Leonhardt 2008 Dry Creek Zinfandel Reserve

January 28, 2011

Matt 2008, Buy-A-Case, Dry Creek, Leonhardt, Michael Dashe, Zinfandel 1 Comment

A special word of thanks to Drew Bayer of Leonhardt who was kind enough to speak to me about this wine, Howard Leonhard, his co-workers, their vineyard and collective vision for creating amazing Zinfandel. Cheers Drew!

Leonhardt 2008 Dry Creek Zinfandel Reserve

The Wine: What do you get when you cross an incredibly benevolent and successful entrepreneur with a great wine maker, a solid estate vineyard, a highly acclaimed vineyard manager and a stellar jack-of-all-trades salesman? You get Leonhardt, founded in 2003. Here’s a wine I’m excited to talk about. To start with, you should read the bio of the man who gives this vineyard its namesake, Howard Leonhardt. Howard is one of those guys that what ever he touches seems to turn to gold; certainly a result of countless hours of hard work, dedication and surrounding himself with the right people; his wine is no different. Howard was able to bring Michael Dashe of Dashe Cellars on board as their wine maker with a vision of not only a great wine, but a sustainable and compassionate business model. Michael, along with his wife Anne are very highly acclaimed wine makers with 40-plus years of experience at such noted wineries as Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château La Dominique, Ridge Vineyards, Cloudy Bay, Far Niente, Chappellet, and Schramsberg Wine Cellars – whoa. All great wine starts off in the vineyard. Leonhardt has an ideally located estate vineyard with 100 year old vines on a Dry Creek hillside giving the grapes access to the perfect blend of sunshine and fog exposure for prime Zinfandel and Petit Sirah grapes. To tend the grapes, Leonhardt has employed an amazingly talented vineyard manager, Ulises Valdez. How talented? Ulises has his own winery, Valdez Family Winery, whose 2008 Silver Eagle Chardonnay was served at the White House when President Obama hosted a State Dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderón of Mexico. OK, I’m loving this wine. Let’s put some more icing on this already decadent cake, 50% of all the profits are donated to charity. I told you Howard Leonhardt was a benevolent man. So how’s the wine? The Experience: Color: You are going to find an incredibly inviting deep plum violet and incandescent hue of currant red in your glass – awesome. You can tell this wine has substance. Nose: The first impression of this wine are the components associated with barrel aging, oak and vanilla, but both are present in balance with baking spice, light dust and dark juicy berries – quite inviting. Palate: This is where the rubber meets the road and man, is there traction! I write my tasting notes in the order that I experience the components and here are my exact notes: “Dark berries, nutmeg, allspice, juicy, proper spice, eggnog, less sweet but not exactly dry. Vanilla finish, with some length.” Bottom Line: Buy-A-Case Here’s a wine whose story I didn’t know until after trying it and I have to admit, the story made me love this wine more. It’s a solid offering reflective of both Dry Creek and California Zinfandel. I tasted this wine against another Zin with some other people, everyone preferred the Leonhardt, so my assessment is affirmed in context. This is a Trader Joe’s Hustle Buy of only 1050 cases, at the time of this posting, Trader Joes’ Northern California Warehouse has no more in-stock, meaning what’s on the shelf is it, so buy this while it lasts! If you missed it, I have a strong feeling we might be seeing their 2009 on the shelf of Trader Joe’s sometime in the not too terribly distant future… Wine Info:
  • Winery Website: http://www.leonhardtvineyards.com/index.php
  • Appellation: 2008
  • Wine Maker: Michael Dashe
  • Grape Varietals: 86.4% Zinfandel, 13.6% Petit Sirah
  • Alcohol: 14.50%
  • Barrel Aging: 10 months, 20% new French and American Oak
  • pH: 3.7
  • TA: 5
  • SO2: 25ppm
  • RS: .9
  • Fining Agent: None

Dry Creek Vineyards 2008 Heritage Zinfandel

January 27, 2011

Matt $11-$20 Price Point, 2008, Dry Creek Vineyard, Sonoma, Worth-Buying, Zinfandel 2 Comments

Dry Creek Valley Vineyards' 2008 Heritage Zinfandel

Earlier this week I stopped by a ginormous Safeway which has a wine section about the size of most Trader Joe’s; I wanted to check out their Zin selection. I saw they also carry Dry Creek Vineyards’ Heritage Zinfandel – it just costs $5-$7 dollars more, depending on if you have a Club Card or not. I like how TJ’s just keeps their prices at the ‘specially offered members only price’ of most other major retailers without having to carry yet another card in your wallet  - this is not a paid advertisement for TJ’s, I just really like that.

The Wine: What made me select this wine is its more premium price point and the fact it has lower alcohol levels than most other Zins, only 13.5% compared to what should be expected to be 14.5% typically. I got the inkling this was going to be a juicer more fruit driven selection. Going blind on this, I would want to eat this with a Persian dish with more thoroughly cooked meat, such as lamb.

I like how I’m about to sample a $20 wine for $13 bucks.

The Experience:

Color: The wine offers you a very deep, almost thick, plum violet color. You know this wine is going to be dense – awesome.

