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WINES By Chuck Hill
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Chuck's Wine Reviews
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Wines of the Week Archive
Zinfandel & Dogs from the Grill - Special Report Zinfandel has become America's adopted "native" red wine. The origin of the first vines brought into California remains a mystery - perhaps they were part of the load that Hungarian expatriate Count Agoston Haraszthy brought back from Europe in the 1860s. Controversy over the grape's parentage continued until the 1990s when genetic tests at UC Davis proved that Zinfandel and Primitivo are the same basic grape. The European Union now allows Italian Primitivo wines to be labeled Zinfandel, so the controversy goes on - but the flavor remains! Juicy berry and "cran-cherry" flavors are great with summer foods from the grill. And this week from the grill, Chef Ted had a doggone good time grilling up a test between brands of hot dogs. We agreed that the finest 'furters were Hebrew National all beef and Nathan's all beef. Oscar Meyer beef franks were a little too artificially-flavored with smoke and spice; Hempelmann's big dinner franks were a little too bland. For best flavor, look for dogs with no added corn syrup. To increase the likelihood of availability, we have included a larger percentage of California Zinfandels in these reviews than the less available Northwest Zins.
Quivira Vineyards California's Dry Creek Valley has become Zinfandel Central for grape sourcing, producing hundreds of Zins each year. Bursting with boysenberry, jammy plum and cherry, and light notes of spicy oak, this is one of the favorite Zinfandels tasted for our 2010 Special Report. As a side note, the wild boar featured on all of Quivira's Zin labels represents the real animal that roams the western reaches of the coastal range. As summer wears on, the animals come down to the vineyards for a refreshing chomp on ripe Zinfandel grapes. We're waiting for Wild Boar Hot Dogs!
Angel Vine
This winery was formerly Three Angels but has changed the name to Angel
Vine. Winemaker Ed Fus crafted this blend to include 18% Primitivo and
6% Petite Sirah, and it is another tasting panel favorite. The nose of
dusty cran-cherry (cranberry texture with
Angel Vine As we further explore the Zinfandels from Ed Fus and his Angel Vine winery, we encounter this offering from a vineyard near Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. A unanimous first place in its flight, it is possible that THIS is the hallmark for varietally true Zinfandel. The nose is spicy with cherry, toast and lead pencil and leads to a lean palate featuring flavors of bright cherry, cranberry, bacon, toast and earthy baking spice.
Barefoot Wines This is a charming little wine with a slight perception of sweetness, lots of cherry fruit with a citrus back, and a price tag that is a fraction of all other Zinfandel wines we have sampled. Winemaker Jennifer Wall has won hundreds of medals for the wines she has produced under the Barefoot label. Bravo!
Bella Winery From the Alexander Valley, the Two Patch designation refers to the two prized "patches" of exceptional vineyard land in northern Sonoma County. Big River Ranch and Todd Brothers Ranch produce superb fruit to create this tasty and forward wine. Look for aromas of dark cherry, cola, black currant and spicy oak. The palate is tangy with cran-cherry flavors that yield to a boysenberry and sweet oak finish.
Maryhill Winery in the Columbia River Gorge offers a great lineup of entertainment in their amphitheater each year. If you are planning a wine tour for Labor Day Weekend, you can visit Maryhill and take advantage of free live music, new bocce courts, barbecue for sale and wine tasting. While you're tasting, slurp a sip of Maryhill's Zinfandel offering light aromas of berry, floral perfume and cedar. The palate will pair well with your barbecue featuring spicy berry and cran-cherry flavors.
Grgich Hills Estate Sometimes money does buy happiness. One of the priciest Zins in our tastings so far, this wine offers impeccable structure and is an excellent candidate for additional aging. The grapes for Grgich Hills Zinfandel come from their estate vineyard near Calistoga in the northern Napa Valley. Look for aromas of blackcurrants and floral perfume, leading to a lip-smacking palate of sweet blackberry, cran-cherry, plums and toasty oak. Excellent balance ensures food compatibility with dogs and more.
Pedroncelli Winery Pedroncelli's Zinfandel vineyards surround the winery and were originally planted in the early 1900s! Vines were head pruned (like a small tree), not cordon pruned to follow a row wire; much of the vineyard remains so to this day. These early "mother" vines are used for cloning replacement Zinfandel vines. This wine has a more complex flavor profile than many of the wines we tasted and shows a gnarly Zinfandel nose with vegetative and fruit components. Look for mouth-filling flavors of blackberry, boysenberry, vanilla, coffee/caramel, mineral and toasty oak. A small price to pay for a taste of what Zinfandel can be - and once was.
Charles Krug Winery This tempting Zin is from the Charles Krug Winery - the oldest winery in the Napa Valley founded in 1861 and carried on through three generations of the Peter Mondavi family. This is a very approachable Zin offering classic blackberry, blueberry, earthy and floral aromas leading to ripe blackberry flavors with notes of spice and vanilla. Soft on the palate, it is a great aperitif red.
Columbia Crest
Stone Tree Vineyard is located near Mattawa in the Wahluke Slope AVA of Washington State. Fruit for this ripe and rich Zinfandel was hand picked ten days earlier than average, following a long, warm growing season. New French and American oak used for aging contribute to complex aromas of spicy berry, cocoa, floral perfume and pepper, and rich flavors of raspberry and blueberry with distinctive caramel, coconut and cedar notes on the finish.
Bella Winery Even though this wine is the current contender for Chef Ted's Sarah Palin Mama Grizzly Award for heavy bottles (empty weight: 2 lbs. 9 oz.), the wine IN the bottle is really tasty. The nose offers dusty blackberry, cocoa and earthy cassis. The palate bursts with flavors of dark plum, coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, lilac and raspberry. For such a heavyweight wine (bottle AND flavor) it still pairs extremely well with foods from the grill.
Solena Cellars Winemaker Laurent Montalieu spent seven years in southern Oregon as the first winemaker for Bridgeview Vineyards. He has since relocated to the northern Willamette Valley, but he keeps a place in his heart for the wines of the warm climes of the south. Showing complexity from extra time in barrel and bottle, look for aromas of cran-cherry and vanilla leading to flavors of ripe plum, citrus and tobacco leaf. Nice with smoky dogs from the grill.
Windsor Sonoma Winemakers Marco Di Giulio and Anthony Austin crafted this sturdy Zinfandel with 11% Carignan. Rich aromas of blackberry and raspberry mingle with notes of rhubarb, meaty bacon and spicy oak. New French and American oak influence the palate with layers of spicy cedar wrapped around blackberry and plum flavors. Great with hot dogs but even better with ribs!
Wilson Winery This was a controversial wine with our tasters. Those of us raised on rare beef, collards and taters 'n gravy found it too tropical and toasty/vanilla. Those of us whose mamas packed Hostess Twinkies in our Roy Rogers lunch box enjoyed the over-the-top, big-fruit-and-barrel character highlighting spicy vanilla, blueberry syrup, coconut, black cherry and smoky cedar.
Thurston Wolfe Zephyr Ridge Vineyard is in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA of Washington State, near the town of Paterson above the Columbia River. A south-sloping, warm site, Zinfandel grapes ripen reliably each year. This wine shows a lot of oak character including coconut and vanilla notes over the strawberry and raspberry aromas. The palate is rich and offers flavors of red-fruit sweetness and a toasty finish. # # #
One-year
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© 2010 Chuck Hill |
cherry
flavor) and spice leads to a palate with earthy/mineral flavors over a
layer of berry and spice. A very dog-friendly Zinfandel. 
