Lunch with 3 Monte Rosso Zins (Bedrock, Biale, Carlisle)

WINE TALK
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Yesterday, Berserker AmiDIbarra and her husband Paul invited me and Lori over for Paxti’s Pizza and 49ers football. They put up a 2010 Carlisle Monte Rosso Zin and I matched with a 2010 Bedrock Monte Rosso Zin, and threw in a 2007 Biale Monte Rosso Zin for good measure.

Fantastic company, food, and wine, although the football could have been better [head-bang.gif]

Anyway…

  • 2010 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/18/2013)
    Hugely expressive nose of raspberries, iron, and florals - I could smell this wine shortly after the cork was pulled, despite being in the next room! This is bright and racy, shows distinctive Monte Rosso signature of citrus acidity with red fruits, floral perfume, and finishing with a well-integrated exotic spice element which I believe is a product of the barrel program. My WOTN beside other MRV zins from Carlisle and Biale.

  • 2010 Carlisle Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/18/2013)
    This wine was quite shy immediately after opening, which surprised me because I’ve had it on a number of other occasions and found it quite expressive. It took over an hour to come out of its shell but then it sure did - bright, expressive red fruits, iron, and orange zest, very layered and long finish. Excellent!

  • 2007 Robert Biale Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/18/2013)
    Opened alongside 2010 MRV zins from Bedrock and Carlisle, and the Biale showed much riper, dark fruited and deep with impressive floral aromas and a long smoky finish. It’s a shame we were unable to compare a Biale from the same vintage. While I preferred the brighter, more acidic and red-fruited 2010s, this wine indeed showed its class and was the favorite of most everyone at lunch.

Posted from CellarTracker

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What would be your guess about optimal drinking age for the first two. Thanks!

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No rush but I wouldn’t be shy about popping either.

4

Paxti + zin = awesome.

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Biale Aldo is also top shelf Zin. I don’t know if they are still making a MR.

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Very interesting tasting/comparison. Thanks for the notes!

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I believe they are Glenn. They are also making great Zin from Moore and Pagani Ranch.

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Louis Martini (Gallo, owners of Monte Rosso) said Biale is still sourcing fruit from the vineyard.

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I’m doing a '10 Carlisle and '10 Bedrock Monte Rosso taste off on Thanksgiving.

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Agreed, Larry! Thanks for coming over and sharing great wine as always!

Dan, you’ve inspired me to propose the same to my Thanksgiving group!

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Maybe I will too!

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Excellent! [cheers.gif] This will be an outstanding tasting, good pairing I think, very American, and educational since the terroir shines through both these wines.

My only advice is, if the Carlisle starts out a little shy, patience will be rewarded!

13

So noted. Thanks for the advice.

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Just for fun, you can start with Compagni Portis from both, an experiment we just conducted here. Very different wines.