Nose: The first scents you pick up on are the toastiness from the oak barrels in conjunction with the vanilla components barrel aging brings to wine. There is low heat or spice on the nose of this wine, probably a result of the lower alcohol level of 13.5%. You then are treated to a nice nose of sweet dark berries and chocolate.

Palate: Your first impression of this juice is its thickness – this is a dense wine which moves slow and heavy around your palate. The palate is nicely reflected in the nose with rich dark berries, chocolate and just a little bit of spice. This is definitely a jammy and more savory wine. My notes indicate and emphasize oak on the palate, but not in a negative way.

Bottom Line: Worth-Buying

My parents really liked this wine in comparison to a few others. It’s a pretty solid selection of a fruit driven wine (but not complete fruit bomb), less intense (spice/heat) Zinfandel which would accompany a drier or even spicier dish really well. If this were a Hustle Buy at TJs, I’d recommend buying Half-A-Case, but it’s a regular on the shelf – it’s definitely worth the $13 price tag.

Question: What sort of food would you pair with a fruit driven Zin?

Wine Dork Info:

  • Price: $13
  • Appelation: Sonoma County
  • Grape Varietals: 82% Zinfandel, 18% Petit Sirah
  • Alcohol: 13.5%
  • Barrel Aging: 10 months in American and French Oak, 40% new oak
  • pH: 3.81
  • TA: .61g/100mL
  • Vine Age: 7-19 years

Trader Joe’s 2009 Coastal Zinfandel

January 25, 2011

Matt 2009, Castoro Cellars, Central Coast, Next-Wine-Please!, Trader Joe's Coastal, Under $5, Zinfandel Leave a comment

Trader Joe's Coastal 2009 Zinfandel

Recently in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jon Bonné, the Wine Editor, wrote about Zinfandel in his column. One of his praises of  Zinfandel was its roots as The People’s Wine because of its long history in places like California as being one of the first grapes grown and turned into wine. However, the notion that Zinfandel is a People’s Wine is becoming a thing of the past with more Zinfandel bottles crossing the $40+ Rubicon. Today we are going to look at a wine which is certainly in the price range of most of The People, $4.

The Wine: A quick glance to the back label of Trader Joe’s 2009 Coastal Zinfandel reveals that this wine stems from the winery of Castoro Cellars, which is a winery we are going to re-visit on Saturday with their own Zin labeling. Unlike most of Trader Joes’ private label wines, we can clearly see where this wine comes from, no searching the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s website for clues. When I quickly compared the alcohol contents of the Castoro Cellars and Trader Joe’s offering, I see they are vastly different (Castoro 15%, TJ’s 13.9%), so I say with great confidence they are not the same wines. So how is this wine?

The Experience:

Color: You’ll find a plum hued purple presentation which is neither too dark nor too light, I believe this is what we call ‘medium’. Nice color, though.

Nose: Is that sulfur? Is that pickle juice? I’m pretty sure that smells a bit like fig. Or maybe is that a ficticous jam? Did someone put Charles Shaw in my glass? There weren’t many notable fragrances rising out of this juice which were getting me excited about this wine.

Palate: This is a flabby combination of red and darker fruit, digs, dates and really not much of any spice to entertain or beckon you for another taste. There is a minute level of tannins to dry your palate but that dissipates in a matter of two seconds and you’re left with a cheap wine aftertaste I would best describe as pickle juice’esque with flabby fruit tones.

Bottom Line: Next-Wine-Please!

I was really hoping to be writing about what I really felt was a People’s Wine worth raving about. I certainly am not looking for perfection, but I’d at least hope for more palatable nose and flavor profiles. For $1 more, you can buy a much better People’s Wine called Benefactor Cellars’ Red Wine. I really can’t get behind this wine beyond recommending it perhaps for passing around a campfire with a group of friends, after several bottles of better wine have been consumed – but you might as well break out the $2 stuff at that point…

Question: What do you consider to be The People’s Wine? And why?

Wine Dork Info:

  • Price: $4
  • Appellation: Central Coast, California
  • Cellar: Castoro Cellars
  • Alcohol: 13.9%

Canard Sauvage 2009 Zinfandel Dry Creek

January 24, 2011

Matt $10 Price Point, 2009, Buy-Half-A-Case, Canard Sauvage, Dry Creek, Trader Joe's Exclusive, Worth-Buying, Zinfandel 2 Comments

To continue preparing for The Week of Zinfandel, on Sunday, I visited Ridge Vineyards in Saratoga. Knowing that Ridge not only has a collection of Zinfandels to sample, but an assortment of Bordeaux varietal blends which are world renowned, this must be a great place to get my palate in check for these Zin reviews; this turned out to be a fantastic idea. I was able to taste five different Zinfandels, all with slightly to very different flavor profiles – the Lytton Estate offering was my favorite of all, with its classic Zin triad delivery of fruit, spice and tannins in perfect proportions.

