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!
Posted from CellarTracker