Chenin Blanc and Mead

S

Steven Spielmann

Steven Spielmann
I find that even though mead isn't wine my enjoyment of CB-based wines is enhanced by my mead connoisseurship, and vice versa. This is sort of interesting to me in that they're produced from different substances.

I'm getting more out of this crossover than e.g. comparing whiskey, wine, and oak-aged sour ale (panil) to see the similar effects of barrels - it's deeper than that. Or so it seems to me anyway.

Anyone else have experiences like this, either with mead and chenin blanc or with any particular types of wine and other non-wine beverages?
 
I'd like to hear more about your mead connoisseurship.

What is the key variation across examples of mead? Surely not vintage or terroir?
 
What is the key variation across examples of mead? Surely not vintage or terroir?
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There was an excellent article on this subject in The Art of Eating not all that long ago, to which I commend your attention.
 
originally posted by Scott Kraft:
Not terroir per se, but great honey certainly shows its source, no?
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And those distinctions (chestnut flowers vs. heather) are evident in mead?

I love (the diversity of) honey but perhaps have not tasted enough high quality mead.
 
originally posted by Thor:
There was an excellent article on this subject in The Art of Eating not all that long ago, to which I commend your attention.
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I don't subscribe to this magazine but some quick googling and summaries suggest that the main variation in mead is in the brewing additives, making it similar to beer in that respect. Which is what I suspected.

Interesting stuff and I look forward to tasting some high quality examples.
 
I've dropped a line to Ken Schramm (a forum member who is also an experienced meadmaker) to see if we can get his two cents on the subject.
 
I don't subscribe to this magazine but some quick googling and summaries suggest that the main variation in mead is in the brewing additives, making it similar to beer in that respect.
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Well, I'm not sure who wrote the summaries, but that's not what the article suggested. It's a little like the land/hand debate with wine, I suppose, but the best meads' variations (according to their producers) come from the honey, not what happens after.
 
originally posted by Thor:
I don't subscribe to this magazine but some quick googling and summaries suggest that the main variation in mead is in the brewing additives, making it similar to beer in that respect.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure who wrote the summaries, but that's not what the article suggested. It's a little like the land/hand debate with wine, I suppose, but the best meads' variations (according to their producers) come from the honey, not what happens after.
Click to expand...

I believe that the best melomels (honey + fruit) are co-fermented as opposed to being infused with fruit flavor after fermentation.
 
I believe that the best melomels (honey + fruit) are co-fermented as opposed to being infused with fruit flavor after fermentation.
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I should clarify that I was only speaking of plain mead, not the rest of the family.
 
originally posted by Thor:
It's a little like the land/hand debate with wine, I suppose, but the best meads' variations (according to their producers) come from the honey, not what happens after.
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Worth noting.

I still wonder how much this variation is apparent when compared to wine.

There is also variation in wheat and hop harvests from year to year yet most people would acknowledge that the resulting beers are not as dramatically marked as wine by those weather patterns.
 
Well, you asked "What is the key variation across examples of mead?" And the obvious answer, among non-industrial meads, is the honey. You're thinking about vintage variations and minor adjustments to recipes (the latter of which I'm not sure applies to the meads we're talking about), but remember that the principal difference between one mead and another is the type of plant the honey's sourced from, which would certainly be a higher-order variable than weather.
 
Wow, the holidays are busy. I'll try to answer the real questions here in a little bit.

I did want to say though that (a) you can detect honey differences in even pretty good mead, and that (b) quality of honey-in-mead doesn't correspond exactly to quality of honey-for-eating (this makes sense, we don't munch on most of the grapes we make wine out of either). Also that you can make quite different styles regardless of additives. I also don't think that real-world meadmaking has by and large reached anything like the heights of winemaking, but that of all the non-wine beverages out there mead has the most potential to reach a similar level.

None of this gets back to the special issue with the taste comparisons I've been making between mead and chenin blanc, esp. demi-sec, but my impertinent family members demand attention. I'll try to get back here...
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:
I also don't think that real-world meadmaking has by and large reached anything like the heights of winemaking, but that of all the non-wine beverages out there mead has the most potential to reach a similar level
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Interesting. Is there any chemical or mathematical way to quantify whether or not fermenting honey is more complex than wheat and hops? How about fermenting grapes?
 
My friend keeps bees and always has tons of honey that he can't use himself, sell or even give away so he has started making mead. First he made just straight honey wine with nothing added. It was not so good because there was no acidity. Now he adds some raisins, orange peel, etc. and it is much better. If it doesn't ferment dry the resulting wine will give you a tremendous hangover--redolent of blueberries and puking in the woods.

Are there any commercially available meads that are good? Has anyone ever drunk more than one glass of mead in an evening? Did it give you a terrible headache?

Best,
Kay
 
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