By The Glass
CHUCK FURUYA
Pinot makers
craft fine zinsBack in the late 1970s, zinfandel wine was red and absolutely humongous. Many of the standouts were "late-harvest" bottlings produced from ancient vines in very warm growing areas, such as California's Sonoma and Amador counties.
In the 1980s zinfandel turned pink. I remember working in a restaurant one evening and encountering a customer who was shocked that the zinfandel he had ordered was, in fact, red.
Of course, red zinfandels were still being produced at that time, the standouts being Ridge and Ravenswood, which started a phenomenon that carried into the 1990's and even into the new millennium.
My recent fascination with this grape, however, has evolved around a handful of Zinfandels being crafted by pinot noir makers. The resulting wines are more harmonious, well-textured and much more balanced, especially given their high alcohol content.
Take for instance, Makor 2000 ($21). Winemaker/owner Jim Adelman maintains this label "on the side." By day, he is the winemaker for the facility that produces the Au Bon Climat and Qupe wines down in the Santa Maria Valley. Quite a resume! Adelman's zinfandels are just bursting with delicious, juicy, jammy, spiced fruit (Lodi fruit in 2000). At the same time, the wine is remarkably sleek, elegant, suave and well textured. The most amazing thing is that you would never guess the wine is above 15 percent alcohol.
Another of my all time favorite zins is the Edmeades "Mendocino" ($22). Winemaker Van Williamson specializes in many single-vineyard renditions (Ciapusci, Zeni, Alden, Eaglepoint to name a few), but for my palate, "Mendocino" is his standout.
Made from 50- to 60-year-old vines in a very au naturale style of winemaking, this zinfandel is deeply flavored, hearty, rustic, yet is remarkably perfumed, amazingly light on its feet and well-textured. In fact, Van regularly drinks it with fish, such as salmon or ahi.
Others to look out for include, Scherrer Vineyards (owner/winemaker Fred Scherrer is the former winemaker at Dehlinger); Howell Mountain Vineyards (winemaker Ted Lemon owns and crafts chardonnays and pinots for his Littorai label) and Martinelli (where winemaker Helen Turley makes absolutely decadent rich and deeply flavored zins).
As good as they may be, the press on these wines (with the exception of Martinelli) has been only lukewarm. Good. That means we can actually still get some. Don't wait for them to be discovered, or you'll miss out on some really good wine.
Chuck Furuya is president of Fine Wine Imports and Hawaii's only master sommelier. This column is a weekly lesson in wine pairing written by a rotating panel of wine professionals.
This column is a weekly lesson in wine
pairing written by a rotating panel of wine professionals.
Write to features@starbulletin.com
