A California Old Vines Zinfandel

Do old vines make a difference?...

Ironstone Vineyard, Old Vines

Of course, we have been reviewing a lot of California wine, and a lot of Zinfandels, even white Zinfandels. Today’s wine is as red as can be. It comes from the Lodi area, home to over 40% of California Zinfandel. This is Northern California, south of Sacremento and east of San Francisco, in the heart of Gold Rush country. John Kautz started with 12 acres (less than 5 hectares) and now has over 5 thousand acres (over 2 thousand hectares) in the Lodi area and the Sierra foothills. Ironstone is home to California’s largest winery entertainment complex including a museum and a culinary center. You can even pan for gold. Their wine aging caverns were blasted through limestone. While this is not an organic wine, Ironstone practices sustainable viticulture, including owl boxes, raptor perches, and drip irrigation. This wine actually contains 9% Petite Syrah. Today’s companion wine is a medium priced Primitivo from southern Italy. Zinfandel is America’s only native European grape variety and some experts, but not all, consider it to be a relative of Primitivo.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Ironstone Old Vine Zinfandel 2008 14.5% alcohol about $10

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: I tasted dozens of value-priced whites, rosés and reds, and these [12 wines] emerged as the standouts ... John Kautz, Ironstone's owner, started growing grapes in Lodi and the Sierra Foothills in 1948. That helps explain how he can source this boysenberry-rich Zinfandel from vines that are more than 45 years old, yet still charge so little for it. (Ray Isle, at the food and wine website, Sept. 2009). And now for my review.

At the first sips the wine presented bright acidity. It was sour but not unpleasantly so. The initial meal was a slow cooked beef stew with chick peas and potatoes. With the beef Zinfandel tasted of jam. There was tobacco in the background; this wine was definitely mouth filling. When accompanying the chick peas the wine was round and long; with the potatoes it was rich.

The next meal was homemade chili and rice. Now the Zin had a strong grape component. This wine was powerful, a little bit went a long way and it was mouth filling. The accompaniment was green beans in tomato sauce. This wine was chewy, jammy, and definitely multilayered.

My final meal started with tomatoey barbecued chicken wings. This Zinfandel was very long and multilayered with fine acidity, plums, and tobacco. Have you ever tasted delicate plums? I just did. Then came a barbecued chicken breast in virtually the same sauce. The wine had virtually no tannins but was quite powerful. Once again I tasted plums and tobacco. The side dish was one of my favorites, potatoes roasted in chicken fat. The plums were dark, the acidity was slightly sour, and now there were tannins. With a fresh tomato the Zin was sour but it was long. While this is no dessert wine, I did try it with two desserts. With delicate almond meringue cookies the wine was very, very long and presented dark cherries. With fruit juice candy the cherries were light.

The first cheese was a bland brick and the Zin did well; I tasted oak and dark cherries and it was quite long. The second cheese was a Muenster, I sensed tobacco and dark cherries. There was light acidity.

Final verdict. I would definitely buy this wine again at the American price of $10. I don’t know why my Canadian price was $18; usually the gap is much less. Even so, I might get it again at that price. I think I’ll be trying some of their other, less costly wines. One last comment; I never noticed that this wine carried 14.5% alcohol, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Access the companion wine A Southern Italian Primitivo (under $15)

About the Author

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His wine websites include
www.theworldwidewine.com    and    http://www.wineinyourdiet.com

Visit his website devoted to Italian travel www.travelitalytravel.com

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