Zins As They Age Seminar-Wine World-Friday, Oct. 23

Posted by Bottle Report on Oct 23rd, 2009 in Event Coverage, Featured Articles | 0 comments

Dick and Sally Benjamin were the evening's presenters

Event:
“Why a seminar on how Zinfandels age” I asked Dick Benjamin. He responded that “a lot of people think that Zinfandels don’t age well but we don’t agree. We think the age very nicely. It’s fun to show it.” And show it they did as more than 20 tasters who came tried 13 Zins, some side by side with one being the current vintage and the other 5 to 7 years older. Three wines they would be tasting, Dick added, were 10 years old.
Dick added that it was also nice to help convince that some much older Zins they have in stock would be good purchases. Some Zindandels in stock, but not tasted, go back as far as 1992 but are “ones and twoseys” and have excellent pricing. This was a wonderful opportunity for Zinfanatics to sample a wide range of their favorite wine
Sally started the evening talking about the Zinfandel grape itself saying it was a hardy long lasting grape especially since the vines can last over 100 years and typically yields more sugar which then produces a higher alcohol level. Most of the wines during the evening were in the 14% range. It can be a challenging grape as it is possible to have multiple blooms that results in grapes at different stages, ripe and green, at the same time.
But what about where it came from. Dick and Sally said it is widely believed by some that Zinfandel, along with Petite Sirah, are two grapes Americans can call their own. But several years ago it was found that some old vine grapes in Italy were found by DNA testing to be identical to the Zinfandel grapes in the US, but just had another name. The same goes for Croatia, where after many years of sleuthing a vine was found to be identical through DNA testing in 2001.
So, it is possible, or most likely, Italian immigrants heading to California brought the grape to the US in the 1850s for the production of wine. They arrived in 1852 and by 1859 had started to produce medal award wines.. Zinfandel grapes though were being grown in hot houses on the East Coast as early as 1820’s but were replaced by Concord grapes because they could be grown outside. Was Italy the first to have the grape. Or was it Croatia? That will require more sleuthing to prove.
The second wine of the evening was Four Vines Old Vines 2007. That prompted Sally to ask “What is meant by old vines?” She said there is no set standard to be called Old Vines, with some wineries saying they are old vine when there grapes are produced on 30-year-old vines. But she said that it is generally accepted that “Old Vines” mean 50 years or more. Some wineries with 80-100 year old vines call them “Ancient Vines” to make sure they are labeled differently from the old vines that are really only 30 years old.
Dick added that Bordeaux grapes frequently are replaced every 30 years or so but that Zinfandel grapes don’t really start producing their best grapes until at least 20 years.
But despite being one of the largest varietals in California off and on for many years, most of the wines labeled Zinfandel will have a small percentage of other grapes.
This reporter tasted the Ridge Lytton Springs 2006 and 2001 side by side and noticed a distinct but enjoyable difference. The newer wine had a sharper oak smell to it. The older wine a more mellow old fruit smell. But the taste of the old was much more mellow and velvety. Both were great wines but I could see putting a wine away like this and enjoying it many years later.
Where: Wine World, 133 Georgia Ave., North Augusta, SC
803-279-9522

When: Friday, Oct. 23th, 2009. The tasting lasted about two and a half hours.
Cost: Pre-paid reservations were $25 per person. Entry at the door was $30 per person

Here are the wines that were presented in order:

Rosenblum Vintner’s Blend XXXI
Notes: This wine is a blend, frequently using wine from previous years. The vintner, Kent Rosenblum, was a veterinarian who had been making wines literally in their basement. In 1978 Dr. Rosenblum and his wife Kathy founded Rosenblum Cellars. And they knew Zinfandels, sometimes producing 20 different Zinfandels, mostly in small lots, in a given year. From their web site they say “Over the years Rosenblum has been hailed as one of the top American wineries and called a ‘mecca for zin-fanatics.’ Embodying nearly three decades of winemaking tradition, Rosenblum has evolved from a passionate home-winemaking operation into a world-class winery. “
From: California
Winery: Rosenblum

Four Vines Old Vines 2007
From: California
Year: 2007

Rosenblum Zinfandel Contra Costa 2006
From: Contra Costa, California
Year: 2006

Klinker Brick Old Vines 2006
From: Lodi, California
Year: 2006

Murphy-Goode Liar’s Dice 2006
From: Dry Creek/ Alexander Valley, California
Year: 2006

