STG does Zinfandel

Michael's
Tasted Thursday, October 27, 2011 by tarheel17 with 460 views

Flight 1 - starter white (1 Note)

  • 2004 Château-Grillet (Neyret-Gachet) Château-Grillet

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Château-Grillet

    My first experience with this producer and appellation. It had a heavy mouthfeel and acted on the bitter side. I found it interesting, but mroe cerebral than tasty. I also didn't pair it very well with the appetizer spread, so I'm sure that didn't help. Less alcohol than a lot of viogniers I've tasted, it was not necessarily floral or perfumed...I would not have known this was viognier until someone told me. I would drink this again if offered, but I don't think I'd buy it.

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Flight 2 - older zins (3 Notes)

  • 1996 Ridge Zinfandel Jimsomare 91 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    tasted blind.
    At first, the fruit appeared muddy and muted and I assumed the wine was 'over the hill'. However, with time in the glass this definitely grew on me, and by the end of the flight it was tied with the #2 blind for my favorite (and WOTN, turns out. Second flight was kind of a bomb...).
    Anyway, the nose had a sweetly licorice tinge to it, and the fruit tasted more subdued next to the juicy#2 and #3. The mouthfeel was the best attribute, and the nose became quite beautifully complex after about 30 minutes.

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  • 2002 Ridge Geyserville 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    tasted blind.
    The nose was bursting with red fruit, lots of raspberry and cherry. The palate had miles of cherry and juicy red fruit that practically gushed out of the glass. THe finish was particularly long in comparison to the others in the flight, and though I found this a little simpler than #1 and #3 , I preferred its youthful exuberance and purity. I guessed it was younger than it was, too (in the 2005 range). Did not pick geyserville!

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  • 2004 Turley Zinfandel Dusi Vineyard 89 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    tasted blind.
    nose: bramble! My first thought was "THIS is zinfandel" - very typically correct. Pepper too, and of course, black and red fruit.
    palate: rather dirty in a good way, the palate showed med-high acid. even with the giveaway bottle shape, I was sill surprised that this wine was a Turley and I was SHOCKED at the 16.9% alcohol on the label. Shocked, I say. It certainly didn't act like the kind of imbalanced wreck I would expect at 16.9% alcohol, and it was miles better than the Carlisles (with purportedly lower alcohol) in the next flight.

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Flight 3 - newwer zins and a ringer (3 Notes)

  • 2004 Carlisle Two Acres 75 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    tasted blind
    I found this damn near unpalatable. The nose had a mocha, smoky thing going on, and alcohol was obvious, though the nose itself wasn't terrible. The palate...oof. I just have written down, "High alc!!!" High oak!!" and then a Mr Poison face. YUCK. I suspected it was the syrah in the flight based on the lack of bramble and the smokiness. According to the bottle this was 15.9% alcohol.

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  • 2006 Carlisle Zinfandel Montafi Ranch 87 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    tasted blind
    nose: a bit chemical in nature, the fruit was sweet and jammy, but not negatively
    palate:higher acid than the #4 wine, the fruit was tasty enough, but lacked complexity. There was some brambly flavor at the very tail end of the palate. I found that I liked this best of the second flight, but that's not saying much. It just seemed simple, overall.

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  • 2009 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Stellwagen Vineyard

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

    tasted blind.
    nose: a little bramble, some ripe-fruited mustyness
    palate: highish alcohol, more oak in this wine compared to those in the first flight, for sure. A little chalky in the mouth, this was OK, but still a palate slammer and I was pre-bruised going in to it (thank you, Carlisles). Still, very young compared to the rest of the tasting, so I will give my next bottle this wine the benefit of further cellaring for sure.

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Flight 4 - dessert (1 Note)

  • NV Alvear Montilla-Moriles PX 1927 Dulce Viejo 86 Points

    Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles

    very viscous, super thick. tasted of brown sugar, dates, candied orange peel...and then midway through my second sip I sensed an aroma that made me think of the cage when we kept hamsters as pets in 3-4th grade. And then I had to stop drinking it. Not really my thing, apparently...and the acid wasn't high enough to take it too seriously.

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