Lambic, Brussels, Belgium
“Lambic can be rightly considered the missing link between the worlds of wine and beer, and ‘Saint Lamvinus’ takes this one step further by adding grapes” – Cantillon. Founded in 1900, Cantillon was originally one of hundreds of breweries until it became Belgium’s only brewery in the 2000s, specializing in lambics – spontaneously fermented, aged beers made in open vats called coolships. Operating both as a brewery and now living museum (it is still the only/last lambic brewery), they use only organic grains and hops across all beers. Changing yearly, this vintage is made with cherried merlot (55%), spiced grenache noir (35%) and savoury syrah (10%), all from Bordeaux. ‘Saint Lamvinus’ sees eight weeks of soaking, allowing the lambic to extract every last tannin from the grapes, and then aged for 16-18 months metamorphosing. Taste of heaven, dirty burgundy in colour, silky effervescence, plum powder, aged bitterness turning soft, Dionysus’s last meal, mushroom in dead grass & noble hops. Age, age, age, obviously there is nothing wrong with drinking this righteous bevy now, but extend some patience and you will be rewarded in spades.
