Tag Archives: old vines

Commentary, Round-Ups

Mourvèdre Roundup: March 2013

Leave a comment

Your monthly roundup of Mourvèdre-related interestingness from the interwebs circa March 2013.

  • Last month’s roundup led off with a jealosy-stoking post about a major Domaine Tempier tasting, so let’s start March’s roundup with @ErinBScala‘s post on a vertical tasting of Hewitson’s Old Garden Mourvèdre, from the first vintage (1998) through the latest barrel sample (2012). If you don’t know, the Old Garden vineyard, in the Barossa Valley, contains the world’s oldest known Mourvèdre vines. In other words, holy ground. My post on the 2005 (her favorite of the tasting) here.
  • March also saw the 16th Annual Rhone Rangers Weekend Celebration of American Rhones in San Francisco. One of these years, I’ll have to make it to this event. One of this year’s seminars, moderated by @jbonne, was Mourvedre, A Rising Star in the World of American Rhones, described thusly:

Mourvedre has taken center stage in many California Rhone strongholds, long since having outgrown its traditional role as a blending grape that brings structure and ageability to wines based Grenache.  To show that Mourvedre is ready for its renaissance, seven Rhone Rangers winemakers will present their candidates for Mourvedre in a leading role: 2012 TERCERO Rosé (presented by Larry Schaffer), 2010 HOLLY’S HILL Petit Patriarche (presented by Josh Bendick), 2010 DAVID GIRARD Mourvedre (presented by Mari Wells), 2010 FOLIN CELLARS Mourvedre (presented by Rob Folin), 2009 KENNETH VOLK Mourvedre (presented by Ken Volk), 2010 VILLA CREEK “Damas Noir” (presented by Cris Cherry), and 2012 TABLAS CREEK “Vin de Paille Sacrerouge” Dessert Wine (presented by Jason Haas).

  • Artisans of Barossa reminded us that the name Mataro still holds sway in Australia. (And reminded me that I’ve got to find a way to get my hands on more varietal Mourvèdre/Mataro from Australia here in the U.S.)
  • In March, I discovered even more nooks and crannies of the wine world where Mourvèdre wine is made, including Tunisia, Greece, and Mexico.
  • A funny exchange on Twitter about the World Sommelier Competition where the winner mistook a Jumilla Monastrell for an Italian Cannonau in the blind tasting portion. Includes this winning tweet:

 

•••

If you come across any Mourvèdre goodness, let me know and I’ll probably link to it.

Drink Mour Mourvèdre!

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Cameron Hughes Lot 160 Old Vines Zin 2008 Lodi

3 Comments

I always feel a little guilty when I buy a wine from Cameron Hughes and their ilk. If you aren’t familiar with the model, Cameron Hughes calls itself a “modern international negociant.” Negociant is French for “Man Without Dirt”. OK, I just made that up. But a negociant owns no vineyards and buys up various “lots” of wine from wineries and vineyards that are selling them off instead of bottling them. The negociant typically blends them into wines they sell under their own label. For the Cameron Hughes Lot Series, the purchased lots are not blended, but bottled separately. Their website explains a number of reasons why a winery might sell off a perfectly good lot of wine instead of bottling it. And I get it, but I just don’t like not knowing where the wine comes from and who made it. It spoils the romance for me.

But I do buy them occasionally (as well as wines from Vineyard Block Estates, a similar operation). I bought this one because I did a series on Lodi old vines Zin a while back and struck out on most of those wines. I keep wanting to find better examples.

Producer: Who the hell knows. “Cellared and Bottled by Cameron Hughes Wine.”

Grapes: Zinfandel (presumably 100%)

Appellation: Lodi (AVA, California)

Vineyards: It’s a secret. They say the source vineyard consists of 30-60 year old vines.

Winemaking: no idea

Alcohol: 14.9%

Price: $8.99 at Costco in Austin

My tasting notes: Pretty cherry/raspberry/blackberry juice aromas wrapped in creamy oak. A touch of white pepper or maybe clove as well. On the palate it’s very Robitussin, with cherry and vanilla flavors and a peppery bite at the finish. Smooth textured with just a touch of tannic presence. Got awkward on day two.

