VINEgeek

I always feel a little guilty when I buy a wine from Cameron Hughes and their ilk. If you aren’t familiar with the model, Cameron Hughes calls itself a “modern international negociant.” Negociant is French for “Man Without Dirt”. OK, I just made that up. But a negociant owns no vineyards and buys up various “lots” [...]

I don’t know what it is about me and Lodi Zin. I did a series on Lodi old vines Zin a few months ago and only really liked 1 out of 5. Zinfandel has always been one of my favorite grapes, but maybe my palate has shifted away from what these moderately-priced examples can deliver [...]

I should have known better than to buy this wine. I generally avoid wines with such gimmicky names/labels. But a few months ago I was planning a series of posts on Lodi old vines Zinfandel and was picking up just about every bottle of it I saw. I realized later that this one doesn’t say [...]

As I’ve noted in earlier posts, I’ve been a big fan of Cline wines since my very first trip to wine country in the mid-90s. Theirs was my first introduction to Mourvèdre and I’ve been a “Mourvèdre-head” ever since.
Producer: Cline
Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre
Appellation: Contra Costa County
Vineyards: From a 9-acre block of 100+ year old vines in [...]

I tasted through 5 old vines Zins from Lodi over the past week or two hoping to find a few winners and learn a bit about the style.
Part 1: Spellbound Old Vines Zinfandel 2005 Lodi
Part 2: Ravenswood Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi
Part 3: Gnarly Head Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi
Part 4: Campus Oaks Old Vines [...]

This is Part 5 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series. Part 1 was Spellbound 2005, Part 2 was Ravenswood 2006, Part 3 was Gnarly Head 2006 and Part 4 was Campus Oaks 2007. In the next few days I’ll post my overall takeaways (pardon the corporate-speak) from this series.
The last wine I picked up [...]

This is Part 4 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series. Part 1 was Spellbound 2005, Part 2 was Ravenswood 2006 and Part 3 was Gnarly Head 2006.
Campus Oaks Old Vines Zinfandel 2007 Lodi
Producer: Campus Oaks (Gnekow Family Winery)
Grapes: 100% Zinfandel
Appellation: Lodi
Vineyards: The grapes are sourced from vineyards averaging 90 years old.
Winemaking/Aging: There is no [...]

This is Part 3 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series.  Part 1 was the Spellbound 2005 and Part 2 was the (great value!) Ravenswood 2006. I have a few more bottles to try out so check back or subscribe to the RSS feed.  If you have some Lodi OVZ favorites, leave a comment.
Gnarley Head [...]

This is Part 2 of my Lodi Old Vines Zin series.  Part 1 was the Spellbound 2005.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Ravenswood. Vintner’s Blend was one of my favorites when I was first getting into wine and their No Wimpy Wines slogan was appealing to that early-20s guy still making the transition from [...]

I enjoyed doing the Unoaked Chardonnay series last week so I decided to do another series. And after a week of nothing but white wine (which is very unusual for me), I decided to go to my sweet spot: Old Vines Zin. I kept it in the everyday price range ($10-15 for me) and picked [...]