WTN: 2005 Sobon Estate Fiddletown Lubenko Vineyard Amador County California.

2005 Sobon Estate Fiddletown Lubenko Vineyard Amador County California. 15.2% alcohol. 96% Zinfandel; 4% Petite Syrah. http://www.sobonwine.com/ Screw cap. Chambers Street Wines; Lyle/Asimov bottle. $19.99.

Deep red color, deep hue, intense aroma of spice, fruit and earthen notes, very good fruit and spice flavors, smooth mouth feel, smooth tannins, bit of tannins, very good balance, long finish with good fruit, spice and earthen notes. There is a rather interesting dusty taste that persists for a long time in the finish -- elusive, but still there. A pretty nice Zinfandel with a bit more punch than some, but not in the big leagues. Very good for an organic wine -- which is why I suppose Chambers Street stocks it. 3*.

One last thought: this wine demonstrates why I like 12% alcohol wines. Last night I enjoyed three, almost four glasses of a 12% wine. Tonight I was able to drink only three glasses before I felt a similar buzz. I clearly can drink more 12% wine than than 16% wine -- self evident, I suppose -- but worth remembering when I look at a new wine in the retail stores.

Notes: Winery: From our 95-year old dry farmed, head pruned Lubenko vineyard, planted in 1910. This massive, rich wine has very intriguing aromas of spice, cherry, and concentrated back fruit. The flavors are also very complex with a toasty, dusty-cherry component so typical of the Fiddletown area. The finish is long and lingering.

Regards, Bob

PS: Steve Edmunds asserts that this wine actually comes from Amador County, and I'm sure he's right, but I'll let the original error stand until I find out where I got the bad information.

Strange, I don't know where El Dorado County came from, and I see "located in the Sierra Foothills of Amador County" on the winery's website. Baffling, but corrected here now. B.

Bob; Couldn't help myself; Fiddletown is in Amador County.
Steve

S - - - ! Steve. Thanks so much. I'm going to let it stand on WLDG and correct my diary, just to prove what a gentleman you are.

Regards, Bob

[James Roscoe]

Bob, just to back up Steve, (not that he needs it) but I have met Paul Sobon on numerous occassions and he has always said they are in Amador County.

This is an interesting note. This has always been my favorite zin. I have the 2001 and 2002 tucked away. The 2003 and 2004 were not quite up to the previous vintages. I haven't had the 2005 yet, but your palate often corroborates with mine. I am a little more tollerant of the heat this zin cn bring to the table though.

Thanks, James -- I've corrected the entry -- and clarified my own thinking. Lava Cap is one of my favorite wineries -- they are in the Sierra Foothills in El Dorado County and somehow I had conflated "Sierra Foothills" and "El Dorado County."

According to the Foothills website, there are three counties in the Foothills: Amador County, Calaveras County, and El Dorado County. "As a growing number of wine grape species are being grown, the wine region has grown. It now stretches from Grass Valley and Nevada City -- to the south -- through Eldorado County where you'll find the small cities of Placerville and Cameron Park, and the hamlet of Fair Play, then south to Amador County and its famous Shenendoah Valley-- near Plymouth, to Calaveras County yet farther south. Here, the cities are Murphys (wine-central for Calaveras), San Andreas, and Angel's Camp. Most of the wineyards at about an elevation of 1,500 feet."

I attended a 60 wine tasting of Sierra Foothill wines in San Francisco several years ago, and never tumbled to the fact that there were three counties involved.

The Lyle/Asimov bottles were supposed to teach me something -- and they sure are doing their job. Kinda of embarrassing in one way -- but there is so much to learn about wine.

Thanks, James -- I've corrected the entry -- and clarified my own thinking. Lava Cap is one of my favorite wineries -- they are in the Sierra Foothills in El Dorado County and somehow I had conflated "Sierra Foothills" and "El Dorado County."

According to the Foothills website, there are three counties in the Foothills: Amador County, Calaveras County, and El Dorado County. "As a growing number of wine grape species are being grown, the wine region has grown. It now stretches from Grass Valley and Nevada City -- to the south -- through Eldorado County where you'll find the small cities of Placerville and Cameron Park, and the hamlet of Fair Play, then south to Amador County and its famous Shenendoah Valley-- near Plymouth, to Calaveras County yet farther south. Here, the cities are Murphys (wine-central for Calaveras), San Andreas, and Angel's Camp. Most of the wineyards at about an elevation of 1,500 feet."

I attended a 60 wine tasting of Sierra Foothill wines in San Francisco several years ago, and never tumbled to the fact that there were three counties involved.

It's worse than you thought. Continuing the geography lesson (I'm a recent emigrant from the area), there are over a dozen counties in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. And even if we're talking just about the "Sierra Foothills" AVA, there are pieces of eight counties involved, not just three. Those are Yuba, Nevada, Placer, Tuolomne and Mariposa in addition to the three that have already been mentioned. I think it's fair to call Amador the "epicenter" of wine activity and it and El Dorado are far and away the most prominent, though. I think it's particularly interesting that the website you cited mentioned Grass Valley and Nevada City as being included without noting the county in which they're located, which is Nevada, not those other three. If you're interested, there's a map of the whole thing here: http://www.themapstore.com/store/prodimages/zoompics/3214/3214.htm

Oh, Mark, I am very interested. Thanks so much. Regards, Bob

[James Roscoe]

Bob, I read Asimov's piece in the Times. It's a great strategy to learn about wine. I guess CSW is about the best store in the country. You are lucky to have access to it. I at least have DC which has some pretty nice stuff too. I should have seen if I could have matched Lyle's selections and joined in the learning. Keep us all posted. The notes have been great.

By the way, just about the entire line of Sobon wines is pretty tasty. It's all good qpr too. The cab. sav usually runs around $14 and the sangio. for around $12. Tyr 'em if you see 'em.

I will, James, and I will.

On the Asimov/Lyle front, I plan to wrap the series up with some of Asmimov's and hopefully Lyles notes thrown in.

This bottle of Sobon is a good example of what I'm learning -- I thought I had a pretty good handle on the Sierra Foothills region, and I was way off base.

Thanks for the nice words.

Regards, Bob