Ethic Ciders
Domaine Dauvissat-Camus
La Forest Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2009
Nose reveals beauty & grace. Sweet & just sour lemons, lime candy, green dominate apples with shades of golden, cream, vanillin, ginger, ripe squeezed pineapple flesh, grapefruit with pith, touch of apple cider, salted caramel, cream soda, sea fossils, sea spray, light volcanics, marmalade fruit, Stone fruit with yellow & spring flowers flowers set in mixed greens.
The palate is very full, round, waxy, rich with excellent viscosity. Beautiful mouthfeel. Great time for a bottle. Sweet & just a sour lemons, lime candy, green dominate apples with shades of golden, cream, vanillin, ginger, ripe squeezed pineapple flesh, grapefruit with pith, touch of apple cider, salted caramel, cream soda, healthier honey, sea fossils, white spice with the perfect depth & heat, sea spray, reductive, melted molasses, light volcanics, wet stone, elegant flintiness, marmalade fruit, stone fruit-apricot, nectarines, white & yellow peach with yellow & spring flowers flowers set in mixed greens. The acidity is like a cool stone filled stream. The long, round finish is; waxy, round, lush, with excellent balance fruit & earth, gentle white spice palate heat that persists endlessly. On the long, longboard set, I get soft subtle cream notes of whiskey/scotch w/o any heat. It Hoovers center mouth.
Photos of; one of Dauvisst Cru vineyards, staff caning in the spring, Vincent, Dauvisst and photo of a vineyard that shows every bit of reason why White Burgundy tastes the way it does!
Some producer notes I read. Vincent started helping his father René in 1976 and, during the last decade, has gradually taken control of viticulture and winemaking. For him, the ultimate goal is to harvest healthy grapes that are fully ripe and concentrated which, he declares, can only be achieved consistently by hard work in the vineyard. His passion for wine enables him to put this work ethic into practice with real vigour - close pruning the vines (40 years old on average) during the growing season to restrict yields, hand harvesting at vintage time and ruthlessly discarding any rotten or split grapes. His vinification and maturation methods see him join the small band of Chablis producers who employ oak. The wines are vinified and aged in a mixture of steel vats and 6-to 8 year old wooden barrels. The wood is old and therefore doesn’t stamp any oak flavour onto the wines but does give them an extra depth of flavor and density of body, whilst still retaining their unique identities. These are intensely terroir-driven, mineral wines of such concentration that they take longer than most to reach their best, though they are every bit worth the wait. — 6 years ago
Tilted Shed Ciderworks
Graviva! Semidry Apple Cider
Really nice. Fruity yet dry with a pleasant bitter finish. One of the more complex ciders I’ve had. — 8 years ago
Soc. Agr. Croci Ermanos
Lubigo Frizzante Spontaneamente White Blend
Super ciders yummy warm toasty still sharp lil Italians babe. — 9 years ago
Cidrerie du Vulcain
Cidre Premiers Emois
This is the greatest Cider producer in the world. Jacques is making "next level" ciders. This one comes from an ancient apple orchard in the pristine Alps. — 10 years ago
First Drop Wines
The Matador Garnacha 2013
Wow! 10 year old Garnacha from Oz. They sure made it look like Spanish wine with the painting and name. Screw-top like most Aussies. Fairly rusty color. More brown than orange you see in some Grenache. Smells nice. Cherry candies and orange peels. Maybe a bit of beeswax candle. Flavors are still popping. Juicy, tart and fruity. Cherry/apple ciders and raspberry sauce. Tannins are excellent. This stuff aged beautifully. Would be fun to put it in a Granacha/Grenache around the world taste-off. — 3 years ago
Domaine Dupont
Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie 2016
I drink so much local cider in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s good to benchmark occasionally versus the Old World standards. More head on the initial pour than cider in the glass; the head looks more like a malt syrup ale than a clean cider. After dampening down, the cider shows moderate carbonation with steady flow of pinpoint bubbles through ultra clear golden brown. Funk and maybe butter, but a dense apple profile on the nose. Frothy but lightly flavored in the mouth, rich, tending semi dry with a frothy finish. Buttery, malic and slightly perfumed aftertaste. Mild pulp astringency and flavor emerges with repeated tasting. Product is 5.5% alc/vol, unfiltered, unpasteurized. Subtly textured mouthfeel overall and lightly flavored, nuanced and totally delightful, unexpected excellence as it tastes so good in characteristics I did not anticipate it would display. It’s just not crafted as most New World ciders are, in all the best ways. Calling it rustic misses most of the positives, at least of this vintage; there’s much more complexity going on here. Great value and a delightful companion on a chilly early fall evening. — 7 years ago
Eric Bordelet
Poiré Authentique Pear Cider
Oh man. This is so good. So pure. Dileneated pears and chrysanthemum. Great acidity and lovely sweetness. Just so fresh and did I mention... pure. Hot damn! Just plain yummy. Eric Bordelet and Jacques Perritaz (Ciderie du Vulcain) are the true kings of ciders for me. They changed the way I think of the beverage. — 8 years ago
Gowan's Heirloom Ciders
Gravenstein Heirloom Apple Cider
Really good apple cider! — 8 years ago
Farnum Hill
Dooryard Cider
Dooryard batch number 1502. Lighter in flavor intensity than other current/new ciders a la Tandem, but not a bad thing; refreshing. Not overly appley, only comes through at the start & finish in an essence. A little buttery. — 9 years ago
Ethic Drinks
Merveille de Vignes Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon
From the first sip smooth and enjoyable, with a good body. Fruity but not sweet. Not sure what being an HVE Certified Sustainable Wine entails, but it made our little corner of the planet a little more hopeful during dinner tonight. — 4 years ago
Emidio Pepe
Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2015
Very good
I hadn't had the trebbiano from Pepe for a looong time and the feeling is still similar
It needs time to open up
When young the palate is better than the nose
It is long and enjoyable
What has changed in time is unfortunately the price and i wondered if that is due to the market or because it has been harder to source or work the grapes
I used to pay it less than 15 euros back in Italy and I understand that time flies, but here in Melbourne this is on the shelf for 140 dollars.
I thank @Giulio Bignozzi for sharing this with me, but I struggle to realise the dynamics about its pricing..or maybe I just don't want to.
For 30 or 40 euros I would be happy to buy and drink this, but for 140 dollars I would pick elsewhere perhaps
It is also a natural wine if I remember well and I reckon there should be a bit of ethic behind that too. Still a very good wine nonetheless, but i couldn't keep the critic for myself. — 6 years ago
Cidrerie du Vulcain
Trois Pépins Cidre Petillant Sec
I’m basically new to ciders but will make up for lost time. This is an excellent, bold flavored beverage that can be enjoyed at anytime! — 9 years ago
Dragon's Head
Wild Fermented Cider
Very pale yellow in color. Good head on pour and good carbonation with medium to large sized bubbles. Delicate aroma. Lightly flavored in mouth with some bitterness, followed by slight malic and lactic acid tastes on finish, followed by a slight astringency with pulp-flavored aftertaste. If you like fruit forward ciders, this is not one of them; this is austere, dry to off-dry, bare-bone, minimalist cider. A worthy exercise in creative or alternative cider making styles but it won't be to everyone's taste. I enjoyed it, so it's worth a try if you can approach it with an open mind. — 9 years ago
Kevin Løk
Delightful orange wine. Easy re-buy. — 4 months ago