TN: A vertical of Joseph Swan Zins

A VERTICAL OF JOSEPH SWAN ZINS - Scott & Jo’s (1/25/2016)

Last night my wife and I were invited to join our friend’s Scott and Jo and 7 other people for dinner. They are long time fans of Joseph Swan and Scott reached deep and not so deep in the cellar to put together an excellent tasting of Joseph Swan Zinfandels. Jo put together a feast that would compliment the wines. It was a wonderfully geek wine experience but even more, a great chance to see some old friends and have some great conversations.

Jo mentioned that she took inspiration from Evan Goldstein’s book (Perfect Pairings?) to put together the menu. I ams ure that is true to some extent, but Jo excels at this.
Sparkler to start the day
Standing around with various cheese, deviled eggs and crackers. Then we had a bit more along with a squash soup to “cleanse out palate”.

  • 2012 Schramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs - USA, California
    Interestingly, Scott served three bottles of this. Two were designated as the 50th Anniversary and one was not. I could not taste the difference between them. Light golden in color. The nose is tight with some almonds on the nose. Perhaps some apples. Plenty of small bubbles. On the palate, creamy texture. Refreshing with nice acidity. Vanilla and green apples which was interesting. Nice finish. Excellent way to start the day. (90 pts.)

Older Zin flight
Although all the Zins were poured at the same time, Scott advised us to concentrate on the four on the left first as they were designed to match the pasta dish it was served with.

  • 1994 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    Seemed to be most people’s, not all, WOTN. Pale ruby in color with some browning all the way thru. Just a terrific nose. Very Bordeauxesq. That is to say, dusty with cigar box but also some nice red fruits. Complex and pretty deep. On the palate, there is good red fruits. Hard to say, maybe cherries. Also some layers of warm dry earthiness. Great acidity and balance. Went great with a pasta dish. Very nice finish. Mature of course but while mature, it did not taste over the hill. Led to the invariable discussion about is this what one buy’s a Zin for. I get that but at the same time, if you buy a bunch and let one or two age, why not. This was delicious. (92 pts.)
  • 1996 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    Just a hair behind the 94 but in the same vein. Pale ruby with all over browning. The nose is Bordeaux-like with red fruit, dust and dry crunchy leaves. On the palate, this is deep and complex. Plenty of red fruit still left. Layers of dry earthiness and fruit. Good acidity. Very food friendly. Held in the glass for over an hour (until emptied), it did not improve nor did it fade. Mature and no longer “Zinish”, it is still an outstanding red wine. (91 pts.)
  • 1999 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    A bit darker than the 94 or 96. Ruby in color. The nose is dusty but starts to have a more defined cherry fruit quality. At first, it is my favorite of the older Zins, but this lacks the depth and complexity of the others. One can sense it changing from Zin-like to Bordeaux like. A foot in both camps so to speak. The palate has dark cherry flavors and slight layering. More of a moist earthiness. Nice balance and great acidity. Solid finish. Worked well with foods. (90 pts.)
  • 2002 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    First, how did an 02 wine get to be 14 years old. SMH. Once I get over that, this is more clearly a Zin. The nose has cherries, some black raspberries, and bramble. Also, some black pepper which would be a theme with the younger wines. There is some dust in the background. Juicy acidity. Black raspberries, dark cherries and a slight moist earthiness to it. The longest finish I think of any wine this night. Worked with both courses of food. Seems like it will last a lot longer. On its own, I did not notice age. Only later when drinking younger ones and going back to this, did I appreciate that this was showing older characteristics. Eventually, this should be every bit the wine the 94 is. Maybe better. (91 pts.)

Younger Zin Flight
We then moved onto the right side of our placemat. These were meant to accompany a cassoulet type dish (I forgot to write down the name)
Also, apparently, Swan lost Stellwagen fruit (to Bedrock who uses it in a blend) around 2009. So Scott put in some Mancini vineyard Zins to complete the flight.

