8.4

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Intensiver fruchtiger Beginn. Leicht säuerlich, Vanille, Holz, intensiv. Trockenes Mundgefühl, vollmundig, wenig Bourbon. Lecker. 13/11/12/12//12

8

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

750mL bottle at Moeder Lambic Fontainas, pours a dark mahogany with a small pink head. Aroma brings out big vanilla notes, bourbon, and rich cherries. Flavour is full of vanilla, cherries, bourbon and funk in wonderful cohesion. That somehow works really well, finishing on intense vanilla that melds with the cherries. Excellent.

7.9

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

750mL bottle at Moeder Lambic Fontainas. Pours murky dep red with a pink head. Interesting blend of grape skins and bourbon on the nose. Flavour has an acidic, grapey character complemented with vanilla and bourbon. The flavours come together very well.

8

Kriekjes, zoet en niet zo zuur, mis de zogenaamde Bourbon, niet zo heel spannend, wat vanille..

7

Hapu, kummine, kirsine, vesine. Ok.

8.6

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5

'Oude kriek' in an unorthodox way, as only Boerenerf could produce it: lambic blended with cherry wine (I assume this is spontaneously fermented sour cherry juice?) and infused with vanilla of the famous Bourbon variety - but also containing a small portion of redcurrants, I assume primarily to enhance the colour. Confusingly, the first edition (2022) was aged in bourbon barrels, which - apart from the name - have nothing to do with the vanilla variety called Bourbon... Waxed and corked 75 cl bottle. Thinnish, moussey, loosely knit and quickly breaking, pale lilac coloured head, opening in the middle and dissolving much slower around the edge but eventually gone completely; initially clear, deep and dark garnet red robe with fiery, pure, beautiful ruby glow. Beguiling bouquet of indeed cherry wine of the purest kind, bursting ripe 'griottes', almond and indeed a whiff of natural vanilla, wet oak wood, mahogany furniture even, redcurrant compote and redcurrant bush leaves, homemade cherry jam, fruit yoghurt, banyuls and red port, dark honey, purple gooseberries and a background whiff of something vaguely resembling fried meat (proteins I assume). Rounded, utterly fruity onset, more fruit-filled than ordinary cherry lambic with a deep vinosity early on, very fleshy and 'jammy', tart but not lemony - more a red berry-like sourness, probably the redcurrant piercing through; other fruity associations of red plum, blue grape and even vague pomegranate linger in the background. The sour edge is perfectly balanced by the sheer fleshiness of the cherry wine, carbonation is fairly mild but adds an underlying minerality, like in a red Lambrusco, continuing all the way through and keeping everything fresh and sparkly. More vinous even from then on: yoghurty lactic acidity supporting a full-bodied cherry wine core with a bready backbone, with all that red fruit persisting unabatedly. The finish is filled to the brim with red fruit, highlighted by retronasal vanilla in an almondy way - as well as that meaty aspect briefly returning - and gently dried by woody tannins; the whole ends abundantly fruity, rich and vinous, with some subtly warming, port-like alcohol topping it all off. It has often been stated in the past that lambics can bridge the gap between the beer world and the wine world, but this statement is rarely ever more true than in this kind of 'extreme' fruit lambics, packed to the brim with an 'overload' of fruit, adding its own fermentation features and wine-like character. This Kri-Vino is indeed something I would offer a die-hard wine drinker: the 'beery' aspect of the lambic sits underneath this whole towering fruit structure, but it is the cherry wine (and the vanilla, at least at this age because this tends to fade quickly) that remains firmly in charge from beginning to end. A true gem, in looks, aroma and taste - drink this young, I would recommend, and enjoy with friends who dare to think out of the box when it comes to beer and wine.