2005 Rosenblum Monterosso Reserve Zinfandel

This was from one of our wine club shipments. It's marked as a "Reserve" which at Rosenblum means that one would normally have a tasting fee associated with this wine.

The presentation is OK. It comes in a Bordeaux bottle, with a foil capsule and a fake cork.

It was a beautiful ruby colour. Before i could even sniff my glass, My mother-in-law had taken a sip and pronounced it sweet. Now, Helen is not a big wine drinker, and what she interprets as sweet is the fruit forward nature of this wine. It tastes like Jam, and Jam (in a jar) is sweet, therefore to Helen this wine is sweet.
The fruitful nose confirms this to be the case.

A swirl gives a thin sheen on the interior of my glass that devolves into legs down the near side of the glass. It also dirtied up the colour somewhat, and added some rubber to the nose.

The taste starts with cherries and ends up with cranberries. I anticipate that more dirt flavours would emerge as the wine oxidized; but it was so good right now that it never got a chance to.

The Verdict:

Awesome

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Monte Rosso Vineyard, Sonoma Valley, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Diageo
Alcohol:	15.2% by Volume

Battle of the Rhône's

So I wanted to see how close one of the prominent "Rhône Rangers" of California could come to an honest-to-god French Rhône wine, so I hopped on down to Nob Hill and bought a Rosenblum Château La Paws Côte Du Bone Roan and the only Appellation Côtes du Rhône Contrôlée that they stocked - a Cellier des Dauphins Prestige Côtes du Rhône.

Presentation

Closure

Dauphins: The plastic capsule encased a synthetic cork that left no tattoo.
Rosenblum: The foil capsule enclosed a synthetic cork that also left no tattoo.

Bottle

Dauphins: Squat, lightweight, puntless pale green bottle. Not in the Rhône shape, but with an embossment that is typical of Rhône bottles.
Rosenblum: Traditional y shaped Rhône bottle in a heavy, dark green glass and a deep punt.

Labeling

Dauphins: Typical French labeling; no indication of what varietals are in the wine, only what varietals might be in the wine, and then only if you memorized the AOC rule list.
Rosenblum: Rear label gives varietals, but not ratios. Some tasting notes provided.

Website

Dauphins:Their English language version of the site for this wine is targeted at the UK market, and it's not clear if the wine is the same in both markets. The UK info is good - even giving pounds of fruit used in fermentation.
Rosenblum: Detailed PDF that expands upon what is on the rear label

The Tasting

Initially, both wines smell very similar, after a swirl the Dauphins came out on top with more earthy smells in the aroma. The Rosenblum had a richer colour. The Rosenblum had a classic syrah burnt rubber on the tongue, but over all the Dauphins was better balanced (this is supposed to be a blend, not a Syrah dominated wine), and improved over the hours sitting in my glass. After leaving both wines overnight, the Dauphins was still better than the Rosenblum which got a little sour.

The Verdict:

While neither is great; The French wine wins.

Vintner:	Cellier des Dauphins
Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, Carignane, Counoise, Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	Appellation Côtes du Rhône Contrôlée, France
Vintage:	2005
Alcohol:	13% by Volume
Vintner:	Rosenblum
Style:	Rhône
Varietals:	Carignane, Syrah, Zinfandel, Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	California
Vintage:	2005
Alcohol:	14.9% by Volume

2004 Earth, Zin, & Fire

SGK bought this wine at Cost+ a couple of years ago on an experimental Zin buying trip.

The presentation is campy - a Bordeaux bottle with flames on the label and painted onto the foil capsule. There is a concert ticket theme to the labeling "With Special Guest Old Gnarley" on the front, and a section/row/seat layout on the back complete with :Showtime begins at 5:00. Love, Zin, and Rock 'n Roll. It had a real cork embossed with a horse of all things. The campy packaging is kind of fun, but my complaint is that the vintage is not displayed clearly, and the vintner is very difficult to determine.

The notes on the vintners page continue the concert theme, but give some additional production information.

Despite the campy appearance and poor labeling, I liked this wine. The nose was pleasant and noticeable from over 12 inches away. SGK thought it was peppery, I got fruit dominating. SGK also craved truffles (the chocolate kind) whilst I wanted truffles (the fungal kind) to accompany this wine. It had legs galore.

