Jailbreak Brewery, Laurel, MD
Tasted Wednesday, May 30, 2018 by dcwino with 504 views
It has been so long since I first met Justin that I don’t even recall our first encounter. A few years back, Justin gave up his lucrative career as the CEO of a Washington DC area government contracting and IT firm to start a new and very bold chapter in his life. It seemed like a pretty risky proposition at the time to most of us being the more conventional types. But to Justin, who has always been a risk taker, maverick and adventurous soul, this was simply a natural progression. Justin, also being the adventurous entrepreneur and passionate wino that he is, he initially explored the idea of starting a world class winery locally but soon realized that it would not be possible to do so in the area for all the obvious reasons.
Since he had no desire to turn back, he then decided to invest much of his life savings to start a craft brewery ,“Jailbreak”, expressing Justin’s desire to break out from the corporate world. Some of you may know Justin as Mr. SQN. His love and passion for SQN is quite apparent in the DNA of the Jailbreak brand and its artisan craft beers. Justin makes incredibly complex unique beers with creative if not edgy labels. Much like the inspiration he got from Elaine and Manfred Krankl, each beer label is unique and a one of kind expression. Justin spares no energy or expense in making and marketing world class beers.
Sixteen of us, most of whom have known Justin for a decade or longer got together to celebrate the opening of his new restaurant inside the Jailbreak brewery. We sat all down to enjoy a tasting menu specially prepared by the new chef “Fredo”. The dinner began with all of us sharing our personal histories of how each of us first met Justin. It became quite an emotional moment and there were a few teary eyes amongst the grown men as we reflected on the blessings of getting to know Justin.
To commemorate this momentous occasion, we brought a bunch of rare large format SQNs as well as other “Balla” wines. All the wines showed incredibly well. The dinner started at 6:00 p.m. but the party was still going strong when I left close to the midnight.
DC traffic around 4 pm can be horrendous. This certainly ease the pain.
The 14 Eastside was the best Chardonnay of my life.
Impostor McCoy and In the Crosshairs were served in Double Magnum!
The Poker Face was in Magnum. Naturally, they all showed incredibly young.
*SQN lovers should add 3pts. AFWEs should just move on.
Both in Double Magnum!
Rumors are that the evening ending in the wee hours of dawn with fine bourbons and cigars which is totally expected knowing Justin and the gang. This was a memorable evening of great wines and, more importantly, great friends.
2012 Aubert Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Sweet dense nose displaying deeply toned yellow fruit, peach, pineapple, apple butter, cinnamon, spice spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, packed very ripe yellow fruit, dense and oily, good acidity, spicy mineral and a medium to long dense yellow fruit driven finish. There is noticeable heat/alcohol at the end. This particular bottle is a bit dull and very ripe compare to the last bottle. Very ripe even for Aubert.
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