  • 2006 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    Purple/ruby in color. The nose has black raspberries, black pepper and charred wood. On the palate, this is pretty lush. Slightly jammy black raspberries, slight hard cherry candy note. Round and well balanced. Deep but not impenetrable. Great acidity. Worked great with a black bean dish. Long finish. (90 pts.)
  • 2007 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    My favorite of the younger Zin flight. Purple in color, almost inky. The nose has black raspberries, dark cherries and black pepper. Also a bit of smoke. On the palate, this is big and round and lush. Delicious. The biggest wine on the table. Juicy black raspberries give it this nice acidity quality that makes it food friendly at the same time. Nice finish. This is young and seemingly with years left in it. Still shows that youthful Zinfandel rambunctiousness, but also some pedigree too. (92 pts.)
  • 2008 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
    Purple in color. The nose is tight with black raspberries, slight floral notes, and black pepper. Great texture. While the wine doesn’t show layers of complexity it has a depth that suggests it will get there. Lots of black raspberry fruit and a hint of the black pepper comes thru too. Nice round balance. Worked well with the food. Great finish. (91 pts.)
  • 2008 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Mancini Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    I think we all agreed the Stellwagon vineyard zins were a cut above the Mancini. Purple in color. The nose has black cherries, spice and a bit of bramble. On the palate, its good but lacking in something. Verve? Acidity? Not quite sure. Nice dark cherry fruit. Good finish. enjoyable wine for sure but not more. Picky, picky. (89 pts.)
  • 2012 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Mancini Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
    A very nice wine, but my least favorite wine, probably as it was the least interesting. Purple in color. The nose has black cherries, spice and slight floral notes. On the palate, this is accessible and open. Drinking very well. Round. A good amount of fruit but not a monster. Nice finish. Solid wine. (88 pts.)
  • 2003 Easton Zinfandel California Shenandoah Valley - USA, California, Sierra Foothills, California Shenandoah Valley
    Scott decided we needed more wine. He opened this and passed it around. A new winery for me IIRC. Purple in color. It was surprising that it was 13 years from vintage, but other than that, a very typical brawny Zin. The nose has black raspberries, jam, slight vanilla note and spice. On the palate, juicy and deep. Lots of black raspberry fruit. Nice finish. An interesting contrast in styles to the Swan’s. This one is ageing quite slowly. (90 pts.)

Dessert
And a mystery Portlike wine for dessert with individual chocolate souffle’s.

  • 2007 Fonseca Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Now, I will admit that drinking vintage port at age 9 is not usually a good idea. But this was interesting if not a great port experience. It had been decanted for a few hours. Were served it blind, and I would have bet it was not from Portugal. Most people guessed LBV. I thought it was some California version of a Port. Obviously young. Purple in color. The nose had some nice dark cherries. no raisins, chocolate or toffee. Maybe a bit of iodine? On the palate, very soft and smooth. No heat for me. Not a ton of fruit, but dark cherries. No complexity, but a nice mouth-feel. Worked nicely with a chocolate souffle, but even then no chocolate notes of its own. It kind of disappears on the mid-palate and only slightly recovers on the finish. I suppose I am being hard on it, but it is Fonseca. I expected more. Maybe it will get there with some age. (88 pts.)

Thanks so much to Scott & Jo. I know many of these were his last bottles of the vintage in the cellar, so we won’t like;y be repeating this. It was really a treat!
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Your note on the '07 Stellwagen surprised me. I had it recently and found a completely different wine. The advanced color leads me to believe it may have been a candidate for poor storage. Was an auction buy. Still the alcohol was imposing.

  • 2007 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel Stellwagen - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/1/2013)
    Advanced color for an '07 with bricking dominating. Nose is lovely with strawberry, black raspberry, nutmeg, cinnamon and rose petals. Mouth is thick and and syrupy with more strawberry, a nice briery fruit note and decent acid but the alcohol is thick and hot. Finishes with a load of heat. Just too much. Was hoping it would hide the 15.6% but no go. Overall the alc made it a disappointment.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Interesting Brian. The perils of auction wines. Two different experiences.

Hmmm…shocked I am, Loren. I’d have thought you, of all people, would have heard of BillEaston/Dom. de TerreRouge. I think Bill is making the best wines of
anybody these days in the ShenandoahVlly.
Nice notes on the Swans, Loren. I…uhhhh…errrrrr…well…followed Joe Swan from the very start…the '68 Zin.
Tom

Very interesting, and great notes! My cellar is about 30% Joseph Swan, so this is really interesting.

I found the 08 stellwagon a bit different than your note. not the same balance, as I noted “boozy”.

“Medium body. Spicy. Yet light and balanced in a way. Drinking well now for an 08. A bit boozy.”

Thank you for all the notes. Sounds like a wonderful tasting.

