In Vino Sanitas

This is not the first time I've had Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. We go way back, actually. (Or at least 6 years, to when I first tried it at Mike's College Bar in Stillwater, Oklahoma.) But I had one left in the fridge, so I thought I would write a glowing, er I mean objective, review.

This is a very dark, rich beer. It's substantial. People who didn't know better might compare it to Guinness, but the foam isn't as thick--the beer itself isn't as thick--and it has a sharp-sweet, slightly malty aftertaste. I've always thought it would go very well with a hearty beef stew on a cold winter night.

Hey, interesting facts from the website: Originally a drink for lactating mothers, oatmeal stout was described as nutritional on early labels. Oats are in the same family as barley, and a small addition yields great flavor. Popular in the late 1800’s, the last oatmeal stout was brewed before the First World War until Samuel Smith reintroduced this style in 1980.

FUCK YES, this is "nutritional". I just finished the bottle and I can already feel a little extra spring in my step...

Guest review by ar_oh_bee

Greetings winos. Some time ago I bartended a private party wherein the drunken FOTB (father of the bride) gave me one of their bottles of wine as a tip. Ok, in fairness, it had $100 underneath it, so it’s not like he was being a cheap ass. The FOTB had been talking wine with me for about an hour, which was a really funny conversation considering I knew almost nothing about wine, besides how to open the bottle, and he had had about 3 bottles by then. He claimed it wasn’t his favorite Pinot, but it wasn’t bad and considering there were over 100 guests, it would do just fine. It was a cool tip, but then I drink about 2 glasses of wine a year, so it sat on my fridge for about 3 years before someone asked me to do a guest review for this crazy wine blog.

Fast forward three days – there I am with a bottle of wine, no wine glasses so I’m drinking out of a Chimay goblet, a Banquet brand TV dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, a box of chocolate chip cookies and watching The Godfather II. Clearly, the way wine was meant to be enjoyed. The wine, by the way, is a 2003 BV Coastal Estates Pinot Noir. Here’s what I thought:

Nose – (See what I did there? That’s a wine tasting phrase.) – The smell is kinda fruity, almost like sangria even. There seems to be some cherry going on. Not overpowering at all, this seems like a fairly light wine. I’m expecting this to be a pretty sweet red.

Legs – Hard to tell. I’m not sure the goblet is the best glass for this test, but not exactly the stuff ZZ Top writes songs about.

Ok, that’s all the wine tasting terms I know, so let’s get to drinkin’. As expected, it’s fairly light, but not as simple as I thought. Pretty complex under there. The cherry is still there, some other generic “fruit” tastes that I don’t quite recognize (a little like that fruity pebbles milk taste), and maybe some oak too. The oak hits at the end, so it doesn’t leave you feeling all diabetic. All in all, this is a very drinkable wine. Clearly, given my choice of meals, it will “go” with just about anything. This is just light enough for white meat, and bold enough for steak. I’m gonna say, two corks up…or whatever. If you aren’t sure what to get, you won’t go wrong with it. You aren’t going to impress a date with it, but it’s a good enough table wine she might like your style if she thinks it’s your “everyday”.

Enjoy,
Rob (ar_oh_bee)

Eh... it's ok.

It tastes sort of like a pear, I guess. It's not as crisp as it should be. A little too sweet. Definitely drinkable, though. Wait... does it taste just the slightest bit soapy, or is that just me?

The problem is that it's just not Ace Pear Cider. I'm making an unfair comparison, but I can't help it. Ace Pear Cider is transcendent.

This is kinda like soda--ginger ale, actually. Not transcendent. Sigh. I won't buy it again if I can get Ace.

I bought this bottle for looking_askance's birthday. We popped it open and it's wonderful, as I expected.

Rebecca says it smells like Swiss cheese. It does smell like Swiss cheese! And I think it smells like cashews, but Rebecca says the only thing it smells like is Swiss cheese.

It's got the perfect mouthfeel. Light and sparkly, but not without substance.

I wish Zac were here to give his opinion. I may need to buy another $40 bottle of sparkling wine just so the kid can sniff it and give me his unadulterated opinion--which I value very highly. Most wine drinkers' opinions are the antithesis of unadulterated.

Gotta get back to the party. Happy birthday, looking_askance!

First post. w00t.

I just opened the bottle of wine I got in Missourah. Dang, it smells like Wine with a capital "w". I bet my sister would totally hate it. It smells like "burnt toast with a hint of cassis." (Not really, I just made that up.) It smells like, uh, grapes and stuff. I do get a whiff of cherries, and something that almost reminds me of suede. Judging from the sniff factor, I predict this will not be a highly complex wine.

Very deep garnet color and WHOA, check out those legs! It clings lovingly to the glass, like those latex pasties cling to a stripper's nipples.

Now for the tasting part. (I was stalling because I ate a big, juicy nectarine a few minutes ago and I didn't want it to affect my palate.)

I was right, it isn't highly complex. But it's not simple, either. As for the finish--and don't you DARE tell Roni--I gave Zac a taste and he said "I hate this. But it just goes right away." HAHAHA, it does go right away. This is not to say it's not good, but it's not going to compete with well-aged Burgundies or anything.

Zac says "it smells like that stuff we dipped our bread into that time". Further questioning reveals that he is referring to the balsamic vinegar at Italian restaurants. I asked, "So you're saying it smells like Balsamic vinegar?" He said, "Yes, and I think it kinda smells like the stuff you put in your throat when it feels nasty to make it feel better." So... Zac says it smells like Balsamic vinegar and cough syrup. Not an overwhelmingly great review, but I promise it tastes much better than he makes it sound!

Overall, I like it. Granted, there are few wines I've tried that I flat out didn't like. I may grab some Havarti to go along with the next glass.

this is all zacs idea (Zac typed that part.)

EDIT: This is the winemaker's description from the web site: "Flavors of red cherries, freshly roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate complement the silky texture and smooth tanins of this wine. Our winemakers chose small batch fermentation and low intervention winemaking techniques, where less is more, to create this elegant dry red selection."

YES, THEY MISSPELLED TANNINS.