Field trip! A local wine tasting....and one last Zin!

This past Saturday, I hauled the boyfriend over to a branch of the local chain of beer/wine/liquor stores to try out some wines from Bordeaux. Besides trying The Furst... back in September, I haven't had anything else from France. I know next to nothing about this region and am planning on devoting a month or so to it sometime in the future. One of the few things I do know: the reds here will be very different than those found in California. (Shocking! I know!)

Upon arriving at the store, we found out they had other wines besides the Bordeaux, so we got to try a whole bunch. There was also tequila, I believe whiskey and some malt beverages to taste. If you tried everything, you would be having a pretty great day! Actually, one little old lady did really enjoy herself so much they had to ask her to leave - we encountered her in the parking lot, swearing up a storm. 

I didn't really focus on what flavors I was getting from the tastings, but more on if I liked or disliked the wine. I took pictures of the labels for future reference - so I didn't have to write down or try to remember everything. 

Table 1:

2013 J. Hofstatter Pinot Grigio: This is from the same region (Alto Adige) as our Tiefenbrunner from last month. I liked it! 

2010 Bodegas Luzon Jumilla Altos de Luzon: This is the first Spanish wine I've had. It was a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo (new grape!). I liked this so much, I bought a bottle.

 
2013 Tuck Beckstoffer Cabernet Sauvignon Est 75: From Napa, was just okay.

2012 Buglioni Valpolicella Classico Il Valpolicella: From Italy, did not like this one.

2013 Ponzi Vineyards Tavola Pinot Noir: From Oregon. I liked this, but I feel like I still don't get the appeal of Pinot Noir. 

Table 2 (the Bordeaux wines):

2012 Chateau les Cruzelles

2012 Chateau La Point: This was the favorite of the day. The gal who poured for us said that was the overall consensus of everyone else too.

2012 Les Chenes de Macquin

2012 Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot 

2012 Chateau Haut-Bergey: This one also stood out. For the first time, I tasted mineral in a red wine!  
2012 Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere 

The first four are blends of merlot and the last two are blends of cabernet sauvignon. French wines are rarely single varietal like New World ones. Some people end up liking one style over the other. I definitely ended up liking the French reds over the California reds in this tasting.

Table 3:

2012 Layer Cake Sea of Stones: Bottled in Cali, grapes from Argentina. This was a very interesting tasting red blend. I bought a bottle to explore further.

2013 Layer Cake Malbec: Again, bottled in Cali, grapes from Argentina. Just okay

2013 Mountain Door Cabernet Sauvignon: From Cali. Liked better than the Cab from Table 1.

2013 Layer Cake Cabernet Sauvignon: From Cali. Did not like

2013 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon: From Napa. This one was interesting in that it had what seems to be two finishes. However, I did not feel like it was worth the price.


Things I learned from my tasting day:

1 - Take advantage of free tastings!! Follow your local wine store on social media, subscribe to their email list, or check out their website and add the tasting dates to your calendar.

2 - Taking pictures of the labels and price tags (I cropped those!) helps to organize your thoughts later on. I use a website called Cellar Tracker to help me with wine stuff and they have a private notes feature that I used to log in my thoughts about these for future reference.

3 - Not every tasting has to be super in-depth, you don't have to feel like you need to identify all the tasting notes. I just quickly went with "I like this" or "I don't like this". The two wines I really enjoyed, I bought to taste further.

4 - Bring a bottle of water with you! And don't eat mints right before you start. I sort of ruined the taste of the Pinot Grigio because I had a mint after our lunch right before we got to the store. 

Finally, tonight, we end with the last of our Zinfandels for October: Beringer White Zin!

I sort of approached this wine as a joke. It was cheap, my mom loved it when I was growing up, and it was super popular in the 70s, 80s and part of the 90s. However, after researching Zinfandel this month, I have a new appreciation for white Zinfandel.

Remember our discussion on old vine Zin? The vines they use to produce those wines are close to a hundred years old. They have survived two eras where they could have easily been destroyed: prohibition and the 70s. In the 70s, wines like Merlot and Chardonnay were increasing in popularity, while red Zinfandel was decreasing. This meant the Zinfandel vines were in danger of being ripped out to make room for more popular grapes. However, white Zin burst onto the scene and became super popular! Its a sweet wine with a nice finish, making it very easy to drink. Because of this, the vines were saved and we still have those old vines that produce really great Zinny-Zins! (Even though I couldn't tell the difference!)

