White Winter Black Harbor

Brewed by White Winter Winery
Style: Mead
Iron River, Wisconsin USA

Yet another gem at DL day. My first world class mead. Damn tthis is amazing. Deep luscious red color. Aroma of honey, currants, cranberries, raspberries, oak and more! Flavor is sweet and delicious. Berries, oak, honey...oh hell yeah! Thanks to whoever poured this in my glass!!

Waxed topped bottle bonus from tytoanderson. Ty rocks if you didn’t know already. I popped the top off with a bottle opener and splashed myself a bunch. Pours like cranberry juice with no head. Nose is full of honey, currants and some oak. Taste is sweet and full of tons of different fruits and its a big mead with a lot of potency. Boom to the neck.

Bottle from Tytoanderso--as a f’ing bonus! Thanks bro. Great looking bottle. Pours still with a deep ruby body. The aroma is mostly sweet blackberry and mulberry. Vinuous hints in the nose as well. You get a hint of the alcohol in the nose--but nothing like you would expect from a mead this powerful. The mouthfeel is thick, but not overly sticky. Great taste! Lots of honey, berries, port notes, dates and raisins. Very complex.

500ml corked ceramic waxed bottle. Very cool little jug. Thanks, Pantanap! Crystal clear dark rubied deep red-to-black body. Headless, laceless. The nose is intense and super-condensed black currant. Plenty of honey too. Dry, almost tannic nose. Lots of booze on the nose and on the body, but that’s to be expected. Powerful slick and syrupy fruit notes, nearly overpowering, but still holds an intriguing balance to it. It’s about as much force as you can probably put behind some black currant and honey flavors, I imagine.

ABR 2008. Aroma of fruit and berries. Alcohol is there, but not as overpowering as I would have expected for something this strong. Nice sweetness. Excellent.

Bottle. This one has a nice purple color with substantial legs. Aroma is light with some oak, subtle currant and wood. Flavor is oaky with a decent amount of alcohol, oak, vanilla, currant, and light berries. Smooth - very port-like. Tough to know what to make of this. Quite tasty as a spirit/fortified beverage and could use a little time. Unique to say the least, even for a mead. I would give it more time before release, but for what it is its damn good.

Date: 08/09/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Great Taste

Appearance: clear purple, still,
Aroma: sweet aroma with rich blackberry, hint of alcohol,
Flavor: sweet fruity flavor, lots of alcohol, nice tartness to balance the sweetness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **4

ceramic bottle with a waxxed top.... pours a light pomegranete red with no head obviously. nice winelike legs that clinged to the sides of the glass.... strong currant and general sweetness in the nose. oak wasn’t noticeable....flavors were hot and strong currant. burning sensation ensued with every sip. somewhat overbearing overall. this one really needs to mellow out.