Steve Guattery
Steve Guattery
I recall first reading about Panil ales on Wine Therapy, and they've been mentioned on Disorder as well. At my prodding, my brother recently picked up a couple of bottles in Baltimore and brought them with him on a recent visit.
We opened the Panil Barrique Oak-aged Sour Red Ale Batch #10 Riserva 2008. Wow. It's lovely. It has all the distinctive smells of sour Belgian ale (including the note that I'm told comes from Brett in one of the fermentations), but it has a clear note of sour red fruit as well. It has the tartness of sour ales along with well-delineated layers of flavors, including the sour red fruit from the nose. The finish is long, lingering, and refreshing. I occasionally enjoy a bottle of Orval when I'm in a state where it's sold, but this Panil is a couple of steps above. Damn good!
My brother left a bottle of the regular 2007 (I think the batch number was 7, but I didn't record it). My wife and I opened it the next evening. I don't know whether it was the additional age or if there's a big difference between the riserva and the regular, but the 2007 was less focused and lacked the delineation of flavors that the 2008 had. There was also a bitter edge, expecially on the finish. The 2007 is still very good, but not at the same level as the 2008. My wife, whose opinions can often be expressed in binary, loved the 2008 and didn't finish her glass of the 2007.
My understanding is that only the sour red ale is imported to the US, but a cousin who recently visited the brewery in Torrechiara, Italy, sent back pictures of the fairly wide range of brews Panil produces. I'd certainly be interested in trying the others.
We opened the Panil Barrique Oak-aged Sour Red Ale Batch #10 Riserva 2008. Wow. It's lovely. It has all the distinctive smells of sour Belgian ale (including the note that I'm told comes from Brett in one of the fermentations), but it has a clear note of sour red fruit as well. It has the tartness of sour ales along with well-delineated layers of flavors, including the sour red fruit from the nose. The finish is long, lingering, and refreshing. I occasionally enjoy a bottle of Orval when I'm in a state where it's sold, but this Panil is a couple of steps above. Damn good!
My brother left a bottle of the regular 2007 (I think the batch number was 7, but I didn't record it). My wife and I opened it the next evening. I don't know whether it was the additional age or if there's a big difference between the riserva and the regular, but the 2007 was less focused and lacked the delineation of flavors that the 2008 had. There was also a bitter edge, expecially on the finish. The 2007 is still very good, but not at the same level as the 2008. My wife, whose opinions can often be expressed in binary, loved the 2008 and didn't finish her glass of the 2007.
My understanding is that only the sour red ale is imported to the US, but a cousin who recently visited the brewery in Torrechiara, Italy, sent back pictures of the fairly wide range of brews Panil produces. I'd certainly be interested in trying the others.