My first note on this bottle of 2004 Old Vine Zinfandel from Alderbrook is "yum." And really that sums it up. Everything you would expect from a big CA zinfandel. Big mouthfuls of blackberries and cherries, just full of fruit in the mouth. As well as a very smooth bottle of wine in the mouth. There was just a bit of heat on the finish, but not much and not offensive. I didn't decant this one because I wanted a big red to pair with our leftover pizza and bbq pork (I know, kind of a disgusting combo of food, but it was time to eat the leftovers!). It was a very juicy bottle of wine, and it had a gorgeous inky purple color in the glass.On the nose there were cherries and blackberries as well as just a bit of oak. I would suggest drinking this bottle now or relatively soon, I think it's just about perfect now. Although I didn't decant this one, perhaps you might want to, not for the sake of letting it air, but because it had a lot of sediment in the bottle, all of which ended up in our glasses. This one is 14.5% alcohol by volume, had a real cork closure and ran us around $20 in our club shipment.
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Hi Sonadora
I love Alderbrook's Zin. My wife and I picked up some last year while we were in SOnoma and fell in love with it. I have some of their Zin Port that I have been waiting to open for a special occasion. Actually my wife won't let me open it because she remembers how good it was and can't stand to open it. But I keep telling her, that's the point!!
John (from Anything Wine)
1/8/07, 6:51 PM
Hi John-
Thanks for visiting. It is delicious. We picked a bottle of that port up for my dad while we were on our honeymoon. He's a port fanatic, but he drank it all before we could get up to his house to visit and taste it with him! I keep telling my husband we can always order more, but I usually get an eye roll and sigh! One more bottle of the zin is currently living on our shelves.....
1/8/07, 7:07 PM
I just tried the Alderbrook Zin about a week ago and I agree completely with your assessment; it's a wonderful full-bodied jammy Zin which I am going to work into my Zin rotation (along with the excellent and even cheaper Camelot 2002 Zinfandel and Gnarley Head 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel. Oh yeah, also Trader Joe's Old Moon 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel, not as powerful as the others but very tasty).
I'd also like to point out that it is available at my Costco here in Chicago for $8.99/bottle! I'm not sure if your local Costco has it but it may be worth looking into.
1/15/07, 1:31 AM
Hey JMC! Welcome! You got a great deal! I haven't really hung out at the Costco much here, it's always so crowded and the people are really pushy! I will take a look next time I am there....if I can get it cheaper here, there's no reason for me to pay for it to be shipped across country! Thanks for the tips.
1/15/07, 5:57 PM