For those of you who live in the OC, I took this bottle to Gulftsream last night and paired it with the 3 dip combo (hummus, guac and trout), then enjoyed it with the Ahi burger and a side of beets with the citrus, mint and walnuts. Paired great. Tonight is some homemade brown lentil with some curry. In the end, this wine has always been a favorite of mine, going back to the 2003 vintage. I don’t drinka lot of Zin anymore but I always have space in the cellar for Montafi and Carlisle vineyards. Great stuff below.
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2009 Carlisle Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (2/5/2012)
First bottle I have opened since release. Been open about 15 mins, so really a pull and pour. I am pretty sensitive to heat, especially now with the amount of low alc wines I have begun to drink more and more and I have to say at this stage of having the wine opened, I don’t find the heat here that some have mentioned. I find the red fruits on the nose, the incense-like note too. Palate is medium-plus bodied, with a spicy, energetic core. Raspberry and snappy red berry with cinnamon stick and cherry hard candy, which doesn’t to me come off as cloying but instead tastes focused, pure. Long finish, that does include some vanilla. This wine is still young, a bit rough and tumble, but it’s stuffed with a core of potential. I’ll be curious to see how it does with a couple more hours of air, as I am having it with dinner, matched with some beats and walnuts, along with an #1 ahi tuna burger…so back to the wine a full day later and a wrap up to this TN. The wine shows a more juicy profile today, a bit more relaxed in flavor, too. Not jammy or 'roided up but instead more medium in weight with the same zesty red fruited core. Classic Carlisle Vineyard expression and really quite delicious. As for an aging window, the zetiness in this wine gives it some cool edges now but in 3-4 years, I think that oughta be gone. With 3 bottles in inventory, I liked this bottle now for how it tastes, the next one I will drink in 2013, and save the final one for 2015, and likely source a couple more along the way as I just really think a lot of this vineyard and what Mike does with it.
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