Mataro
Fair Isle Brewing

 

 

I had my first beer from Fair Isle not too long ago and I was quite impressed, so I’ve been on the lookout for more of their stuff. Unfortunately, it seems the latest batch of this one does not use whole cluster grapes, but instead “destemmed and crushed” grapes. That’s too bad, because using every part of the grape would have definitely added some nice tannic complexity. Oh well. Let’s get into it

Pours an opaque reddish purple with a finger of soapy pinkish white head that quickly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

Still, the nose has some pretty nice tannic bitterness to it. I’m picking up on aromas of tannic red wine, grape jelly, black cherry, wet hay, plum skin, earthy wheat, orange blossom honey, lime zest, and sharp oak

Things feel cleaner and less funky in taste, but it’s still incredible. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting grape jelly, lime zest, wet hay, sweet honey, stone, jammy red wine, and light plum. The swallow brings notes of tannic red wine, plum skin, brown sugar, wet hay, sweet honey, bready malt, and black cherry

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes mostly dry and nicely balanced, not a hint of the abv

This one is awesome. It thankfully isn’t too far off from what I was expecting based on what I knew about the previous batch

had this right along with the syrah edition, just gorgeous beers and each with their own character. this one is a little lighter in color, more jewel pink than purple, with good clarity through most of it, a low glow, and a fizzy white belgian looking head on it, really pretty beer in the glass, soft looking, and like the syrah, delicate for its strength. this one is done with mourvedre grapes, so heady. cool they do whole cluster for the refermentation too, full character, skins, flesh, seeds, stems, all of it, and there is lots and lots of terroir in these beers. i think fair isle ranks among the best in the game in terms of quality and refinement on these funky saisons, like its crazy how delicate and seemingly simplistic this is, like if it were a room it would have hardwood floors, pastel bare walls, and like, a retro couch in just the right spot, maybe nothing else, its gorgeous in what it isnt as well as in what it is, thats really hard to do, especially with wood and wild yeasts. i love the mix of funk and their house saison tones, a bit of tartness but not crazy sour or anything, and like the syrah edition, a touch raw on the grain side, maybe unmalted wheat or a really short boil or something. wet earthy minerals all through it, faint key lime, and then from the grapes i get red raspberries and currants, a pinot noir thing too, red apple, and rose wine, very vinous to me, but also like the very essence of the grapes, faint sulfur there, pear, rustic yeast, very mature even with a kind of new oak profile. overall this is wildly delicious, faintly cheesy at first but it dissipates out in a few minutes. lovely carbonation, no sign of its alcohol at all, sexy packaging, sexy beer. world class stuff, would love to see the same thing with white wine grapes in a future series...