Fantome Hiver

Looking at notes from March, 2004, back when we had winter in March, for the first time I had this tasty saison:

Label says "Winter", but I can only assume this is the "Hiver", and, while only days ago, I thought it was the beginning of "printemps", well, we got dumped on by 8 inches of snow, here in early March in my little frozen corner of the world, and it's Hiver all over again, why not enjoy it!

Un cap, un cork, POP!!!...ah!...gorgeous, hazy orange color, with a good, buzzing, slight layer of foam above.

Aroma is sour and must with a good portion of citrus, fresh and full, but dominated by this musty orange character.

Taste: puckering ...biting...totally sour flavor, softly fading, leaving a touch of sweet citric quality behind. Let's try again...briefly biting hops, then that sourish pucker, ooh!!!, then after a bit, sweet orange and lemon, tasty...not what I expected from a winter brew when the autumnal variety had such a variety of flavors at it's disposal.

A good saison, but surprising as a "winter beer". Terribly interesting, this, with that never-ending tango of sweet, then sour, then back, then forth, a complex brew, invigorating, delicious, spicy, yet sublime ...
 hurrah for Fantome, I say it loud and proud!

Fantome de Noel

Ah, Fantome! Superlative saison producer of Soy, Belgium. Haven't had one of these in too, too long, so why not get back into it with the Christmas variety. Paid $16.49 for this at Zipp's, more than I normally like to spend, but it was worth it. Had this bottle last night, after a hard evening of bartending an African Christmas Eve party. Exhausting work. Frustrating. And even though I didn't get home until 4 AM, and needed to be ready by 11 AM for the family get-together, I just really wanted a beer, and this was the one I wanted. I turned in around 5:30 and got up at 10 AM. But memories of Fantome Noel made it all worthwhile.
I first had this in September of 2004. I can't imagine a store still having a beer like this that late these days.
Here are the notes I took then:

Stolid eggplant and plummy appearance, resting under a cakey, creamy topping of beigish froth. 

Nose is generously spicy, mixed with dark fruits, cherries, and berries, grapes and dates. 

Taste, mmm,magificent! Active carbonation, brief acidity, but a full flood of complex fruity/ spicy flavors delivers it's payload on the palate with the first sip. Marvelous mouthfeel, paints all corners of the senses with this deliciousness, with a citric twist interjecting now and then. Yeast looms large in the flavor, as well, leaving more of a feel of a spicy raisin cake, or something similar. I never, ever would guess that this is a 10 % brew, but we're only halfway in, so we've only just begun to plunder the full effects of this bottle. Gets better and better as I deplete it...medium body, medium-length, but sweet and spicy finish, softly drifts from the palate, lingers just long enough to keep the impression of eternal delight not far from the mind. 

This is really nice, if not incredibly impressive, but that's not always necessary, is it? A super saison, spicy in just right amount to remain highly pleasurable and not a chore.