TN: 2013 Carlisle Zinfandel Sonoma County (USA, California, Sonoma County)

I posted a few weeks back on the 2013 SC syrah, which was terrific, and again makes me wonder how Mike makes this stuff for a 20 spot. To see the other side of Mike’s QPR coin, I grabbed the 2013 SC zin last night and sitting here tonight sipping on it, watching the French Open highlights. This zin, like the syrah, is rock solid and underlines again for me that Mike can do with his pricing and AVA blend wines is really a marvel. I simply want to smile and dig the fact that a smart guy up in Nor Cal can crank this stuff out and keep us all having something in our wallets. Thanks for reading.

  • 2013 Carlisle Zinfandel Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County (5/28/2015)
    I pulled this last night for a gathering of work colleagues here at the house. I over-predicted the red wine consumption and at the end of the night, the bottle was open and untouched. Ah heck. So today, poured off a glass to have a go. Wow, this is damn good. I can see why there has been so many positive TNs crossing through CT recently. Graphite aromatic. The palate is laden with fruit but it lacks any distracting heaviness so what ends up happening for me is the wine just rolls across the palate with a dark berry feel, lovely balance and some zesty acidity, just enough to keep it fresh, along with a kiss of vanilla. With more time in the glass, the fruit gets more intense, adds some brawn and just sings like a bugga. As I enjoy this bottle, I think about 2 more things. First, how Mike can turn out wine like this for 20 bucks, like the SC syrah he makes, is just a marvel to me. And finally, if this basic assembled AVA 2013 zin tastes like as good as this, how good will it be then to see Montafi, Carlisle and Papera zins, maybe the others from his SV 2013s roll out and be in my glass. If it lines up like this wine, those out to be some really nice bottlings.

Posted from CellarTracker

Nice note, Frank. Thanks for sharing the data point. Mike is the QPR king.

I had that out of red plastic cups at my son’s baseball game on Sunday night. Really good wine, great value.

Counselor, red plastic cup is cool. Love that approach.

I just finished my last sip for the night and this stuff is sickly good. I tell you what, I know intuitively that I am going to dig the 13s better than the 12s for Mike’s wines.

I added this wine to my WOTY list, so there, I put my final stamp on. What a great bottle.

I’m so ashamed of you. Drinking this wine while viewing the French Open. Come on dude, this is a hockey wine if there ever was one!

Nice note. I opened one not too long ago, stellar bottle of wine.

Was that the Zalto red plastic cup or the Riedel?

This was my mistake I mentioned on your 2013 Syrah Sonoma thread. Apparently my mistake was not screwing up by ordering more of the Syrah than Zin, but not ordering more of both which I originally wanted to do.

Frank, thx for the note and agreed, a damn fine wine. That said, imo the 2012 Sonoma County is much better right now and I’m letting the rest of my 2013s rest until next summer.

Totally agree on the '13 Sonoma Zin, Frank. Regarding the other '13 zin’s in Mike’s portfolio, I have not opened any yet, but had a pour of the '13 Montafi in December during the pick-up and it was rocking. Might be as good as the '07, which is my best reference point for the Montafi. Thanks for the note!

Thanks,
Ed

The funny thing is, you do it to not be obvious that you’re drinking, but I assume any cop with a brain would know that dad sitting there on a weekend night watching 10 year old all star baseball drinking out of a red plastic cup is drinking something with alcohol in it. When I’m more on the ball, I get some other kind of plastic cup (sometimes my daughter’s Disney princess cups, an old cup brought home from an MLB game, or something else). I’m a real criminal genius.

Chris - just tell the cops that you aren’t actually drinking the wine in the brown paper bag, rather you headed to a blind tasting and letting your wine breathe. 60% of the time, it works every time.

Opened this a couple of nights ago and it was singing right out of the gate, but certainly changed with time. Initially, I found the vanilla notes dominated, with more red fruits peaking through after an hour.

Gorgeous wine

I have gone through 3 of these already…so good for the $$$

Thanks for the note Frank…oh and…

GO HAWKS!!

I am loading up on these “bargain” Zins from great producers…Bedrock OV, Carlisle SC, Turley Juvenile, etc. Super value, wines you can drink any time and get great enjoyment without breaking the bank.

You had to not only slip in that last part, but, go bold red, of course. deadhorse We’ll see tomorrow, big man. For now, we gotta game 7 on and I need to go hit the weights and turn on the idiot box and watch, which then gets me closer to another glass of this Carlisle stuff above. Damn, what a wine.

Frank, do you think this one is good to go, or better to give it time? I opened one very soon after receiving it, and felt it was a bit shut-down.

Nate, hit it. This is ready in my world.

It’s on deck! Thanks!