Chaucer's Raspberry Mead

[Oskaar]

Chaucer's Raspberry Mead

Appearance:
Clear but not brilliant, color is consistant from middle to edges of glass indicating a young mead/wine. Opens up a bit and produces legs upon swirling. Consistancy seems moderate to good.

Aroma and Flavor:
Vinous with an underlying unfermented honey aroma. Nose is a bit astringent and the honey is pronounced. I would expect the Raspberry aroma to be at least an equal partner in the aroma profile but that is not the case as there is more of a fruity wine expression than Raspberry fruit character. Upon further examination of the bottle I see that this is a Raspberry Wine mixed with mead. (Side note: I called the winemaker and he confirms that this is a young mead that is taken to a dry brix measurment and backsweetened then mixed with a young raspberry wine) OK so I'm dealing with a wine/mead mixture which is young. I think the aromas will become more complimentary as the mead gains more bottle age, but at this point it is very unbalanced in my opinion.Ok, we have a lot of astringency on the attack and it is hot on the tongue. The flavor is disjointed and the different ingredients are pretty pronounced which leads me to think that some barrel time would do this a bit more justice. I don't see that this has been coopered in any oak, and I don't get the impression from the flavor that there is an oak influence, but I will make it a point to check with the winemaker again. He's a very mellow dude and very open about his process. The first time I spoke with him he indicated that subsequent batches of raspberry mead will probably not be blended with wine, and will be more of a traditional melomel. We'll see. ...

Overall Impressions:
Anyhow, this mead is all over the map with it's flavors. There is unfermented honey, fermented red fruit, raspberry, a bit of cinnamon, some cherry and apple at the back, with a bit of plastic across the top of the palate almost "foxy" in flavor (like the aroma of concord grape juice) Anyhow, overall I think this is drinkable chilled, but more time in the bottle is called for. It is disjointed and immature at this point, and needs to resolve some of the clashes on the palate and in the nose/aroma.

Cheers,

Oskaar