This blog is based on the Spirits of New Mexico radio show that aired on December 11, 2021. We do on-air tasting of one or two wines to illustrate what is available in a particular wine region, or as a contrast of what influence a wine region has on a grape or blend. We also contrast wine styles as in the current blog. We use suitable glasses for the type of wine and do a double-decant of red wines to insure they have opened sufficiently for accurate judging.
Last week we discussed what a hearty wine is, and then we tasted an excellent Knight’s Valley Cab. We did not have time to cover other hearty wines so this week we are covering domestic Zinfandel and worldwide examples of Syrah. So as a review; a hearty wine:
- Nearly always refers to a red wine
- Sometimes features high alcohol, but in a range from 13% to 16-plus%
- Often denotes a higher tannin profile; a chewy or course structure
- Sometimes labeled rustic which can be hearty, earthy or rough-edged
- The opposite of a hearty wine is one that’s refined, elegant or smooth.
Weather is often a determining factor when we search for a hearty wine. It often rubs us the wrong way in summer’s heat, but warms us in winter’s chill. The foods we serve also affect our wine choices and in winter these often include beef and lamb roasts, hearty soups and stews of red meat, or laden with root vegetables of carrots, turnips, beets and potatoes. I often serve prime rib or Beef Wellington for Christmas so I need a big red. After a leg of lamb roast, invariably comes the lamb stew.
Here the idea of a hearty wine is to reflect the flavors in our food with our wine. A delicate red Burgundy might be overpowered by a hearty stew, while a Zinfandel will stand toe to toe with it. The point of selecting a hearty wine should include balance; alcohol and tannin integrated into the wine. Acidity or crispness should be present to enhance food-pairing, weight or mouthfeel should be medium to heavy. Chewy is good up to a point, but a rougher versus smoother feel can lead to palate fatigue. Again balance is the key.
Grape choices
Red wine grapes should have sufficient tannin, so leaving out red blends for the moment, not all red grapes possess medium to high tannin. Pinot Noir, Grenache, Barbera, Gamay, Malbec, Carignan, and Cabernet Franc are all lower in tannin.
- Medium tannin: Tempranillo, Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah, and Sangiovese
- High tannin: Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Nebbiolo, Monastrell (Mourvèdre) and Aglianico from southern Italy are all high in tannin.
Grape maceration
Another factor that contributes to a hearty mouthfeel is the maceration time.
- How long the skins are in contact with the juice.
- Use of saignée technique to increase skin to juice ratio
- Selecting smaller berries with higher skin to juice ration
The Saga of Hearty Burgundy
One of the most popular domestic hearty wines is Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy, which leads us into jug wine territory. We do not want to equate hearty with jug wines, but with wines that by their nature tend to be hearty. Now if Gallo is what you really want Total Wine has a magnum of it for under eight bills. It also has a new gold label and limited edition on the bottle neck so you won’t scare off your wine drinking friends. In its long history it seldom contained Pinot Noir, but more often Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignan. These were the grapes in the blend when it was introduced in 1964.
However Joe Rochioli initially sold his estate Pinot Noir to Gallo as there was little market for Pinot Noir in the early 1970s and his grapes went into Hearty Burgundy. John Bacigalupi recalled that the bulk red wines processed from his grapes at Seghesio’s facility in Healdsburg in the late 1960s and early 1970s were shipped to Gallo and undoubtedly went into Hearty Burgundy. It makes me shudder just to think about it. We should be thankful it typically does not contain any Pinot.
From PinotFile the Prince of Pinot: “Hearty Burgundy became wildly popular and widely praised by wine critics, even those who usually turned their nose up at the sight of the Gallo label. The wine graced the cover of Time magazine in 1972, an issue devoted to the booming California wine industry, and noted Los Angeles Times wine critic, Robert Balzer, wrote in that feature, “Gallo Hearty Burgundy is the best wine value in the country today.” Hearty Burgundy outscored more expensive California and French reds reviewed by the Time’s panel of tasting experts. Americans quickly embraced the wine as a result, and it was largely responsible for bringing Americans to wine.”