Overall impression: It tastes good, but isn’t terribly interesting for me. But a good value for a burger/BBQ/party wine at $9. C+/B-

Free association:

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/belljar/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

More info:

6875 cases produced.

Info on the wine (including a video) at the Cameron Hughes website.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

7 Deadly Zins Old Vine Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

10 Comments

7DeadlyZins_bottleshotI don’t know what it is about me and Lodi Zin. I did a series on Lodi old vines Zin a few months ago and only really liked 1 out of 5. Zinfandel has always been one of my favorite grapes, but maybe my palate has shifted away from what these moderately-priced examples can deliver – maybe especially from a hot climate like Lodi. Yet, I keep wanting to give it another chance so I picked this one up recently. Apparently Parker gave this one a 90 and it was around $12 so I thought it was worth a shot. The gimmicky name should have helped me steer clear, but alas, it did not.

Producer: Michael~David Winery

Grapes: Old vines Zinfandel “blended with small amounts of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot” (no %s specified).

Appellation: Lodi (AVA, California)

Vineyards: Blended from 7 Lodi growers.

Winemaking: aged in American oak barrels

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: Around $12

My tasting notes: Bright, sweet, candied berries on the nose with a little mint or menthol (or maybe its just the alcohol showing). Smells a lot like when you walk into a winery – a little overpoweringly ripe. On the palate it’s fleshy with very extracted black fruit with a touch of earth. No structure or acidity to speak of – and it suffers for it.

Overall assessment: This is just too fruit-bomby for my taste these days. C

Free association:

nehi_grape_bottlecap

More info:

A wide range of responses to this wine from bloggers and others: Cork’d (avg. 88), CellarTracker (avg. 85), TasteWine, WineLife365, Wine Belly, La Jolla Mom and Goût Goût !! 味之道 (which is in Japanese so I have no idea whether they liked it or not, but I include it in case you read Japanese – plus, I just like seeing Kanji on my blog)

The back label has the following poem…

I’m raging with ire, an ocean of fire,
My Wrath is the path to all I desire.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I’m inflated with pride, near-bursting inside,
A self-centered repenter, Vanitys’ bride.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I’m mired in mud, inert as a slug,
Sloth is the cloth that’s woven my rug.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I eat day and night, consuming all in my sight,
A Glutton with nothing but a huge appetite.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 My will I ignore, my Envy’s a chore,
Over zealous and jealous, I want so much more.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I’m ravenous to feast, an insatiable beast,
I concede to the Greed demanding release.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.
 I hunger for trust, my craving’s a must,
My sin is the Zin enslaving my Lust.
Oh Lord, forgive me my Zins.

— Kevin Phillips

Not exactly Shakespearean, but I commend the effort. Better than “Drink with hearty meat or pasta dishes.”

Also on the label: “Seven of Lodi’s Best Growers gave their souls to produce this one of a kind sinful blend of seven old vine deadly zins.” Sorry – bad trade.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Deep Purple Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

Leave a comment

I should have known better than to buy this wine. I generally avoid wines with such gimmicky names/labels. But a few months ago I was planning a series of posts on Lodi old vines Zinfandel and was picking up just about every bottle of it I saw. I realized later that this one doesn’t say old vines on the label, so I didn’t include it in the series.

07_deep_purple_labelgrab

Producer: Deep Purple

Grapes: Zinfandel (it’s not stated on the label or fact sheet if it is 100%)

Appellation: Lodi (on the website they note that Lodi is “a totally respectable wine growing area mentioned in a Creedence Clearwater song“)

Winemaking: 8 months in French and American oak.

Alcohol: 13.9% on the label (13.6% on the fact sheet)

Price: about $12

My tasting impressions: In terms of color, “deep purple” it is not. I’d call it light-to-medium color, certainly not inky dark. The first whiff of this wine takes me back to 4th grade. Did you have a slot-car track when you were a kid? Well, remember when, after about 50 laps around the track, you’d get this overheated, metallic smell? That’s what I thought of when I first smelled this wine. (An overheated blender smells about the same, but my mind when to that slot-car track first.) That blows off after a short while and the (somewhat candied) bright berry aromas come to the front. There’s a bit of vanilla and green pepper, too. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied with plum and cherry flavors and a slight herbal edge. Needs some acid.

