2014 Sky Vineyards Zinfandel Mt. Veeder

Community Tasting Notes (22) Avg Score: 90 points

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  11/9/2023 - ekorn wrote:

  This bottle was not too happy to be opened. With a few hours of air, it started to show better, but overall the wine seemed to be in a somewhat grumpy stage.

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  7/23/2023 - PIntag wrote: 82 Points

  14.0% abv.
  My contribution to a family blind Zinfandel tasting. 5 other bottles were in the tasting.
  Really an outlier among 5 other Zins, with very high tartness and lean body. I don't know, this is really under ripe and has no charm at all. Nobody enjoyed this at all, including me. I like balance in reds, and this one is very imbalanced toward the acidic side. I appreciate the style, but this is too extreme for me.

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  5/24/2023 - tomlee wrote: 92 Points

  Crimson in color. 14% ABV. Sensational nose of black fruits, anise and cocoa. Medium body with medium acidity. Claret style Zinfandel with prominent fruits. The wine took about thirty minutes to open up. Black cherry, blackberry, earth and pepper on the palate. Nice length on the finish. The Sky Vineyards Zins reward cellaring but I am inclined to drink this one over the next several years.

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  7/11/2022 - NoahCap wrote:

  What a fascinating wine, and one that’s not your typical overblown Zinfandel fruit bomb. Not at all. This is what Zinfandel would taste like if it were grown in , and made in the traditional style of, Bordeaux.
  
  Very youthful appearing; completely translucent with a watery rim. The nose is complex and evolves rapidly. At first, there was a bit of VA, high end aged balsamic vinegar, then opened up into sour cherry, red plum, spearmint, and for a time, a pronounced clove spiciness that I was sad to see dissipate.
  
  In the mouth, medium acidity, and as many other CellarTracker commenters have noticed, quite high tannins; MKS83 describes the dense tannins as high thread count cotton sheets, and I love this analogy. Red fruits, pepper, soil, long finish of fresh plums. Beautiful. The tannin structure makes me think that this could age beautifully. It’s gone 8 yrs and still is a baby, I’d love to try this at 10, 20, and 30 yrs of age.
  
  This is a great wine that reminds me of two things: 1- Zinfandel is as noble a grape as any. It is pegged as a grape that makes early drinking, inky dark, fruity wines that pair well with BBQ. Some Zins are like that, but this is a different beast altogether. That character speaks more to winemaking style than anything. 2- I’ve got to drink more Zinfandel.

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  7/5/2022 - mks83 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Day 1 - Nose is integrated combination of both fresh and matured - blackberry, black raspberry, red plum, black pepper, highly floral (violet and plum flower), subtle oak, with additional complexity of balsamic vinegar. In the mouth, medium++ plummy acidity, medium+ smooth and high concentration tannin (like high threadcount cotton sheet). Medeum+ length but consistently intense finish. Overall, very old world (reminds of blaufrankish or ripe matured cab franc again). 2013 vintage was still tight when I opened 2 years ago, but this one is fully open from the beginning, and in such a beautiful drinking window now. 91.
  
  Day 2 - Opened up further, I have to adjust the level of tannin/acidity to high (concentration on day 1 transformed into volume). Gained dusty dark cherry/cranberry. 91-92.

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