From the Cellar
Beef Ribs and Zin Night (California)
02 Dec 2017- Details
- Category: Uncorked Tonight
(August 3, 2016) ... The annual beef ribs extravaganza at my brother's place occurs late in the summer and frees up room in my freezer for winter ... I also provide a slew of good wines for the event and this year I decided on a full contingent of Zinfandel, old and relatively new, opened in vintage date order:
Beringer 2001 Zinfandel ... Surprisingly soft and gentle of spice, but no fruit.
Beringer 2002 Zinfandel ... Not exactly dead but not real great either, simple and uneventful, the 2001 above was more interesting.
The two Beringers above had one thing in common, they did not live long in the glass, they certainly weren't dead but they offered limited "enjoyment".
The next three wines were younger and not of questionable producers for Zinfandel, starting with the Ravenswood 2004 Vintners' Blend Zinfandel: Ravenswood has been doing Zin right for a long time, and even these entry level wines will age, if you let them - cedary, smoky, oaky and peppery kicked things off - it was definitely an interesting wine and still somewhat alive with barely perceptible dark fruits lingering in the background, it was smooth and came off fairly light on the finish.
Fast forward two vintages and now I have a Four Vines 2006 Old Vines Cuvee Zinfandel in my glass. The nose leans plum and sweet cherry while the palate is nicely fruited and gently spiced with notes of spiced-plum and Christmas cake.
Finally we move ahead 4 more years to one of my new favourites when it comes to Zinfandel producers: Carol Shelton 2010 Monga Zin, Lopez Vineyard - Cucamonga Valley, Old Vine Zinfandel - huge fan of what Carol can coax out of her grapes and this one is no different: it's almost port-like, and has big cherry, plum, vanilla, and cinnamon ... It's rich and robust, a Zin that feels decadent in the mouth.
