An old vine Zinfandel.

The phrase 'old vine' appears quite often on California wine labels.  Old vines have a reputation for making better quality wines due to the concentration of all of the vines resources into fewer clusters of fruit.  But anyone who knows just a little about viticulture and oenology knows that this is a gross over-simplification, as there are a multitude of factors that together determine the eventual quality of a given wine, the least of which is the subjective experience of the individual taster.  In the United States there is no formal definition of exactly what constitutes an old vine.  Is it 30, 40, 50 years before the vines in a vineyard are deemed old?  All grapevines begin to produce less crop after 20 years and in the Napa Valley, for instance, 20 years can be pretty ancient for a vineyard.
The Rosenblum Cellars, 1991 Michael Marston Vineyard Zinfandel does not mention old vines on the front label, but on the back label it says: "These vines are over 85 years old...They produce a crop of less than one ton to the acre, but the fruit is spectacular in its intensity."  All well and good, but harvesting less than one ton of grapes per acre is not really viable from an economic standpoint, is it?  Wineries need to make a profit or they simply cannot continue making wine.  As a side note,   The Marston family no longer farm these low-yielding Zinfandel vines in their Spring Mountain vineyard (Spring Mountain became an AVA in 1993), they have replanted every block to Cabernet Sauvignon.
I didn't have high expectations for this wine, after all it was almost 22 years old.  Yes, I know, in the grand scheme of things this wine might not seem old when compared to some wine producing areas of the world - I'm thinking Bordeaux - however, this was a California Zinfandel and I personally don't think Zinfandels age particularly well.  Neither Vinomaker or I are quite sure how we acquired this wine, which can often be the case in Vinoland, but that makes trying older wines all the more fun, one never really knows what the wine will be like.  The tasting notes on the back label describe the wine thus; "...rich brambly blackberry and briary spicy elements in the bouquet with flavors of blackberry jam, spice and anise."  And I could very nearly agree with these descriptors if it wasn't for the fact that this wine had been thoroughly spoiled by brettanomyces.  Now, I usually have a higher tolerance for a touch of brett in wine, I am not as sensitive to this spoilage as Vinomaker is.  On this occasion my olfactory epithelium must have been working overtime because after three sips of this veritable mouse-bottom of a wine, I was done. However, Vinomaker didn't think it was that bad.  No biggie...brett happens!

Give a dog a Côte de Beaune.

Tonight was week 10 of my Wines of the World class.  I got to explore wines from a rather large geographical area this evening: Champagne all the way down to the southern end of the Rhône Valley, but not before I had taken a mid-term examination - yikes! Not to worry, even by Dr. Krebs own admission the academic requirements for this class are the least of any other class in the entire Napa Vallege College viticulture programme - hic!  The mid-term taken, a Charles Heidsieck NV Brut Champagne was poured for the class to enjoy during an episode of  Hugh Johnson's Vintage: The History of Wine series titled 'The Slopes of Gold'.
Beginning with a clean, crisp Chablis my classmates and I were soon thoroughly immersed in all things Côte-d'Or.  My favourite amongst the Chardonnays was a Joseph Drouhin, 2007 (AOC Bourgogne) - a wine that by Burgundian standards is considered inferior to the Chardonnays of perhaps Meursault and the Montrachets, Chassagne and Puligny - it was simple, but delightful. Next up were the Pinot noirs, however there was not a single Romanée Conti to be had. The top wine in this flight was a Domaine Xavier Monnot, 2008 (AOC Volnay) Premier Cru.  Light-fruity-strawberryness, pleasant and innocuously drinkable there isn't too much for me to say about these wines, except one was a Brett-bomb.
And last, but not least, into the valley of the Rhône.  After a very moreish Domaine Faury, 2010 (AOC Saint Jospeh) - a fine blend of Marsanne and Rousanne - and a quaffable Chateau de Trinquevedel, 2011 (AOC Tavel) - I love a nice rosé of Grenache - we were off into the reds.  The reds included representations from the AOCs of Gigondas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côte Rôtie, all really nice and really drinkable - notable was the Grandes Serres, 2010 (AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape).
Only 19 wines tonight, but 19 good 'uns!
Next...

A Cult Figure.

Today, Vinomaker and I had the rare treat of...going wine tasting. Yes, I know we live and work in Napa but going wine tasting can often seem a bit like taking a busman's holiday. However on this fine Napa afternoon, Mr & Mrs Doctor (neighbours of ours who were the winning bidders on a luxury auction lot benefitting the Napa Valley Youth Symphony) had invited us to tag along as their guests on a private tour and tasting at Harlan Estates.

Curled into the western hills overlooking the expansive valley floor portion of the Oakville AVA, this serenely situated property has been, since 1984, the very singular passion of real estate developer Bill Harlan. With just 30 acres of this 240 acre hillside estate planted to grapes, (along with a berry-sorting regimen that borders on the obsessive), only 1500 cases of Harlan are produced each vintage.

On arrival, we were greeted by a charming young lady, given a festive glass of Krug bubbly, and led past a gently flowing water feature to a superbly well appointed eyrie-like patio. From this vantage point the panoramic patchwork of vineyards stretching away below us was truly breathtaking. The entire Harlan property is astounding. It is a pity more people don't get to experience it as unfortunately Harlan is not open to the public.

The last Harlan I tasted was their 2002 vintage; a mere 3 years old, (when I tasted it blind against other '02s from producers such as Phelps, David Arthur, Opus, and Groth), I remember it being quite harsh, disjointed, and most notably, unapproachable. Today, the 2004 poured for us at the conclusion of our tour of the facility was inviting and quite delicious. It showed a little heat, but the mid palate was nicely balanced. There was this huge smoky-bacon thing going on which to me was coquettishly moreish. As the wine warmed in my hands the bouquet of overly ripe blackberries, reminiscent of a hot bramble patch in full July sunshine, filled the rather voluminous Riedel stemware. The finish was a bit odd, not exactly flat but quite abrupt in it's sprint across my taste buds. I can only attribute this one hiccup, in an otherwise eminently desirable glass of wine, to the fact that the Harlan 2004 is still very young and not yet showing anywhere near it's full potential.

Personally I would have liked a little more viticultural insight on the tour, but I do understand that not everyone is a vine geek like me. I contented myself with hanging, most unladylike I might add, over a stone wall to get up close and personal with some gnarly, single cordon trained Cabernet vines that clearly demonstrated the fact that low yields are harvested from the estate's vineyards.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.