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Wine Details
Price:
$35.00 per bottle
Description:
Located east of the small Russian River Valley town of Occidental, the Morelli Lane Vineyard is truly remarkable. This more than 100-year old dry-farmed and head trained 1.5-acre vineyard is all that's left of what was once a much larger vineyard. Our 2002 vintage is a blockbuster of a wine. The vintage yielded a wine of great intensity and length, but demonstrates elegance and silkiness rare to Zinfandel. It explodes with blackberry fruit intermingled with red raspberry notes and underlying vanilla tones and spice. The crystalline berry fruit is well balanced with lush tannins and spice tones of ginger and nutmeg. It finishes with a burst of berry fruits and subtle spice. This is a Zin that's wonderfully easy to drink and, with its moderate alcohol, is perfect with many foods, from a steak off the barbecue, to gnocchi with meat sauce, beef stew, eggplant parmesan and sharp cheddar cheese. 212 cases produced.
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Varietal Definition
Zinfandel:
Zinfandel is a variety of red grape planted in over 10 percent of California wine vineyards. DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in the 'heel' of Italy. It is typically made into a robust red wine. Its taste depends on the ripeness of the grapes from which it is made. Red berry fruits like raspberry predominate in wines from cooler areas such as the Napa Valley, whereas blackberry, anise and pepper notes are more common in wines made in warmer areas such as Sonoma County. Many Zinfandels come from head pruned ‘Old Vines’. ‘Old Vine’ is generally understood to mean a vine that is more than 50 years old and that produces less than three tons per acre. ‘Head Pruning’ is an old European style of pruning that trains the vine into the shape of a goblet. It requires no wires or other complex trellis systems. Head pruning spreads the fruit uniformly along the vine and allows light penetration.In the USA a semi-sweet Rosé (blush-style) wine called ‘White Zinfandel’ has achieved widespread popularity. In fact, this popularity has so outstripped all other forms that many fans think there is actually a grape called “White Zinfandel” (there isn’t)!
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