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Home Again in Zindiana
I just returned from "The Greatest
Spectacle in Tasting," the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers
Tasting. The ZAP tasting, like the Indianapolis 500, is a truly Americana
event; full throttle, overdone, massive, crowded, and you just know
by the end of the day you’re going to feel over-served. In fact, when
the general public portion of the day commenced, I think I heard the
ghost of Mary Hulman saying, in that spitty, slurring voice that is
hers alone, "GENTLEMAN START YOUR ENGINES!" I was about
to say that at least the ZAP tasting doesn’t have a bunch of drunk
guys yelling for women to show their breasts, but after three hours
of tasting 16% alcohol Zinfandels, it probably happens there, too.
It’s the best tasting in America.
If you’ve never been to the Indy 500, I have just one word for you.
Go. A half-million people come from all over the country to this decrepit
old race track every Memorial Day Weekend to watch 33 finely-tuned
race cars attempt to finish 200 laps or 500 miles. People from all
walks of life converge on this town in the Midwest for one reason
only. And I don’t care how uppity you are, when those cars come screaming
by you on the straight away, you can’t help but become a race fan.
Drinking Zin is a little like that, too. The more I think about it,
Zinfandel really is the wine world’s version of auto racing. Not Euro-Grand
Prix brought to you by Moet & Chandon either. We’re talking Dirt
Track Sprint cars sponsored by Joe’s Towing or The Meat Packers of
Manteca. Both racing and Zin are about unfettered excitement that
can be very interesting and yet uncomplicated. And no matter how sophisticated
your tastes, you can’t help being attracted to the roar of a screaming
Zinfandel engine. For me Zin is fun wine.
Even with its uncomplicated nature, you’d be hard pressed to find
any two Zins alike, from the thick and heady Turley to the bright
and elegant Nalle and all points in between. You and I might argue
over the merits of a particular style, but we will most certainly
agree on the endearing quality of Zinfandel’s overt flavors and lack
of subtle nuances.
Zin is also unique in that it can take on a number of other varietals
and still maintain the genre. Sort of like Miles Davis — no matter
who he played with, it was still all Miles. I actually prefer the
Zins that include Petite Sirah, Barbera, Carignan, Alicante Bouschet,
Grenache or Syrah. The old time Dry Creek growers knew this and planted
these varietals in their "Zinfandel" vineyards in order
to make the best damn everyday wine they could. Today’s Zinfandels,
though better than ever, still hold that distinction, at least as
long as we keep the price reasonable. Now if we could just get Florence
Henderson and Jim Nabors to sing at next year’s Zap Festival.
OUR 1999 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel
If the ZAP tasting is any indication, the hype surrounding the 1999
vintage (in the words of Karen Carpenter, God rest her soul) has only
just begun. I must admit, ‘99 should help put the grossly over-hyped
‘97 vintage in perspective. Many forget, or never realized, that the
‘97 growing season was short, with record high crop levels. The opposite
occurred in 1999. Crop levels in most cases were quite low, the growing
season almost as long as in 1998 and we had a warm dry harvest — precisely
what you would prescribe for high quality Zinfandel.
Our Zinfandel, even prior to blending, had deeper fruit and more structure
than the previous two vintages. (Same old-clone vineyard as our previous
two vintages, though.) The grapes on the vine had that strawberry
fruit roll-up thing going on, which is what I look for in fully ripe
Zin. Because we had such great fruit, we blended less Petite Sirah
into the wine, making the ‘99 more Zin-like. There is a bit more new
oak on this wine including a slightly larger percentage of American,
though most of it is still French. I kind of like 3-year air-dried
American Oak with our Zin. It seems to amplify the wine’s fruity quality.
Many of my winemaker buddies have said this is definitely our best
Zin yet. I agree. The wine is richer and more full-bodied than our
‘98, with a sweet mouth feel and a long finish. It does need more
time to soften, so wait a few months before cracking one open. And
while this is our biggest Zin to date, I still recommend drinking
it within the next 3 years.
1999 ZINFANDEL
Harvested: 10/9/99
Total acidity: .59 gm/100 ml
pH: 3.74
Alcohol: 14.1%
Blend: 84% Zinfandel, 10% Syrah, 3% Petite Sirah, 3% Sangiovese
Oak Aging: 85% French, 15% American (30% new)
Cases produced: 1,480
Bottled: unfiltered 9/5/00
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