Bucklin Ancient Vines
Remember those wines I bragged about from the ZAP tasting I went to a bit ago? Here’s a quick write of one of the wines that stood out for me. It was a nice opener to what would end up being a very long day.
Bucklin Old Hill Ranch
Zinfandel 2008 Ancient Vines
The scoop:
- I gotta tell you, I was tasting a lot of wines and taking super fast notes. My main goal here was to find wines that stood out, and make sure I marked them to come back to.
- Label is neat and easy to read, but nothing that really stands out here. No big…move on.
- I’ve not made a trip to visit or to at least retaste. This needs to happen, not just for this winery, but others in the area.
- Here’s where this wine stands out for me. While talking to the folks at the table, I learned that there are approximately 20 varietals in blend. Field blends, in my opinion, seem to have fallen out of favor in the past decade plus. We allowed ourselves to become so tied up in being single varietal focus, we lost our way when it comes to the beauty of how wines used to be…everyday life wine. The good stuff.
The judgement: 4 of 5. I was happy with this wine for two reasons: 1) I have always loved Zinfandel wines and 2) I tasted and wanted to just stand at the table for a while. When this happens, I know I’ve stumbled across something great. The only reason I walked away – there were many more Zins for me to taste. But I would want a bottle or two of this – be sure to get one by ordering here.
The nerdy notes:
- smooth, elegant, wonderful!
- since my notes are so shoddy, here’s what the folks at Bucklin have to say: The spice character tends towards black pepper, and cardamom while the fruit component has an impressive array of raspberries, blackberries, and ripe plums. The French oak contributes toast and vanilla aromas while the tannins are very ripe and smooth on the finish
- vines are from original 1885 planting
- take a gander at the vineyard map that Bucklin proudly promotes – I wish more wineries shared such beautiful maps like this one
Pass this moment of deviance along to others...
