Monthly Archives: January 2016

Belle Marie Winery

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It’s true that this is mostly a beer blog, but wine drinking adventures are just as fun. I’m pretty sure my palate is too crude to deeply appreciate the complexities of wine, but I do enjoy it almost as much as beer (sometimes). We were driving back on the 15 when I noticed a castle from the freeway. Driving on the 15 is not exactly a rare occurrence, so I must have seen it before, but this time we decided to stop and check it out.

The location is charming, and the grounds are pretty neat. Unfortunately, the photos I took don’t do it justice because I am not a great photographer, and on top of that, the sky was overcast. If you can use your imagination, trust that would be a really cool and romantic place for a picnic and a bottle of wine.

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We had a flight and all of them were pretty good. I particularly liked the 2012 Barbera, which was fruity (berries), smooth, peppery, and a little smoky. The 2013 Grenache had a similar profile – berries, and smoky, but was a bit more tart than the Barbera, and lacked the nice peppery touch. I’m less a fan of the whites, but did like their 2014 Chardonnay, which was buttery, smooth, and light.

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Nice little detour. Next time, I’m stopping by with a picnic basket.

Duck Foot Brewing

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Stopped here after some skeet shooting recently. I forget how massive San Diego county is sometimes. Going shooting on the other side of the county was a bit of a trek, and we decided after hitting some clay pigeons to go hit up some beers at Duck Foot on the way back.

They seem to be a fairly new establishment (I believe I saw a sign stating they were founded just in 2015), but have obviously hit the ground running because every beer I tasted was pretty solid.

Red Ale: 5.6% ABV. Nutty, amber style, well-balanced, malty, and slightly smoky.

West Coast IPA: 6.5% ABV. I was of course looking forward to this one the most. It is very hoppy, floral, and is a lovely golden color. Its texture is light, and it would be a fantastic summer beer. It tastes like it would hold up better in the heat than other thicker IPA’s. It’s also a bit crisp.

Irish Stout: 4.7% ABV. Smoky, well-balanced, and I thought I tasted a little bit of peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Amber: 5.9% ABV. Interesting combination. I’d never had a peanut butter amber, but it was decent. Malty, amber-style beer, enjoyable, though I wish I had tasted it before the Irish stout. I think the Irish stout flavors sort of washed this one out. I’d be willing to give it another go on another occasion.

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