The white Zin was awful and I did struggle to finish the bottle, but I can now appreciate what the white Zin demand did to save the old vines. I might not drink it again, but I won't make fun of it anymore! 

Old Vine Zinfandel: What is it?

Next time you're shopping for wine, stop by the Zinfandel section and check out how many Zin labels contain "old vine" or "ancient vine". There are actually quite a bit! So what is old vine or ancient vine? Technically, nothing - the terms have no legal definition. However, many claim that vintages made from older vines are much better than those made from younger. Since this month is dedicated to learning about Zinfandel, I thought we should explore this claim.

First, let's talk about grape vines. As vines age, their yield decreases and the quality of the wine produced can also start to degrade. Many popular varieties have lifespans of 30-50 years. In fact, some vines will produce great vintages at less than 10 years. However, Zinfandel takes a long time to even out its flavors and produce good wines - about 30-50 years! Zinfandel vines can live to over a 100 years, so they are right at about middle age when they hit their stride for yield and consistent flavor. 

Once Zinfandel vines hit the last quarter of their life (~75 years), their yields start to decline, but their flavor appears to intensify instead of declining! When wineries put "old vine" or "ancient vine" on their labels, they usually are using vines that are older than 75 years. However, since there is no legal definition to the terms, wineries can use any age vines and term the wine "old vine". Vines of this age produce rich Zins that are characteristic of everything people like about the variety. 

Old vines in Sonoma - really cool looking!

I wanted to set up a taste test designed to see if "old vine" Zins were better than others. I wanted to find wines that hailed from the same area and were made by the same winery, and I found this using Cline Cellars. They have one regular Zin and one labeled ancient vines.

Both wines are from 2013, the regular is from Lodi ($8.99) and the ancient vines vintage ($10.99 on sale) comes from Contra Costa County, which is located between Lodi and San Francisco. 

Let's taste!!

I could smell cherry with the regular Zinfandel, it wasn't very complex. When tasting, I got cherry and strawberry at the start. It's a good blend and I was happy to actually taste strawberry in one of these Zins. I felt it was overpowered in the wines from a couple of weeks ago, I didn't taste it at all. The regular Zin also had some tannins that were pleasant and there was vanilla at the end. Overall, I wasn't that impressed. I think we may need to pay over $11/bottle to find a good Zin. 

The ancient vine Zinfandel was definitely different! It smells like chocolate covered strawberry and you can taste that too. There was also coffee on the tongue. I did like this one better than the regular Zin, but when comparing to other Zins from two weeks ago, it wasn't that great.

Two weeks ago, I tasted another old vine vintage: 2013 Gnarly Head. When compared to each other, the old vine wines were completely different. Cline was not as "jammy" as Gnarly Head. I could not tell if either had more concentrated flavor compared to the regular Zins. In the end, I cannot tell if older vines make better wine. However, we can explore this more in the future, there are some other varieties that are known to get better as the vine age.

So, dear reader, our explorations this week were kind of a bust! However, we got to drink wine, so it can't be all that bad. I'd be interested if you have ever found a difference between older and younger vine Zins and what wineries they came from!

Let's explore the Dry Creek Valley

One of the best known regions in the world for Zinfandel is the Dry Creek Valley in California, and because Zin is our grape of the month, it would be a good idea to learn more about this area. Dry Creek Valley is located in the northern part of Sonoma county and is an American Viticultural Area (AVA).

AVAs are federally-defined areas in the United States the have such unique properties that grapes grown in that area will differ from ones grown in others. So far, I've found AVAs to be easier to understand than designated areas in France or Italy. A new AVA can be created via petition or requests to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. AVAs can span multiple states or cover less than 100 acres.

The valley is compact: 16 miles long by 2 miles wide - it's kind of a slogan for the AVA. It was formed via uplift and then subsidence. Once the valley had subsided, it was filled in with alluvial deposits. This has caused the valley to contain different soil types on the floor of the valley and on the slopes and benches. The hillside vineyards also receive different amounts of sun exposure depending on the direction they face. For such a small AVA, there is an amazing variety of microclimates!

During the day, the coastal mountains protect Dry Creek Valley from the cooler ocean temperatures. This means the valley can see some higher temps, but those same mountains bring in the cool ocean breezes at night. Due to these variations in temperature, the vines are allowed to ripen fully and mature slowly. This is a perfect combination to get the higher alcohol content seen in Zins, giving them their characteristic flavors! If you see a lower alcohol content, this may mean your Zin grapes did not mature fully. Zins from warmer areas will be a bit spicier - this explains why our Dry Creek Vineyards Zin had a nice peppery finish to it.

