September Wine Focus: Wine 303 - Zinfandel and its family

[Jenise]

Thanks, I love grenache and will see if it's available from my source. I can still add to my order.

[David M. Bueker]

• 2018 Bucklin Bambino Field Blend Old Hill Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (9/29/2021)
  Bright, fresh red fruit, medium body, and overall slurpability. This is one of those “too easy to drink” wines, and it comes at a very reasonable cost. Value and quality wise I rank this alongside the Bedrock OVZ, but it’s a lighter style that is more immediately accessible. Just so much fun.

[Jenise]

And one last thing:

2020 Rivera Primitivo, Salento
Not horrible, but for someone looking for the connection to zinfandel: it's not there. Floral, perfumey, barely medium body--it could be from almost any red grape you've never heard of. But zin, no. The rest will become spaghetti sauce.

Monday is BYO with no corkage at my favourite steakhouse, but Mrs M has a regular bridge meeting on Monday evenings, so when there wasn't one this week I booked a table at Prime and checked Cellartracker. I last had one of these in August 2019 so I took bottle number 2 along with me.

20210927_Ridge East Bench 2015-small.jpg

2015 Ridge Zinfandel East Bench (California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley)

I recall the one two years ago being a bit brash and disjointed, but this was together. Elegant, claret like - but fruitier. It was a delight and matches so well with fillet steak.

John Olney, in his video on the factsheet page for this wine, recommends waiting a few years to drink it; That advice has paid off!.

(incidentally, note the label in my photo shows 14.5% abv, while the factsheet and label on the site says 14.7%. That's because EU law says abv can be shown only as a whole number or .5. A label showing 14.7% abv is illegal, so it seems Ridge produced a different label for export. On other US wines it's usually the importer that slaps a sticky over the surgeon generals warning (also illegal) with the abv given legally in size and volume and etc)

Peter,

Not aware of you know, but Joel acquired the redwood fermenting tanks he used at Ravenswood for Once & Future. It keeps a stylistic and tangible tie from the old to the new.

I didn't know that - thanks. Wither Ravenswood tho'?

[David M. Bueker]

Peter,

Not aware of you know, but Joel acquired the redwood fermenting tanks he used at Ravenswood for Once & Future. It keeps a stylistic and tangible tie from the old to the new.

I didn't know that - thanks. Wither Ravenswood tho'?

Sold for parts by Constellation Brands. It essentially no longer exists.

Sold for parts by Constellation Brands.

I know that - but Jenise enjoyed her 2018 Ravenswood Zin, so perhaps they're doing something right even without the redwood tanks.

My son enjoyed a Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel from Bold Vines of Manteca CA*. Google found a sparse website
https://www.boldvines.com/the-wine
also found https://www.boldvines.com/policies (strangely not linked to in the above) in which the privacy opt out link goes to Delicato.

(I started this section intending to ask who owned Bold Vines, but I now have the answer. Originally I found
https://www.bizapedia.com/trademarks/bo ... 19447.html
which showed Delicato registered the trademark in 2010 but it was cancelled in 2014
but since the T&Cs with the opt-out link is dated 2021 so it seems it is still owned by Delicato).

*Bought from Lidl - if you don't know Lidl it's like Aldi, also a German low price supermarket with wines which are mostly low price and own label.

[David M. Bueker]

Even a blind corporate squirrel finds the occasional nut.

There have been numerous times over the years where a mega-brand has produced a fleeting gem. There was a Martini Cab (I think it was the 2014 Sonoma) that was a screaming deal. The next vintage turned back to corporate plonk.

Ravenswood is now crap, even if they happen to put out a good wine once in a while.

[Jenise]

Ravenswood is now crap, even if they happen to put out a good wine once in a while.

Agreed!