind of beer (usually IPAs) but it looks like this one spans the spectrum of colors and flavors.

#1. "Pink Pallet Jack"

I'm starting with the lightest of all the beers. This one, a saison, has a nice lush and fruity aroma. It's darker than expected, but also delicious. Deep and lush, it's how I like my saisons - a bit spicy, but mostly heavy on flavor and thickness. Pretty good start to the flight!

#2. "Zehn von Zehn"

Here's a collaboration with Port City Brewing, a local brewery just across the Potomac in Alexandria, VA.  This beer is very malty, a bit sweet, with deep bready finish. To me this is a lot like the German dunkels (for example, Weihenstephaner "Hefeweissbier Dunkel".) This was super tasty. I actually got a growler of this, as well. There's something about that malty sweetness that I like in a beer, and makes it a smooth-drinking casual beer for any occasion.

#3. "Celestial Garden"

As traditional IPLs go, this is pretty nice. It's a very resiny, bright lager, with some bitter and tangy floral hops flavors coming through. Nothing super new or inventive, but I like the lightness of it, and the resin taste adds a nice aspect. Pretty good!

#4. "Ripa the Dipa"

Here's a double IPA made with rye. It's got that usual DIPA color - a deep burnt orange - and a standard strong maltiness with a good showing of hops. Honestly, it's not super different from a lot of the DIPAs I have had, but I should note is that it's less bitter than some of the other DIPAs; perhaps that's the rye coming through. Anyways, pretty good, but not terribly new or inventive.

#5. "The Wise and the Lovely"

This is perhaps one of my favorite of the five. It's the darkest of all the beers; pours a pretty root beer color in the glass. It throws an inviting dark chocolate aroma. Taste-wise, it's deep, chocolaty, and dark with little carbonation. The lactose is evident. with a sweet smoothness coming through. There's not a heck of a lot of burnt flavors, just creamy dark chocolate throughout. I really like it. Devon at D'Vines calls it a "liquid fudge brownie" and I agree. It'd make an awesome beer float. I admit I also ended up getting a growler of this, and would seek it out especially in mix-your-own-six at Harris Teeter. It's one of the finest lactose stouts I have had the pleasure to drink. I wish this was bottled and sold all the time!

 

The Bruery - "Or Xata" blonde ale

Today's beer I've actually had a few times, and think it's worth diving into. It's The Bruery's "Or Xata", a 7.2% blonde ale made with rice, with cinnamon and vanilla added. The name of the beer is a rough Nahuatl approximation of "horchata", a traditional drink made with milk and spices that's popular in Latin America. In fact, the beer is intentionally meant to mimic horchata's taste.

It pours a hazy yellow color, and produces thin white foam.

In the glass, it retains that yellow color. It's pretty cloudy when candled.

Interesting, this doesn't really taste like beer. It starts out with a crisp burst of vanilla and cinnamon, and develops into a deep, luscious flavor reminiscent of rice pudding. There's a definite subtle lactose / rice flavor in there, with vanilla on the finish and a long, lingering savoriness. Very interesting.

I'm pleased. It's light, as a blonde ale should be, but the pleasant addition of spices and flavors really make it delicious and add an unusual twist - I've often seen cinnamon and vanilla in darker beers like stouts, not blonde ales. Add in the fact it's made with rice and lactose, and you've got a much smoother, deeper, almost gritty flavor - kinda like horchata!

I got this for $13.99 (for a 750mL format) at Whole Foods in DC. But this, and other The Bruery beers, are readily available at most respectable beer stores (for example, I've seen this one in D'Vines, and I know Harris Teeter carries the brand.) I highly recommend this beer since it's so unusual.