The valley is also home to other grapes, most notably Sauvignon Blanc. It is actually the most-planted grape in the valley and is grown in vineyards located on the valley floor. The valley has a similar climate to the Bordeaux region in France and is also known for Bordeaux-style blends.

From: www.drycreekvalley.org/ So pretty!!

Dry Creek Valley may be tiny, but it really puts out an amazing variety of grapes grown in a large number of microclimates. Trying a Zinfandel from this region is a definite must!

References:

Dry Creek Valley Wine Region and Appellation

Wine Growers of Dry Creek Valley

Sonoma in Spring

A Guide to Zinfandel Wine Regions

Zinfandel: Not quite sure about this stuff

Well, dear reader, I tried a few Zinfandels the other night, While they were tasty, I ended up feeling like I was drinking jam and almost didn't want to taste the last bottle. That's what Zin is known for: being "jammy". I didn't drink too much Zin before this and I'm not sure I'll drink too much more after this month. Despite that, I still think you should try! Always explore new wines and find stuff you like!

Alright, lets get started, we have a lot to cover!

From left to right, we have:

2013 Dry Creek Vineyard Zinfandel Heritage Vines ($15)

2013 Gnarly Head Zinfandel Old Vine ($9)

2012 Masseria Surani Heracles Primitivo ($14)

2013 Opolo Vineyard Summit Creek Zinfandel ($17)

Let's pause and talk about the prices. I kind went top of the budget ($15/bottle) and a little over on one. Zinfandel appears to be kinda pricey. Especially when I was looking for stuff that came from a specific region. The ones that are blends of Zin from multiple locations are lower in price and I plan to try those later this month. This may be a wine that if you want to grab one for a nice meal (or even pizza, Zin goes great with pizza!) you should to talk to the wine guy at your local store or read up on the differences of the regions to find which highlights characteristics you like.

Alright, back to the tastings - 

The Dry Creek was my most anticipated of the four, so I started with it right away. The Dry Creek area of Sonoma is KNOWN for its Zinfandel vines. On my trip to Sonoma this past spring, I tried a Zin from Valley of the Moon winery that sourced the grapes from a vineyard in Dry Creek and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to try this. Dry Creek Vineyard is also known for their great quality/price ratio wines (QPRs). 

I have to say, this was pretty great! The boyfriend did not enjoy it so much, because of the high tannins. Whoa...slow down...what the hell is a tannin? Let's do an activity! Reader, go to your kitchen and brew yourself a cup of black tea, like Lipton, and lets it steep for about 5 minutes too long. Now take a sip, that feeling in your mouth, that's tannin. It provides structure to your wine. A lot of times these wine terms need to be experienced before you can really wrap your brain around it, that's why exploring different wines is great - you figure out what people are talking about.

We made the mistake of drinking this right after opening, I should have let the bottle stand open (or decanted, but we don't have a decanter) for about an hour before trying. I didn't mind the tannins too much, but they bothered the bf a lot. 

Besides those, we got black cherry and toasted oak when smelling. Wine notes also say black berries but I didn't get those. When we tasted, there was raspberry at first which quickly switched to licorice that quickly switched to pepper at the end. Sounds bad, it wasn't. It's complex and makes you think. Apparently, allspice and Asian spices were also present, I didn't get those.

Score: 5/8 of the tasting notes. That seems about right for me. I still have a hard time picking up real fine or subtle smells and tastes.

On to the next!

The Gnarly Head was my least favorite. It was too sweet for me right out of the bottle (I tried some the next day and it had mellowed). This was literally like drinking toast and jam. The fruit flavors had that characteristic Zin "jammy" quality. This is actually a pretty simple wine, blackberries and mocha on the nose. Got the blackberries on the palate with vanilla and it finished with that toast flavor.

Why are Zins so sweet and jammy? It has to do with their alcohol content. I guess the higher the alcohol, the sweeter the Zin. I would say if you are an entry-level Zin drinker, this may be a good choice for you. The bf ended up liking this one the most.

Gnarly Head is based in Lodi, which is also a big Zinfandel area. In fact, its a very important region because the vines survived Prohibition. Lots of "old vine" Zins originate from Lodi. I know in the last post we talked about "old vine" status and the fact they are supposed to produce better Zins. I'm not so sure with this one. We shall revisit the "old vine" claim with two wines from the same winery - one regular, one old vine. 

Score: 4/5 of the tasting notes.

