It’s been quite a while since the Guild has done a Zinfandel tasting. Natale Lofaro, Product Consultant with the LCBO, and James Bertrand, Guild President, put together this wonderful tasting of Zins. Natale shared his vast wine knowledge with us by giving us the abridged version of the history of Zinfandel. Very interesting!

Four Zins were served in the first flight. The clear favourite of the flight was the second wine, the Pichierri Primitivo di Manduria. Many participants described this wine as having tons of fruit and being rather funky, almost a cross between Port and Sherry. Personally, I did not like this wine at all (I was definitely in the minority). I thought the oxidized notes overshadowed any notion of fruit the wine might have had. The Clay Station Old Vine Zin had lots of jammy fruit and some bubble-gum on the nose. It was a little Gamay-like. In the mouth, it had sweet blackberry fruit. The Cape Mentelle is apparently the gold standard for Australian Zins. On the nose, I found this wine to have too much apparent oak and not enough fruit. On the palate, some sweet berry fruit kicked in along with the oak. The Rief Estates Zin was very unique! It had some red berry fruit, some gamey notes, some greenness, and cedar. Because all the Zin vines died over one of our very cold winters, this was probably one of the last opportunities to taste this wine.

The second flight featured six wines. The Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin had some raspberry/blackberry fruit and some greenness on the nose. In the mouth, it had lots of big sweet fruit. It was a fairly simple wine. The Ravenswood Old Vine Zin had red cherries and plums and a little spice. It also had some of the same oxidized notes found in the Pichierri Primitivo di Manduria. The Alderbrook Old Vine Zin had bright cherry fruit and cedar that came through on the palate along with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It was quite a big wine. It tied for second favourite with the Frog’s Leap from Napa Valley. This wine had berry fruit, some earthy notes, a touch of mint, and a little greenness. On the palate, there was lots of big black cherry fruit, some spice, and mint. The Kendall-Jackson Zin had a very sweet nose with a little nail polish remover thrown in. On the palate, it was a bit flabby, not quite enough acid. The favourite of the flight was the Hartford Russian River Zinfandel and many thought that had we not known it was a Zin, we might have guessed it as a Bordeaux. On the nose, it had coffee and caramel, some mushroom, and a bit of paraffin wax. This wine had more structure and more acidity than several of the others in this flight and it was quite extracted. It had nice fruit, a touch of earthiness, and some coffee.

Flight three featured four wines with a clear favourite. The Ridge Geyserville had lots of rich black cherry fruit, some medicinal notes, spice, and cedar, which all came through on the palate. It was balanced in terms of acid, tannins, and fruit. The first wine of the flight, the Ravenswood Dickerson Vineyard Zin was rather medicinal, almost tinny. It almost seemed to have some residual sugar on the palate. The Rosenblum Richard Sauret Vineyard Zin had lots of cherry and blackberry fruit with a bit of spice, which came through on the palate. Several people thought it was well worth the price. The Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel had black plums and cherries, some earthy notes, and licorice. On the palate, it was big, fruity with good tannin/acid balance.

It was a great tasting! Many thanks to both Natale and James.

Here are the wines:

Flight 1: Zinfandel of the World

Clay Station, 2004, Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi, California N/A $19.95

Pichierri, Primitivo di Manduria ‘Tradizione del Nonno’, 2002, Italy 718130 $28.95

Cape Mentelle Zinfandel, 2003, Margaret River, Australia 556415 $34.95

Rief Estate Zinfandel, 2001, Niagara Peninsula, Canada N/A $29.90

Flight 2: California Zin Regions

Gnarly Head, 2004, Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi, California N/A $17.95

Ravenswood, Old Vine Zinfandel, 2001, Amador County, California 732503 $23.95

Alderbrook, Old Vine Old Clone Zinfandel, 2001, Dry Creek Valley, California 603696 $29.95

Frog’s Leap Zinfandel, 2002, Napa Valley, California 593525 $39.95

Kendall-Jackson Zinfandel, 2000, Mendocino County, California 643999 $35.95

Flight 3: The 3 R’s

Ravenswood Dickerson Vineyard Zinfandel, 2001, Napa Valley, California 599183 $49.00

Rosenblum Cellars Richard Sauret Vineyard Zinfandel, 2001, Paso Robles, California 746958 $31.95

Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel, 2002, Dry Creek Valley, California 982413 $44.95

Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel, 2002, Alexander Valley, California 723072 $44.95

Flight 4: Port

Montevina Zinfandel Port, Amador County, California 953695 $28.95