Be-bop-a-re-bop

Forestedge Rhubarb Wine (Minnesota) – Unlike so many fruit wines, this doesn’t just taste like the fruit with some alcohol, this actually tastes like wine. There’s a complexity to the tart green-red sharpness, even a bit of what just might be sandy minerality, alongside good acidity and the faintest touch of sweetness to offset. Pretty good. (8/09)

Heimlichberry

Forestedge Chokecherry Wine (Minnesota) – Buried by volatile acidity, and washed-out besides. No good. (8/09)

Hornets' nest

Vino de Shingobee 2006 Staghorn Sumac Wine (Minnesota) – Past its drink-by date, with the reddish bite of sumac given over to semi-oxidized sucrosity. I think this would have been fairly interesting a few years ago. (8/09)

Edmund Fitzgerald

Lake Superior “Kayak” Kölsch (Minnesota) – Frothy and balanced, with an edge of crispness and a saline finish. (8/09)

Lake Superior “Old Man Winter Warmer” Barley Wine Ale (Minnesota) – Dense and heady balsamic sweetness, full of dark brownness. A bit too bitter, though. (8/09)

Lake Superior “Sir Duluth” Oatmeal Stout (Minnesota) – Approachable, but goes nowhere of real consequence, leaving some sticky/malty grain flavor just sitting there, waiting for something.. Good, but only just. (8/09)

Lake Superior “Mesabi” Red (Minnesota) – Intense and hoppy; the opposite of thirst-quenching. Whether one finds this appealing or not will depend on taste. (8/09)

Schell game

Schell Brewery (Minnesota) – I tasted, albeit somewhat uncritically, a mixed six-pack of brews from this New Ulm brewery. The class of the lot is the FireBrick, with its suggestions of reddish sweetness, some wintry spice, and fine balance. Otherwise, I find the beers to lack definition…it’s possible to tell them apart, certainly, but the differences don’t leap forth from the glass. Of the rest of the lineup, the Pilsner is probably the best and most complete, though this is far from my favorite style. I have more expectations for the Caramel Bock than it can satisfy, and the Octoberfest and Zommerfest are barely distinguishable, which seems a shame…both are good, but there’s just not the difference one wants. As for the Pale Ale, it’s fine, but I’m rarely enthralled by this style either. I’m just too much of a Belgian-style proponent, I guess. (11/07)

I'm a little bit country

Alexis Bailly “Country Red” (Minnesota) – Pérlant and somewhat volatile, with a foxy, hybrid-ish core. But the fruit is good, albeit somewhat candied (more jarred Maraschino than Fruit Roll-Up, though there are some darker berries in the mix as well), and the winemaking is otherwise pure, fun, and almost joyful. With a little less volatility, this would taste like a fine chambourcin-dominated blend, which from me is fairly high praise. (8/07)

I'm a little bit rock'n'roll

Alexis Bailly “Country White” (Minnesota) – Sweet, synthetic hard candies, with a cotton candy finish punished by sour, out-of-place acidity. This is pretty awful. I’m surprised; I would have thought the whites from this winery would have a greater chance at success than the reds. (8/07)

Ice cold

Alexis Bailly “Ice Wine” (Minnesota) – Very credible, with concentrated yet ethereal sweetness highly reminiscent of quality ice wines from elsewhere. The major “flaw” (the scare quotes mean it’s not actually an error, merely a lack) is a lack of otherwise identifiable character...either varietal or site-derived. But if there’s one thing that should be easy to achieve in a Minnesota vineyard, it’s frozen grapes. (8/07)