Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Mild säuerlicher, weich beeriger Beginn. Trauben, süß-säuerlich, spritzig, hohe Süffigkeit. Spritzig bleibend, mittellanger Abgang, nett. 10/11/10/10//10

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

2025 bottle. Cloudy rosy amber with a fluffy white head. I love good pepper and the aroma of it is great here, with gentle old lemon and some apricot stones behind. Creamy. Perhaps there's a slight medicinal quality to the pepper/ gentle lemon combination. Only a little sour, not really funky. Refreshing with the pepper providing the finish. Deft, tasteful. Part skill, part imagination and part taste.

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

Deep Purple with a pink head. But horse blanket, oak, tart, earthy, tart blueberry. Medium body. Finish is very dry, acidic, and earthy. Very nice.

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

A deep red. Still. Very dry. Raisin, tart, a bit on the wild side. Oak, a touch of cherry pit. Finish is acidic and lingers. Quite an experience.

Slightly unclear red body under a small, slightly bright pink/white head. Aroma is funky with acidic cherries, red berries and hint of oak. Taste has acidic red berries/cherry and feels a bit sharp, tart with mild funk, integrated oak and some bitterness. The berry part is rather mild, still quite distinct and all over a nice and tasty fruit lambic.

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

Flaska från Gerijptebieren drucken med ölföreningen. Frisk med väl avvägd dyra, lite funk, druvor och aningen mineraler. Harmonisk och mycket god.

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

Bottle shared with dédé. Nice clear ruby to purple. Massive grapes, soft funk, yoghurt, wheat. Jammy and fruity and soft Cantillon light sour lambic. Lovely as always.

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

One of the meanwhile countless variations on grape lambic by Cantillon, the great pioneer in grape lambics, experimenting with the concept since the seventies (though I recall reading somewhere that Timmermans already tried similar things in the sixties but abandoned the idea); apparently there are historical references to grape lambics being produced in the 19th century especially in the Hoeilaart region, which is what Cantillon's original grape lambic, Vigneronne, was inspired by. Anyway, this one uses not entire grapes but pomace, from the renowned Italian Barbera variety, grown primarily in the Piemonte region. Thanks to Bart for putting this on the Proevertjesdag menu! Moussey, pinkish-tinged off-white, thinnish and opening head on a clear vermillion robe with bronze-ish tinge - clearly this is one made with blue grapes. Aroma of indeed lots of blue grapes but sour ones, grape skins and seeds, redcurrant, rosehip, wood sorrel, oxidized old rosé wine, purple gooseberry, kefir, old oak, bergamot oil, dry hay. Lively fruity onset, lots of tart but juicy 'grapeyness', red plum and redcurrant notes, lively carbonated with supple yet full, vinous mouthfeel; grainy core under very fruity lactic acidity paired with actual pomace acidity and fruitiness, against an increasingly tannic background of wood and grape seeds. Red grape flavours abound in the finish, making for a very colourful ending, reminiscent of very dry rosé wine and unsugared red fruit juices - but always with hayish funkiness and tannic woodiness filling the gaps. Balanced, highly sophisticated drink - this is Cantillon at full strength, and as is the case with the Sophia we had the same evening, a demonstration of just how much bright fruitiness can be pulled out of pomace alone. Impressive.

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

Cantillon's amphora-aged grape lambic - or rather, pomace lambic, as only pomace from Greco grapes was used; became an instant classic upon its release and I am absolutely certain that I had it at that time, so I wonder why my rating was not imported from Ratebeer to here like all those others. This is also worrying because who knows what else went lost in the translation from one site to the other... Anyway, thanks to Bart, I got a second chance at rating this one so big cheers to that. Snow white, medium thick, moussey, opening and thinning head on an initially clear, warm yellow-golden blonde robe, turning a bit 'milky' with sediment. Aroma of green apple, unripe green grape and grape skin, wine gums somewhere, sourdough, whitecurrant, baked clay from the amphorae, lemon blossom, lime zest, raw quince, river sand, minerals, pickled apricots and an odd touch of entirely green banana. Tart onset packed with fruitiness, very refined in every respect, bringing associations with green apple slices and sour whitecurrants but also hard pear and white grape; medium carb, yoghurty lactic acidity running through a wheaty, supple grain core, vinous in mouthfeel with a pronounced underlying minerality - again that clay-like amphora thing returning. Minerally, tart-fruity, very vinous, complex finish - no wood indeed, but still every bit as layered as any 'normal' wood-aged fruit lambic. Utterly fruity in a supposedly restrained way - paradoxically perhaps, but Cantillon knows how to bring out tons of fruitiness from just pomace, a talent I have praised Tilquin for on certain occasions as well. I think I still prefer the warmth and 'organic' feel of wood, but the amphora effect could not have been more sophisticated than in this beautiful gem.