My lone Swan bottle is a 1987 Sonoma County Zinfandel. It has been stored well, having gone from Swan to my friend’s excellent cellar to mine. It looks pristine - nice fill, perfect label. Some day…it is just that I am not partial to Zin, and the bottle just looks so nice in my cellar.

Great note!

I like Swan wines.

A lovely wine, but if memory serves he didn’t make it - it was purchased juice from Pedroncelli. 1969 was Joe’s first true vintage and he made the wine under the house. The grapes came from Teldeschi and it was a truly extraordinary zinfandel.

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Yup…Rich…I believe that was correct. The '68 was from Pedrochelli juice and not up to the '69. Which was made under his house.
If I’d really followed JoeSwan from the very start…I’d have had his wine he made from his vnyd up in the SierraFoothills in the early '60’s.
Never could find out where that vnyd was located.
Tom

There were two '68 zins. He made one from the aforementioned Pedroncelli wine but also made wine from the vines on the estate. The were planted sometime in the late 1800’s but were in decline and mixed in with the old orchard.He bought the property in '67 but the grapes went with the sellar and ended up at Martini and Prati up the road. I can’t recall how much he made but it wasn’t a lot. After that one harvest he pulled the vines and began the pinot noir/chardonnay/cabernet replant.


The last time we sacrificed one I cried because 1) it will outlive me and 2) we only have one or two left. The label on the estate is identical except for the fact that it was produced and bottled by (as opposed to bottled by) and said estate bottled flanking zinfandel.

The vineyard in the Sierra foothills you were referring to was actually a small plot of mixed vines he was experimenting with. I doubt that there enough of any one variety to make more than a few gallons. His grandson’s family lives on the property now. He cleared a bunch of brush and found the remnants of the vine plot some years ago. I haven’t been up there in a long time but the next time I see them I will ask if any of the vines are still alive. It is near Badger, west of Sequoia National Park. Joe was living in Visalia at the time,

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I am wondering if any word was found concerning this old Sierra Foothills plot, as to if it still exists and what the story behind it was/is.

Thanks to anyone who can shine a light on this mystery…

The amazing thing is how well Swan wines can age. Zins from the 1970s used to come up regularly at auction, and are still in great shape. When I am dining casually with Bordeaux winemaker friends, I usually bring one of them.

I think the RRV Zins are even more age-able. Im pretty sure this is the only non RRV wine Swan has made. Stellwagen is in Sonoma Valley.

I have a '69 Zin in the cellar, Rod and Lynn gave me when I left to come up to AV, and I have no idea when to pull the cork. Maybe 2019 at 50 years old?

Great story:

Spring 2017 Newsletter:
http://www.swanwinery.com/newsletters/spring-2017-newsletter/

Joseph Swan Winery website:
“Newsletters”
https://www.swanwinery.com/about/newsletters/

Very cool that you have an old, old Swan Zin, Joe!!

BTW, the winery makes a “Bastoni Vineyard” Zinfandel from the new Fountaingrove AVA in Sonoma.

I still have my 87 in the cellar. Someday.

Merril, that 1987 may look pretty though may not taste very good if you don’t pop the cork.

I got some '05 Mancini Ranch Zin from Alberty after a tasting. What a change for the old Zin from the college years. I would drink more, but there is so much good wine from the WV, I cannot drink it all. I Pick up a few on Swan on BDay and always enjoy them. [cheers.gif]

We enjoyed the 1987 Joseph Swan Sonoma County Zinfandel yesterday. 12.5% ABV on the label!

Purchased last year from this CC offer:

I pulled the cork and left it standing in the cellar around noon. Around 4:30, I poured myself half a glass (without food). It didn’t offer much at first, so I set it down to let it come up a bit toward room temp. The rest of that glass was better - a little thin maybe but certainly alive and pleasant - lots of bottle bouquet but not a lot else.

Decanted the rest of the bottle immediately before serving with dinner (about 8:45 due to waiting for my daughter to get home from work). Pot roast instead of turkey this year for various reasons, which is what made me think of this wine. Old claret-styled zin and slow braised beef = yum. The wine seemed to have filled out a bit, probably due to being served with food. Certainly very much alive and enjoyable, but at that age where again it’s mostly bottle bouquet rather than anything recognizably zin or California, etc. It did have a pleasant minty edge as well. Very nice and a bargain for such a time capsule treat at what I paid a year ago!

Nice!