The Wine Commonsewer™

2013 St Francis Old Vines Zinfandel (Sonoma County)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Sonoma's St Francis Winery has always been a favorite of mine. Longer ago than I care to recall, my old friend, Jim, introduced me to St Francis Merlot. Merlot is a traditional Bordeaux blending grape that original St Francis winemaker, Tom Mackey.....

.....was renowned for elevating both the quality and style of Sonoma Merlot as an ultra-premium, stand-alone varietal.

I'm gonna tell you what.......Miles wasn't talking about St Francis Merlot.

Moving right along to the OVZ. The 2013 Old Vines Zinfandel needs just a bit of air to lose the astringency that is apparent at first sip. Give it a swirl in your glass, let it breath for just a few moments and you'll find that it begins to open up.

Winemaker's Notes:

A classic old vine Zinfandel, this wine pays tribute to its heritage with great structure, concentrated flavor and a long, luscious finish. Aromas of boysenberry, clove and cinnamon are followed by flavors of mixed berries, red licorice, tobacco leaf and mulling spices.

I'm not really getting a sense of mulling spices, but yes, classic, good structure, smooth, with a long, rich finish. Best of all, the wine is not loaded up with oak. Quite often, especially with red Zinfandel, oak is used to paper over a wine's shortcomings. Be advised that an over-oaked wine is something that TWC cannot abide. St Francis Old Vine Zin is on the short list of Mrs TWC's favorite wines. That's an important consideration, Gentle Reader. St Francis is a solid Zin and moderately priced in the $14.00-$22.00 range.

The St Francis OVZ is ideal for summer grilling fare. Try it with shish kaeob, spicy St Louis ribs, or pepper steak.

A few things about old Zinfandel vines.

Thank the good Lord that Beringer pretty much invented White Zinfandel, which was widely popular in the late 1970's and 1980's, replacing Boone's Farm and Tyrolia as the wine of choice for the Me Generation. This was the interim phase before the hippies-turned-yuppies graduated to, wait for it......Merlot. Circle of Life. Good Lord, even my own mother was a fan of White Zin. That American passion for sweet pink wine saved a lot of vineyards from utter destruction.

Old Zinfandel vines, which are typically fifty to seventy-five years old, produce a much lower yield than younger vines. The grapes are smaller but the flavors are more intense, concentrated, and complex. 

Zinfandel grapes originated in Croatia and may well be the world's oldest wine grape.

Bonus:

Mulling spices are used to make hot apple cider, mulled wine, and wassail. Typically, mulling spices consist of various spices including cinnamon, allspice, cloves,  and nutmeg. Sometimes star anise and cardamom are tossed in for good measure. The mix generally includes dried raisins, apples, and orange rind. I ain't much for apple cider, mulled wine, or wassail, but others enjoy it, especially during the holidays. 

As Ever,

2010 Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Tucked away in the back of the third shelf down in the cellar was this pleasant little surprise. It's a Tempranillo that kind of put me in the mind of a medium bodied Cabernet Sauvignon. Maybe it was because I had snaffled up a half pound of cherries before opening the wine, but the predominant flavor up front was black cherry.

TWC loves cherries and he's good at eating them, too. I can get rid of the seed and stem with minimal effort and in record time. No muss. No fuss. No, he cannot tie the stem in a knot. If nobody is watching, I can plow through a two pound package of Sam's Club cherries in under 24 hours. Cherries are loaded with anti-carcinogens and have incredible anti-inflammatory properties. Put that together with the wine and the aches and pains fade away.  

I liked the wine and I liked the price. Should be $11.00-$14.00 most places.

Winemaker's Notes:

Ruby red color with a golden rim. Bright and deep. Complex aromas. There is a great balance between the fruit (cherries, black plums, ripe blackberries) and the clean nuances of the wood (clove, pepper, vanilla and coconut). The nose is further enriched by the aromas that develop during bottle ageing. Smooth and balanced on the palate with a full, elegant feel and a long, lingering finish.

Photo courtesy of Campo Viejo.

As Ever,

Celebrated Tax Day 2016 With A 1999 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

My buddy Bill suggested celebrating the end of tax season with a good wine, so I rummaged around in my office wine fridge and surfaced with a bottle of Mondavi Reserve. Y'all might remember those odd looking, flat top wine bottles Mondavi used in that era. Yes, the ones that often didn't cooperate with the corkscrew.

I invariably forget that old corks need TLC and do not do well with leverpull type of corkscrew. Last night was no exception, but the cork pulled cleanly. It was dark and wet, always a good sign.