It was simple, not complex. Acidic. with a full fruity taste. Pouring it back and forth between glasses softened it up quite a bit. I loved the smell.

The Verdict:

Thumbs up

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Lodi, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Jessie's Grove
Alcohol:	14.2% by Volume
Price:	$12.95

2003 Kunde Shaw Vineyard "Century Vines" Zinfandel

This wine was one of the ones we bought when Jeff Kunde showed us around the Kunde property in Sonoma. We bought it mostly because we Kunde's regular Sonoma Valley Zinfandel is outstanding, and I figured that this one, being from the oldest vines on the property would be out of this world. Jeff did not recommend it to us - it turns out that he's a white wine drinker, so always hesitates to recommend and reds.

The presentation is good. It comes in a Zin bottle. All the required label info is there, along with a short historical blurb. The tasting notes give great info on the harvest and vineyard.

It has a foil capsule, and the real cork was clean - and smelled slightly vinegarish.

It had good clarity and a nice colour, with a fruity smell. The first taste was tangy and acidic.

The swirl left instant legs the length of the glass. Nice, long legs. It was still tangy, and now somewhat watery in taste.

3 trips through the Vinturi gave it some dirt on the nose - but it still tasted tangy.

I decanted the bottle. After 15 minutes, it was only slightly earthier and still tangy. 15 minutes is nothing, so I let it wait another hour. Still tangy. SGK swears it brought her allergies up.

At this point, I'm disappointed - this wine had so much promise. I funnel it back into the bottle to see if it will improve later.

<Sunday Evening>
SGK: It's much better. Still Puckery. Better than the Lemony taste from Thursday.
MRA: More fruit and fuller. By the second glass, I felt it was good.

The Verdict:

Given the length of time it needed to breathe, I surely opened this wine too early.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Shaw Vineyard, Sonoma Valley, California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Kunde
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$45.00

2003 Valley Of The Moon Estate Old Vine Zinfandel

Last spring my son's school had a "camping trip" where we all went to a group camp in the Valley Of The Moon and afterwards we used the opportunity to drink some local wines. The eponymous winery has a reputation for producing "Premium Jug Wines". Given the oxymoronic reputation, I did not expect much, but really wanted to visit it as it is one of the oldest wineries in California, and features prominently in my 1979 edition of the Sunset Guide to California Wine Country, as being a former Parducci property, and indeed even the personal vineyard of the Hearst's.

It has a good presentation. It comes in an attractive silk-screened zinfandel bottle properly labeled. It has a real cork. The mention of "Old Vines" on the label in this case means something as the estate vineyard was planted in the 1850's; and while I do not doubt that most of the vines have been replaced over time; the term "Ancient" might be appropriate here.

It had a real cork that smelled of cherries and left no tattoo.

Given my previous experiences with VOTM wines, I opened it a and walked away from the bottle to take care of my kids and let it breath a little before tasting it.

It had a good colour and berries on the nose. A swirl brought out more berries and a hint of leather. It had minimal legs.

A dark charcoal taste made it better than the previous VOTM that I opened.

The Vinturi brought out raspberries on the nose with a hint a jam.

The Verdict:

It was good.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonomoa Valley AVA, California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Valley Of The Moon
Alcohol:	14.8% by Volume

2003 Trinitas Bigalow Zinfandel

The Bigelow Zin is my favorite zin of all time. I first fell in love with the 2002 vintage, and alas, there is none to be had in the whole world, so I'm now drinking the 2003. fortunately, almost a year has gone buy since I reviewed the 2002, and it's time to see if a year in the bottle makes the 2003 equivalent.

The presentation was identical to the 2002; It came in a Bordeaux bottle. It had a real cork. Not much penetration into the cork, and it left only the faintest of tattoos. One difference to the 2002 is that in the '02, there was a fair amount of sediment around the neck; in the '03 there was none.

It had a rich raspberry colour with raspberries and charcoal on the nose. There were lots of legs long and short. after the swirl I got more raspberries and some chocolate. It's still full and rich with a blackberry taste.

