Wine Party – Sonoma Zinfandels
Saturday, May 29, 2010
4 to 6 pm
$5.00 per person
Home of: ExecutiveGiftService.com
611 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite #1, Palm Springs, 92264
760-327-7701, 800-925-0030
Zinfandel flows from all over California and truly excels in Sonoma County. This Saturday we will sample examples from the Dry Creek Valley, the Alexander Valley and the Sonoma Valley. The climate across Sonoma County is fairly cool and mild due to the coastal influences, morning fog, and breezy conditions that last throughout the summer. Zinfandel thrives in this climate and produces wines that range from the claret style to fruit bombs and even desert wines such as in the Late Harvest and the Port styles.
2005 Lake Sonoma Winery Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley
List price 15.00; our price 11.99
Ripe fruit flavors of plum, blackberry and cherry mingle with an elegant mid palate of creamy vanilla. The lightly toasted oak profile, along with a medley of spices, lengthens the finish and adds complexity. Wine Enthusiast Magazine gave this wine a 90-point rating: “Lake Sonoma produces varietally pure wines at fair prices. This is a solid Zin, rich and spicy, with cherry-berry and cocoa fruit flavors framed in brisk, fine tannins. Will hold for up to six years”.
2006 Sausal Winery Zinfandel, Alexander Valley
List price 19.00; our price 15.99
This is a medium bodied Zinfandel, bright with cherry and plum aromas, and a long mouth watering finish. It is produced from estate grown grape vines averaging 50 years of age. Following fermentation, the wine was aged twenty-one months in a combination of American and French oak barrels, adding complexity.
2006 Sausal Winery Zinfandel, Private Reserve, Alexander Valley
List price 24.00; our price 20.99
This dark garnet colored Zin has black pepper and blackberry jam on the nose. It is made in the Claret style; showing juicy black fruit and intricate tannins with a great mouthfeel. This estate Zinfandel is produced from dry farmed 90-year-old vines. It was aged for seventeen months in French oak barrels, yielding a fairly dense Zinfandel. The balanced, but abundant fruit in this wine make it a delicious complement to roasted and grilled meats, rich pastas, and hearty stews. The Private Reserve will cellar well for at least ten years.
2005 Haywood Winery Zinfandel, Los Chamizal Vineyard, Sonoma Valley
List price 28.00; our price 24.00
In 1973, Peter Haywood purchased 280 acres of rugged hillside land a stone’s throw from the town of Sonoma in Sonoma Valley. Three years later, he planted 75 (of an eventual 90) acres to wine grapes and named the vineyard Los Chamizal, which in Spanish means “a thicket of hardwoods.” In 1980, Haywood purchased a small nearby winery, crushed his first grapes and began selling a selection of wines under the eponymous Haywood label. Aromas of spicy black pepper, cassis and mocha perfectly complement the bold fruit essences of cherry and baked plum apparent in this wine. Lush, concentrated flavors of sun-ripened berries and chocolate-covered cherry are softened by a touch of creamy oak on the mid-palate. The mouth-filling texture and velvety tannins lead to a long, smooth finish.
2005 Hawley Winery Zinfandel, Ponzo Vineyard, Russian River Valley
List price 24.00; our price 17.99
Located in the Russian River Valley, near Healdsburg, at the mouth of Dry Creek, Ponzo Vineyard grows Zinfandel from vines planted around 1920, near the onset of Prohibition. This fruit bomb is bold and juicy with aromas and flavors of white pepper, raspberries, strawberries and vanillin oak notes. Here are some of the awards this wine has garnered:
Best of Class, Gold Medal, West Coast Wine Competition
Gold Medal, Sonoma County Harvest Fair
Gold Medal, Sweepstakes, Monterey Wine Competition
Gold Medal, San Diego Wine Competition
Gold Medal, Los Angeles International Wine Competition
Gold Medal- Riverside International Wine Competition
2006 Hawley Winery Zinfandel, Late Harvest, Dry Creek Valley
List price 22.00; our price 17.99
This Late Harvest Zinfandel is slightly sweet but retains some natural acidity which helps balance the sweetness. Blackberry and Raspberry fruit leap from the glass along with pepper and chocolate notes. This was a popular style in the Eighties but is hard to find anymore.
