Omnipollo - "Agamemnon" stout

We got in flat of these at the store a while back, and since I am a sucker for cool packaging, I had to grab one. Made by Omnipollo, this beer is called "Agamemnon" and is a 12.50% ABV imperial stout brewed with maple syrup. Perfect for the season! And check out that striking can art.

I've discussed maple syrup numerous times on this blog, including references to The Bruery' exemplary "Autumn Maple" as well as a sampling of Lawson Finest Liquids' "Fayston Maple Imperial Stout" at SAVOR in 2018 - so it's not unusual. Heck, one of my first posts ever back in 2012 was about Peak Organic's maple beer. Maple syrup is finding its way into other alcohols, too - they're even making whiskey now in barrels that once held maple syrup. It's an interesting ingredient with the potential to sweeten up whatever it comes in contact with.

After cracking the can, I let this sit out longer than usual - about ten minutes - and agitated it occasionally. Beers like these simply need to warm up for their flavors to fully open up...swishing the glass is preferred (much like volatizing wine esters) but I sometimes agitate with a toothpick to mix the beer up. I have also heard of people actually microwaving the beer for 3 or 4 seconds to warm it up; I have never heard of this and believe these individuals should be investigated for crimes against humanity.

OK, beer's been sitting out for a bit, pouring now into a glass. It generates a khaki-colored head an emits deep roast coffee aroma notes. Not much maple syrup though, at least from what I can tell.  

Woof, OK, this is a doozy. Dark as the night is long, this beer is super heavy and oily. The dominant flavor here the alcohol here...lots of boozy sweetness with a touch of oil. There's vanilla, too, more evident as the beer warms up. Finally the maple shows up, towards the end, and delivers a loooong lingering maple sweetness on the aftertaste, like maple sugar, with another dose of alcohol.

While this isn't the heaviest beer I've ever had it definitely ranks up there. It's as oily and full as pretty much any in-class; in the industry, we call this a "palate wrecker" - big, overwhelming, and boozy. It's a big meal, but very tasty and worth a try. Although I would have preferred the maple to be throughout the beer, I felt this did a good job of delivering that flavor at the end.

Cesari - Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOG

So I wasn't paying attention, and my last post (about a fancy California Cabernet) was my 400th post! It was a nice bottle to review but nothing super rare or extravagant, so for my 401st post, I will belatedly celebrate with this super fancy Italian red wine: the famous Amarone della Valpolicella from the shores of Lake Garda in the Veneto region of northern Italy. This wine is 100% estate grown by Cesari Vineyards, a longstanding producer of Amarone. This "Classico", the first of five levels of rarity, is comprised of three grapes - 75% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, and 5% Molinara, all three being varietals native to Italy.

Oh, yeah, and the bottle is 5 liters, or 6.5 times the size of a normal wine bottle. That's a little under one-and-a-half gallons! This is not the largest size, either. There's probably 20 or so wine bottle sizes, ranging from a tiny piccolo bottle (187mL, barely a glass) to insanely large bottles that stand four feet tall and contain over 40 regular bottles' worth. Fun fact: large-format bottles have special names, typically Biblical - this format is called a "Bordeaux Jeroboam". Other sizes are Rehoboams at 4.5 liters, Methuselahs are 8 liters, the 20-liter Nebuchadnezzar, and much more. The largest bottle is the Melchizedek, at 30 liters, although these are seldom made.

OK, the wine has been breathing for a while, so let's give this a go. Care must be taken to pour, as it's such a large bottle.

This wine is remarkably velvety and smooth, with the main flavor notes being fig, dried apricot, red grapes, and a touch of wood. Not much in terms of spice or leather, and the wine is somewhat tannic but without a major bite. Interestingly, the finish of the wine reminds me of candied fruit, with a slight tinge of sherry. Not oxidized, mind you, but that peculiar sherry flavors. Very warming and soft, long finish. I really enjoyed it - the dried apricot notes really balanced the red grape skins and gave it a somewhat sweeter profile.

This is my first time having Amarone, so I wanted to learn a little bit more about it so I asked Eddie Janik, rep for Opici Wines and a former D'Vines capo, to tell me more. According to Eddie, Amarones are sometimes "tight" and require a few years of cellaring to open up, sometimes up to a decade. He's a big fan of the 2011s as, in his opinion, they're at a good point of drinkability and don't require a great deal of time in the cellar before softening up. I got all wrapped up in the conversation that I didn't grab an adequate picture of the wine itself. But if you're interested in trying this for yourself, we carry a 750mL bottle at D'Vines for $49.99. It's a fine Thanks to D'Vines owner George Aguilar for picking up this bottle for our shindig!

J. Lohr - 2014 "Hilltop" red blend

A product of famed vintner Jerry Lohr, this 14.90% ABV red blend was made in high-elevation, warm vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Located in San Obispo County south of the Bay Area, Paso Robles is also the home of Firestone Walker Brewing Co., a favorite of mine, so I've spoken of this area numerous times over the years. Aside from a star producer of beer, Paso Robles is an officially-recognized AVA (American Viticultural Area) with eleven subregions. It's a prolific producer of wines, typically reds, and is a major element of California's wine production, right up there with Napa, Sonoma, and the Central Coast.

Now, you may look at the title of my post and then look at the wine's label and notice a bit of a discrepancy. That's because, although this wine is labelled as a Cabernet Sauvignon, it's actually a red blend - 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. So then why to the call it "Cabernet Sauvignon"?

That's because of a quirk in the laws. According to the Tax and Trade Bureau of the US Department of the Treasury, under 27 Code of Federal Regulations, § 4.23(b), a wine doesn't have to be 100% "pure" (here, a pure varietal) in order to be declared as such. This doesn't mean deceit - it's just a peculiarity of the labeling law. I've read conflicting information regarding the threshold, but TTB says that a wine must be at least 75% of one varietal to be labelled as such. Makes sense I guess, but might be misleading to customers looking for one particular grape and instead getting 25% of a different grape (or grapes.) Although this wine is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, I'd prefer to call it a red blend for the purposes of a review.

Let's dive in - I'm detecting a nose of ripe red fruit.

Very full bodied - but - remarkably smooth. Dominant flavors here are black cherry, baking spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, and plum skins; heavily fruit-forward with a dense, rather velvety feel, and rich tannic heaviness throughout. As the wine develops, I'm picking up ripe red cherries and strawberry juice on the aftertaste, accompanied by that heavy weight of tannins.

There's good acidity, too, and definitely on the heavy end of the spectrum of wines. In terms of style and heritage, this is a superlative Cabernet and a great example of a massive California red. Cabs from this part of California are known to be "big" wines, and this doesn't disappoint. I paired this with Ethiopian food, and I'll tell you, it was a bit too much. This wine may be best enjoyed on its own to fully appreciate the strength, or perhaps aged for a five or six years to mellow out. At $29.99, this wasn't cheap but well within my budget for a high-quality California Cab.