We had it with chocolate fondue, and it picked it up fabulously.

The Verdict:

I have 11 more bottles and plan on drinking them all.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Oakley Contra Costa County, California
Vintage:	2003
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	15.0% by Volume
Price:	$24.36

2005 Cline Ancient Vines Contra Costa Zinfandel

This wine was one of the mixed case we picked up at Costco about a year ago. We chose it because Matt Cline is the winemaker at our favorite house of Zin - Trinitas.

This was the 1st bottle of the 3 I had with Mandy when she came to visit. An '05 is a little on the young side, but I was scraping for something to drink that would not upset my wife. That damn diet again! I figured that if this was outstanding that being a Cline it would be easy to replace.

The presentation was excellent. It came in a traditional Zinfandel bottle. I'm not sure what the 3¢ stamp on the label is supposed to signify, but as it's canceled with an Oakley postmark my guess would be that it has something to do with the acquisition of Cline's Oakley vineyards. The front label has the legals, and the rear contains some good supporting info like Cline's definition of Ancient (80-100 years), why you should care that the grapes are that old, tasting notes, and terrior. They even declare where the minority of the grapes come from (Lodi) which they do not have to do with a County designated wine like this one.

Cline's website is excellent. It gives great info on their vineyards, practices, and history. The tasting notes are also similarly detailed.

It was stoppered with a real cork that left no tattoo. Given the youth of the wine, I was not surprised at the lack of sediment that this implies.

It had a good colour, but was more translucent than I would expect given the varietal and age of the vines.

Initial nose was charcoal and anise.

The swirl yielded a single leg; unusual as with the 14½% ABV I would expect more. The swirl also brought dark fruit to the nose, but none at all on the taste.

After a few minutes open, I did get a hint of fruit. More with every sip, but I don't think It will ever yield any Jam.

I decided to decant it, and we all headed out to Rosenblum for a tasting whilst the Cline breathed in the decanter. Upon our return, it had indeed opened up better, gaining a meaty texture like a mushroom. More fruit. SaraGrace got Cherry's and Plums, and Mandy said it was "Yummy".

I do have another bottle, and I will hold it for at least a year, if not more and probably decant it the morning of the day I plan on drinking it.

The Verdict:

Not as full flavoured as an old vine zin should be. This wine also suffers from being sold to young. It will age to be at least a good wine, but by the time I can tell if it will be outstanding, there will no longer be any available for purchase.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Alicante Bouschet, Carignane
Appellation/Terrior:	Contra Costa County, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Cline
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$18.00SRP

2004 Rosenblum Redwood Valley Annette's Reserve Zin

We bought this wine when we dropped by the vineyard to pick up our club shipment. Pam was working the tasting room and as usual knew exactly what I like.

This Zin is more transparent in colour than most of the good Doctor's wines, with a browner tinge than you would expect from a young wine like this one, with a hint of sediment. It had legs even before the swirl, so it promised to be big!

This wine had the aroma of pluots that I have come to associate with Rosenblum. There were also hints of cinnamon. It tasted of plums, apricots, chocolate, chocolate and chocolate some more. Very tasty. There is a pucker of tannin that follows a full mouth gargle, and nutmegs on the finish.

We had this wine with left-over Indian food (dahl bhat and chicken makanwala). Who says that whites go better with Asian food? This Zin held up to the complex flavours of an Indian curry with bells on. I would say that it went better with this curry than the '99 Pacini went with the Kobe beef.

The presentation was good. It came in a Bordeaux bottle with an agglomerated synthetic cork. The back label gives some info, and the tasting notes give more.

The Verdict:

Yum. Glad I bought two. Want more.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane
Appellation/Terrior:	Redwood Valley, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Rosenblum
Alcohol:	15.5% by Volume
Price:	$28.55

1999 Steele Pacini Zin

The 1998 Pacini Zin is the wine that got me hooked on Zin. We were at the Steele tasting room, and it wasn't even on the menu; it was a library wine that was close to being lost, so they were pouring it to see if they could sell some. I bought a case. A few months later I called the winery to ask if I could get any more; and they only had 8, so I rounded out the case with '99's. That was a year ago. At the time I had a vertical tasting of the '98 and the '99 and found the '98 superior; so I laid down the rest of the '99's until now.