A giant thank you to the Tasting Room Staff and special thanks to Christopher Watkins, the Tasting Room Manager, who poured two different vintages (1992 and 2007) of Ridge’s flagship and Judgement of Paris winning label, Monte Bello. That wine is almost indescribably amazing. Do yourself the huge favor and seek out Ridge’s wine or better yet, visit one of their tasting rooms in either Sonoma or Saratoga. If you visit Saratoga, you’ll understand why the winery is named Ridge.

But now for our wine today…

The Wine: Canard Sauvage is another Trader Joe’s exclusive with solid roots in the Napa Valley wine scene. The winery where this came from oddly does not offer Zinandel on their website, but has several award winning Cabernet Sauvignons in the $50 range – so this Zin could simply be a fun side-project for the wine maker(s). After reading the back label of this wine, you can only conclude this is in fact a fun side-project for the wine maker(s). Trader Joe’s is a great outlet for creative side-projects like this for talented wine makers looking to dabble for fun and/or expand their business.

The Experience:

Color: In the glass you’ll find the wine plum violet, but a tad on the thin side.

Nose: The first scent you pick up is the spice of this wine – you know this one is packing some power. Vanilla and oak begin making themselves known then the darker berry fruits begin to entertain you. I also began to pick up some green notes which reminded me bushes along a trail while hiking.

Palate: The first note I have written down is actually about the nice tight finish of this wine with great presense of blueberries on the back end which linger on for a bit. In the mid-palate you’ll find lots of sour cherries, spice, some heat and a tad of vanilla. You can tell this wine has seen oak aging, but it’s not overly apparent.

The Bottom Line: Worth-Buying/Buy-Half-A-Case

This is a solid Trader Joe’s regular offering which I feel exceeds the expectations of a Zinfandel at the $10 price point. If you like big Zinfandels, this is the wine you want to be picking up to go with your next BBQ.

Question: Do you prefer sweeter or more spicy Zinfandel?

Wine Dork Info:

  • Price: $10
  • Appellation: Dry Creek, Sonoma County
  • Cellar: Canard Sauvage
  • Alcohol: 14.8%

The Week of Zinfandel

January 23, 2011

Matt Steve Heimoff, Zinfandel Leave a comment

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and happen to enjoy Zinfandel, there is an event you should not miss, the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) Festival, January 27th- 29th, at Fort Mason in San Francisco. There will be dozens and dozens of producers on hand with thousands of Zinfandel enthusiasts talking about and my gut tells me, drinking lots of great Zinfandels.

En lieu of next weekend’s event in San Francisco, this week we will be exploring the Zinfandel shelves at Trader Joe’s. Most of TJs’ Zinfandels stem from the Dry Creek AVA in Northern Sonoma County, a few from Paso Robles and sadly, not one from Amador County – in the Sierra Foothills. In preperation for these postings, I decided to reach out to a very well known wine writer and critic named Steve Heimoff for his input on what he looks for in a Zinfandel, particularly from Dry Creek. My question evoked an answer which became the topic of Steve’s daily blog post. Here’s a snippet:

“He asked, “When you taste a Dry Creek Zin, what are you looking for in the                      wine?”

Interesting question, one that brought up all kinds of considerations.

I could certainly say things about Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, which I happen to          like very much. But his question wasn’t “How would you describe classic Dry                  Creek Valley Zinfandel?” If it had been, I would have said something about wild            berry flavors, a brambly, briary mouthfeel and tons of dusty spices. Instead,                  Matt’s question  was “When you taste a Dry Creek Zin, what are you looking                    for?” (Note: WordPress isn’t formating the left margin correctly.)

That’s a horse of a different color.”

(Click here for the entire posting)

My question sparked off an examination of fundamentally what we, as wine drinkers, are actively doing when we taste a wine and form our conclusions of why we do/don’t like a wine. I have to give a shout out to Jeff and CabFranc for our discussion earlier in the week on this very same topic, cheers guys!

I’ve already posted one review of Hamilton-Stevens’ 2009 Zinfandel from Dry Creek, which I really didn’t care for because I felt it does not accurately represent the characteristics which make Zinfandel such a great wine. It was too sweet and had very little zest or spice to it. However, there will be several more postings this week about other wines, at least two, I really liked because I feel they are great representations of Zinfandel and value for your dollar. The wines we are going to be looking at are:

  1. Monday – Canard Sauvage 2009 Zinfandel, Dry Creek ($10)
  2. Tuesday – Trader Joe’s 2009 Coastal Zinfandel, Central Coast ($4)
  3. Wednesday – Dry Creek Valley 2008 Heritage Zinfandel, Dry Creek ($13)
  4. Thursday – Trader Moon’s 2009 Zinfandel, California ($5)
  5. Friday – Leonhardt 2008 Zinfandel, Dry Creek ($10)
  6. Saturday – Castoro Cellars 2007 Zinfandel, Paso Robles ($8)
  7. Sunday – Stonehedge 2008 Zinfandel Reserve, Dry Creek ($10)

If may suggest, go to your local TJ’s, grab one or more of these bottles and join in the Week of Zinfandel. I look forward to the discussions in the comments section about these wines!

**An easy way to follow my postings is to ‘Like’ my Trader Joe’s Wine Notes Facebook Page. Click the FB link above or here**

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