Selecting a Hearty Wine
Last week – with some disruption – we only sampled Kevin’s choice, a Knights Valley Cabernet that is one of my favorite Cabs. This week I brought a Zinfandel from one of my favorite sources; Sobon. I asked Kevin to bring either an Australian Shiraz or a northern Rhone Syrah as both areas qualify as hearty.
California Zinfandel
The origin of Zinfandel was identified as Croatia in the late 1990s which was also the origin of Primitivo, an Italian grape. The evidence proved that Zinfandel was a Croatian grape that has been known as Tribidrag since at least the 15th century.
Cuttings of Zinfandel were brought to California during the 1850 Gold Rush and were soon making fine wines. Planting of Zinfandel boomed soon after, and by the end of the 19th century it was the most widespread variety in California.
Prohibition all but killed Zinfandel and many vines were ripped out. The grape was subject to rot when transported long distances and was replaced with Alicante Bouschet for the home market. In 1972 Bob Trinchero of Sutter Home Winery used the saignee technique to remove some of the first run juice to intensify his Deaver vineyard Zinfandel in Amador County. The dry, white juice was made into a Rose-style wine but generated little interest. That is until a stuck fermentation in 1975 produced a sweet runoff juice, which caught on and white Zinfandel now sells at six times the rate of red Zinfandel.
Whence cometh the grape
Currently both Zinfandel and the Primitivo clone grow well in many part of California. The earlier-ripening Primitivo is also gaining fans. Castoro Cellars in Paso Robles quadrupled their Primitivo holdings alongside their highly-rated Zinfandel. Currently Zinfandel is the third most planted grape after Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The brix level (sugar content) determines the fruit flavors and ABV.
Zinfandel styles:
- White Zinfandel – short skin contact after crush, varying residual sugar
- Zinfandel Rose – minimal skin contact, finished dry
- Zinfandel Red – Normal extraction, dry, balanced, 13.5 to 14.5 % ABV
- Zinfandel Claret – Done like a Bordeaux claret, Grgich Hills and Milagro Vineyards
- Zinfandel Big – Jammy, heavy extraction, ripe or overripe grapes 15.0 to 17% ABV
- Late Harvest Zinfandel – Overripe grapes, residual sugar, can be from 15% to 18%
California Zinfandel AVAs
There are few wine regions within California that do not produce good Zinfandel wines, although I avoid the Central Valley jug wines when there are so many better wines for only a few dollars more. Beginning in Gold Country the vines spread to Sonoma and Napa and the Lodi region that at one time supplied over 65% of the state’s Zinfandel grapes. The Central Coast picked it up and spread from the Santa Cruz Mountains to Monterey and down to Paso Robles where the grape was embraced like a long lost child.
Amador County wine region
If there is one wine region in California that most Zinfandel lovers would recognize it would be Amador County; known for their robust Zinfandel wines. Within the county are some of the oldest Zinfandel vineyards of California. I’ve explored most of this area and found a captivating wine region to explore and lasting memories of fun and fellowship with their winemakers.
Most of the Sierra Foothills wineries are family-owned and operated with small vineyards and a unique personal style of winemaking that has disappeared from many other regions like Napa and Sonoma. In fact the closest similarity I’ve found is to our own New Mexico wineries that are also family-owned with small vineyards and unique wines one will find nowhere else.
Amador County is located just west of the Lodi wine region. It has a Mediterranean climate, in part from the Delta, a series of rivers that feed San Francisco Bay. The land is bathed in light with warm days that rarely exceed 100 degrees and cool nights where the Sierra winds drop temperatures 30 to 35 degrees allowing the grapes to retain the acidity essential for well-balanced wines.
Amador County Vines
The majority of Amador’s vines are head-trained, spur-pruned and either own-rooted or on low vigor rootstocks like St. George, which provide a natural check on yields. If that last sentence is a bit confusing, let me explain.
Most modern vine systems are trellis-based, but traditionally with Zinfandel the trunk arms provided that function and the vines were kept closer to the ground. Because the phylloxera louse did not invade this area many vines are on their own roots rather than grafted onto another rootstock impervious to the louse’s nasty habit of eating them. When they did graft they chose one that kept the yield low which concentrated the flavor of the berries.
- Trained vines are primarily on bi-lateral cordons with vertical trellising.
- Severe pruning, cluster thinning, and dropping crop when necessary keep yields small, generally four tons per acre or less.
