Any experience with Bruce Patch's Wine Guerilla Zins?

WINE TALK
1

They’ve hit our market and are using some good vineyards in Dry Creek RRV.

The HoseMaster of Wine HoseMaster of Wine™: What's the HoseMaster Drinking? says the following:

These three Zinfandels will be released in February after they are premiered at ZAP. The Wine Guerrilla 2008 Zinfandel Russian River Valley is all sourced from the MacMurray Ranch, the former estate of Fred MacMurray that is now owned by the Gallos. Is it me, or did I detect the faint aroma of Flubber in this wine? (Who doesn’t fondly remember the old 60’s sitcom “My Three Sons” starring Fred MacMurray as a widower raising his three children Chip, Ernie and Julio?) This is a Zinfandel that will be selling for about $18, and in that neighborhood it represents a huge bargain. Overflowing with the red fruit I often associate with Russian River Zinfandel, in this case red plums, this was satisfying in the way of big, ripe Zinfandel. You never feel cheated when it comes to flavor, richness and intensity. It’s about as subtle as an Adam’s Apple on a transvestite, but you can’t argue with the provenance or the price (like you can with a transvestite). The Wine Guerrilla 2008 Zinfandel Adel’s Vineyard Russian River Valley was a much more interesting and luscious Zinfandel, and classic Russian River Zinfandel at that. There’s wonderful balance here, with the upfront raspberry fruit supported by the zing of white pit fruit as well as a little bit of pepper and oak. And, like the H1N1 virus, it was at its best the second day. If I had a bunch of this I could get addicted to it. Then, appropriate to the Holiday season, I’d have Adel-vice, Adel-vice, everybody sing!, every morning you greet me… Finally there’s the Wine Guerrilla 2008 Zinfandel Conte Vineyard Dry Creek Valley. Much darker and more brooding that the Adel’s, it showcases the powerhouse aspect of Zinfandel. Veering more towards the blackberry and bramblefruit end of the Zin spectrum, it unapologetically punches you in the face and calls you girly man. I would have preferred a bit more restraint, a bit more richness and fullness, but for this style of Zinfandel it’s darn nice wine. Zinfandel lovers should be aware of Wine Guerrilla if they’re not already. Considering the difficulties of the 2008 vintage, these three are worthy of your Zinfandel dollars.

Never heard of the HoseMaster but he is at a minimum funny in a scatological junior high sort of way.

2

I picked one of the '07s up a few months ago here in Dallas to try. Here’s my note. Apologies in advance if the html from CT doesn’t post right.

Posted from CellarTracker

Let’s try that again without the html:
Wine Guerrilla 2007 Zinfandel DCV: 15.3% ABV. Deeply colored, opaque in the glass. Earth, pepper, and sweet raisins initially on the nose. Full bodied, rather rich with a silky texture and tangy berry undercurrent. Good. This is pretty well made Zin, but not an especially great value at $26. I would like a little more aromatic lift and slightly less acidity on the palate.

I think my biggest complaint was the price.

Best,
James

3

Thanks James, how about at $17, the going price here?

I’m going to try to stop by at their Friday tasting. For those in the Triangle here’s the blurb:

Zinfandel Tasting- On Friday, February 26th, from 5pm-7pm at the Chapel Hill Store, we are proud to host Bruce Patch, owner of Wine Guerilla, a project devoted to producing top-notch Zinfandels from all over Sonoma County. He works closely with the growers to produce a range of appellation and single-vineyard Zins. His Dry Creek Zinfandel was one of our great discoveries in 2009, a pure expression of Zinfandel, not marred by new oak, but all about the fruit and spice we love from the varietal. For those of you that haven’t had it, we’ll open a bottle, along with the new releases of his single-vineyard lineup. Come (re)discover the joys of California’s native grape, and meet the Wine Guerilla himself! This tasting is free, here’s the lineup:

  • 2007 Dry Creek Zinfandel – Sale $16.99 – Save 23%
  • 2008 Russian River Valley Zinfandel – Sale $16.99 – Save 20%
  • 2008 Russian River Conte Vineyard Zinfandel – Sale $27.49 – Save 20%
  • 2008 Dry Creek Adel’s Vineyard Zinfandel – Sale $27.49 – Save 20%
  • 2008 Dry Creek Conte Vineyard Zinfandel – Sale $31.99 – Save 20%

Chapel Hill Wine Co.
2809 Homestead Road corner of MLK Blvd
Chapel Hill, NC

4

Chris,
I think the appellation wines (DCV, RRV) would definitely be worth trying at $17. I would put the '07 DCV on par with, say Turley’s Juvenile in quality with some similar flavors, and it runs about $20+ ridiculous shipping.

I’d be a little more wary of the single vineyards, but if you get the chance to try them, let me know how they are. I’ve only seen the '07 DCV wine here in Dallas at one independent wine shop, but they might be popping up more frequently in the future.