Jed calls the Pacini "Old Vines"; the oldest vines in his vineyard are 67; with the median age probably slightly lower. Since "Old Vines" is not a regulated term, it's open to interpretation. I would call 50-80 year old vines "Mature" and 80-100 "Old" and anything older than a century "Ancient" - but again it's relative. The reason Older vines are sought after is that their lower yields concentrate flavour - and since the Pacini vineyard cannot be irrigated, the yields are closer to those you would get from 80 year old vines.

Now, most people would say an 8 year old Zin is pretty long in the tooth; and you would be right - except that Jed aquired this vineyard in '96 and the first few vintages by any winemaker tend to be overly tannic. The Pacini is no exception; and we all know the cure for too much tannin - let 'em age.

Enough of that. Let's open the wine.

The cork was chock full of sediment (as you would expect from a wine this old) but there was no slippage on the neck of the bottle, so it should have held up well. The tattoo that the cork left me was as dark and persistent as henna. The colour of the wine was that of dried blood - to be expected in an older wine, but a warning that I might have let it age too long.
The nose was of cassis - that's (currants in English but since it's French that makes it more posh). The swirl left twisted legs on my glass.
On the first taste there was toast and the pucker of tannin. If this was a Bordeaux grape I would say there's enough tannin to let it lie a couple more years.
At this point a slight toothache I'm having is distracting me from my sensory inputs - particularly taste and smell, but I did get rich berries on the finish.
I poured a glass to accompany dinner - cherry smoked Kobe ribs. I generally like Zins with bar-b-que, but I'm not sure if this was the best pairing, as it brought out an almost chemical taste, almost like lighter fluid, which is odd as I did not use lighter fluid to start the coals (but then again it could be that darn toothache).
Saragrace got a Bourbon taste - could be related to the toast I got initially.
Later that night I had a second glass, and my daughter popped a dot in my mouth (the candy) and wierdly - I got a smoked salmon taste. I found that interesting, so I stole a watermellon flavoured jelly-belly from my son and hot dogs on the palette. Again I'm suspect as between the fact that the kids had hot dogs for dinner and my toothache I don't trust it.

The presentation was ok. It came in a proper Zin bottle, stoppered with a real cork. The rear label gives no info, but the tasting notes give you a bit about the vineyard.

The Verdict:

I will drink my remaining bottles now, as each day from here on out is killing this wine.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Mendocino, California
Vintage:	1999
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13% by Volume
Price:	$14.61

2004 St. Francis Sonoma Old Vines Zinfandel

This is the third bottle we opened up on Friday night. It was one of the Costco mixed case bunch.

This wine had a rich burgundy colour with peaches on the nose. The fruit smell was not strong enough to hide the alcohol smell from the 15.5% in this bad boy. As the high booze content would suggest, this wine was anything but legless.
On the tongue I got plums and chocolate. I was surprised again that this "Costco special" would be as pleasing as it was; but then again perhaps I'm just addicted to zins...
Later on in the evening a distinct buzz had been achieved and a second glass gave me a nose that was close to the burnt rubber you get in a syrah - and I thought I could taste it too. Another tasting the next evening banished that note as a delusional drunk thought as it was as good on the second day as it was on the first.

The presentation was good. It came in a proper Zin bottle with a synthetic cork. The back label gives some info, and the tasting notes, while for a previous vintage, at least give what they mean by "old vines".

The Verdict:

I would buy more, and would like to try their other Zins.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonoma, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	St. Francis
Alcohol:	15.5% by Volume
Price:	$18.65

2004 Rodney Strong Knotty Vines Sonoma Zinfandel

This is the second bottle we opened up on Friday night. We had bought this about a year and a half ago at Costco as a part of a mixed case; most of which were Zinfandels that the vintners had claimed were "old vine". As there is no governance over the use of "old vine" you have to take any vintners claim to old vines with some sceptiscism. Old to one vintner may mean 20 years, whilst anything under 80 to another is young. Fortunately, Mr. Strong dates his vines on the rear label - at least some of them come from 100 year old vines.

