While not swarming with meaderies, Madison is home to two producers of mead and has been for several years. I learned this only a few weeks ago as I was combing area liquor stories in search of new varieties of the venerable drink. Bos Meadery has been out of commission for a while due to the meadery having to move because of renovations to the building it was located in. However, it sounds like they're back on their feet and shipping mead once more, although its availability seems more limited.
It seems that during the Covid lockdown, Colony Nectar Co. collapsed and morphed into Nottingham Nectar under new ownership. Honestly, I can't say I recall ever having heard of Colony Nectar and am unsure if this is because of their poor marketing and distribution or my lack of inquisitiveness. The latter, most likely.
The name and the illuminated N on the label brought the Robin Hood legend to mind along with visions of Falstaffian fellows enjoying the stuff by the flagon. Truth be known, the new name came from the new owner, Patrick Nottingham. The meads are made on the far southeast side of town at Restoration Cider's facilities which must be a hive of activity with all sorts of meads and ciders fermenting away. All four Nottingham varieties are session meads. That is, instead of being full strength wines with full bodies and no carbonation, these are more spritzer-like. They have about half the alcohol at 6% A.B.V. and are fizzy.
The intricacies of the adult beverage market are beeyond my ken so I am left to ponder whether the decision to make session meads exclusively was made after poring over the latest market data or if was more along the lines of guesswork. Other meaderies make these fizzy, lower alcohol meads as well so there's got to be something to it, I'd imagine. Perhaps the regular stuff is viewed as "your dad's mead" by younger people who seem to regard beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale as relics of a forgotten age.
Well, I don't want to drone on about the business side of mead so let's get to the liquid.
Nottingham makes 4 meads: strawberry, cherry, semi-sweet, and semi-dry. I tried the last of these called Bonfire & Battlecries. The going rate seems to be $16/4-pack but I found it a couple bucks cheaper at a certain grocery store on the east side who had upped the price out in the coolers but not in the computers as it came up at $13 and change for "Colony Nectar".
Bonfires & Battlecries is straw colored. Very light. If you were to casually look at the glass and then turn away, you might wonder why someone would put water in a wineglass. What a rube. It is clear and, while I have something of an idea of what to expect bubble-wise with beer, sparkling mead is a whole other kettle of fish, I guess. There was a smattering of bubbles inside but I expected more. I don't know why but I did. The aroma was of - drum roll - honey! It says "Wildflower Honey" on the label but I am unsure what expectations that should be setting up in the gustatory part of my brain. I smelled a scent that was earthy and floral with a dose of vanilla.
Despite the relative paucity of bubbles visible in the glass, this stuff had a firm fizziness to it. Underneath it, though, you could taste a smooth mead. The medium-light body yielded a mild honey sweetness, a little something floral, and vanilla. After a couple sips that vanilla taste became more prominent and the mead took on the complexion of cream soda, albeit a dry one. On the finish, the other honey flavors faded while the vanilla lasted a bit. All that fizz and presumably some tannins left a moderate astringency and a nice, dry ending.
This was tasty stuff! For my taste, it had the perfect dryness. You could discern some remaining sweetness yet it didn't become a tannin fest causing my lips to pucker and gyrate in a vain attempt to move some saliva around to moisten my poor parched mouth. The prominent vanilla taste was wholly unexpected yet quite welcome.
Junk food pairing: Bonfires & Battlecries pairs well with something cheesy. I prefer nacho cheese Bugles.
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