Nose of raspberry cream, black cherry, and roses
Fairly tightly wound on the palate with dark fruit
Elegant, structured finish with faint layers of vanilla emerging with air
I enjoyed a number of wines with PB of this blog over the Thanksgiving weekend. We have sampled a number of the Rosenblum single-vineyard Zinfandels this year and figured it was time to pop the cork on the 2001 Richard Sauret.
We didn't pair this with the Thanksgiving turkey- this was a Wednesday night wine with pasta. The reason is that I expected this wine to be big and over the top in ripe fruit and alcohol. In fact, this was not the case. It was rather well-balanced and refined.
Because it seemed a little tight at first, we decanted it and gave it plenty of air. It loosened up to reveal some additional flavors, but remained elegant and balanced. I really enjoyed it.
I paid $26 for the wine three years ago in Florida. Perhaps the additional bottle aging in my cellar worked in its favor and helped refine the profile. It did get big scores from critics on release, for example, 92 points from Wine Spectator.
Good Zinfandel is a real treat. Raise a glass!
I'm a big fan of Rosenblum and had a Richard Sauret a couple years ago back in Mississippi (can't remember the vintage now, but it may have been '01). Definitely one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI'll agree with farley above. I don't like sicky-sweet Zinfandels at all (I'm more of an austere French-style guy myself), but rosenblum makes nice stuff. Try the Snow Lake version of their Zinfandel.
ReplyDeleteA couple of others that you may want to try are Chateau Potelle (way up at the top of the ridgeline between Napa and Sonoma Counties)-has a very savory, balanced, almost Claret-like Zin. It's frankly as pricey as I've ever seen for Zinfandel, but delicious. Also: Deux Amis in Dry Creek area. Finally, a little more sweet but still deliciously balanced is the Saddleback Cellars Zin.