Wine Focus for September: Zinfandel and its cousins

Great to have you with us JIM!!

I have always been a fan of Chateau Montelena's Estate Zinfandel. Good balance, flavor, and complexity. Ages well. Quality is consistent year in and year out.

-Paul W.

Finally near the end of the month I got around to opening a Zinfandel. 2006 ROBERT BIALE VINEYARDS ZINFANDEL MONTE ROSSO, SONOMA VALLEY, CA. 15.8% abv. First planted in the 1800's, the vineyard above the Sonoma Valley was named by Louis M. Martini for its reddish rocky soil. Label mentions "coveted grapes" producing some of the "longest-lived wines" of the region. 550 cases made. Viscous, opaque, and darkly colored wine. Dark berries and leathery notes coat the palate. It tastes mature but not necessarily on the downslope. It doesn't hit me with as much alcoholic heat as you might expect from the alcohol percentage. Two days after the wine was opened, the wine seemed to have mellowed a bit and was pleasantly juicy and fruity, still with dark berries but less savory notes. (from CellarTracker)

I will open a Ridge Zinfandel blend tomorrow and report on the 2007 Ridge Geyserville and 2007 Ridge Lytton Springs in the next few days.

2012 Lusu Cellars Zinfandel (El Dorado County). Made in the former ESJ space on Camelia Street. Definitely an IPOB style zinfandel. Bright red fruit, low alcohol, blazing acidity. I would describe this as a "Pinot-style" Zinfadel! Lovely stuff.

We have always enjoyed Zin's. But most of them are so high in alcohol that we pass them by. We were in a wine club that sent us a Zin with 16.3% alcohol. I plan on sending the winery a note: "Hey guys, we enjoyed your Zin on the rocks. I'm looking forward to 20% in 2020."

Oof. I feel the pain. One of my favorite wineries, Campovida, let their Grenache vineyard get a little out of hand one year. It clocked in at 16.3%, and it definitely tasted like it!!!!! Even the tasting room manager admitted it.

They let me swap it out for two bottles of their lovely, lovely Nero D'Avola!!!!

on 30th Sept had

Delicato Family Vineyards, Old Vine Zinfandel 2013
in French-Asian fusion restaurant Chez Mumtaj - http://www.chezmumtaj.com

Wine soft fruity, very soft and sweetish, tasting sweeter as time went on. backlabel showed 13.5% abv so since CA Zin is nowadays hitting much higher abv I'm assuming there's a lot of RS

Sweetness is supoosed to go well with chillis and I did have a particularly spicy dish and the wine made a good match, but I could have done with less sweetness.

I opened these wines in September but finished the bottles in October.
2007 RIDGE LYTTON SPRINGS, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, CA. Zinfandel blend--71% Zinfandel, 22% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane. 14.4% abv. Opened Sept. 28th. Viscous, darkly colored, aromatic with a lengthy finish. Dark berries with tree bark notes and mild tannins; some dark plum notes also. Mellows a bit after some aeration. I had it with broiled strip steak. The bottle had been on its side and showed a bit of sediment on the side of the bottle and in the dregs of the final glass.

2007 RIDGE GEYSERVILLE, California. 58% Zinfandel, 22% Carignane, 18% Petite Sirah, 2% Mataro. 14.4% abv. Opened Sept. 30th. Viscous. I find some prune and plum on the palate along with spice (pepper.) Smooth and concentrated texture. Layered wine. Where in the past I have been more drawn to the Lytton Springs wines than to Geyserville wines--with a Lytton Springs in the 80's being an epiphany wine for me--I have really liked both the 2006 and 2007 Geyservilles. I prefer this over the Lytton Springs from the same vintage.

Well, it was still September when I was thinking of meals for this weekend.
I was having the first of my latest batch of spaghetti sauce (sort of Bolognese with oxtail for the meat, and mushrooms) on Saturday, and an old Pierre Franey recipe for game hen au vinaigre on Sunday. So I dug out my bottle of Ridge York Creek Zin '03.

Calif. Napa Valley Ridge York Creek Zinfandel 2003 $32.00 Bought 2/08 Drank 10/15 Bought at Ridge Montebello tasting room. 84% Zin, 16% Petite Sirah 14.4% Alcohol

On opening, nice aroma, clear light cherry color. Tastes like older (but not old vine) Zin.
With the spaghetti an hour or so later, it had started to show old tannins. Still good, but time to drink up.
Much better (for no reason I can think of) with the chicken on Sunday. The tannins had moderated overnight in the refrigerator. Very Zinnish, lots of blackberry and some herbaceous flavors. Medium length very even finish. Once again, I don't think waiting longer would make the wine any better.

John, for clarity, it looks like you put the wrong date down for when you drank the Ridge York Creek. You probably intended to say 10/03 or 10/04 since 10/15 has not come around yet (I know because 10/15 is my birthday.)

Sorry, JC. I have my spreadsheet rigged to display "month/year". I guess I should have flagged that, though. And happy birthday!

New Ridge Zinfandels.

I much prefer bicycling on Lytton Springs Road and Chiquita Road to the awful Dry Creek Road, so stopped at Ridge.

I know there is a lot of Ridge love here, and maybe it is a matter of time and maturity, but was not all that thrilled, to be honest.

All 2013 new releases.

The East Bench was bright and lively, with red cherry and berry notes. The lightest of the lineup.

Hooker Creek and Ponzo were darker, earthier versions. Ponzo was probably my favorite.

Pagani showed high alcohol and a pronounced, almost "grainy" sugary level of sweetness that I did not care for in the least!!!!

I can understand your lack of love for bicycling on Dry Creek Road. Have you tried Canyon Road from Geyserville? I'm not going to argue that Canyon Road itself would be a great ride, though the traffic isn't so bad. It drops into Dry Creek Road just below Yoakim Bridge Road, and from there you have all of West Dry Creek Road at your fingertips.

I can understand your lack of love for bicycling on Dry Creek Road. Have you tried Canyon Road from Geyserville? I'm not going to argue that Canyon Road itself would be a great ride, though the traffic isn't so bad. It drops into Dry Creek Road just below Yoakim Bridge Road, and from there you have all of West Dry Creek Road at your fingertips.

Well, there is nothing "wrong" with Dry Creek. It is just too wide, too trafficked, and the entire length is lined with some kind of weird sandy gravel.

I always do West Dry Creek. And have done Canyon, but my favorite is Lytton Springs and Chiquita. Chiquita is amazing.

West Dry Creek is probably my favorite. Lots of rollers for the physical effort. Beautiful. Not too much traffic (but narrow and probably objectively speaking "dangerous" but whatayagonnado?) Especially since the County paved the goat track.

Now if only the State would create a civilized "complete street" along Highway 12 between Sonoma and Glen Ellen, I will be happy. Like they did along 116 at a minimum to Petaluma. What's with the three inch shoulders?

There's a plan, moving at a governmental pace, to put sidewalks, etc, in the Springs area along Hwy 12. It'll probably take a couple or three years.
There was a lot more "country" in that area in about 1950 when my brother and I would take the Greyhound bus from San Jose to Guerneville to visit Grandma and Grandpa.