- The highest percentages of organically farmed vineyards in California
- Dry-farming, also inhibits phylloxera infestation.
- 600 acres are 65 years or older, some dating to the 19th century.
- These deeply rooted, head-trained vines in vineyards such as Deaver, Grandpere and Lubenko, yield tiny crops of small-berried grapes that produce premium zinfandel
Other grapes of Amador
- Barbera, the famous red grape of Piedmonte, Italy thrive in Amador and rival the best of Italy
- Sangiovese is as good in Amador County as anywhere else it is planted, better than most locales
- Syrah and Viognier, two Rhone Valley grapes also do very well here.
- Contains the lush Shenandoah Valley, with striking similarity to Tuscany
- Many historic Gold Rush towns are also here to explore
Top Wineries
There are many wineries I’ve visited here that produce excellent red wines from Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Barbera and Syrah. Many of the wineries are perched atop hills in what reminds me of Tuscany, with rolling terrain and many microclimates. There are good whites, too, but everyone comes for the reds.
The primary towns are Plymouth, Fiddletown, Drytown, Amador City and Sutter Creek so you know you’re in gold country. North of Plymouth, which was previously called Pokerville, is Shenandoah Road and Steiner Road which provide access to many of the wineries. A few are scattered around Drytown, which fortunately is not dry and more at Sutter Creek.
As you might recall, near Sutter Creek is where gold was first discovered and the town has a large deep mine that reached 2300 feet down. Now of course wine is much more important.
Amador Cellars Deaver Vineyards Sobon Wine Karmere Vineyards
Shenandoah Vineyards Terra d’Ora (Montevina) Turley Vino Noceto
What we are tasting: Sobon Estate 2019 Estate Zinfandel Rocky Top, 14.5% ABV, $19.99
Total Wine carries many of Sobon’s wines, and I’ve sampled several over the years and never been disappointed.
Their website Sobonwine.com provides good background of the Sobon family. Shenandoah Vineyards in Plymouth, CA, was founded in 1977 by Shirley and Leon Sobon. They moved from Los Altos, California, where Leon was a Senior Scientist with the Lockheed Research Lab. Leon’s gift for home winemaking led him to leave Lockheed and begin a new career as a winemaker.
Leon’s son Paul took over winemaking duties after a stint at UC Davis and travels abroad studying with winemakers in Burgundy, Bordeaux and Australia. This is not the first Sobon we’ve tasted on-air; partly because they are so good and relatively inexpensive.
Rocky Top: From one of the few remaining blocks of pre-prohibition era Zinfandel on the Estate, this ridge top vineyard of cobbly loam delivers a full-bodied wine of great depth, structure and character. From dry farmed sustainably grown vines, offering inviting notes of summer berries, licorice and a woodsy earthiness with hints of white pepper and allspice. Heady aromatics lead to a rich, long, lingering finish.
Syrah and Shiraz
While many Syrah wines can be hearty, Australian Shiraz is almost by default a hearty wine with rich fruit, tannins and higher alcohol. These wines define what a robust wine is like. The northern Rhone Syrah wines are some of the most revered with Cote Rotie and Hermitage at the pinnacle. In the US the Rhone Rangers helped popularize this grape for the domestic market.
Syrah or Shiraz:
- History: In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza (red) and Mondeuse Blanche (white). Carole Meredith of UC Davis employed DNA and ampleographic evidence, disputing claims of a Shiraz, Persia origin. She also identified the origin of Zinfandel in Croatia and the Primitivo connection.
- Terroir: The Syrah grape is influenced by where it is sited. Moderate climates like Rhone produce medium to full-bodied wines with medium-plus to high levels of tannins and notes of blackberry, mint and black pepper. In hot climates, such as the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale regions of Australia, Syrah is more consistently full-bodied with softer tannin, jammier fruit and spice notes of licorice, anise and earthy leather.
- Syrah is used in blends to add backbone (structure) and longevity as in Southern Rhone.
- In Australia Shiraz comprises 45% of total red fruit and one quarter of all wines.
- In France the third most planted red grape after Merlot and Grenache.
North Rhone Valley
We are back in the Rhone Valley, where we previously sampled two red wines from Northern Rhone; Crozes-Hermitage and Cornas and the principal red grape of this region; Syrah.