Overall assessment: In the end, I find this to be a rather simple wine. Expectations play a big role in how satisfied you are with a wine, I think. Based on the name Deep Purple and the wild label with words like “Monster Fruit”, “Exploding” and “Hedonistic”, I was expecting something much different. While it has plenty of fruit (if you don’t mind the candied sort), it’s not a big, bad, hedonistic experience. C/C-

Free association:

hippies-use-sidedoor

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

More info:

Other reviews at Cork’d, Gabe’s View (via Bullz-eye.com) and Top Wine Values.

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Cline Small Berry Mourvedre 2005

4 Comments

Cline_SmallBerry_Mourvedre_05_FrontLabelAs I’ve noted in earlier posts, I’ve been a big fan of Cline wines since my very first trip to wine country in the mid-90s. Theirs was my first introduction to Mourvèdre and I’ve been a “Mourvèdre-head” ever since.

Producer: Cline

Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre

Appellation: Contra Costa County

Vineyards: From a 9-acre block of 100+ year old vines in sandy soil. Dry-farmed (no irrigation) and head trained (not trained onto a trellis system). There are eucalyptus trees near the vineyard, which show up in the profile of this wine (see below).

Winemaking: Fermented in stainless steel, then 15 months in medium-toast French and American oak barrels (a mix of new and used).

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: This wine retails for around $32, I believe.  (I purchased it via Cline’s Pendulum Club.)

My tasting notes: Wow – the aroma of this wine leaps from the glass and all I can think of is Andes Candies – you know, those foil-wrapped chocolate and mint candies. (My wife says it reminds her of Mystic Mints.) Some red fruit as well, but the chocolate/mint really dominates. On the palate, it’s soft-textured, plush even. Red and blue fruit flavors with a minty cool finish. Wild stuff.

Overall assessment: I’ve had several prior vintages of this wine and the mint always stands out (more strongly in this vintage than any I can remember tasting). It comes from the eucalyptus trees near the vineyard. If you’re dubious, there is science supporting this. That clear expression of the vineyard site is exciting to me. The flavor profile may not be for everyone, and I can’t say it’s a strong value, but it’s a distinctive wine that I look forward to trying every year. B+

Free association:

AndesCandies

More info:

The winery’s tech sheet.

Tasting notes at CellarTracker.

Uncategorized

Lodi Old Vines Zin Wrap-up

Leave a comment

I tasted through 5 old vines Zins from Lodi over the past week or two hoping to find a few winners and learn a bit about the style.

Part 1: Spellbound Old Vines Zinfandel 2005 Lodi

Part 2: Ravenswood Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi

Part 3: Gnarly Head Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi

Part 4: Campus Oaks Old Vines Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

Part 5: Plungerhead Old Vines Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

So how did it go and what did I learn?

1. The clear winner was the Ravenswood. It was a damn fine wine for less than $12, showing great fruit, but also some real character: richness, earthiness, depth and structure.

2. But overall, I was a bit disappointed with the wines. I was expecting the old vines to translate into wines with lots of intensity and complexity, with interesting secondary flavors and a sense of terroir. Instead, I feel like the intensity I got was in the sweetness of the fruit (though not necessarily residual sugar in the wine, with the exception of the Campus Oaks). I used terms like candied, overripe, jam, cream soda, and Hawaiian Punch to describe these wines. Perhaps you need to move up the price curve (these were $10-17) to get real character, even if the wines are from old vines. Or perhaps Lodi is too hot to produce wines with structure to rein in the fruit.

3. Lastly, 3 of the 5 wines specified the age of the vines on the bottle: Spellbound at 52 years; Gnarly Head at 35-80 years, and Campus Oaks at 90 years. I think it’s bad form to use the term “old vines” and not specify the age, especially given that there are no regulations about it’s use. So come on Ravenswood and Plungerhead: how old is old?

Hope you enjoyed the series. Perhaps sometime soon I’ll do another old vines Zin series from another appellation. Thea Dwelle’s terrific post on Zinfandel at the brand spanking new Palate Press gives me some good ideas. But if you have a recommendation, leave a comment. Where have you found great old vines Zin in the under $15 range?

