A California Old Vines Zinfandel

A California Old Vines Zinfandel: -

A California Old Vines Zinfandel

Do old vines make a difference?...

Ironstone Vineyard, Old Vines

Of course, we have been reviewing a lot of California wine, and a lot of Zinfandels, even white Zinfandels. Today’s wine is as red as can be. It comes from the Lodi area, home to over 40% of California Zinfandel. This is Northern California, south of Sacremento and east of San Francisco, in the heart of Gold Rush country. John Kautz started with 12 acres (less than 5 hectares) and now has over 5 thousand acres (over 2 thousand hectares) in the Lodi area and the Sierra foothills. Ironstone is home to California’s largest winery entertainment complex including a museum and a culinary center. You can even pan for gold. Their wine aging caverns were blasted through limestone. While this is not an organic wine, Ironstone practices sustainable viticulture, including owl boxes, raptor perches, and drip irrigation. This wine actually contains 9% Petite Syrah. Today’s companion wine is a medium priced Primitivo from southern Italy. Zinfandel is America’s only native European grape variety and some experts, but not all, consider it to be a relative of Primitivo.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Ironstone Old Vine Zinfandel 2008 14.5% alcohol about $10

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: I tasted dozens of value-priced whites, rosés and reds, and these [12 wines] emerged as the standouts ... John Kautz, Ironstone's owner, started growing grapes in Lodi and the Sierra Foothills in 1948. That helps explain how he can source this boysenberry-rich Zinfandel from vines that are more than 45 years old, yet still charge so little for it. (Ray Isle, at the food and wine website, Sept. 2009). And now for my review.

At the first sips the wine presented bright acidity. It was sour but not unpleasantly so. The initial meal was a slow cooked beef stew with chick peas and potatoes. With the beef Zinfandel tasted of jam. There was tobacco in the background; this wine was definitely mouth filling. When accompanying the chick peas the wine was round and long; with the potatoes it was rich.

This review of a California Old Vines Zinfandel continues on my website.