Tonight, I got home late from work and threw together a quick supper of
sopressata, salami and tapenade sandwiches on sourdough. Jean and our
friend Chris had earlier opened a bottle of the title wine, which I had
with supper:

2000 Ravenswood "Monte Rosso" Zinfandel (14.5% ABV, TA 7 g/L)
color: garnet at center, bricking at the rim
nose: red plums and pencil lead
palate: medium body, good balance, rich fruit

I've never been overwhelmed by the Zins made from this former Louis
Martini vineyard, but this might be the best I've had yet. The acidity
was enough to go well with my sandwich and the alcohol restrained enough
to not stand out. Altogether tasty, if not profound, and certainly not
likely to get any better from how it's drinking today.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:29:18 -0500, Mark Lipton
wrote:

Tonight, I got home late from work and threw together a quick supper of
sopressata, salami and tapenade sandwiches on sourdough. Jean and our
friend Chris had earlier opened a bottle of the title wine, which I had
with supper:

2000 Ravenswood "Monte Rosso" Zinfandel (14.5% ABV, TA 7 g/L)
color: garnet at center, bricking at the rim
nose: red plums and pencil lead
palate: medium body, good balance, rich fruit

I've never been overwhelmed by the Zins made from this former Louis
Martini vineyard, but this might be the best I've had yet. The acidity
was enough to go well with my sandwich and the alcohol restrained enough
to not stand out. Altogether tasty, if not profound, and certainly not
likely to get any better from how it's drinking today.

Mark Lipton

I've expressed my tepid appreciation of Ravenswood zins here in the
past, but as you note, there are pearls to be found.

Your meal, however, brought forth something I've wondered about: I've
never found sourdough to be particularly wine-friendly. The heavy
yeastiness/sourness of the bread seems to clash with the basic fruit
notes of most wines I've tried it with.

Is this just a quirk of my palate or do others note similar?
Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

Ed Rasimus wrote:

I've expressed my tepid appreciation of Ravenswood zins here in the
past, but as you note, there are pearls to be found.

It's fair to say that my experience with them has been better than your
own, Ed, with some Old Hill Zins from them quite wonderful in the
distant past. HOWEVER, many people (myself included) have noticed a
distinct change (for the worse) in winemaking there following their sale
to Constellation. This was probably the last bottle of Ravenswood Zin
I'll ever pull from my own cellar, unless some event in the future
changes my views. It's sad, in a way, as I have great respect for Joel
Peterson and the wines he's made in the past (note: although dated, the
book "Angel's Visits" by David Darlington is a must read for any serious
Zin fan)


Your meal, however, brought forth something I've wondered about: I've
never found sourdough to be particularly wine-friendly. The heavy
yeastiness/sourness of the bread seems to clash with the basic fruit
notes of most wines I've tried it with.

Is this just a quirk of my palate or do others note similar?

That's a great point, Ed. As a (SF) Bay Area native, I have a lifelong
attachment to sourdough bread, but like any acidic food it is a
difficult match with wine [FWIW, sourness in food is almost always a
sign of acidity -- my forebears in chemistry used to identify acids by
their sour taste, a practice that's fortunately been discontinued].
Sadly, it's difficult to find a truly sour sourdough outside of my old
stomping grounds, so that eases the problem somewhat. Still, I'd
probably choose a French (non-sour) loaf for pairing with any serious wine.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:06:31 -0500, Mark Lipton
wrote:

Ed Rasimus wrote:

I've expressed my tepid appreciation of Ravenswood zins here in the
past, but as you note, there are pearls to be found.

It's fair to say that my experience with them has been better than your
own, Ed, with some Old Hill Zins from them quite wonderful in the
distant past. HOWEVER, many people (myself included) have noticed a
distinct change (for the worse) in winemaking there following their sale
to Constellation. This was probably the last bottle of Ravenswood Zin
I'll ever pull from my own cellar, unless some event in the future
changes my views. It's sad, in a way, as I have great respect for Joel
Peterson and the wines he's made in the past (note: although dated, the
book "Angel's Visits" by David Darlington is a must read for any serious
Zin fan)

Less I be branded as a knee-jerk Ravenswood defiler, let me not that I
had the privilege about ten years ago to attend a very well done
tasting dinner at an excellent (but unfortunately now defunct)
restaurant in Colorado Springs called Primitivo. They had an
incredible cellar and gave me the opporunity to taste my first Turley
Zin and Rochioli PN, among others.

The Ravenswood dinner offered a total of 47 (!) vertical and
horizontal tasting opportunities. Six flights of Ravenwood wines were
offered ranging from the early '70's to the most recent vintage
release which was then around '96 or '97. Plenty of single vineyard
comparisons shown. And the whole thing was moderated by a
knowledgeable collector of Ravenswood wines.

