Four Vines Old Vine Cuvee Zinfandel, California
January 3, 2012
Grape
Zinfandel, but there’s probably very small amounts of a few other grapes thrown in there, also…
Facts
- Four Vines was established by a guy named Christian Tietje, who originally started out as a chef in Boston. In the 90’s he moved to San Francisco, with big dreams of becoming a winemaker (as you do). From there, he cut his teeth as cellar-master at Carneros Creek in Napa, and furthered his wine education under “Wine Masters in France” (I’m not too sure what that means….I took it directly from their website…).
- There’s no legal definition on the term “old vine”, so it’s sometimes difficult to decipher whether the grapes used to produce a particular wine are actually from “old vines”, or if the winery is just using it as a marketing ploy. I really hope that vineyards can come to some sort of mutual understanding over how this term is used! It’s just pointless otherwise! Every-time I hear someone say “I LOVE old vine Zinfandel!”, what I hear in my head is “I LOVE being potentially deceived by cool wine marketing!”
- Grape vines can live to be over 100 years old, but after 20 years they start to produce less fruit that is also more concentrated.
- The Four Vines Winery was acquired by the Purple Wine Company in 2010, which adds to their existing brands of Mark West, Avalon, Bex, and Rock Rabbit.
- The OVC (Old Vine Cuvee) sits at the more affordable (you never say “cheapest” when it comes to wine) end of the Four Vines portfolio. Upwards from there, the focus is on more vineyard-specific bottling’s from Paso Robles, Amador and Santa Barbara.
- Click here for the Four Vines website, or here for the Facebook page.
A Round Up of 2011
January 2, 2012I thought it only appropriate to close out 2011 with a post that summed up the whole year. So this is it. Right here.
I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who has continued to follow my progress. This website is a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t have the passion to do it if I didn’t think people were getting some pleasure, and maybe a little information out of reading it. Cheers!
My Favorite Wine Video
This was an easy pick! I wish I could go “on location” for all my wine video reviews…
My Most Read Article
Randomly enough, according to Google Analytics, my most read post was actually Christmas-themed. Who’d have thought!?!?
Click here to read the whole article.
The Grape – Jacksonville
January 2, 2012
A Redneck Christmas.
December 30, 2011Christmas is a CRAZY time for most people, and I’m no exception, therefore this post has taken a few days to get together.
I hope you all (or should I say “y’all”, with an English accent) had a great Christmas! It just seemed to zip by, well, at least did for me! It feels like we only JUST put our tree up! Now we have to take the bloody-thing down again….Christmas was soooo much easier when we were all kids!
So, as you can see from the menu above, the wife and I are a little non-traditional when it comes to Christmas. We’d already decided a few months out that we wanted this year to be a little different, and a “Redneck” theme seemed like the easiest option. With that being said, we only very loosely followed the theme…..as we didn’t want to go so far as relocating the dining room table to a trailer park and all marrying our cousins….
III Forks Monday Wine Tasting.
December 29, 2011
Black Slate Priorat, Spain, 2009.
December 29, 2011
Grape
46% Garnacha, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Syrah.
Facts
- Ahhhh Priorat! My favorite of all Spanish wines! I tasted my first Priorat back in 2005, and I remember it being my true-awakening to Spanish wine! I’ve since come around to enjoy the majority of styles coming out of Spain, but I will say; if you’re a “New World” wine drinker (i.e. everything from outside of Europe), Priorat is going to be a fairly easy entrance into wine from España. Stylistically they’re big, powerful, aggressive, usually higher in alcohol, and more often than not, combine New World grapes into their blend.
- The Black Slate Priorat received 90 points from Steven Tanzer and 91 points from Robert Parker….but then again who are they to know what you like? Buy a bottle and YOU be the judge!
- The Porrera Black Slate Priorat is part of the Eric Solomon portfolio. What does that mean? Well, I’ll personally put Eric Solomon right up there with Jorge Ordonez so far as Spanish importers of whom to trust. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll enjoy all their wines, but there is never usually a question of quality.
- Garnacha (Grenache) vines in the region take almost a "bonsai-like" appearance, looking more like bushes than trained vines, in much the same way of what’s seen in the Rhone region of France.
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