Sherbrooke Sips with R&R: USA
Winery: Bonterra
Vintage: 2007
Location: California, United States of America
Alcohol: 14%
Blend: 86% Zinfandel 11% Petit Syrah 3% Syrah
Tasting: Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Bonterra - good earth - well that just about describes it in a nutshell. And that is just what this company is all about. They make wine out of organically grown grapes. Now I know some people out there think that that is a bunch of baloney, but that fact of the matter is organically produced products overall are on the rise and many consumers are demanding them. It just so happens that in the wine part of things, Bonterra was ahead of a lot of other winemakers in producing and marketing their organic wines.
“Decades of learning and winemaking accolades have reinforced our passionate belief that our organic grapes make better wine.” Now they ought to know, as they started this practice in 1987. I am trying to think back 23 years ago to see what wines were being marketed as organic and I’ll be darned, but I cannot think of any right off the top of my head. Today we are seeing many more people asking for organically grown products and it is nice to know that some companies have had a leg up for a while.
Sherbrooke carries many of the Bonterra wines. Now some of you know that we are Zinfandel fans, so the fact that we picked the Zinfandel out of their lineup of wines to do may not be a big surprise. Frankly, we have not had this Zin in quite some time, so it is a real pleasure to taste it again.
The grapes used to make this wine are mostly from dry-farmed fruit. Now what does that mean to you and I? Well, it means that the vines have to dig deep into the ground to search for that water. What that gives the wine is more depth and character, generally speaking. More fruit that is concentrated and less watered down. We think of growing vegetables and fruit in our back yards, and we water the plants, right? Well believe it or not, you don’t want do do that with your grape vines.
The grape vines that are used to make this wine are about 35 - 40 years old. And that is a good thing. As we humans say ‘with age comes wisdom’ and ain’t that the truth. So it is also true that the fruit that you get from older vines, well they are going to be a little more complex and give lots of wonderful flavours.
Okay let’s tasting this wine. Now you know that I am a big fan of decanting, so get this wine out of the bottle and let it breather for awhile. It will bring out all the wonderful fruit and spicy notes that are so characteristic of Zinfandel. Red Raspberry, blackberry along with some nice spicy pepper is what you will notice right off the bat. Try it along with Diana and see what you think. On to the food…
Food Pairing:
Spicy beef fajitas (or some other Mexican foods); BBQ beef (of course); hard cheeses; spicy spaghetti and meat sauce; turkey
CSPC: 530139
Price:
$20.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)
*Price subject to change without notice. Price correct at time of printing.
Tags: Petit Syrah, Syrah, USA, Zinfandel