Archive for the ‘Zinfandel’ Category

2007 LFV “YeeHaw” Zinfandel


03.16.2010

2007 Lamborn Family Vineyards Zinfandel

Winery History: Bob (father) and Mike (son) purchased 40 acres on Howell Mountain back in 1971 and eventually decided on Lamborn Family vineyards as the name for the venture. By doing so, they established the first “family” winery label in existence. Their first vintage was in 1982 and totaled a whopping 100 cases. For more history click to read my interview.

The Wine: 2007 Lamborn “YeeHaw” Howell Mountain Zinfandel 15.2% ABV is 100% zinfandel $33 (Winery Price)

On the nose I get rich black fruit, white pepper, and just a hint of oak. The palate is very balanced with blackberry, dark cherry, chocolate, white pepper, and black licorice. This wine has a medium-bold body with medium tannins which give way to a long velvet textured finish.
We had this wine on a cold rainy night, which was very reminiscent of when we first tried this wine at the kitchen table of the Lamborn house up on Howell Mountain.

Would I buy/drink this wine again? I think at $33 this is a well priced zinfandel which is well worth the money.
Absolutely and I give this wine 4 out of 5 corks

Dual Personality Zinfandel


02.04.2010

2008 Buehler Zinfandel

On a recent trip to Napa Valley, my wife and I were fortunate enough to visit Buehler Vineyards and be shown around on a private tour by the owner John Buehler. John was a very gracious host who not only drove us around his vineyards but also poured the wines for our tastings. This is such a nice change from the tasting rooms down on the trail where you usually only see the tasting room staff.

Buehler Vineyards is a family run winery up in the hills east of St. Helena and in my opinion has to be one of the best bargains for your money. The Papa’s Knoll Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Estate) is the highest priced wine and comes in at a whopping $45! Can you say BARGAIN?
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Trash TV week 3: Elyse Zin vs. Robert Craig Zin


01.26.2010

Well, it’s Tuesday again and we all know what that means!  It is time for this week’s installment of how to survive “The Bachelor” (A.K.A. Trash TV).

Last night was a little different than in past weeks in that it turned into a girl’s night!  Hooray!  I thought that it was bad when I had to watch it with just my wife.  Now I have to sit through two hours of Jake always taking his shirt off, 8 caddy women trying to get the next kiss and my wife and her friend chatting the entire time.  Oh happy days!  Because we had an extra pair of lips to support, I had to hit the cellar up for two bottles this week.

This week’s picks were the 2006 Elyse Howell Mountain Zinfandel and a 2007 Robert Craig Howell Mountain Zinfandel.

First up was the 2006 Elyse Zinfandel (only because I thought that the RC Zinfandel would need to breathe for a few minutes) which I purchased directly from their tasting room for $37.

The Elyse Zinfandel is a dark ruby color with aromas of earth, raisins and light pepper.  On the palate I got flavors of plums, earth and white pepper.  This is a well structured wine with medium tannins and smooth finish. I paired this wine is some spicy Thai food and it held up very nicely.

Would I buy/drink this wine again?   Absolutely and I give this wine 3 out of 5 corks!

Next up was the 2007 Robert Craig Howell Mountains Zinfandel which was also purchased from the tasting room at around $50

The Robert Craig Zinfandel shows its Howell Mountain roots with aromas of black raspberry, white and black pepper.  The palate has wild berry, pepper, warm spices which evolve into a great mid-palate.  From there it all comes together with smooth supple tannins and strong finish that lingers around just enough at the end.

My wife and our neighbor both agreed that they liked this wine better than the Elyse.  They both felt that the Robert Craig Zinfandel was just a bit better rounded than the Elyse.

Would I buy/drink this wine again?   Absolutely and I give this wine 4 out of 5 corks!

And the WINNER was:  2007 Robert Craig Zinfandel

See you next week

WineDudeOnline

This week’s Trash TV


01.19.2010

After working the hockey game and seeing the Coyotes get their asses handed to them, I was looking forward to a nice bottle of Zinfandel and some trash TV.  Seeing that the wife was out of town, I couldn’t really raid the wine cooler (House Rules), I had to stop and find a bottle.  After going to my local wine shop I realized that they don’t have a great Zinfandel selection, unless you want to spend $50 – $80! So I end up having someone recommend the 2008 Sonoma County Three Valleys by Ridge Vineyards ($21).  I am usually apprehensive about buying wine off of a recommendation from new sources, but my friend Bill wasn’t around so I went with it.

After opening the bottle, I let it sit for about 20 minutes to breathe.  The nose didn’t give off much of anything so I’m a bit consumed at this point.  Now for the taste and I get a whole lot of, wait for it…NOTHING!  There are no discernable flavors on the front-end and only slight tannins at the mid-palate.   The finish is rather short and has a chalk like texture to it.  I have never experienced anything like this since I’ve been drinking wine.  The wine didn’t change through two glasses so I was forced to give up on it.  I can’t believe that I just said that because I hate wasting wine (don’t we all).  In all fairness, this isn’t a 100% zinfandel rather a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Mataro, Syrah and Grenache.  Unfortunately this was like drinking the wine at communion.

The good news is that I wasn’t forced to watch another brutal 2 hours of the bachelor this week.  Because the wife was out of town I was able to indulge my inner geek and catch this week’s episode of Chuck.  I wish that I could “flash” like chuck, that way I would be able to pick out the perfect wine and not have to suffer through those bad recommendations.

I am sure that you can already gather what my verdict is on this, but I will give it anyway.  This, in my opinion, is a total PASS.  I don’t think that I would even drink this again if it was given to me.  I give this 1 out of 5 corks and say don’t waste your money.

WineDudeOnline

Jeckll and Hyde: 2007 Chiarello Vineyards Giana Zinfandel


01.13.2010

2007 Chiarello Vineyards Giana Zinfandel

The nose has hints of dark ripe fruit with a light vanilla and oak to it.  When i first taste this I get a slightly spice/pepper flavor at the beginning with a mild finish.  Here is what I love about this wine, after about an hour in a decanter the finish starts to smooth out and ends up with a candy-like taste!  Only 575 cases were produced and Wine Spectator gave this 90 points.  I have had this wine on three different occasions now and love it (for the most Part)!  The last bottle pulled a bit of Jeckll and Hyde on me and never rounded out like the previous two bottles. So that begs the question.  Which is the “REAL” 2007 Chiarello Vineyards Giana Zinfandel?  I’m not sure but hopefully this will find its way to MR. Chiarello and he can tell me what to expect the next time I taste this wine.

Kevin – WineDudeOnline