I sometimes joke that I never drink zinfandel.
Well, that is not true. I simply donít drink a
lot of the current manifestations of zinfandel.
I like structure in my wines. Fruit is great but
without acidity to balance it, wines that by
themselves are delicious fail to deliver when it
comes to pairing them with food. We are truly
blessed here in the Russian River Valley with
fruit that ripens fully but still maintains excellent
acidities. The fruit usually is very much in
the blackberry family. However, this vineyard,
while maintaining that excellent structure is
very different in its fruit profile. At first I was
puzzled. Then I deduced (perhaps correctly!)
that since it was on Goldridge soil ( unusual for
zinfandel), it should be different. In any event, it is
the type of zinfandel I would like to drink often.
Very bright, very red fruit. Fresh, focused red
berry, ripe red apple and a spicy note with no
hint of over-ripeness. In the mouth similar
flavors with mouthwatering, refreshing acidity
and moderate tannins. This wine is very reminiscent
of the Swan zins from the early 70ís
from Dry Creek Valley. Hopefully it will age
as well! 138 cases bottled.
