Le Chêne
Stem Ciders in Lafayette, Colorado, United States 🇺🇸
Cider Regular|
Score
7.19
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_angst_ (8410) ticked Le Chêne from Stem Ciders 3 years ago
Nice tartness and a ton of vanilla oak. No funk and not very complex but refreshing, easy to drink and overall quite tasty.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Le Chêne from Stem Ciders 10 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
750mL bottle from Ernest, drunk 3/5/16.
Good clarity in this intensely no2 pencil yellow body with flaxen and white gold tints. White head atop even, with low retention, of course, but impressive nonetheless.
Soft golden apple-like sugars initially grace the nose, with very light wood adding depth. Never gains any applesauce-like mushiness or heavy cinnamon and while it’s obviously at least partially naturally fermented, as Ernest says, it’s low on the band-aid (though I love heavy band-aid in my ciders). Really balanced nose and clean, with no alcohol though quite oaky.
The flavor is lightly sweet, with tight carbonation creating a spritzy, highly drinkable mouthfeel and a dry, crisp, wooden finish. Toasted oak character builds up a bit too much over the course of my glass (and I only had 5 or 6 ounces), leaving a bit too much emphasis on that and not as much on the dry, crisp, yet juicy apple flavors. So that’s separating this from a 4+ cider for me, but otherwise this is right up there with the better stuff available.