The owners are very friendly people with a profound knowledge about and a deep affection towards California wines and the history of this area. They are on the market since 1987 and were decorated in 2007 by the Californian parliament for their extreme effort to increase the reputation of Californian wine in Germany. Indeed the owners offer something which becomes rare in internet times - personal consulting. Even if it is an internet shop!
During our last chats there arose the idea that I would buy a "grab bag" with six bottles of wine selected by the owner. The only constraints: Two white wines and four reds with price limit. My wife and I would taste the wines on two dinner occasions (three wines each) with specially prepared dishes for the wines. The slogan for the first tasting: "Aged Chardonnay - Aged Zins". And the selected wines:
- 2002 Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay "Tre Terre"
- 1998 Ravenswood Zinfandel "Teldeschi Vineyard"
- 1997 Rosenblum Cellars Zinfandel Reserve "Hendry Vineyard"
We prepared for these wines a small menu with two courses:
1st Course for the Chardonnay: Selection of Fish
- Smoked Salmon PigTail
- Fillet of Fish with Crust of Cheese and Almonds
- Puristic salad of Italian Rocket with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
2nd Course (mainly) for the Zins: Spaetzle "Hunter Style"
A German speciality consisting of pork meat cut into strips, mushrooms and - of course - spaetzle
Especially the second dish was selected for several reasons. I recognized over the last years that Zins are wonderful partners for any kind of rich mushroom dishes. So I expected a very interesting combination with the wines from the two Godfathers of Zins. On the other hand I have to state that my wife - let's say it carefully - is not really a friend of Zins. Especially the aged ones. So the dish needs also to be in the position to handle the "Tre Terre". Very challenging.
But first of course the wines were tasted alone:
2002 Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay "Tre Terre" (93/100)
Russian River Valley, California
13.0 % Alcohol
Deep and clear golden yellow; very intense aroma of pineapple, ripe mango, butter and some white flowers paired with a little vanilla in the background. Wonderful. On the palate more lemon and citrus flavors become present. Neverending finish. Incredibly good condition. A dream of a Chardonnay. Absolutely on the top, but I could bet the wine will hold the quality for another four years.
1998 Ravenswood Zinfandel "Teldeschi Vineyard" (90/100)
Dry Creek Valley, California
14.5 % Alcohol
Clear ruby red with some garnet red rims. Wonderful aromas of ripe fruits, mainly raspberries and blueberries. Associations of a hot summer night with some sweet scents in the air. Also on the palate ripe fruit with very well integrated alcohol. Medium to long finish in a very pleasant way. A zin for hedonists. Perfectly aged.
1997 Rosenblum Cellars Zinfandel Reserve "Hendry Vineyard" (92/100)
Napa Valley, California
14.5 % Alcohol
Surprisingly deep, clear ruby red. Looks very young. Intense aromas of ripe berries paired with some discreet spicy notes (cardamom, cinnamon). Somewhere in the background red roses and wet forest floor. Complex. On the palate a complete basket of red and black fruits. Very spicy at the end of a very long finish. Outstanding. The wine is of course already on the top. Nevertheless it seems to me still young like a person who becomes older without aging. I never drunk a zin like this before.
But now the important stuff - the food pairing. The "Tre Terre" chardonnay from Ferrari-Carano worked perfectly with both variants of the fish - the smoked and the baked one. On the one hand it punctuated the different aromas and flavors of the different fish styles, on the other hand the inherent characteristics of the wine were increased by these styles. With the baked one more the citrus style whereas the smoked one increased the tropical fruits variant. Wonderful pairing(s).
As expected both Zins paired wonderfully the Spaetzle "Hunter Style". Together with the dish both wines offered lots of spices and were present up to the roof of the mouth. For me the fantastic thing with mushrooms and zins - not the young ones - is the fact that the characteristic is very often transformed from a fruity, "sticky" style into a full-bodied spicy wine in blockbuster mentality. Especially the transformation of the Ravenswood was obvious. For me one of the best pairing variants at all. And perhaps one of the best strategies to convince zin haters of the quality of these wines. However it didn't work for my wife. She confirmed that both Zins paired the Spaetzle "Hunter Style" better than the Chardonnay, but she didn't like both:-).
California Wines offers a very good choice of US zinfandel. Especially the selection of aged zins from Ravenswood and Rosenblum is tremendous. I made my first experience with an aged zin three years ago with a 2002 Rosenblum Zinfandel "Maggie's Reserve" from the Samsel Vineyard. Pure hedonism. The verdict of my wife was a little bit different: "Do you want to poison me?" was her most friendly opinion. And more or less this is the fascination about US zinfandels. There exist lovers and haters. Nothing in between.
Another topic with the US zins is the opinion about the aging qualities of these wines. All experts - including the top dogs Wine Advocat and Wine Spectator - are very often telling you to drink zinfandels in the first five, maximum ten years (in rare cases). For instance the recommendation for the 1997 Rosenblum Zinfandel Reserve "Hendry Vineyard" Wine Advocat recommends to drink the wine until 2003. Wine Spectator was a little bit more brave. Here the recommendation was until 2007. But luckywise this is changing - at least partly. In his latest article for the WeinWisser Stephan Reinhardt - since this year also author for Wine Advocate - recommends for instance for the 2009 Old Hill Zinfandel from Ravenswood a drink period from 2020 to 2030. Wine Spectator for the same wine: "Best after 2014"... Do we Germans perhaps have a better relationship to aged zins? To be continued.