The wine was a little too cold and probably could have benefited from a vigorous go round in the decanter. I let it sit for a while. This Cabernet is full bodied and a dull brick color in the glass. Initially, I was, well, this is good, but it isn't as good as I expected. Half way through the first glass it began to really open up and by glass number two, it was pretty dang bueno.

It is a typical Bordeaux-style, California Cabernert, which is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It was dry and mellow with a long, pleasant finish. I liked it and I bet you would too.

If you buy it today, the price range is $70.00 to around $140.00. TWC prolly picked this up around 9/11 for maybe $15.00-$18.00. It pays to buy a decent to good bottle now and again and put it away for later. Most big red wines improve with age, and this was no exception.

Oh, and Happy Day After Tax Day.....

As Always, 

The Spring Equinox (Happy Spring)

 

As Always,

Swallows, Missions, and the Birth of California's Wine Culture

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

It is St Joseph's Day and Kos Man's birthday. In theory, the swallows have returned to Mission San Juan Capistrano this morning. On All Saints Day, in the year of our Declaration of Independence, Father Junipero Serra officially founded Mission San Juan Capistrano, ushering in the dawn of California's wine culture. It wasn't Napa, Lodi, or Cucamonga that witnessed the first cultivation of the vine in the Las Californias Province of New Spain. Nor were the Padres planting California's storied Zinfandel grape, which wouldn't arrive in the New World for another seventy years.  

150 Year Old Mission Grapes

Besides posole, citrus, pigs, and figs, the Franciscan missionaries brought the Criolla grape (Listan Prieta) to Las Californias. Today, Criolla, the Mission Grape, is largely extinct in its native Spain, and there are less than one thousand acres of Mission Grapes under cultivation in California. Although the Mission grapevine is a heavy producer, by the mid-1800's it had been supplanted by Zindandel.

Mission Grapes were crushed in an adobe vat (above) by young Juaneno (Acagchemem) Indian men. Once crushed, the juice flowed into a covered, adobe fermentation vat (below), located in an adjacent room.

The Padres made dry and sweet wines, both red and white, as well as brandy and a fortified dessert wine called Angelica. Apparently, the Men in Frocks were pretty good at their trade. Anchored off San Juan Capistrano in 1825, Captain John Hall recorded in the ship's log that.....

Good wine can be procured from the Friars, both white wine and red, the latter being of fine flavor.

Gardens at Mission San Juan Capistrano

Mission Grapes photo appears courtesy of Swanson Vineyards. 

As Ever,

A Wine Cork Mural

Good Morning Gentle Readers.

Artist Saimir Strati spent a month of very long days and almost 230,000 corks to create a mural of corks he calls Romeo with a crown of grapes playing the guitar while dancing with the sea and the sun, which is an homage the Mediterranean lifestyle.

More stuff to do with corks here and here. 

As Always,

2014 Trivento Malbec Reserva

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC enjoys a good Malbec and Argentina rarely disappoints. Wine Enthusiast has rated Trivento Malbec a Best Buy for eight years running. Out here in the Golden Fleece State, it can be found for under ten bucks and after enjoying my first bottle, I concur. The wine drinks as nicely as a lot of wines costing double. And, that's one of the TWC rules. Possibly number four. There's not always a connection between cost and quality.

The Trivento is ripe with smokey black fruit and a little leather on the palate. It drinks nicely now and should do so for the next five to seven years. Sounds impressive, eh? 

Winery Notes

A bright carmine red whose plum and raspberry jam aroma mingle elegantly with vanilla notes from the six months aged in French oak barrels. Well balanced, exhibits sweet tannins and a velvety finish.

Malbec prefers higher altitudes and the Mendoza region provides the perfect temperature swing, hot days and chilly nights.

Sidebar

The winery takes its name from the three winds that are local to Mendoza. The Polar wind. The Zonda wind, which is similar to our Santa Ana winds, sweeping down from the mountains bringing hot and dry weather. The Sudestada wind can bring rain and humidity. Trivento. Tri, meaning three. Vento, Italian meaning wind. Which explains a heck of a lot about my HS history teacher, Mr Vento.

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2011 Acordeón Malbec

Images courtesy of Trivento

As Always,

Christmas Miracle

 

 

Wine For The Holidays

All Dressed Up For Christmas

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC is breaking out the high dollar wine for the holidays.

This bottle has been cellared since Wayne brought it to my fiftieth birthday party. Time to crack it open?

As Always,