7.8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Geuze blended with lambics by Lindemans, De Troch and Den Herberg, also containing 4 year old lambic like the Limited Edition geuze Ambreus released earlier, but nevertheless a differently proportioned, specific blend - like two others made by Den Herberg itself and by Boon, all created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the current exploitation by Geert De Poorter and his wife of Villa Servais. This was the villa of the Belgian cellist Adrien-François Servais in Halle, a building dating back to the middle of the 19th century which in its time welcomed famed musical guests like the composers Liszt, Vieuxtemps and Rubinstein; it has been an official heritage site since the eighties and was acquired and restored by the current owners ten years ago. They turned it into a classy hotel and event location and released a first 'house geuze' (blended by Boon) three years ago, reflecting their passion for local culture - so this year, with something special to celebrate, not one but three new ones were made. This Ambreus version produces a medium sized but rather quickly thinning and eventually dissolving, snow white, fizzing head, open in the middle but retaining around the edge, over a misty peach blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge and minute-bubbled sparkling which is actually hard to see with the naked eye. Aroma of freshly cut Granny Smith and Transparante apples, lemon flesh, unripe plums, pear blossoms, lemon butter, old oak wood, wet old leather (Brettanomyces), hints of raw rhubarb, sorrel, fresh pecorino romano, grape skin, quince, young grass shoots in spring, oxidising apple cores, hogweed, raw black radish, crumbling dry earth. Lemony sour onset, a bit puckering but refreshingly so, flavours of strong green apple (Lindemans mostly I think), unripe plum and unripe peach, with an astringent edge but also a softer side tucked underneath; very fine-tingling effervescence with persistent minerally effect reinforcing this astringency and sourness - piercing through a bread-crusty core. Lemon, green apple and green plum dominate till the end, with a lemon juice flavour even lingering beyond swallowing; oaky tannins are present but not too strongly so, while retronasal wild yeast aromas include old leather, dried garden weeds, a whiff of pecorino cheese and a funky hint of dried armpit sweat. Old hops provide a touch of balancing bitterness deep below but as said, the astingency and tartness of green fruits prevail. Very spritzy, 'green', lemony geuze, quite classically styled with puckering effect at first and quite some sharp acidity, but very minerally and refreshing as such. I was fearing that the De Troch lambic, one I find very easy to identify because of its characteristic 'bitter plant' flavour, would dominate too much, but as in the other Ambreus geuzes so far, this very outspoken lambic has been applied here in a most balanced, well-integrated way. There is some Lindemans mellowness too, but it seems Den Herberg is the most dominant lambic in this blend at least in flavour. Looking forward to tasting the two other new Villa Servais geuzes!