Difference between revisions of "3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Vintage"

Revision as of 14:50, 8 February 2015

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Description

Ouce Geuze Vintage is 3 Fonteinen's reserve series geuze. Unlike regularly released 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze, which is widely distributed in Europe and North America, Oude Geuze Vintage is limited to local distribution, primarily within Belgium. Oude Geuze Vintage is hand selected and blended by Armand Debelder for its flavor and character, bottled, and stored within the cellars at 3 Fonteinen and released several years later instead of being released after the typical maturation period of six months for the regularly released Oude Geuze. It is released in both 375ml and 750ml bottles and is labeled as 6% ABV.

History / Other Notes

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Vintage was first released in the spring of 2002. This year is also the most prolific year in terms of batches released. Subsequent years have varied in terms of individual bottling dates and bottling sizes. All labels have featured either the common yellow 3 Fonteinen label with the word "vintage" or the red Felix De Boeck "Nightlights" label (explained below). The only exception to this is the February 14, 2007 label that reads St. Valentijn Cuvée.

The February 14, 2007 bottling, however, came with both the regular vintage yellow label as well as with a label that reads St. Valentijn Cuvée. Both synthetic corks and natural corks were used for this bottling.

Unsubstantiated Stories

There are two primary schools of thought as to what makes this beer unique:

1) The beer is Oude Geuze, brewed normally. Then, Armand selected the particular bottles for additional aging at the brewery. For this school of thought to be correct, this means he pulled the entire batch. The bottling dates for Oude Geuze Vintage do not always align with the bottling dates for Oude Geuze.

2) This beer is a custom blend. Armand hand selected barrels and made a blend specifically to be a release of the vintage.

Neither version has been confirmed. 3 Fonteinen's web site description states that Armand selected the geuze that he wanted to age, however it does not clarify if he blended these batches specifically or if he selected certain Oude Geuze blends that he liked and called them vintage.

St. Valentijn Cuvee

In February 14, 2007, Armand bottled a blend of Oude Geuze Vintage as well as the original batch of Hommage. Because of the fruit aromas (and bugs) in the brewery and the fact that it was Valentines day, Armand nicknamed this Oude Geuze Vintage batch "St. Valentijn Cuvee". He created a unique label for this blend. As discussed further below, most of this bottling was done using synthetic corks.

Synthetic Corks

The earliest known use of a synthetic cork by Drie Fonteinen is a regular Oude Geuze 750ml bottled on February 3, 2006. The November 30, 2006 750ml bottling of Oude Geuze Vintage has a synthetic cork as well as most of the February 14, 2007 St. Valentijn Cuvée bottling. The Oude Geuze Vintage bottles with the synthetic corks have been inconsistent, with some bottles being flat and oxidized. The synthetic cork was retired from use after the St. Valentijn Cuvée bottling.

Bottle Log

Bottle Date (mm/dd/yyyy)	Bottle Size	Label / Notes	Image Link
03/07/2002	375ml	Yellow Label
03/08/2002	750ml	"Nightlights" Label
04/13/2002	750ml	"Nightlights" Label
04/13/2002	750ml	Yellow Label
05/07/2002	750ml	"Nightlights" Label	-
05/07/2002	750ml	Yellow Label
03/07/2003	375ml	Yellow Label
04/15/2003	375ml	"Nightlights" Label
05/03/2003	750ml	"Nightlights" Label
05/06/2003	750ml	"Nightlights" Label
04/08/2004	375ml	"Nightlights" Label
04/09/2004	375ml	"Nightlights" Label
02/10/2005	375ml	"Nightlights" Label	-
02/18/2005	750ml	"Nightlights" Label
04/09/2005	375ml	Yellow Label
04/12/2005	375ml	Yellow Label
12/04/2005	375ml	Yellow Label
11/30/2006	750ml	Yellow Label – Synthetic Cork
02/14/2007	750ml	Yellow Label - Synthetic Cork (St Valentijn Cuvee)
02/14/2007	750ml	Yellow Label - (St Valentijn Cuvee)
12/17/2007	750ml	Yellow Label
12/27/2007	750ml	Yellow Label
02/05/2008	750ml	"Nightlights" Label
03/03/2008	375ml	"Nightlights" Label	-
03/10/2008	375ml	"Nightlights" Label	-
03/10/2008	375ml	Yellow Label	-

Felix de Boeck "Nighlights" Label

Felix de Boeck (1898-1995), born in Drogenbos (Flemish Brabant), is regarded as one of the founders of abstract painting in Belgium in the 1920s. De Boeck continued to work on his family farm painting only on Sundays throughout this life. Following a visit to Antwerp in 1950, de Boeck began a series of paintings entitled Nachtlicthen (Nightlights) which depict a "decentralization and fragmentation of the light source inside a clear geometric structure." This series would be interspersed with other paintings throughout the rest of his career.^[1] As a nod to a hometown artist, 3 Fonteinen uses this label for some of its Oude Geuze Vintage releases as well as for the 50th Anniversary Oude Geuze from 1998.

The gallery below is a representation of Nachtlichten spanning de Boeck's career. In 1995, shortly before his death, Felix de Boeck laid the foundation stone for the FeliXart Museum in Drogenbos which opened in 1996. The museum is housed in a modern building that was constructed next to the farmhouse where he lived. The museum houses many of de Boeck's works today as well as other contemporary exhibitions and is located approximately two miles from 3 Fonteinen.

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  Nachtlichten (land, water en lucht), 1950
  Source: Mutual Art

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  Nachtlichten (lucht en water), 1953
  Source: Mutual Art

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  Nachtlichten, 1954
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlichten- Beersel, Drogenbos, Ruisbroek, 1954
  Source: FeliXart

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  Nachtlichten, 1957
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlichten, 1958
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlicthen Beersel, 1970
  Source: Mutual Art

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  Nachtlichten Drogenbos, 1976
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlichten Drogenbos, 1977
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlichten Drogenbos, 1980
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlichten Drogenbos, 1980
  Source: Artnet

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  Nachtlichten, title/date unknown.
  Source: Mutual Art

References

1. ↑ http://www.felixart.org/nl/?n=130&n=1&n=1&auto_id=159

http://www.3fonteinen.be/proef/vintage-geuze.html

Photos

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• 3FonteinenOudeGeuzeVintage-3.jpg
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