Update (11/09/2009): Since I only found one real winner here, I’ve been on the lookout for examples. I came across a post from Frederic Koeppel over at Bigger Than Your Head reviewing 12 other Lodi Zins. He, too, found more dogs than winners, but I thought I’d point you there for some other options. Several of them are quite a bit more than the “everyday” price range I focused on for my series, but not all of them. Check it out.

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Lodi Old Vines Zin Part 5: Plungerhead 2007

1 Comment

This is Part 5 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series. Part 1 was Spellbound 2005, Part 2 was Ravenswood 2006, Part 3 was Gnarly Head 2006 and Part 4 was Campus Oaks 2007. In the next few days I’ll post my overall takeaways (pardon the corporate-speak) from this series.

The last wine I picked up for this Lodi Old Vines Zin series turns out not to be from old vines (I just read the label wrong), so I needed to pick up a replacement. (I didn’t want to end on that Campus Oaks.) I ran into Spec’s and scanned the Zin selection for something that fit the series and wound up with this bottle. It’s a little over the initial price range I specified ($10-15), but I wanted to check this odd closure and was hoping I’d be able to end the series on a high note.

Plungerhead Old Vines Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

Plungerhead_bottleshotProducer: It’s actually a little confusing. The brand is obviously Plungerhead, but it’s from Don Sebastiani & Sons and also sits in their The Other Guys sub-brand.

Grapes: Zinfandel (no indication on label or website whether it’s 100% or a blend)

Appellation: Lodi

Vineyards: No info other than they’re old vines.

Winemaking/aging: No indication on label or website.

Alcohol: 14.9%

Package: Cool label and funky name, though certainly pushing the gimmicky angle. It has a Zork closure. This was my first encounter with a Zork. I must be dense, because I had a lot of trouble with it. You tear off this wraparound piece then you’re left with a plastic cap and a short little plastic “cork” sticking into the bottle neck. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do then. I tried just pulling it off to no avail. I tried wiggling it back and forth – nope. I resorted to jamming a knife under the lip of the cap and prying it up. Uh, if you aren’t going to use a cork, just use a screwcap, please. [Gary V. at WLTV did an episode on wines with a Zork closure and he had a much easier time than I did. Apparently, I’m just a doofus.] Also, since I hadn’t seen a Zork closure before, I assumed it had something to do with the brand Plungerhead. I mean, it’s a red rubbery cap – it seemed to be a part of their shtick. So I accepted it in that context, but I don’t think I’d like it, aesthetically, on any old bottle.

Price: $17 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: This wine has an aggressive nose of creamy red berries, cedar and sweet tobacco. Very oaky. The palate is loaded with more vanilla creaminess, like a cream soda mixed with dark cherry juice. Some spice shows up at the end and some heat, like cinnamon red-hots soaked in vodka.

Overall assessment: I’m going to coin a new term for this wine: it’s a “froak bomb” [fruit + oak – restraint]. Having said that, it’s tasty. It’s like deep-fried Oreos: you may not serve them at a dinner party (do people still have dinner parties?), but you don’t mind scarfing a few down at the fair. B-

Free association:

deepfriedoreos

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidiot/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

More info:

Winery’s tech sheet.

Other reviews at: Wine Drank By John Jaster, Tastings by Gary and Allison, Good Juice Bad Juice and Corkd

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Lodi Old Vines Zin Part 4: Campus Oaks

Leave a comment

This is Part 4 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series. Part 1 was Spellbound 2005, Part 2 was Ravenswood 2006 and Part 3 was Gnarly Head 2006.

Campus Oaks Old Vines Zinfandel 2007 Lodi

campusoaks_snapshotProducer: Campus Oaks (Gnekow Family Winery)

Grapes: 100% Zinfandel

Appellation: Lodi

Vineyards: The grapes are sourced from vineyards averaging 90 years old.

Winemaking/Aging: There is no indication of the oak treatment on the label or the winery’s website.

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: I paid $14 at Central Market in Austin

My tasting notes: Whoa – the color on this is very light. It looks like a White Zinfandel that skipped a few showers. I literally could read the newspaper through it (trust me, I actually did it). Hmm, I’m worried. The nose has a nice raspberry creme note, but there’s a lot of sweetness coming through and a bit of the alcohol. On the palate, I get red fruit and even some overripe peach, wrapped in vanilla creaminess, but I find it soft and flabby and in need of some acid or tannic backbone. Definitely some residual sugar, too.

