For me the last one in this lovely series of special Tilquin fruit lambics, based on meerts and second-use fruit, in this case Pinot Gris grapes, which went in that highly memorable Tilquin Oude Pinot Gris à l'Ancienne first. Loudly fizzing, egg-white, moussy head, quite thick at first but reduced to a steady, half open ring of foam instants later, fed by furious, champagne-like sparkling spectacularly rushing through a lightly hazed, warm yellow-golden robe with vague greenish tinge - and, lo and behold, a couple of grape seeds at the bottom of the glass... Aroma of lemon juice and dried lemon peel, dry haystack, straw, white wine must, old oxidized cava, unripe peach, apricot kernels, withering grass, dried garden weeds, old wooden furniture, faint urine-like 'funkiness', minerals. Lemony onset, a bit puckering at first, with lots of sour grape effects, green gooseberry and lime juice, very low in residual fruit sweetness if any but grape skin and grape seed tannins are noticeable from the start; very 'champenoise', minerally sparkling adding fraîcheur and liveliness through a bready core buried under woody and grapey tannins, ongoing lemony acids and a deeper, kefir-like lactic tartness, increasingly met with musty Bretty funkiness (urine, cracked leather). The tannins are strong here till the end, with astringent, bone dry effect; wood is certainly there but grape seeds seem to be the biggest contribution to this effect. Still some (sour) juiciness is retained and the whole ends noble, distinguished and satisfying, with enough complexity and, as said, stark dryness overall. Hayish, tannic and rather funky, with the Pinot Gris grapes remaining understated in comparison with the 'real' Tilquin Oude Pinot Gris; throughout this Meerts series, I get the impression that the grapes have maintained their freshness and juiciness less than the other fruits used in the series - I had the same impression with the Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir versions, now that I come to think of it. Delivers less fruit than expected, in all, but on the bright side, this is very clearly a highly accomplished, complex and vivid lambic, which I greatly enjoyed. I do think I prefer the 'real' Tilquin Oude Pinot Gris, though, with this one feeling a bit more like a 'decoction' than the others. Nevertheless a delightful lambic in its own right, that is for sure.

375ml. bottle. @home, 06/10/2022 [#5.412 Global - #238 Belgium - #7 Gueuzerie Tilquin] Tilquin tasting day. Pours light hazed pale yellow with a small and diminishing white head. Aroma: pear, citrus peel and barnyard. Taste: grapes, must, funk and wood. Medium bodied fizzy mouthfeel. Next one please!

Bottle sample at a tasting at Yoav's place. Cloudy yellow. Funky barnyard, oak, citrus, sour, juicy. Great.

Hapu, viinamarjane, funky, aprikoos, nisu, nats happelisust ka. Ok.

Acidic, sour, battery acid, woody, raw grape skins