Number three!

The Opolo Summit Creek - this one was my favorite! The winery/vineyards are located in Paso Robles, which is located in the Central Coast area of Cali. They are supposed to produce less full bodied, less tannin-y Zins. I was a little worried, this Zin comes in at 15.5% alcohol. It could have ended up too sweet, too jammy for me. However, I really enjoyed this one!

There is the jam, but its not overly sweet. Amazing raspberry smell and flavor. The tasting notes also say strawberry, but I never really got that. I think it gets overpowered by all the rest. The tannins are definitely softer in this one. Cinnamon comes in at the very end, but its a pleasant flavor and not overwhelming. The notes also say tea leaves and maybe they are there, perhaps they work to mellow out the cinnamon.

This bottle ran us $2 over budget, but I think it might be worth it. Definitely a great bottle to take to a party. The winery also does Zins sourced from different vineyards and I found their Mountain Zin at my local, non-chain wine store. I grabbed it and I'm going to buy another bottle of this Summit Creek. At some point next year, I'll open them and compare.

Score: 3/5 of the tasting notes, not too shabby!

Finally, the Primitivo!

By the time we got around to tasting this, I was almost done with wine for the night. I was overwhelmed by the jammy flavors and, frankly, feeling the alcohol. But I persevered. 

This wine smells weird, I think it might be licorice. Its not really that fruity on the nose. Overall, its not that jammy. It reminds me of the Opolo, its not as full-bodied or filled with tannins like the Dry Creek. The fruit and spice work together instead of one following the other. I got cherry and licorice on the palate, but strawberry is supposed to be there too. I didn't get that one, though. For me, it tied with the Dry Creek. Primitivos are interesting and I think you should definitely try them!

Score: 2/3 of the tasting notes!

Thanks to the tasting, I now have 5 bottles of open wine that I'm making my way through....really my life is rough! 

So that's Zin...it's jammy, it has a lot of alcohol and it varies quite a lot depending on the region in Cali it comes from. Its not my favorite varietal, but it was fun to try new things. I think I have a good understanding of what tannins are now.  It really helped to taste them in order to understand them.

Grape of the Month: Zinfandel

I wanted to pick a red wine grape this month - it's fall and red wines just seem to make sense! I haven't tried too many Zinfandels, I mostly drink Cabernet Sauvignon (I'm not very hipster with my wine choices!), and thought it would be fun to explore Zins. With a ton of Halloween parties happening in a few weeks, I think this would be a great wine to bring.

Beautiful Zinfandel Grapes!

Zinfandel was thought to only be planted in the United States, but recent DNA evidence has found that it is a clone of the Primitivo grape from Italy and Crljenak Kastelanski in Croatia. I'm totally digging the use of genetics to help solve the mysteries of grape lineages, I get to indulge my nerdiness with lots of neat trivia.

Because Zinfandel is really just grown in a few areas in the world, I thought it would easy to find just a few examples to highlight what people do with it. Well.....I was sooooo wrong. California alone has about a half dozen areas that are known to be great Zin producers. This is gonna be tough.

Zin is known to be a high alcohol wine - think 15-16% in some! The higher the alcohol, the bigger the Zin. The characteristic Zin comes from warmer climates and lower altitudes, but higher altitudes, cooler climes and lower alcohol content can produce some softer versions of it. A lot of Zin labels currently have the "old vine" or "ancient vine" wording added, while this has no legal definition, older vines are thought to produce better tasting Zins.

So this month, I want to find and try the following:
One from the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma - one of the best places for Zin, apparently.

One from the Lodi, California area - also known for their Zin. However, some in my forum community do not like the Lodi Zins, I would like to see if I can figure out why.

One from Paso Robles area - these are less full bodied than other areas in the California, so I'll see if I can taste the difference.

A Primitivo from Italy - I cannot find any Croatian vintages near me, but the local store does have one from Italy.

The local store also carries regular and old vine varietals from the same winery, so I'll grab those and see if there is a noticeable difference

A Zinfandel with a cool label! Cause those are really fun to bring to parties. Some of the cooler looking labels are blends of Zins from around California, so this might produce a uniquely tasting wine. I'm hoping it will be just as great an experience as the A to Z Pinot Gris.

And finally.........I'll turn into your mother and try it, oh you know, you know! WHITE ZINFANDEL
My mom used to drink this and I think its disgusting, but, dear reader, we must persevere in the name of research.

Wow! This is gonna be a big month. Lots to drink. My life is sooooo difficult. :)