TN: 2008 Nalle Zinfandel Henderlong Henderlong Ranch

WINE TALK
1

Medium ruby color. Savory red fruit and bramble aromas. On the palate, rasberry, cherry, a little black cherry and a hint of pepper. Energetic and exceptionally well balanced. Great focus, lingering aftertaste.

This wine (my first Nalle) was made by Andrew Henderlong Nalle. Is is exceptionally distinctive - an old vine Zinfandel that traditionalists could appreciate. The closest analogy I could give would be Scherrer OMV, but it is really in a class by itself. Very pleased that I finally discovered this. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Mike,

Lay some Nalle Zins down for a while. You will be rewarded. What’s the vineyard backstory on this one?

3

Hederlong is Lee’s (Doug’s wife) maiden name, I believe. This vineyard has always been a part of the Nalle zin assemblage. Andrew just decided to bottle it separately in 2008.

Mike - welcome to the Nalle experience. Imho these are the best zins made in the world and they age effortlessly. I am drinking my 2002s now and loving them. Andrew has picked up where Doug left off. I dipped into some 2004 recently just to check and they are on the usual Nalle trajectory. Lovely.

4

I should have added that this wine does have an excellent acidic and tannic backbone. It should improve for several years.

More inforation on the Henderlong Ranch Vineyard can be found at: http://historicvineyardsociety.org/henderlong-ranch-vineyard/

5

Is there a story behind the label as obviously it is different than the Nalle label I am accustomed to seeing?

Tom
Twitter: @NWTomLee

6

+1

2 bottles of '02 left with '05’s, '06’s and '07’s in the cellar slumbering.

I used to drink lots of CA Pinot and Zin and bought Nalle regularly. Between 2007 and 2008 my palate shifted abruptly to “Old World” wine in general and Italian wine in particular and I stopped buying CA Pinot and Zin. However, Nalle is one of the two CA wineries I still buy from and my appreciation for their juice has grown with the palate shift.

“Savory red fruit and bramble…” are the key words for me in Mike’s TN. Their zin reminds me of hikes in chaparral- and oak-covered hills of Southern and Central California. Sorry, getting a little wistful… [cry.gif]

7

Tom,
I am a confused by the info in the vineyard link that says they’ve been bottling this since the 2006 vintage because my understanding was the same as Loren’s. What I tasted at Nalle was what I thought was the first vintage which, timing-wise, must have been the '08. Andrew said it was an experiment and I figured the label was kept basic to minimize cost.

In any case, I just went to their website and see that Henderlong is here to stay and they now have a wine club. First time I’ve been tempted in a long time…

8

Glad to see there are a couple of Nalle devotees on the board. I’m a huge fan. In 2009, I put together a lineup of Nalle Zins that included a 1985 (his 2nd vintage), '87, '92, '97, '02, '04 and '06. There were a couple of odds and ends in there too. It was fascinating to taste the progression of age. With each older vintage showing less primary fruit and more secondary notes. The '85 and '87 were reminiscent of older Burgundy.

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