Mr. Strong also claims "Estate" on the label - in this case it's a meaningless claim because Mr. Strong's estate is non-contiguous and in several different AVA's.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this wine as I usually don't expect an excellent wine from a vintner of this size.

The colour was almost as purple as a Petite Sirah (but then again it could be that my glass was still stained from the Petite we had just finished). The nose had white pepper on it and the first taste was of black currants. MMMmmmm.

My wife got citrus on the nose and apples on the tongue. I couldn't get the citrus even after an additional swirl, but after she mentioned it I got both apples and pears on the palette.
By the end of the bottle, I was getting concord grapes sans-fox and SaraGrace was getting lemons.


The presentation was good. It came in a Bordeaux bottle with a real cork. The back label gives some info, and the tasting notes give more.

The Verdict:

I would buy more and drink it now.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonoma, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Rodney Strong
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$18.45

2002 Pura Vida Howell Mountain Zin

Like the last wine was an example of the good side of wine clubs; this wine is an example of the downside. It was part of our Wine Shop at Home shipment for March, and turns out to be a custom label second.

Custom labels, or vanity labels make popular gifts; frequently real estate agents or other personal service professionals will have some made up to give as thanks to their clients. Or perhaps you got married at a winery and wanted to give your guest a gift of your own "personal" wine. There's really nothing wrong with custom labels, except that they are rarely better than average.

What makes me believe that this is a custom label wine is that:

1. There is no URL on the bottle
2. Googling for Pura Vida returns no winery
3. On the bottle it says "Cellared and Bottled by Terroir Napa Valley Wines"
4. On the Terroir Napa Valley Wines web site they do not list the Pura Vida Label
5. And the Wine Shop at Home resells custom labels straight from their web site.

I opened this bottle to accompany some BBQ venison tenderloin steaks. It had a light colour, like a pinot. First sniff gave me charcoal, shortly followed by fruit. very skinny legs only presented themselves at the end of the drain. Then a re-sniff gave me apricots and cherries.
The taste was light with definite oak. It had a boozy finish.
After the first 1/2 glass, I let it sit while I attended to the steaks.

The wine improved slightly with the accompanying meat. It aquired a smokey flavour.
The glass I had after dinner showed the spice and oak I expect from a cab. Why ruin a Zin with Bordeaux flavours???? It also did not open well as it acquired a slightly sour if not bitter taste after breathing in the bottle for a couple of hours.

The presentation was ok. It came with a real cork in a Bordeaux bottle, with no extra data on the label. The tasting notes that accompanied it gave good information about an AVA that I am not familiar with (Howell Mountain), but little about this wine in particular.

The Verdict:

Not so bad I wouldn't cook with it. Should be a $7 bottle of wine.

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Howell Mt., California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Terroir Napa Valley Wines
Alcohol:	15.2% by Volume
Price:	$18.39

2002 Kunde Estate Zin

This is the second of three bottles that we opened up for the Venison BBQ on Wednesday. It is a wine that I picked up at Safeway earlier this year. What attracted me to it was again the 2002 year - wines at Safeway don't usually get that old, and 2002 was a bitchin' year for zin.

This is an estate wine, which legally only means that the vintner owns the vineyard and fermented and aged the wine on the premises. Since the perceived value of estate (amongst those that do not know what it means) is high, plonk makers over use it. On the flip side, at a family run vineyard (as the photo of the Kunde family on the label attests to) this usually means wine from their house, so they are more careful with it (which was the original point of the estate designation on American labels).

The presentation was good. It came with a real cork in a Rhône coloured Bordeaux bottle, with no data on the label. The reason this rates better than an OK is the tasting notes are fantastically detailed.

The wine opened to a big fruity jammy nose full of raspberries. Mmm mmm. The first sip gave a fruit taste with a hint of charcoal. Subsequent sips were predominantly blackberries. There were legs all over the place.
Doug called it big but not monster and claimed a smokey finish.