Rhone Valley Vintages
Like everywhere else in France, vintage is a key to finding the best wines regardless of where the wines originate. As it happens 2018 was a good year in the north, but challenging in the south. Yields above average with ripe to overripe can be found here in the north although acidity can be lower.
Northern Rhone Cru
There are a number of well-known subregions within Northern Rhone, many of which command high prices. Moving from north to south the major subregions for Syrah are:
- Cote Rotie 100% Syrah with 5-20% Viognier in blends. ($60 to $400)
- Joseph great values found here 91% Syrah, 9% white ($28 to $90)
- Hermitage 76% red, 24% white and a storied history with grapes planted since 500BC. Named after a crusader (1200) who settled there alone on Hermit’s Hill ($60 to $350)
- Crozes-Hermitage 92% red, 8% white, varied quality ($20 to $60)
- Cornas produces the boldest and most tannic wines of NRV ($30 to $200)
- Condrieu, Chateau Grillet and Saint Peray are the primary white grape subregions
Northern Rhone Grapes
The three principal white grapes of Northern Rhone are Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne, with many single varietal Viognier wines and classic white blends. However Syrah is the only principal red grape.
Saint Joseph AOC
Wines have been made here for 2,500 years, and enjoyed by Louis XII among others. The first official record of vineyards in St. Joseph occurs in 1668. The vineyard named St-Joseph is owned by the Guigal family. At 920 hectares it is second only to nearby Crozes-Hermitage but covers a larger land area.
Planting here are primarily Syrah and the whites; Marsanne and Roussanne, which can be added to the Syrah for up to 10%. One of the unique aspects of St. Joseph is that it lies on the west side of the Rhone and continues for 40 miles. The vines are all east-facing, unlike the south-facing Hermitage and southeast-facing Cote Rotie. The southern area has solid granite, powerful wines and earlier ripening while the northern part has looser and younger granite.
What we are tasting; Guigal St Joseph 2018, 14% ABV, $36 to $40
From the website: Land with 24 centuries of history behind it worked and preserved by three generations of winemakers with family values at their core and a commitment to an illustrious terrain that produces prestigious wines. This, in a nutshell, is the Maison Guigal. Right from the beginning the motto, “No Pains No Gains” underpins the promise made to Etienne Guigal. A commitment to work together to follow in his footsteps, to communicate the family’s passion and create so many emotions. Today, Marcel and Philippe, along with their wives, are the guardians of this exceptional domain which combines history, devotion and a sense of togetherness. A breath of inspiration for generations to come.
- Soil type: Limestone, sand and pebbles.
- Grape variety: 100 % Syrah.
- Average age of vines: 20 to 50 years. Mainly from communes of Tournon and Sarras.
- Winemaking: Fermentation in stainless steel tanks at high temperatures.
- Ageing: Around 16 months in second use oak barrels.
- Average yield: 38 Hl / Hectare.
- Average annual production: About 220,000 bottles.
- Tasting: Eye: Dark red with violets tints. Nose: Powerful nose dominated by red berries and delicate oak aromas. Palate: Powerful attack. Round and supple tannins.
This wine is produced from grapes from the two estates of Jean-Louis Grippat and Vallouit as well from grapes purchased in trade.
Jeb Dunnuck: 92-94 points. I was blown away by the 2018 Saint Joseph, and let’s hope it continues showing this well over the course of its élevage. Rocking levels of crème de cassis, blackberries, crushed violets, and earth all give way to a medium to full-bodied, ripe, sexy effort that ranks with the finest vintages of this release to date.
The picture below is from their website, www.guigal.com. If this doesn’t take your breath away I don’t know what would. The website contains lots of good information on their wines; well worth checking out along with their wines.
Guigal chateau on the Rhone River
Analysis
The St. Joseph was still a bit tight and really should have a couple of years more age on it to fully enjoy what this wine offers, which is abundant fruit, dense tannins and an acidic backbone that provides lift and a lingering finish. The Sobon was rich and balanced with good acidity. It is closer to a claret style than many of Sobon’s wines and would pair with many foods and a best buy for Zinfandel lovers. It will show up on my Christmas dinner table.
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