Overall assessment: Different strokes for different folks. This wine is not for me. D+

Free association: Seems like it would be a winner on a bachelorette party wine tour bus.

partybus

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clockwerx/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

More info:

Winery’s tech sheet for the 2006 vintage.

Mark over at 1337Wine TV tasted this wine recently.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Lodi Old Vines Zin Part 3: Gnarly Head

Leave a comment

This is Part 3 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series.  Part 1 was the Spellbound 2005 and Part 2 was the (great value!) Ravenswood 2006. I have a few more bottles to try out so check back or subscribe to the RSS feed.  If you have some Lodi OVZ favorites, leave a comment.

Gnarley Head Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi

GnarlyHead_OVZLodi_snapshot.gifProducer: Gnarly Head

Grapes: Zinfandel (neither the label nor the website says whether it’s 100% or a blend)

Appellation: Lodi

Vineyards: 35-80 year old head-pruned vines in sandy soils.

Winemaking/Aging: Aged in not one, not two, but three types of oak: French, American and Hungarian. Neither the label nor the website says exactly how long it spends in oak or the % new.

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: About $10-12

My tasting notes: Dusty dark fruit on the nose with lots of black pepper and a hint of green pepper. On the palate, I get spiced berries and plum. The  flavors are rich, but it quickly starts to feel a bit light/hollow. The finish is short and a bit hot.

Overall assessment: The flavor profile is fine, but the wine lacks the depth or intensity that I expect from old vines Zin. It’s pleasant, but not memorable. C

Free association: Lightweight and disappears quickly … like the Spin Doctors. (click for video)

little_miss_cant_be281x211

More info:

Gnarly Head’s tech sheet.

Lots of other bloggers have posted on this, including: Daily Wine Tasting, A Bottle A Week, Wine For The Cheap and Gabe’s View.

Some notes at Cork’d.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Lodi Old Vines Zin Part 2: Ravenswood

1 Comment

This is Part 2 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series.  Part 1 was the Spellbound 2005.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Ravenswood. Vintner’s Blend was one of my favorites when I was first getting into wine and their No Wimpy Wines slogan was appealing to that early-20s guy still making the transition from of kegs of Natty Light from his college days (or if we were splurging, Killian’s).  Now that I’m more “sophisticated”, I still dig Zin, but I appreciate Ravenswood’s broad range of “County Series” and “Vineyard Designates” wines. So I have high hopes for this bottle, from the County Series.

Ravenswood Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi

RavenswoodOVZ_lodi_snapshotProducer: Ravenswood

Grapes: 78% Zinfandel, 21% Petite Sirah, 1% Carignane (this just barely qualifies for being labeled a Zinfandel; minimum is 75%)

Appellation: Lodi

Vineyards: Old vines in sandy soil. (Neither the label nor the website indicates just how old the vines are.)

Winemaking/Aging: Fermented with native yeasts in open fermenters, hand-punched.  18 months in 100% French oak, 25 – 30% of which was new.

Alcohol: 14.8% (ahem)

Price: About $11-12

Package: I’ve always liked the Ravenswood logo and relatively simple labeling with the appellation clearly shown.

My tasting notes: Deep color. Mixed berries, especially blueberries, on the nose, with pretty strong alcohol coming through along with some oak. On the palate, it’s a rich, plush wine with sweet plum, spice, and an slight funky earthiness that is very appealing. It finishes dry and spicy with some tannic grip and good length, though a bit hot.

Overall assessment: Overall, I think this is a dynamite wine for the price. Feels like the old vines squeezed out some of their essence for this wine. It feels … serious. B+

Free association: Something about this wine reminded me of the sadness of many of Patty Griffin’s songs. Top of the World is one of my favorites. (If you only know the Dixie Chicks version of this song and/or you’re not familiar with Patty Griffin, you’re in for a treat. A sad treat, but a treat nonetheless.)


More info:

Another Wine Blog tasted this wine single-blind and declared it a great value.

Other blogger reviews at Fiesty’s Wines and Gabe’s View.

Loads of tasting notes on CellarTracker.

Gary V. tasted the 2005 vintage of this wine on WineLibraryTV and loved it.