Lodi: Klinker Brick Old Vine, 2012

I’ve been reading Sullivan’s history of Zinfandel and I had to taste one. Not just any Zin, but Lodi Zin. I’m temporally out of Dogtown, and saving my cache of Kirschenmanns. So I went to my local Whole Foods and grabbed this beauty ($16?)

15.8% abv. Dark ruby red. Expressive red and blue fruit aromas. Flavors redolent of black cherry, raspberry, bramble, pepper and spice. Very deep with good acidic structure. Lingering aftertaste. I’d expect this to improve with several more years in the bottle. This should accompany the grilled Chateaubriand I have on tap tonight beautifully.

Reinforces my faith in old vines, randomly selected Zinfandel, and importantly - Lodi!

Their Old Ghost is really something man.

They have returned to good form. There were a few vintages of the OV that were very odd. I think I was told they had a different winemaker at the time.

Many years ago, Klinker Brick ‘stole’ one of my wine reviews from eBob and posted it on their website. Must have been desperate times…

Mike, you saved the day! I literally read your post on my way to Whole Paycheck, preparing to cobble together dinner. Klinker Brick hasn’t been much on my radar lately, but your post prompted me to give this one a go. At $15, it’s a definite QPR winner. I do think it shows a real streak of terroir, the Lodi loamy-berry quality that I’ve noticed in numerous bottlings from the area. It opens nicely with some air, as well. Plan to pick up a few more, and pay them a visit soon.
Glenn, don’t be too shy on cracking the Kirschenmann. The Bedrock version, at least, is very nice right now!

Widely available. Very good. My go to zin. Killer value.

Nate - I agree, the Kirschenmann’s are all drinking very well right now. The Arnot-Roberts was the last to come around, but it has filled out nicely. (I believe the AR can be tasted at Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley).

Does anyone know where Klinker sources its fruit for the Old Vine and Old Ghost?

Old Ghost comes from a vineyard E of Lodi and S of Victor. I used to ride my Harley on Alpine Rd past those vines.

That’s the funny thing about Lodi. Unlike the North Coast, quite a number of the great old vineyards there remain nameless (at least to the public).

Glenn, I thought the “Old Ghost” bottling was not necessarily sourced from the same vineyard each year. Perhaps it is now, but that was not the case when a group of us visited Steve Felten at Klinker Brick in 2008: Visit to Klinker Brick Winery