Cantillon Lambic d'Aunis
Description
Lambic d'Aunis (previously labeled as Pineau d'Aunis and Pinot d'Aunis) was originally a test batch using 300 g / Liter of Pineau D'Aunis grapes provided by Olivier Lemasson at Les Vins Contés. This beer is very similar to what was later brewed and released as Zwanze 2011, however that beer also had Brambling Cross hops added. It then became a semi-regular release.
After Olivier Lemason's passing, Cantillon started sourcing the grapes from Jérémy Quastana who used to work for Lemasson and opened his own winery. The Pineau d'Aunis grapes he provides are actually from the parcel previously owned by Lemasson, and are therefore from the very same origin as for hte previous bottlings.
History / Other Notes
Pineau d’Aunis is a grape from the Loire region of France. This is the same region as the Menu Pineau grape. It is known to produce a light and pale wine with earthy, herbal, and distinctly peppery notes, which really shine in some of Lambic d'Aunis bottlings.
Lambic d'Aunis debuted as Pinot d'Aunis at the Lambic Summit in 2010. At the summit, Jean Van Roy described this beer as follows [sic]:
- And this beer here, is a druivenlambic, so it’s a grape lambic. It’s not a Vigneronne, it’s not a Saint Lamvinus. There exists a lot of different types of grapes. And we, at the brewery Cantillon, have a very good contact with a lot of wineries. Lambic is a very special beer. Lambic is a beer as it is made with cereals, but lambic is also close to the wine world. We have a lot of good friends in France and Italy, and one of them asked if it was possible to experiment. Oliver Lemasson is a winemaker in the Loire valley in France he is a producer of natural wines, so he has exactly the same philosophy than us at the Cantillon brewery. Oliver tries to save very old type of grapes. Grapes who have disappeared a bit, a bit like lambic. So we made this experiment with Pinot (Pineau) d’Aunis. So it’s the name of the ... type of grape. It’s a very special grape, used mostly in blends; wines made only with Pinot d’Aunis don’t exist or are very rare, and it’s a grape who gives some spicy notes, pepper notes. [1]
Jean Van Roy originally mistakenly named this beer Pinot d'Aunis, where it should have been Pineau d'Aunis as it is the actual name. Upon realizing the error, he ultimately renamed the beer again to Lambic d'Aunis to remove confusion when he sold the beer to go at Quintessence 2016.
Bottle Log
| Bottle date
(mm/dd/yyyy) |
Cork Date | Bottle Size | Label / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/27/2009 | 2009 | 750 mL | Lambic brewed 12/6/2007 |
| 12/23/2010 | 2010 | 750 mL | Bottled as Zwanze 2011 as well as with the yellow label (in 2017) |
| 10/31/2014 | 2014 | 750 mL | Some bottles corked with 2012 corks, some labels read "Pinaut d'Aunis" |
| 10/19/2015 | 2015 | 750 mL | Yellow label as "Lambic d'Aunis" and white/red commercial label pictured below |
| 11/13/2017 | Season 17/18 | 750 mL | Red label |
| 11/17/2019 | Season 18/19 | 750 mL | 
|
| 11/03/2020 | Season 19/20 | 750 mL | 
|
Label
