ON THE NOSE:
A very typical Zinfandel nose, nicely sweet and pleasant upon opening, not offering too much depth but definitely some concentrated sweet cherries, sweet licorice, and some of that graphite/pencil aroma that I like so much. As this Zin opens it offers a deeper fruit depth and a tickle in the nose; but boy does that pencil-lead aroma come through strong now. Perfectly ripe fruit shines with essences of strawberry dominating.
ON THE PALATE:
Typical jammy palate on this Zin, not unpleasant, just common for a mid-priced Zinfandel from California. The heat is evident in the initial stages after opening, which at 13.5% is a bit surprising, but I assume this will soften with more time. After a few hours the heat has indeed mellowed some, though the alcohol is still present and not totally integrated. The mouthfeel opens up more as well and offers a very nice grip followed by a surprisingly tart acidity that finishes with an almost earthy quality, not pure fruit as one might expect but rather earth wrapped around a ripe cherry, blueberry, and plum.
After perhaps five hours this wine is showing all it will ever offer, which, again, is pleasant yet not complex. Pomegranate is evident now, which is rather nice combined with the strawberry, but the finish is simply too bitter to make this a “fine” wine, if you will. I think that $15 would be the right price-point for this Sonoma County Zinfandel, but, as usual, those California wineries often ask more than their wines are truly worth, and the poor amongst us (Darcey and I included) usually cannot play in those vineyards, and may never get to taste wines that really should be $15 to $30. Interesting that we must buy from Spain or New Zealand in order to get the better values. Get real, California!!!
Anyhow, we enjoyed the good tannins of this Zin – an appreciated grip – and the concentrated fruit, but the finish spoils the effort and we cannot flat-out recommend this wine. If you find it on sale for sub $15, though, it may be worth a try.
(Click here for an explanation of our ratings ...)
Our Rating: 86
Would we drink it again? 
Nah ... the finish simply ruins the enjoyability.
Would we buy it again?
Never!
Winemaker's notes
The bouquet of this rich, balanced wine shows
ripe black cherry and black currant with hints of
vanilla and black pepper. On the palate, elegant
flavors of ripe black cherry, currant and creamy
spice are complimented with hints of dark chocolate.
Balance is key to this wine as the flavors are well
integrated without being overpowering. The result is
a wine that is extremely food friendly and should
compliment an array of foods from pizza to steak.
The history of Dry Creek Vineyard is a long and colorful one. Founded in 1972 by David S. Stare, Dry Creek Vineyard paved the way for a renaissance of winemaking and viticulture in the Dry Creek Valley. Before his arrival, the Dry Creek Valley was little more than a few family farms and prune orchards. It was Dave’s vision to start a Loire Valley inspired winery that reintroduced consumers to the wines of northern Sonoma County.
About Sonoma County
Sonoma County is a very important California wine-producing county situated north of San Francisco and west of the Napa Valley. Although the neighboring Napa Valley has dominated the region in terms of recognition and attracting many major wineries, Sonoma has made tremendous progress since the early 1970s and has now carved out significant recognition in its own right. Sonoma's winemaking history goes back to the 1820s, when the Sonoma Missions vineyards were planted by Franciscan monks. Unfortunately, they planted mission grapes, which don't produce high-quality table wines. In the 1850s and 1860s, Agoston Haraszthy (who established the original Buena Vista Winery in 1857) expanded the effort by trying to determine which varieties did best in various California areas. To this end, he imported thousands of cuttings of about 300 different grape varieties. He planted many of these in Sonoma County and sold the rest to others around the state. Like much of California, the influx of phylloxera in the 1890s and prohibition from 1920 to 1933 severely curtailed the growth of Sonoma County's wine business. It wasn't until the Napa Valley boom started in the mid- to late-1960s that Sonoma County was reenergized as a top winemaking region. It began converting from grapes that had been used primarily for jug wines — like alicante bouschet, carignane and petite sirah — and now leads Napa County in acreage for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel. Sonoma has built a solid reputation for wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. In 2000, there were over 55,000 planted acres, almost 65 percent to red varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted red followed by Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Zinfandel. Chardonnay makes up over 80 percent of the white variety acreage. Sonoma County is quite large and has diverse climate areas ranging from Region I to Region III). Numerous AVAs have been established here since 1978, some sharing the same geographic area. In addition to belonging to the huge north coast AVA and having its own appellation Sonoma County contains the following AVAs: Alexander Valley, Carneros, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek, Knights Valley Northern Sonoma, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County Green Valley, Sonoma Mountain and Sonoma Valley. A number of wineries are permitted to use any of five or six different AVA designations for the same wine. The Northern Sonoma AVA begins around the city of Sebastopol in the south and goes up to the Mendocino County line in the north and covers the smaller viticultural areas of Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek, Green Valley-Sonoma, Knight's Valley, and Russian River Valley. Sonoma County has over 175 wineries, which ranks it second only to Napa County in the United States for number of wineries.