The Verdict:

Oh Yea. Loved it. Bought the last 14 bottles at Safeway. Liked it enough that I would like to visit Kunde and taste some of their block designated wines.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Mourvèdre
Appellation/Terrior:	Sonoma, California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Kunde
Alcohol:	14.1% by Volume
Price:	$17.39

2004 Steele Catfish Zin

The wife and kids left for Florida on Tuesday, which gives me the chance to BBQ up some venison that I've had in the freezer for a while now (The wife won't eat Bambi), so I had my friend Doug bring over some salad and jerk sauce for the deer and popped open a bottle of Catfish to sip on while the coals got hot.

Catfish is Steele's signature Zin. It's a field blend of century old Zinfandel and whatever else was planted to replace dying vines in the last 100 years. This particular Catfish came in my wine club shipment. When I was last in Kelseyville I bought the 2003 Catfish so was eager to try this one.

The 2004 Catfish is superior to the 2003. It had a much better balance. Thick legs with a beet red colour. The nose was weak enough that I actually snorted some before I could smell it. There was no presence of jam. The great balance in this wine overcame all of this, and it was very enjoyable.

The presentation was great. It came in a proper Zin bottle, stoppered with a real cork. The catfish intertwined into Steele's regular stained glass logo is nice. The rear label gives a great overview of the wine, and the tasting notes give you even more.

The Verdict:

I enjoyed it. Doug really liked it. $20 is a very fair price for this wine.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Merlot, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, others
Appellation/Terrior:	Clear Lake, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13.5% by Volume
Price:	$20.01

2004 Rosenblum San Francisco Bay Zin

I bought this bottle when I went to the lunchtime tasting with some friends from work. Rosenblum only had splits left at the winery, so that's what I ended up with. I figured that being splits, that they would be perfect for my wife to take with her to Florida next week.

Alas, last Friday I was possessed by Bacchus and he needed an extra glass of wine, so I drank this bottle immediately after the three Trinitas wines (of the past three posts), and my wife fell asleep while watching Star Wars, (causing me to finish the split) so I was a little lit when I made my notes :-)

A typical Rosenblum, meaning it's a little on the young side, but it was good never the less. The presentation was good; the split bottle was Bordeaux style, but hey it's a split. It had an agglomerated synthetic cork that left a tattoo on the webbing between my thumb and forefinger, showing great sedimentation.

The labeling was good - all the necessary information is present (Vintage, Vintner, Terrior, Varietal, and Booze content) and in the right places. The tasting notes on Rosenblum's web site give much more information, with datum down to the vineyards and personal history of the growers. That's the type of information that I like to see; too bad there's no room on the label for it.

I don't remember any legs (I was buzzing remember?) but, given the high alcohol content of this wine I assume that there must have been. It tasted of blueberry jam.

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this wine, and will certainly try the other split when I'm sober enough to give it a proper evaluation. Bacchus sure liked it, and at about $17.00 a (split adjusted) bottle this is a good buy, and should prove excellent in a few more months.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Petite Sirah
Appellation/Terrior:	San Francisco Bay, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Rosenblum Cellars
Alcohol:	15.6% by Volume
Price:	$8.16 (split)

A Trinity of Trinitas: Trinitas 2004 Old Vine Cuvée

My mother, her girlfriend and another friend all showed up on Friday night for dinner. We BBQ-d a couple of tri-tips and needed some wine to accompany. Since my mother and her friends all live in Concord; I figured a selection of Contra Costa wines would be in order; so over the course of the evening we opened 3 different bottles from Trinitas. This is the second bottle of those three. Read yesterday's post for the first.

I bought this particular wine based upon my good experiences with their 2002 Bigelow Zin. I opened it without any idea what I was getting into. This wine is a piece of California history - reading the blend of grapes in this puppy is like pulling layers of history off of California's plantings. I would love to believe that this is a field blend of grapes from vineyards that have evolved over the centuries (19th, 20th and 21st).

I am very glad that I had cow on the BBQ as one sip and swirl was enough to see that this wine was meant for beef. The tri-tip was on indirect heat with dried lavender thrown onto the coals to generate smoke (sort of an "Herbs de Provence" smoker) and the lavender really complemented the wine. By accident I ended up with a superior pairing.

