Wine & Spirits - June 2019 - 60

YEAR'S BEST ZINFANDELS & MIXED BLACKS
513017

91 | Carlisle

516196

92 | Hartford

$60

92 | Pezzi King

$36

2016 Russian River Valley Old Vine Hartford Vineyard Zinfandel ^ The head-pruned
vines at the vineyard behind Don Hartford's
house are more than 100 years old, their deep
roots providing a bright and detailed zinfandel with meaty depths of flavor. It's a little
reduced at first, with some orange-zest volatility that brings up a brisk, mineral feel in
the tannins. Clean, supple and seamless, this
would complement roast duck with cherries.
(268 cases) -J.G.
516296
2016 Russian River Valley El Jefe Zinfandel ^ This is Pezzi King's first vintage from the
Tripi Vineyard, near Limerick Lane. Fresh,
briary raspberry flavors lend the wine brightness while tar-black tannins give it a heady,
old-fashioned richness. It's dark and concentrated, with an electric spice that lights up
the sweet fruit. For cured duck sausages. (200
cases) -J.G.
516272

92 | Seghesio

$48

2016 Russian River Valley Maffei Vineyard
Zinfandel ^ Joanne Maffei farms her family's
vineyard on the Santa Rosa Plain, providing
fruit for this zin from two blocks, one planted
in 1942, the other in 1928. It has the sunny
brightness of blackberries in August, brisk
and brash and lusciously umami. There's
green, briary spice to keep it fresh, and dark
floral tannins to keep it structured, bringing
to mind freshly turned earth. This should age
with grace. -J.G.
516502

91 | Acorn

$50

2015 Russian River Valley Heritage Vines
Alegria Vineyards Zinfandel ^ Fat in the
middle, saturated with sweet red-cherry flavor, this wine drives through its oak smoke to
last on notes of mushrooms and tar. The site,
first planted in 1890, sustains zinfandel (78
percent) interplanted with alicante bouschet
(11 percent) and petite sirah (nine percent),
along with 15 other varieties. Bill Nachbaur
and Clay Mauritson ferment this as a field
blend, the wine delivering complex edges
of spice, a prickle of volatility and a sense
of completion as the oak integrates into the
fruit with air. (280 cases) -J.G.
60

WINE & SPIRITS

JUNE 2019

$47

2016 Russian River Valley Montafi Ranch
Zinfandel ^ The two blocks at Montafi Ranch
where this wine grows are mostly zinfandel
(89 percent), mixed with varieties including
alicante bouchet, grand noir, petite sirah,
trousseau noir and cinsault. They combine
in a muscular wine, a big bruiser that tends
to its alcohol with rocky tannins, both components wrapped into a dark raspberry flavor. Drink it now with braised short ribs if
you enjoy powerful zins, or leave it to mellow for ten years in the cellar. (W&S 10/18;
704 cases) -J.G.

of thyme, the black skin of blueberries and
the bright red of raspberries in summer.
Jared Hooper of LA's Faith & Flower was
impressed by the freshness. "If I'm at a barbecue in summer and someone hands me a
pulled pork sandwich," he said, lifting the
glass... (92 cases) -J.G.
513932

90 | Radio-Coteau

$54

2014 Sonoma Coast Lemorel Zinfandel ^
These zinfandel vines, on a coastal ridge in
Occidental, date to 1946 and 1981, are now
part of Eric Sussman's estate. You can almost
smell the tartness in the red-fruit scent, while
the wine's youthful tannins seem to suck all
the air out of the room, then fill it back up
with dark pomegranate flavors. This is a wine
I'd want in my cellar for ten years, fascinated
to see what it will become. (W&S 10/18; 150
cases) -J.G.

SONOMA VALLEY
516356
516047

91 | Williams Selyem

$65

88 | River Road

$20

2016 Russian River Valley Bacigalupi
Vineyard Zinfandel ^ The wine feels elegant
and seamless, the oak tannins working like
the sweet toasty bits on a savory blueberry
cobbler. There's a tart side to the fruit and
an herbal note, like oregano, adding to that
savor. Pour it with herb-rubbed lamb. -J.G.
516119
2016 Russian River Valley Old Vine Boschetti Vineyard Zinfandel (Best Buy) ^
With its spicy eucalyptus scents and superripe notes of brandied fruit, this is a gentle,
chocolatey zin that finishes cooler than it
starts. It lasts with simple, spicy drive, ready
for pepper steak. (204 cases) -J.G.

SONOMA COAST
516256

92 | Radio-Coteau

$54

2015 Sonoma Coast Lemorel Zinfandel ^ It's rare today to find a zinfandel from
Occidental, but it's what the Morelli family
planted, along with petite sirah, when they
established their vineyard in 1892. They
named their winery Lemorel, and Joseph
Morelli's son Lee replanted the zin in 1946.
Eric Sussman first made wine from those
vines in 2002, when Robert von Weidlich was
still dry-farming them, along with von Weidlich's own 1981 planting on the property.
Now the home base for Radio-Coteau (since
2012), the old Morelli property produced a
dark and concentrated 2015 with fresh notes

92 | Kunde

$60

92 | Louis M. Martini

$75

2016 Sonoma Valley Century Vines
Reserve Zinfandel ^ The Kunde family farms
a 28-acre parcel of zin with a little alicante
mixed in, planted in 1882 by John Drummond, part of the Wildwood Ranch Louis
Kunde acquired in 1904. These ancient vines,
growing in red volcanic soils, provide fruit
that seems to glitter with minerals, fashioned
by winemaker Zach Long into a clean, spicy
red with a long flavor of dark chocolate, anise
and earth. It's fragrant and savory, a wine to
cellar, or to decant for grilled portobello
mushrooms. (1,740 cases) -J.G.
516447
2016 Sonoma Valley Gnarly Vine Monte
Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel ^ A zap of red-currant flavor drives this exuberant vintage from
Monte Rosso, Martini's vineyard in the red
volcanic hills of Sonoma Valley, where the zin
vines date to 1893. It's a pretty wine, showing its 16.2 percent alcohol in the sweetness
of the plump red-berry fruit, a contrast to the
spark of mineral umami reduction. Bright
and youthful, it will bring its energy to your
Fourth of July fireworks. (1,720 cases) -J.G.

C ALIFORNIA
516079

87 | Paris Valley Road

$18

2016 California Zinfandel (Best Buy) ^
Heady and bright, this wine smells like cherries jubilee. It's sleek and lightly tannic, with
a briary note to support its red cherry flavors.
It has the body for barbecue. -P.J.C. n

https://www.hartfordwines.com/wines/old-vine-zinfandel https://www.williamsselyem.com/

Wine & Spirits - June 2019

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