Rediscovering Value in Dry Creek
Region's long history with Zinfandel gives it an edge
Posted: Jan 26, 2011 11:00am ET
A lot of us drank Zinfandel
in the old days because it was cheap. For 10 bucks, I could buy a terrific
bottle in the early 1990s and I didn't have to cross my fingers or anything.
Today the top wines run $30 or $40 and, since I don't have a mattress stuffed
with Facebook stock, I can't drink those every day.
And yet, one of the perks of
being a Zin buff is that it's still possible to find a tasty wine at a decent
price, and not just the generic Zinfandels that carry a California designation.
Most regions still produce a few honest, handcrafted Zins that sell for less
than $20.
Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma
County is home to two of my favorite values, and the current releases remind me
why the wines are so reliable. Pedroncelli Dry Creek Valley Mother Clone 2008
(88 points, $15) is typical of the house style: easy to drink but well-structured, with crisp notes of cherry, licorice and herb. Dry Creek Vineyard
Sonoma County Heritage 2008 (88, $19) is more full-bodied, zesty and
appealingly rustic, with black pepper, raspberry and roasted dill flavors.
Longevity is one reason the
two wineries still offer value. The Pedroncelli family is part of the great
Italian tradition that first planted vines in Dry Creek in the 19th century.
They have toiled in the same vineyards for generations, which keeps the
mortgage payment at a minimum, and retain the Old World notion that wine is nothing
to fuss over. The Stare family at Dry Creek Vineyard pioneered the rebirth of
the valley in the early 1970s, and while they produce wines at a variety of
prices, the Zinfandels have remained true to the original style: full-flavored
and authentic to the vineyards.
Dry Creek Valley, for many
Zinfandel drinkers, is considered the heartland. Located about 70 miles north
of San Francisco in the northern edge of Sonoma County wine country, the valley
is about 20 miles from the Pacific, which means the climate is toasty during
summer days and cool at night.
It produces Zins that remind
me of Olympic swimmers, light of frame but dynamic, as compared to the more
muscular counterparts from Russian River Valley or Napa. You'll mostly taste
raspberry and cherry, spice and cinnamon, but styles vary according to vineyard
location and winemaker.
The valley is about 16 miles
long and two miles wide, but most of the vineyards are along the creek and in
the nearby hills. It's hard to say when the first Zinfandel was planted in Dry
Creek, but a guy named George Bloch was the first on record back in 1869, just
four years after the Civil War ended.
I was fascinated when I first
heard the tales of abandoned vineyards in the benchlands above the valley.
That's where early Italian settlers planted grapes, leaving the flatlands for
other crops and fruit trees. Some of the old vines are still up there, cast off
to the wild during Prohibition and overgrown by scrub brush. Somehow a few
100-year-old vineyards like Teldeschi Ranch and Maple survived in Dry Creek and
still produce wine.
Appropriately, Dry Creek was
among the first American Viticultural Areas to be designated in Sonoma County.
That was back in 1983. So much has changed since then, but Dry Creek itself
doesn't look all that different.
Back when I first started
drinking Zinfandel, it was my favorite place to explore. There's an unfussy
beauty about it, with its narrow, rambling roads and its piney green hills.
Most of the wineries are still small and family-owned and they make plenty of
Zinfandel. I can't promise you'll find many for $10, but they still deliver
both character and value.
Tim,
The Olympic swimmer analogy captures Dry Creek Zins well,and I enjoyed seeing two good values highlighted.