The presentation was good. It came in a Rhône bottle; but then this wine is a rather odd blend of Provençal; Rhône; and Zinfandel varietals so the bottle cannot be traditional. It came with a real cork.

The labeling was good - all the necessary information is present (Vintage, Vintner, Terrior, Varietal, and Booze content) and in the right places. The rear label gives tasting notes and history of the region as well as the goal of the vintner; but does not hint at fermentation techniques oak? brix? punch down? etc.) Oddly, Trinitas has chosen less-used names for two of their grapes; Mataro for Mourvèdre and Black Malvoise for Pinot Noir.

There were some good legs, and a nose full of jelly. The colour was a brilliant burgundy. This is truly a heritage wine; the richness of the old vines really shines through.

The Verdict:

Awesome for accompanying smoked meat a BBQ. Well drinkable at other occasions as well. at less than $20 if you are having meat - buy it. I am planning my next BBQ now just so I have an excuse to drink my next bottle of this superior vintage.

Style:	Heritage
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, Carignane, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Contra Costa County, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	14.0% by Volume
Price:	$15.66

A Trinity of Trinitas: Trinitas 2002 Bigalow Zin

My mother, her girlfriend and another friend all showed up last night for dinner. We BBQ-d a couple of tri-tips and needed some wine to accompany. Since my mother and her friends all live in Concord, I figured that a selection of Contra Costa wines would be in order; so over the course of the evening we opened 3 different bottles from Trinitas.

Trinitas is Matt Cline's Hobby vineyard. Matt is the wine maker for the large vintner Cline (which owns a lot of vineyards in Oakley). He married a scion of the Jaccuzi family; Erin. The Trinitas label is a partnership between Matt and Erin and Busch and Rodeno families of Oakley. Their goal is to show off the terrior of heritage vineyards in Contra Costa County.

I first became interested in this particular wine when I started to drive past the vineyard on my way to our ski cabin in Kirkwood. You will see it on your right hand side as you are about to cross the Antioch bridge across the Sacramento river on your way out of the Bay Area. It contains what may likely be the oldest Zinfandel vines in existence. When most of CA was ripping out wine grapes during the "Great Experiment" of prohibition; the vines of Oakley remained in the ground. The Bigelow vineyard contains mostly 120 year old zinfandel vines. Not even Dalmatia can claim an entire vineyard of this grape that old.

This is one of my all time favorite Zins. 2002 was a great year, and this vineyard produces the richest fruit one could imagine. Kudos to Matt and Erin for preserving this vineyard from the city of Oakley's machinations to turn it into a Wal-mart.

The presentation was ok. It came in a Bordeaux bottle rather than a Zinfandel one. It had a real cork. There was a fair amount of sediment around the neck; enough to leave a faint tattoo on the web of my thumb indicating that this wine was stored up-side down (This is good).

The labeling was good - all the necessary information is present (Vintage, Vintner, Terrior, Varietal, and Booze content) and in the right places. The rear label gives tasting notes and history of the region as well as the goal of the vintner; but does not hint at fermentation techniques oak? brix? punch down? etc.)

There were some good legs, the nose was prominent of loganberries. With a brilliant colour, this is a wine full of fruit. The term "Jammy" in this case refers to a spread that you would put on toast. If only there as a jam that tasted like this, PB&J would never be the same (skip the PB!) You can really taste the old vines in this wine. Imagine if you bought a single Jelly Belly jelly bean that somehow ended up with all the flavour of the whole bag - and that's the type of grape that this wine is made of.

The Verdict:

The only Zin that comes close to this one is Trinitas's 2003 CCC Old Vine Zinfandel. Buy it at any price. I would pay upwards of $50-$75 for a bottle of this, so at the $25 I paid for it it's a steal (but don't tell Matt or Erin I said so)

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Oakley (Contra Costa County), California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	15.0% by Volume
Price:	$24.36

2002 Truchard Carneros Zin

Over a year ago my wife signed us up for The Wine Shop At Home, mainly because her good friend Meg was a consultant there, but also to get exposure to wines we wouldn't otherwise find. The Wine Shop At Home is an MLM company (if you want to learn more about MLM companies check out the great information at SaraGraces.com), so this also gave Meg an excuse to come out and visit us for a wine tasting party. Good fun.

