2002 Findleton Zinfandel (Reserve)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Oddly enough, you've never heard of this El Dorado County boutique winery. That's because Findleton's production is very limited and El Dorado County is better known for Thomas Kinkade and Hangtown.

I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not sure how TWC ended up with a single bottle of the Findleton Reserve Zin with a strip of masking tape on the crown of the bottle proclaiming it was the 2002 Reserve (in Bic ballpoint blue).

TWC opened this sleeper with no expectations and the thought that in the worst case, we'll just dump it out. It turned out to be a delight, loaded with black fruit (plums, black cherry, currants, & a hint of raspberry) together with that  characteristic spicy, peppery finish that many of us enjoy with a good Zin.

You, Gentle Reader, will never find this wine anywhere so you'll just have to take my word for it.

It was gone much too soon and I almost wish we'd cellared it for a few years. But that's the delight of wine, the unexpected surprises that is.

As Ever,

TWC

Comments

[MalB]

"It was gone much too soon and I almost wish we'd cellared it for a few years."

Sometimes I get a sense of sadness once a good bottle has been finished. Especially so when you think there may have been some more room for improvement with some more bottle age. Sounds like you had some drinker's regret.

However, I recall some sage words of advice, I read somewhere, about this.

'It is far better to drink a wine too early and appreciate its potential than to drink it too late and lament its demise'

[Pooh]

You're right, Mike, I've never heard of Findleton.

[The Token Lurker]

Mal, good point. It is always better to drink wine before it turns.

[NoStar]

The art on the Findleton bottle is by the winemaker's wife Pamela Findleton. Her art is used on some other Findleton wines too.

[TWC]

Thanks for that note NoSTar, I should track down the link to her art site.

[Tyler Findleton]

Hey All, I came found this site and read it and thought may I could post for helpful links.

Findleton Estate & Winery Web Site
http://www.finzinwines.com
Here you can get more than enough information to get your own bottle and learn a little about the Findleton Estate & Winery.

Sierra Wines.com
http://www.sierrawines.com
This is a nice site dedicated to California Wine and Wineries. There is no site out there that comes close when it comes to details and information about the wine, winery, wine makers and vineyards.

So check them out and good luck to you all.

[Jeanetta Findleton]

Hi, I am the daughter of Thomas Findleton - the wine maker, and funny thing is we just stumbled upon 33 cases of the 2002 Reserve Zinfandel (after being sold out for 6 months) while rearranging our cellar to make room for the new estate grown pinot noir. We would like to give you a bottle - please email me at findleton.wines@gmail.com.
We are glad you liked it! Cheers!