Bottle 50cl. [ Courtesy of Papsoe ]. Clear orange red color with virtually none head. Aroma is moderate to heavy honey, wine, alcohol, wood. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and light acidic with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily - syrupy, carbonation is flat, finish feel is moderate alcoholic. 100908

<b>July 2004 Production Date; Sampled November 2008</b><br /> Served lightly chilled into a large Cabernet wine glass. This mead is still and has a concentrated red color that has a bit of purple to it. When held up to the light it shows a clear, full, cherry red color. The aroma smells of honey with an expressive, bright berry note. The honey actually accentuates the vibrancy of the berry aromatics, pushing it almost into a candy realm; notes of fresh blackberries, a touch of strawberry, and lots of dark fruit make me think of... Ah there it is, I was trying to put my finger on it, but I finally figured out what this reminds me of; fruit cake, or more specifically the alcohol laden, concentrated, dried / candied fruit that one finds in fruit cake; fig, prunes, rum soaked raisin, lots of dried currant and notes that are quite similar to mince-meat pie. What an interesting aroma.<br /><br /> Lightly sweet up front, towards the middle a grape-skin tannin character contributes a bit of structure, this tannic note continues on and lingers in the finish. Lots of berry flavors abound in the flavor, though it does not have the fruit-cake like concentration found in the nose; this last is a good thing as that would likely have been too much. This finishes with a touch of warm alcohol that leaves a soft glow in the throat and belly. There also seems to be some spicy oak notes towards the finish that provides a touch of astringency. Hints of tobacco, a touch of apricot, ripe - slightly concentrated fig, blueberry, blackberry and maybe even a touch of chocolate in the finish at times is noticeable.<br /><br /> I like that this is not overly sweet, it definitely has enough sweetness to showcase the honey notes, but note enough to make this cloying. I also like how the piquant honey notes mix with the soft berry flavors of the Pinot grape. This is really good, certainly the best I have had from Redstone. I was beginning to wonder if they made a serious mead, this one certainly fits the bill, though I could see a characteristic oak touch kicking this up a notch (as long as it was a soft touch). Perhaps a touch too simplistic to be fantastic, but damn this is quite tasty.

Murky reddish brown, no head. Buttery, sweet port wine nose. Vinous flavor, grass, honey; sweet and syrupy. Warming buttery finish. Quite thin, not too sticky palate. Interesting mead.

Bottle (thanks to Papsoe for this one!). Nose is honey, with some alcohol strength. Mouth is sharply wine, brackish, honey, grape skin, tannin. Stings at the back of the throat, but not entirely unpleasent.

(Bottled, produced 07/2004). Dark hazy red wine color, no head. Portwineish, sweetish, herbal with strange berry aroma. Red wine tannines, some port wine, clovey-honey, not sweet. Interesting cross-over of American mead and red wine.