OZ 2024
Though Zinfandel seems to be a shrinking wine category, those producers who’ve stayed the course continue to produce lovely wines. It may just be the wines at this year’s event, but, I sensed that the great complex, fine, elegant wines from past events were mostly missing. I think my good friend, Dick Scheer who read this piece hit the nail on the head. In the past, we saw wines from many of the cooler costal climates as well as mountain climates. This time around only Lodi and Puglia with no Sonoma, Paso, Napa, Santa Cruz or Amador; not even a Cucamonga. Those wines still exist but they do cost a bit more. I actually preferred the interesting pre-tasting warm-up wines to the Zinfandels in the actual judging.
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful fall day to dove tail with the beautiful setting in the yard of Tony and Nancy Fiore’s home. Relative to past events, the attendance was a bit smaller with just twenty one bottles being judged. As an American Wine Society sanctioned event, the 20 point scoring system was used and although we all knew that we were tasting only Zinfandel the judging was blind. No one knew the origin, price, or producer of any of the wines. Jo Schmidt did a great job of sorting the wines among the judging panels so that every panel had a diverse collection of Lodi, North Coast and Primitivo from Puglia, Italy. What I found particularly interesting is that two of the top wines were the same wine judged by different panels. I did not taste every wine as I have done at some of the OZ events in the past. So, although these notes do include all of the top rated wines by all of the panels, there were many other very nice wines that I just didn’t get to. I’ll start by listing the top wines as rated by all of the panels and include a few other wines that I enjoyed particularly. As I’ve stated at many of the Tasters Guild judgings that we’ve conducted in the past, often what I see as the very best wines often possess a characteristic that I love but not everyone enjoys. Most of the time, the top rated wines are actually everyone’s second choice in that even though it may not be everyone’s favorite, everyone rated it highly.
2021 Oak Ridge Winery OZV Old Vine Zinfandel Lodi, CA (14.8% abv) $15 FIRST PLACE (and fourth place, different bottle) my score 17.5/20 both bottles. I got to taste one bottle of this wine a couple of times and the other bottle once. My notes are generally consistent from a quality perspective, but I certainly did not recognize the fact that I was tasting the same wine from two different bottles. It shows a deep black/red color with one bottle showing bright fresh youthful red fruit and aromatics that can only be described as lively, concentrated and multilayered. Though not heavy, it is big and keeps getting bigger though very seamless and balanced. The other bottle had a very slight mercaptan in the nose but finished with a freshness and zest that also grew as it sat in the glass.
2020 Cosentino Cigar Zinfandel Lodi, CA (15.5% abv) $20 SECOND PLACE my score 17.5/20. This wine was actually in a tie breaker with the Oak Ridge and after several back and forth sips, I think I prefer it. The color here is also very deep black/red and the nose follows up with a rich waft of black fruit. It is precisely what comes to mind when I think of good Zin. It is correct in every way with a fine fruit filled finish.
2020 Galadino Susumaniello Salento Primitivo Puglia, IT $15 (14% abv) THIRD PLACE my score 18.5/20. This is a wine I bought on-line from Last Bottle a year or two ago. The color is starting to mature and it is one of the only Zins in which I experienced a noticeable oak smokiness nuance among the bright fresh spicy fruit that carried the wine throughout. It was one of the most complex wines of the tasting.
2014 Ivory & Burt Zinfandel Lodi, CA $18 (14.8% abv) FIFTH PLACE my score 18/20. Alice brought this bottle hoping that it was possible for a mature wine to finish higher than last place. Well, this ten year old came in fifth out of 21 wines. This is remarkable because this event is notorious for serving up the “TOTO” award for mature wines no matter the pedigree. The color is strawberry/orange around the edges and maybe it is the suggestion from the color, but the nose is also a massive mature bouquet of strawberries and orange peel. This is a huge monster of a wine, not unlike some of the amore liqueurs with fabulous complexity and surprising nuance. I felt that it was very much alive and well though some thought it was over the hill.
Here are a couple of other wines I was particularly fond of.
2021 Sanvito CSPA Primitivo Puglia, IT $11 (13% abv) NOT RANKED my score 19/20. As is typical of my palate, I once again found the least expensive wine to be the best. Yes, even the color stood out among the wines I tasted for its beautiful ruby red highlights. It was probably the only wine I had that I would describe as compelling. Yes, just a whiff of the fine, elegant, complex, brilliantly spicy nose captured your imagination which was intrigued even further with a deep fruit concentration with herbal fennel-like subtleties. The finish proved long and dry building as it aired.
2022 The Pier (American Vintners) Zinfandel Lodi, CA $12 (15% abv) NOT RANKED my score 15.5/20. This is a wine that was started when a residential developer decided to plant vineyards among the homes in California much like we often see a golf course wind its way through subdivisions elsewhere. Of course, at some point the vines produced grapes that needed to be made into wine. In a lucky coincidence, Meijer needed a house wine, a winery that was doing business with Great Lakes Wine and Spirits was looking for something to fill that bill and a photographer and a marketing agent put it all together. The color is not as dark as most of the Zins but it has good texture and builds on the palate. The nose is mostly roasted strawberry fruit leather that carries through to a finish that is richer than one would think based on the color. Nice wine.
2013 Bogle Vineyards Phantom Red Blend (Zinfandel, Petit Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon) CA $16 750ml (14.9% abv) NOT RANKED was poured from a 3L bottle. I failed to take notes and score it because it was not in the tasting and was served among numerous other wines as people arrived. I’d have to say, it is the best Phantom I’ve enjoyed and I’ve enjoyed many bottles. At eleven years old, it showed no signs of aging but all of the attributes of maturity such as balance, subtlety, depth and finesse were on display. The sweet oak was powerful yet in perfect harmony with the boundless fruit that emerged with every sniff or sip. I cannot say I’ve had a silkier finer wine in recent memory.
Enjoy in Good Health!
A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner
