Maybe the best CA red wine I have tasted in years, and probably the best wine I have ever had from Mike’s craft. Joy.
2018 Carlisle Zinfandel Mancini Ranch- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (5/14/2021)
Opened yesterday, when it showed as well as the bottle several weeks ago. Took the remnants home from dinner last night, retrying tonight at room temp (71f). The aromatics on this stuff are crazy. Floral, some pepper and red fruits, it’s just got this beautiful perfumed quality that is a joy. Tonight, the wine is plush and has a vein on tannin running through it, ensuring the structure to join the fruit. There is a creamy kind of note to this wine, which gives the cherry, blood orange and raspberry a sexy quality. Yet, as I found with the bottle from several weeks ago, this wine never gets heavy nor boozy. The wine finishes with a zippy acidity, yet the remarkable thing for me about this vintage of Mancini Ranch is the balance. Exquisite balance, memorable in that way. And that’s with absolutely no chill on this wine, nothing to cover up nor cloak any flaws. It’s really a Zin without flaw and I’ve never scored a wine in any of my notes but for me, this is about as close to Zinfandel perfection as it gets for me. Bottled joy here, and a real bravo to Mike Officer here. And as a parting comment, for those who may want to adhere to the school of thought that you need to put these wines away and let them age, don’t fall into that trap. This wine is firing now and for all the challenges, division and hurdles life seems to have thrown at many of us the past several years, it’s a wine like this that can make us forget those conditions and instead realize how good wine, made like this and for us, can bring us the joy we need.
I got to enjoy that bottle a few weeks ago, and I agree it is an excellent Carlisle. I didn’t buy any of that bottling (so many different Carlisles, finite room and money), but I guess I should move it into the rotation for the future.
Wow! What an incredibly kind, heartfelt, and moving tasting note Frank. Thank you. Our ultimate goal is to bring a little bit of joy into people’s lives so the fact that we succeeded in doing that for you, well… it makes all the blood, sweat, and tears worthwhile.
Great note. I passed on my allocation of the 2018 Mancini. But, I’m hopeful that Mike remembered to sprinkle some joy into the other 2018 Zin bottlings. We could all use some extra joy this year.
The 2018 Carlisle Papera Ranch Zinfandel is the best bottle of wine I’ve enjoyed this year - would love a side-by-side tasting with the Mancini Ranch! Thanks for the fun TN.
Thanks for the note, Frank, and hope you and your family are well. I have not tried the 2018 Mancini yet but will have to rectify that soon, based on your note.
That would be a fun side-by-side. The vineyards are literally a stones throw from each other. Papera is on the northwest corner of the intersection of Piner and Olivet while Mancini is on the southeast corner of the intersection. The big difference between the two vineyards is the mixed black component. Our blocks of Papera, planted 1934, are almost all Zin. There’s about 4% Carignan but not much else. Mancini, planted 1922, is about 85% Zinfandel with the balance composed of Carignan, Petite Sirah, Peloursin, Grand Noir, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Franc, Abouriou, Valdiguié, Trousseau, and a couple of other varieties.
I didn’t think I had ordered a Mancini yet … good news after checking CellarTracker is that I ordered my first with the ‘18. Looking forward to trying it now or in another 2-3 years.
Mr O, I decided to add the chill tonight, just enough to bring the wine down into the 60s. All this did was make the wine even better, as the intensity and depth went up yet another notch, driven by the red fruited acidity that is so bright in the wine. Mike, this property is special. I recall how much I liked the 2017 a few years back and now to have 2 bottles of the 2018 drink with so much character, you’ve done a wonderful job here. I’ve been drinking your wines for 20 years and this may be the best bottle of red you’ve ever made in my wine glass.
For those that posted back, thank you. I appreciate those of you who celebrated the joy with me from a wine like this one.
Super cool note. Have been drinking Carlisle for 20 years and always enjoy it. I went long and deep on 2018 Carlisle but Mancini might be the only one I didn’t pick up. Makes me excited to start digging into these though.
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