Theme: Wines from Historic Vineyards of Sonoma & Napa Counties Host: Larry P Matching donors: Any takers? Date: November 28th - December 5th Format: $5 per Tasting Note
Our hearts go out to those affected by the devastating 2017 North Bay fires. Redwood Credit Union Community Fund, Inc., in partnership with Redwood Credit Union (RCU), The Press Democrat, and Senator Mike McGuire, is now accepting financial donations to assist fire victims and aid relief efforts. 100% of your tax-deductible donations will go directly to support those affected.
If anyone doesn’t have any wines from a historic vineyard and wants to play without spending too much money, I’m not the biggest fan of the store, but Total Wine typically carries several that are under $25. Sobon’s Rocky Top and Fiddlehead (from Lubemko Vineyard), St. Amant Mohr-Fry and Marian, and Puccioni are among the options.
Excellent kickoff Brig, thanks for the help getting this set up. Now for the hard work:
From Old Hill Ranch last Friday; Will lost a couple structures, and a couple rows of vines. The vineyards make a great firebreak, but there’s a park with fallow land to the North and that caused the fire to encroach on the vineyard. Worse, the scorched hillside you see here, across Hwy. 12, encroached on the Bucklin Family’s Oak Hill Farm. His family lost homes. Quite heartbreaking to see:
For the wine, amazing stuff. I highly recommend supporting this winery! Will is a genius of organic farming. The vineyard feels like an alive ecosystem, and it shows in the wine.
2015 Bucklin Ancient Field Blend Old Hill Ranch- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/28/2017)
Picked up from the winery this week; pop-n-pour. Dark ruby garnet color. Nose of brambly red fruits, eucalyptus, and subtle French oak. Very complex on the palate. Strawberry and red raspberry, pepper, black tea. Finishes with strong tannin. Beautiful old-vine goodness now, and a long life ahead.
Also, Ridge Geyserville and Lytton Springs, as well as Ravenswood and Seghesio single-vineyard bottlings are usually available sub-$30 from these stores, and make for a great intro to old-vine zin.
There are several vineyards with a P and R in them. I assume it’s okay to post both in this thread and in yours (both weeks include December 5), it’s for charity after all. I hope to get to my locker to pull a Carlisle Papera and perhaps a Compagni-Portis and double post.
2014 Limerick Lane 1023- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (11/29/2017)
It’s not clear to me how Jake Bilbro manages to make such seamless, integrated wines at 15% alcohol. Deep red fruit, leather, meat and a bright cherry accent on the finish (the touch of Grenache speaking?), this is much too easy to drink. There’s sneaky structure, but I am not sure I can keep my hands off of this to let it develop.
My choices are pretty limited in my cellar. I don’t see Dommen Ranch on the list, but I believe Mike Officer stated it was planted circa 1930. Would that count, or does it have to be on the list?
Larry, do the old vine Sceales Vineyard Grenache from Wind Gap and Hobo count (planted in the 1930s, IIRC)? No big deal if not, as I have plenty of other qualifying wines, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Certainly, just apply the HVS principle of the majority of vines over 50 years old. The list from HVS is meant as a guideline, not a set of rules. Vineyards are added as they are nominated and approved, but plenty of historic vineyards have not been nominated.
Going to Amador County for my first contribution to this week’s theme.
2012 Sobon Estate Zinfandel Fiddletown- USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Fiddletown (11/30/2017)
Jammy brambly fruit with oak contributing a fair bit of spice and vanilla and just a touch of astringency on the finish, it isn’t too serious but is a tasty burger wine. This isn’t a euphemism. It actually worked nicely with cheeseburgers as the savory burger offset some of the fruitiness of the wine. From the Lubenko Vineyard planted around 1910. (87 pts.)
2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Heritage Wine Dolinsek Ranch- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (11/30/2017)
PnP. Nose a bit muted than the last bottle but it is all relevant as red fruit abounds on the nose. Palate is darker with blackberry, black cherry and layered raspberry. Finish has lengthened with a touch of spice. Wonderful wine. One of my favorite Bedrock’s year in and a great Wine from a historic vineyard. (94 pts.)
1997 Ravenswood Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/30/2017)
The things you find when you are poking around the wine cellar. I thought I had consumed all the bottles from my six pack, but there was one left, packed in with my Pickberry Bottles. I was prepared for disappointment, as my last bottle, in 2008, was rather nasty and volatile. Well this certainly showed some wild acidity, but it also showed a well developed, leather, bramble and dusty cherry set of aromatics. On the palate it was kind of lean, but the bramble and leather elements came back from the mid-palate. Overall it was not the most rewarding aging experiment, but it was at least a better end to my bottles than the one in 2008.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}