- Basic info: Bedrock Wine Company, Esola Vineyard Zinfandel, Amador County, CA – 2016.
- Type: Red
- Price estimate: $35 (from winery)
- Look: Ruby red wine that is opaque in most lights, but has some translucency in the sun. Slight plum tint at the rim.
- Smell: Raspberry (ripe, ready to eat raspberry still on the vine) with a little cherry.
- Taste: Mild spice, red fruit, anise/ licorice. Super smooth with a nice acidity and mineralogy. Wine changes from fruity to a deeper flavor and it has a chocolate note on the long finish.
- Conclusions: Amazing wine. Bob and I savored each sip of this wine, and I think we sat on the back porch for over an hour savoring a single glass each. This is everything I love about zinfandels in a light style, although the alcohol content is still up there.
- Other notes: After the first sip Bob and I just looked at each other. If I blind tasted this I would have called it a pinot noir right out of the bottle. A half hour later, as the wine sat and opened a little, it was pure zinfandel. I didn’t think I could like a zinfandel more than I liked the Old Vine Zinfandel from Bedrock, but this is just as good if not better. I’m kind of sad that we only have one bottle of this wine. It is a little more than we usually spend for a “just to open” bottle but since I found out I passed my Admin Certification test for NJ and a bunch of other states (same test, but each state has a different required score – I managed to score high enough that my score will count for any state that accepts the exam) we decided a little celebration was in order.
- From the bottle: No bottle notes. 14.4% alcohol by volume.
Sixteen Paws 