Sonor Wines America - 2017 Pinot Noir

 Back when I was buying wine professionally, we got a visit from the sales rep for Sonor Wines America. He was offering a small line of wines that had labels featuring artists and their music. It's not uncommon to see artists, actors, or other Hollywood-types dipping into the wine business, and with custom crush and other craft services readily available, it's easy to buy up some grape lots and release under your own name or label...if you have the money, that is. Celebrity labels are hit-or-miss, but the price was right so we picked up a few cases. 

Sonor has a wide variety of wines at a low price point, but the kicker is, and bear with me - the wines were "imbued" with music. Austrian wine aficionado Markus Bachmann figured that by submerging speakers into the wine, and playing various musical tracks, it would somehow affect the quality of the wine or create a product enhanced with additional properties. Obviously this is quite hokey, but wine is wine, so I figured I'd write about it. I got this for $4.99 on clearance at Irving Wines & Spirits, and for five bucks, it's hard to go wrong. 

This wine features music by Jesse Cook, a Canadian guitarist. The track, "Mario Takes a Walk", is a blend of Spanish-sounding guitar, nice peppy beat, with some wood blocks and light percussion. Cool. 

So "sonic" additives aside, the wine: it's a 2017 pinot noir from Austria. Nice to see a central European red. I'm not getting much aroma from the glass, but as it sits out and I volatize a bit, there's a touch of berry. Taste-wise, it's a bit sharp, a little metallic, and off-dry. There's a good dose of raspberry and plum juice; it could definitely use a few more years in a barrel to smooth out some of those flavors. The wine isn't bad - certainly not refined or perfected - but it's a fun experiment and priced appropriately and it's fun to listen to the music. It had an original price of $9.99, which is fine, marked down to $4.99 which is much more of a value. I think this would go great with pizza, actually.  

Schilling Beer Co. - "Hemel" table saison

Here's a snapshot of a single beer I picked up at Each Peach Market in Mt. Pleasant, DC. It's a 4.90% ABV "table saison" from Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton, NH. Located in a Revolutionary War-era gristmill on the banks of the Ammonoosuc River, Schilling's focus is European-style beers: lagers, saisons, and foeder-aged brews. It looks like the do some spontaneously-fermented beers (that is, beers fermented with wild yeast and whatever's in the air. All those microbes add distinct character to the beer!)

The pour is a pale straw color, and generates a lacy off-white foam. There's some green apple, Belgian spice, and a bit of earth on the nose. The aroma isn't super strong. 

In a blind taste test, I'd think this was made with white grape must. It's floral and has an unoaked Chardonnay-like quality that I haven't experienced too much before. It's quite crisp, a little hazy, and has some good baking spice notes. It has a lip-smacking finish and is light enough to have on a hot day with lunch. In fact, that's exactly what this style was intended for!  I got this for $4.99 for a single 16oz pint, so decent but not a crazy bargain.