Crimson in color. 14.4% ABV. Pretty nose of red fruits, citrus and flowers. Light to medium body with perfect acidity. Fresh, lithe and charming. Claret style Zinfandel. Raspberry, salmonberry, earth and minerals on the palate. Nice length on the finish. Fantastic Zinfandel that is absolutely true to the Sandlands house style. Best over the next 2-3 years.
Woaaaahhhh, drinking this as we speak. A lot of the same impressions, but I said 91++? Either way, this is really enjoyable now and offers a pretty interesting comparison to the Turley wine made by the same guy from the same fruit (though i havenāt tried the 2018 Turley version).
Butā¦ Claret style, and best over the next 2-3 years?
Donāt some claret styled Zins live for 20-30 years? I tend to let my bold zins sit five years, and am happy to leave lower alcohol versions laying forever.
I popped a bottle almost a year ago before release when it was quite young. Nice to see some development. My note for comparison sake.
2018 Sandlands Zinfandel- USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi (4/5/2020)
Was wound up on day 1 so I recorked and left it sit for a few days, notes from day 4.
Nose of blackberry and spice. Red currant, black cherry and bramble accentuate the palate. Crunchy dark fruit, more black cherry and raspberry that doesnāt hit you like a ton of bricks but rather caresses the tastebuds with round berry fruit, a creamy texture and minimal alcohol. Reminiscent of a fine Claret, light on itās feet but no slouch either. Needs a little time for tannins to soften then this will really shine. Easy buy when the release comes.
I would not have guessed that this note belonged to a Lodi-sourced vineyard if I had not known it was a Sandlands wine. I understand that there is a trend developing in the region away from the mode of extraction, concentration, and over-oakingā¦but, still.
Had this last week and really loved it. The lower alcohol seemed to allow the flavors to really play on the palate with no heat but rather waves of changing flavors. Wish I had more. So different from the many higher alcohol zins I still love. Almost pinot like in the lightness.
I agree with most of your tasting notes, but disagree that it will be best over 2-3 years. We got lots of reduction on the 2018 Zin when we popped and poured. It needed the better part of 3 hours in decanter to blow off and was much better on day 2. Based on the reductive aspect and the firm backbone, I would recommend not opening the 2018 Zin for another 3-4 years. It should last at least 10-15 years.
I had one question about Brianās and Tomās notes, and hopefully I can succeed in asking this in a way that shows my interest and curiosity rather than seeming critical or nitpicky:
Both notes refer to it as claret-like. But the descriptors of crunchy raspberry, bramble and so forth donāt sound like claret, at least not as I think of it. They certainly sound like zinfandel.
I get the sense you were using it as a compliment to mean ānot overblown like some other zinfandel is.ā Is that what you meant, or did you mean it really reminds of Bordeaux or other claret?
Thanks, hopefully you guys can āclaretā up for me. Great notes, by the way, and Iām looking forward to drinking mine one of these days.
Relative to other wines that I thought were xx good, I would have ever so slightly preferred them over this (xx-1)ā¦ What every system of ranking has ever done in the history of the world.
I canāt speak to what other posters meant by āclaret-styleā but I opened one of these last night and it was definitely lighter than many zins Iāve tasted. It was brambly and recognizable as zin, not bordeaux-like to my palate, but also as a prior poster noted almost pinot-like in itās feel. This is probably too obscure to be a useful reference point, but it reminded me of Birichinoās St. George zin and perhaps some Dashe zins. It is definitely a style that I prefer.
Iād say red fruited, light in color, low to very low alcohol (for the applicable variety), no noticeable oak influence, crisp acids. And many of the wines are made from fairly rare/obscure varieties, or at least rare in California.
For me Claret style means light to medium body, fresh, crisp acids. Zins like Sky, Dashe and Sandlands immediately come to mind. This is opposed to a more modern style. Full bodied, ripe, jammy. Martinelli would be a good example.