Cheers,
James

5

I’m a big fan of the wines I have tried. I saw the 07 DCV Goat Trek on WTSO and snapped some more up. Here’s what I had to say about that wine, the 07 DCV and the 08 RRV here:

"…The 2007 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, $22, was everything we look for in Dry Creek Zin. It is delicious and well balanced, and it tastes like it comes from Dry Creek, with wonderful red berry flavors and sufficient acidity to match the alcohol and tannin. If you are not familiar with Zinfandel from Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley, this wine is a great introduction…

We also enjoyed the 2007 Goat Trek Vineyard Block 6 Zinfandel, $25, which is also from Dry Creek Valley, though not the valley floor…This wine is incredible. The same flavor profile as the Dry Creek Valley Zin described above, but turned up a notch. Brilliant, zingy raspberry fruit that tasted almost candied (though not sweet). And still perfectly balanced. Some of this wine survived to day 2, when we found it deliciously savoury and sapid. It made us want to close our eyes and meditate on deliciousness.

The third wine may have been our favorite. This was a 2008 Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley…
The Russian River Valley abuts Dry Creek Valley, but it is generally cooler than its neighbor. There is plenty of Zinfandel planted in the RRV, but it is perhaps better known as Pinot Noir country. We typically find that Zinfandels from Dry Creek are more to our liking than those from Russian River, but this wine confounded our expectations. As a 2008 wine, it is still very young, but it did not take long for it to loosen up and begin revealing its layers of flavors. It continued to grow more beautiful with each glass. With a little more time in the bottle and perhaps a good decanting, this wine will sing.

The wine does represent its origins. We find that Russian River Valley Pinots often have a cola/sassafrass character. In Pinot we find that somewhat off-putting, but this Zinfandel has it as well, and it works."

6

I’ll try to make it back from a business day trip in time for the tasting (week from Friday). I’ll post my thoughts…Thanks!

7

Wow - what a dynamite tasting - 100% old/neutral oak and just pure, sweet, unadulterated Zinfandel fruit.

This was the lineup:

2007 “Blue Label” DCV
85% Zinfandel, 15% “kitchen sink blend”

2008 “MacMurray Ranch” RRV
86% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah
[Petite Sirah from Jim Forcini’s RRV Ranch]

2008 “Conte Vineyard” RRV
Zinfandel; Petite Sirah, Carignan, Aligote Bouchet, Grenache

2008 “Adel’s Vineyard” DCV
100% Zinfandel

2008 “Coffaro Vineyards” DCV
93% Zinfandel, 7% Petite Sirah

Bruce has been making the wines with David Coffaro.

To date, they have been using a mixture of American, Hungarian and French oak, which is 100% neutral/old.

The “Conte Vineyard” bottling was the only wine that showed any real tannin structure [and little bit of a bitter kick - maybe from the Carignan?].

Otherwise, these wines have so little tannin structure that the mouthfeels were consistently light and soft and watery, bordering on Burgundian.

The “Blue Label” is the most cheerful of the lot, with the best acid, and the “Coffaro” is the darkest and most brooding [at least to the extent that a wine with that much fruit can force itself to brood].

The “MacMurray” was a big crowd favorite and had already sold out by the time we arrived.

We purchased the “Blue Label” and the “Coffaro” [which were our favorites, at polar extremes of the acid/fruit continuum].

I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Zinfandel, but these were easily the best Zins that I have ever tasted [they certainly run rings around anything I’ve ever tried from Ridge].

PS: The oak treatment changes a little for the 2009 vintage, simply because they are starting to run out of “old” barrels.

In 2009, they will have 160 barrels, broken up as:

NEW: 30 barrels; American
NEUTRAL/OLD: 130 barrels; American, Hungarian, and French

30/160 = 18.75% new oak, and 130/160 = 81.25% neutral/old oak, with the 30 new barrels being spread out evenly over all of the labels, so that no single label will get too much new oak.

PPS: The vines in the “Coffaro” vineyard are rumored to be 100+ years old, which must mean that either they are ungrafted, or else they date from the very early days of grafting.

8

I tried three different vineyard designates about a year ago and bought three of the Caffaro vineyard label. It was a lot more than $17 (I think closer to $34), but was quite a jammy, fruit forward wine in the Dry Creek style (as compared to the more subtle Outpost style). I have not drank any of those I bought.

9

Thanks Nathan since in fact I didn’t get back in time. I’ll give Todd a call.

10



Whoa - now there’s a weird coincidence.

I wonder if it’s the perkiness of the “Blue Label” that makes the darker wines seem more “brooding” by comparison?

11

BTW Todd got in another batch of the wines.

12

Have you opened one yet?

13

This thread got me to open a Caffaro Vinyard designate on Sunday. A soundly made Zin, lot of fruit without that raisin or prune emphasis.

14

Just picked them up yesterday. A bit of a cold today but assuming better health tomorrow I’ll open a vineyard designate. Man, those ABVs scare me!

15

I didn’t get any heat on these wines at all - and, as I get older, I am getting to be a total panty-waist when it comes to “big” wines [with large oak and huge ETOH].

All I got was sweet, succulent Zinfandel fruit.

PS: Check your PMs on another deal that Todd has going right now.