2010 Zinfandels a Mixed Bag at ZAP Tasting
Notes on my favorite wines at the annual San Francisco event
Posted: Feb 1, 2012 10:00am ET
The
political parties are having their big conventions later in the year but the
Zin Party caucused over the weekend at the annual Zinfandel Advocates &
Producers (ZAP) Festival in San Francisco.
The main
event was Saturday's walk-around tasting, which drew nearly 8,000 fans and more
than 200 Zinfandel producers. I liked the new venue this year. The
Concourse is roomier and allows for all the wineries to gather in one space
instead of separated into two locations a la Fort Mason.
Producers
were mostly pouring from the outstanding 2009s but there were plenty of 2010s,
many still barrel samples. Since it's not a blind tasting, I try not to read too
much into individual wines. That said, ZAP often gives me an early glimpse of
the quality of a new vintage. This year, the 2010s were a challenge.
I'm the
first to applaud Zin's unpredictability, its lack of polish, its ever-youthful
exuberance, but the 2010s seem to be all over the map stylistically, even by
Zinfandel standards. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, but I worry that the
quality of 2010s varies as widely as the style. Ripeness seemed to differ
extensively and there was no shortage of acidity and tannins, but that doesn't
necessarily mean the wines across the board showed good structure or balance,
at least not yet. It's simply too early to tell for sure.
Zinfandel
certainly has had a run of great vintages, from 2005 to 2009, so you shouldn't begrudge
winemakers for what may be a good, old-fashioned average vintage. The past
three years haven't exactly been a cinch for Zin producers. The 2009 harvest
was a headache and 2010 and 2011 were nightmares.
Just
consider what Sonoma County faced in 2010. There was record cold in the spring
and a late budbreak, then 20 inches of rain hit in May while many Zin vines
were in bloom. July was the second-coldest on record, then in late August a
record heat wave struck with 100-plus degree temps for days on end, cooking many of
the grapes on the vine. Then a week before Halloween, a storm dumped 4
inches of rain.
Old timers
had never seen anything like it. Some regions had it even worse than that in
2011.
While I'm
reserving my judgment on the 2010 vintage, the following are a list of my
favorite wines from the tasting, mostly from '10. Each has a preliminary rating
on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale. Look for my official, blind reviews in the
future.
Bella Dry
Creek Valley Maple Vineyard 2009 ($38, 88-92 points
Carlisle
Sonoma Valley Monte Rosso Vineyard 2010 ($45, 90-94)
Claudia
Springs Redwood Valley Rhode's Vineyard 2010 ($24, 88-92)
Easton
Amador County 2010 ($17, 88-92)
Mauritson
Rockpile Rockpile Ridge Vineyard 2010 ($37, 88-92)
Miraflores
El Dorado 2009 ($25, 90-94)
Robert
Biale St. Helena Old Crane Ranch 2010 (NA, 90-94)
Seghesio
Alexander Valley San Lorenzo 2010 ($60, 90-94)
Outpost
Howell Mountain 2010 ($45, 90-94)
Turley Napa
Valley Hayne Vineyard 2010 ($75, 90-92)
If you
were at ZAP this year, what were your favorites? Who did I miss?
Did you get a chance to taste the D-Cubed Zins?
Brian