The upside of The Wine Shop At Home is that we get 2 wines delivered to us each month (and 4 in December). Now, these wines are pretty hit and miss - as often as you get an excellent wine, you will get one that rates just fair. My biggest complaint though, is that most times the wines are on the young side, meaning that I cellar them and by the time they are ready, The Wine Shop At Home no longer carries it. Bummer. This is why any time we get one that does not suffer from excessive youth, we try it right away.

Since the Truchard was a 2002 it was definitely the right age for a Zin, so we popped it open.

The presentation was non-traditional. It came in a Bordeaux shaped bottle that was the brownish green typical for a Burgundy style wine. It did have a real cork. The labeling was fair - all the necessary information is present (Vintage, Vintner, Terrior, Varietal, and Booze content) but the information on the rear label was more about the colours they chose for the label than the techniques they used to create it.

The nose was not big, but the body was full of fruit. Pomegranate and plums. very nice, but lacked balance with the alcohol - you were left with a strong booze after taste. Colour was average, and unfortunately I did not note the legs because I was using a striated glass (my regular tasting glasses being all in the dishwasher at the time)

The Verdict:

Slightly overpriced. This is a $15 bottle of wine, and if you can find it for $12 It would classify as a good deal.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Carneros, Napa, California
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Truchard
Alcohol:	14.2% by Volume
Price:	$18.89

2002 Dingač

So, as my wife was ordering coffee, I was left wandering the Alameda marketplace with my 1½ year old daughter on my hip, and decided to pop into Farmstead Cheeses & Wines and browse.
I noticed an unfamiliar label amongst their Zins - it appeared to be a Croatian wine. It was in a traditional Zin shaped bottle; so I quickly got excited thinking it may be something special. A few words with the proprietor confirmed my suspicion. I could hardly wait to get it home and try it.

Having been a self confessed Zin fan; I am always on the lookout for a good Zin; the older the vine the better. And what better place to find old vines than the ancestral homeland of the vines smuggled into New York by Gibbs in 1832.

For those unfamiliar with the origins of Zinfandel; in 1832, Herr Gibbs absconded with some vines belonging to the Hapsburgs and kept in their royal collection in Vienna. Herr Gibbs relocated to Long Island where one of those vines ended up being called Zinfandel. (Oddly enough; no Zinfandel is commercially grown on Long Island today). Up until UC Davis researchers stepped in, no one knew where the Hapsburgs got the vines from originally. It turns out that a little known Dalmatian grape called Crljenak Kaštelanski was the source of the clones.

This bottle is labeled "Premium red wine" from Pelješac Peninsula. Given the lack of appellation laws in Croatia, and knowing a bit about how vineyards are managed there; this wine is probably a field blend of Crljenak Kaštelanski (non-cloned Zinfandel), and Zin ancestors Plavac Mali and Dobričić. Un-oaked.

The wine was very un-zin-like. Perhaps given the nature of the field blend and likelihood of non-clones in the vineyard this should not have been surprising; never the less I was disappointed. Too much black pepper. More reminiscent of a mid range Cab than a California Zin. That said, it had a great colour, and was as leggy as all get out. Weak nose.
The presentation was good. I appreciate the traditional bottle. It's getting rare to see Zins packaged in proper Zinfandel bottles (Green, strong shoulder, narrower at the base than the shoulder) it seems that the generic Bordeaux bottle has gained favour. The cork was also real.
As far as the label goes; I like the donkey, but dislike the typical European lack of varietals on the label. For a region lacking formal appellation laws, the omission of a varietal listing is most disturbing.

The Verdict:

While I was disappointed because I was expecting something different; I shouldn't have been. It was a wine worth the price (but not much more).

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Crljenak Kaštelanski, Plavac Mali, Dobričić and others
Appellation/Terrior:	Pelješac Peninsula, Dalmatia
Vintage:	2002
Vintner:	Dingač
Alcohol:	13.5% by Volume
Price:	$24.27