Dark in color with a lovely nose of red berries and jammie notes, more towards strawberries. On the mid pallet the wine is fairly subdued with some light red berries coming through overwhelmed almost immediately by form acidity, big tannins and pepper. This wine definitely lives in the long finish. Leaving behind some nice dryness, some lovely complexity and noticeable oak. For me this wine is way too young. Either age it or let it breath. As it did breath even in the half an hour I had the glass it was starting to open up to allow some of the fruit to shine though. For now I would consider it an edgy wine. I’d give it an 89 or so due to the lovely complexity and dryness. Make sure you have this with something hearty or you won’t be tasting the food. Sadly not in the LCBO. $17 in the US at the winery.
From the winery’s web site:
Winemaking: The third cool growing season in a row for our vineyards included a lower yield and delayed ripening. We harvested the grapes over the last week of September, before the rain. The resulting fruit retained well developed
flavor, outstanding balance and deep quality of fruit. During fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, the cellar crew performed daily pumpovers—extracting color and flavor from the skins. The wine was aged in American oak barrels for 12 months. A touch of Petite Sirah (10%) adds layers of color, structure, and tannin to our Zinfandel. Tasting Notes: Our Mother Clone is a classic Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. Aromas of raspberry and allspice lead to Bing cherry and strawberry flavors framed by subtle black pepper spice. Well integrated flavors with well balanced
acidity and warm toasty oak are a hallmark of our style. 14.8% Alcohol
