Bottle, 750 ml at my Grande. Cloudy orange with small white head. Funky, citric, vinous, nice grapes, bit musty, pleasant sourness.

Bottle, 2022-2023 bb date 20/01/2033. Color: Lightly hazy golden, thin white head. Aroma: Very fruity grape, some rural funk and oak wood. Taste: Grape, grapeskin, citrus and green apples, tannins, oak wood, rural and horse blanket funk and some minerals. Hints of old hop. Moderate tart. Dry-ish mouthfeel. Medium body, just below average carbonation. Another nice Tilquin.

One of Tilquin's three most recent grape lambics to date, this one with Viognier, one of the main grape varieties used in Côtes du Rhône and known for its mellow fruitiness and floral qualities. Medium thick, egg-white, dense but open, moussy ring with a thin veil in the middle, hazy apricot blonde robe with pale orange tinge, cloudy ochre-ish peach with sediment. Aroma of grape skins, natural wine, apple blossoms, damp earth, something persistently sulfuric, old cracked rubber somehow, dark green tree leaves, wood sorrel, old oak, wet leather, unripe apricot, lemon zest, hints of orange pith, pickled pearl onions, egg yolk, cumin cheese. Crisply fruity, tart onset, lots of sour grape surrounded by green gooseberry, rhubarb, quince and strong unripe peach or nectarine, somewhat lemony but the acidity is slightly tempered by the juiciness of the Viognier grapes; sharpish effervescence but good for a bottled grape lambic with nice 'crystalline' effects, over a bready core severely dried by lactic acidity which remains colourful and fruity, enhancing the fruity tartness of the grapes, which become very juicy and again a tad sweetish towards the finish. Lovely oaky tannins set in after that, but the grape juiciness continues well into the final stage, flanked by yellow plum, pear and even very light pineapple accents; yoghurty lactic sourness remains very well integrated into this generous juicy sour-fruitiness and keeps reinforcing it rather than contrasting with it. Citric, grapey, peachy and woody effects, all bright and colourful, fill the finish in a charming 'grand finale'. Though orthonasally there were a few odd side elements of rubber and sulfur, in the end this proves to be another beautiful, generous grape lambic which I think honours the essential features of Viognier. An interesting one to put against other Tilquin grape lambics, like the Pinot Gris for instance.