"A prodigious effort, the 2008 Zinfandel Cedarman comes from some of the younger vines (25 years old), but wow, what an impressive example! Its deep purple color is accompanied by a glorious bouquet of blueberries, black raspberries, incense, crushed rocks, and spring flowers. Full-bodied, heady, dense, and sensationally textured as well as long, it should drink well for a decade."
-Robert Parker (93-95 pts.)
“Bright red-ruby. Aromas of raspberry liqueur, mace and licorice pastille. Complex, smoky and deep, with good energy to the superripe raspberry and chocolate flavors. This very rich, sweet wine boasts a creamy middle palate and impressive stuffing but seemed to shut down in the glass. With its suave tannins and solid kick of acidity, it should be better for a couple years in the bottle.”
-Stephen Tanzer (92 pts.)
Zinfandel
Red Zinfandel is an "American Classic" wine. It was even originally thought to be made of native Californian grapes. Research has now shown that the zinfandel grape originated in Croatia, and then made famous in the early days of Italy and the Roman Empire. The original wine is now known as "primitivo". The original Croatian name for this grape is Crljenak. Zinfandel first came to California in the early 1800s.
This grape is now primarily grown in California. Zinfandel grows its best in cool, coastal locations.
The color of a zinfandel wine is deep red, bordering on black. Zinfandel is a spicy, peppery wine, with a hint of fruity flavor - berries or dark cherries are often the taste range. Zinfandel goes well with "typical American" food - pizza, burgers, and steaks. It's hearty enough to match up with thick red sauces.
Red zinfandel, depending on how heavy the particular one you're drinking is, is best anywhere between about 57F and 67F. This temperature range is not as warm as room temperature nor is it as cold as fridge temperature. It's somewhere in the middle.
Zinfandel wine tastes best in a narrow-mouthed glass. Most people like to drink zinfandels young - within a year or two - but there are also quite a few zinfandels that age well. As a zinfandel ages, its flavor becomes much different, far more mellow. It's completely up to you if you favor the taste of a young zin over an old!
Turley Winery
Turley Wine Cellars is a popular California wine producer with wineries in both Templeton (Southern Cal-Paso Robles wine region) and St. Helena (Northern Cal-Napa Valley wine region). Turley wines are often recognized as "making some of the best, if not the best Zinfandel in California for decades." There is a two year waiting list for new recipients into their wine club.
Turley specializes in wines made from old-vine red Zinfandel. They source fruit from older vineyards, some date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In previous issues of Wine Spectator magazine, Turley wines have received favorable reviews.
In 1993, Turley Wine Cellars was founded by Larry Turley, brother of the well-known consulting winemaker Helen Turley. Turley, had entered the wine business in 1981 as co-founder of the multi-varietal Frog's Leap Winery, but soon realized that his interest lay in wines made from the Zinfandel grape.
Starting out with just one location in St. Helena, Turley Wine Cellars soon expanded to Templeton with the purchase of the historic Pesenti winery, where Zinfandel had been planted since 1923.
As of 2000, Turley Wine Cellars has had a two-year waiting list for new wine club customers.
In 2007, Turley Wine Cellars was producing approximately 14,000 cases a year of both single-vineyard and regional Zinfandel wines.
By 2011, Turley Wine Cellars is annually producing approximately 16,000 cases of award winning Zinfandel and Petite Sirah wines using multiple "small" vineyards located in Napa and Sonoma counties, and other Paso Robles locations.
Howell Mountain AVA
Where rivers, creeks and property lines usually define an American Viticultural Area (AVA), the Howell Mountain boundaries are defined by a 1,400 foot elevation contour line. Upon review of requests and evidence of the boundaries and elevation of the region, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) ruled that Howell Mountain was, indeed, worthy of one of the few AVAs granted in the early 1980's. And so, in 1983, the Howell Mountain Appellation was officially designated as an AVA—making it the first AVA within the greater Napa Valley AVA. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Climate
When the fog rolls off the ocean and into the Napa Valley, the weather on Howell Mountain is generally sunny and cool. The appellation owes its distinctive climate to the fact that it is positioned well above the valley floor. Because of its altitude, generally, evening temperatures are warmer and daytime temperatures are much cooler—leveling out spikes in heat that tend to be more exaggerated at lower elevations. Although it gets nearly twice as much rainfall as the valley below, the soil tends to be dry, because rocky, porous soil conditions allow for adequate drainage and less accumulation. Seasonally, cooler spring temperatures cause buds to break later than average, and warm summer nights produce fruit that demonstrates a great balance between acidity and sugar. All of which, translates into a rich diversity of complexity and flavor in your glass.
Soil
From the ground up, soil can have as much of an effect on the variety and intensity of grapes as the weather. This is clearly evident on Howell Mountain, where there are two main soil types. The first consists of decomposed volcanic ash, called “tufa”, and the second is red clay that is high in iron. Because both soil types are nutrient poor, they stress the vines, producing intense wines from small clusters and berries. In the end, the altitude, and thin, rocky, and dry soil conditions create wines with firm structure, incredible varietal intensity, and excellent aging properties.
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