Melissa prepared some prosciutto wrapped glazed and roasted figs for the break

Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel 2006
Notes: From their website: “80% Zinfandel; 16% Petite Sirah; 14% Carignane. Although it teases with touches of spice and a nice sense of oak-sweetened berries, this gutsy young Zinfandel is relatively tightly structured at this point. It strikes us as one best set aside for several years, and its positive impressions of underlying fruit make keeping a fairly safe bet.”
From: Dry Creek, California
Winery: Ridge Wines (Lytton Springs)
Year: 2006
Grapes: 80% Zinfandel; 16% Petite Sirah; 14% Carignane
Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel 2001
What: From Ridge’s ancient, head-pruned vines on the rolling hills above Dry Creek, Lytton Springs blasts with flavor in 2001, complex, dark and brooding. Generous on the palate, with hard tannins which are fully ripe, making the finish gravelly, seeming to provide their own mineral scent in the dense aroma. Some panelists objected to the alcohol level in the wine, one warning, “Don’t smoke around this wine,” This critic, however, found it well within bounds of the wine’s overall structure, a grand portrait of Dry Creek terroir in the year 2001, Ridge Vineyards, Cupertino, CA
From: Dry Creek, California
Winery: Ridge Wines (Lytton Springs)
Year: 2001

Ridge York Creek Late Picked 2001
What: From their website: “In this warm year with its scant spring rains, the York Creek vines again reached “Late Picked” levels. We work closely with our growers to harvest at full flavor, but more moderate ripeness. For the third consecutive year, York Creek has gone beyond that. To add structure to the very ripe zinfandel, we have included a major amount of petite sirah. A third of the wine aged in new and one-year-old air-dried american oak barrels, and the rest in similar, tempered oak. Chalky tannins behind the rich fruit of this massive wine assure its continuing development. Enjoyable now, it will be at its best over the next five to seven years.”
From: Napa Valley, California
Winery: Rosenblum Cellars
Year: 2005

A hot bleu cheese with turkey bacon was excellent

Ridge Dusi Ranch Zinfandel 2006
What: From their website: “Medium-dark ruby; attractive, forward, intense, spicy, peppery, blackberry fruit aroma; full body; forward, rich, slightly creamy, briary, ripe blackberry fruit flavors; medium-full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Very appealing to drink now and tending to be somewhat claret-like in style. Very highly recommended. 14.6% alcohol; 5,500 cases; 100% Zinfandel; released April 2008.”
From: Paso Robles, California
Winery: Ridge Wines (Dusi Ranch)
Year: 2006
Grapes: 100% Zinfandel
Ridge Dusi Ranch Zinfandel 1999
What: From their website: “With this vintage we celebrate a quarter century of wines from the old zinfandel vines on Benito Dusi’s ranch in Paso Robles. It is the only Ridge wine from the Central Coast regional appellation, of which the Santa Cruz Mountains are not a part. We had planned to make tough, long-lasting wines from these old vines, trying for as much tannin and structure as possible. But as we watched the earlier vintages develop in bottle, it became clear that Paso Robles would dictate its own style. The wines are usually round and accessible within six months to a year of bottling, and age well over the next five to six years. Dusi Ranch is planted entirely to zinfandel, unusual in a vineyard more than eighty years old. The very late start to this year’s growing season mimicked last year, and moved harvest back even farther. Fine weather—no early rains— ensured full ripeness in all the vines. Paso Robles’ climate is somewhat warmer than that of our North Coast vineyards. As a rule, these are the first zinfandel grapes we harvest; even in this delayed vintage, the rule held. Though summer temperatures this year were milder than last, yields were again less than average. Primary and secondary fermentations were natural (uninoculated). The majority were carried out using the submerged cap method, in which the grapes are held beneath the surface of the fermenting liquid. In the rest, the grapes were allowed to float—more typical of red wine fermentations. As usual, we pressed at dryness; in this case that was nine days after crush. All the wine spent two weeks in new, air-dried american barrels. It was then racked to similar one-, two-, and three-year-old oak for a total twelve months of aging. Well-integrated oak gives definition and additional complexity to this rich, round wine, whose balance of fruit and characteristic regional spice is particularly appealing. This is a lovely example of Paso Robles Zinfandel.
From: Paso Robles, California
Winery: Ridge Wines (Dusi Ranch)
Year: 1999
Grapes: 95% Zin, 5% Petite Sirah
Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel 2007
From: California
Winery: Ridge
Year: 2007
Grapes: 76% ZINFANDEL, 8% PETITE SIRAH, 7%SYRAH, 6% GRENACHE, 3% CARIGNANE
Elyse Morisoli Zinfandel 2006
From: Napa Valley, California
Winery: Elyse Morisoli
Year: 2006