Some of them were quite good and they definitely dispelled the notion
that zinfandels can't age with grace.

Nevertheless, since then I've found nearly every Ravenswood offering
that I've encountered to be a pallid example of the varietal. That
might relate to the Constellation mega-winery influence.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

In article ,
Ed Rasimus wrote:

On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:29:18 -0500, Mark Lipton
wrote:

Tonight, I got home late from work and threw together a quick supper of
sopressata, salami and tapenade sandwiches on sourdough. Jean and our
friend Chris had earlier opened a bottle of the title wine, which I had
with supper:

2000 Ravenswood "Monte Rosso" Zinfandel (14.5% ABV, TA 7 g/L)
color: garnet at center, bricking at the rim
nose: red plums and pencil lead
palate: medium body, good balance, rich fruit

I've never been overwhelmed by the Zins made from this former Louis
Martini vineyard, but this might be the best I've had yet. The acidity
was enough to go well with my sandwich and the alcohol restrained enough
to not stand out. Altogether tasty, if not profound, and certainly not
likely to get any better from how it's drinking today.

Mark Lipton

I've expressed my tepid appreciation of Ravenswood zins here in the
past, but as you note, there are pearls to be found.

Your meal, however, brought forth something I've wondered about: I've
never found sourdough to be particularly wine-friendly. The heavy
yeastiness/sourness of the bread seems to clash with the basic fruit
notes of most wines I've tried it with.

Is this just a quirk of my palate or do others note similar?
Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

Some of the single vineyards are good but across the board they are only
OK.

In article ,
Mark Lipton wrote:

Ed Rasimus wrote:

I've expressed my tepid appreciation of Ravenswood zins here in the
past, but as you note, there are pearls to be found.

It's fair to say that my experience with them has been better than your
own, Ed, with some Old Hill Zins from them quite wonderful in the
distant past. HOWEVER, many people (myself included) have noticed a
distinct change (for the worse) in winemaking there following their sale
to Constellation. This was probably the last bottle of Ravenswood Zin
I'll ever pull from my own cellar, unless some event in the future
changes my views. It's sad, in a way, as I have great respect for Joel
Peterson and the wines he's made in the past (note: although dated, the
book "Angel's Visits" by David Darlington is a must read for any serious
Zin fan)


Your meal, however, brought forth something I've wondered about: I've
never found sourdough to be particularly wine-friendly. The heavy
yeastiness/sourness of the bread seems to clash with the basic fruit
notes of most wines I've tried it with.

Is this just a quirk of my palate or do others note similar?

That's a great point, Ed. As a (SF) Bay Area native, I have a lifelong
attachment to sourdough bread, but like any acidic food it is a
difficult match with wine [FWIW, sourness in food is almost always a
sign of acidity -- my forebears in chemistry used to identify acids by
their sour taste, a practice that's fortunately been discontinued].
Sadly, it's difficult to find a truly sour sourdough outside of my old
stomping grounds, so that eases the problem somewhat. Still, I'd
probably choose a French (non-sour) loaf for pairing with any serious wine.

Mark Lipton

I thought they had gone down quite a bit in the last few years but I
didn't put the two things together. Constellation seems to kill whatever
it buys.

"Mark Lipton" wrote .........

(note: although dated, the book "Angel's Visits" by David Darlington
is a must read for any serious Zin fan)


I have just returned home after a week in Australia on business (I must be
getting old - nowadays I just hate being away from my home and my wife: I am
over hotel living and food - and colleagues who know *2/5 of 5/8 of
bugger-all* about wine!)

Anyhow, the book I took with me was "Angels' Visits" - this copy gifted to
me by the late, great Joseph Rosenberg.

Published in 1991, I agree with the learned Professor - an entertaining
and informative read.

--

st.helier

"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...

The Ravenswood dinner offered a total of 47 (!) vertical and
horizontal tasting opportunities. Six flights of Ravenwood wines were
offered ranging from the early '70's to the most recent vintage
release which was then around '96 or '97. Plenty of single vineyard
comparisons shown. And the whole thing was moderated by a
knowledgeable collector of Ravenswood wines.

Some of them were quite good and they definitely dispelled the notion
that zinfandels can't age with grace.

Nevertheless, since then I've found nearly every Ravenswood offering
that I've encountered to be a pallid example of the varietal. That
might relate to the Constellation mega-winery influence.

On my first winery visit to Sonoma in 1996 I went to Ravenswood; I bought a
mixed case which included 3 '94 Monte Rossos. They were wonderful -
concentrated, deep and intense - and, along with Cline '94 Big Break,
defined for several years my benchmark of what Zin was all about.

But I agree that in the last few years Ravenswood is not producing the wines
I fell in love with. Sad, in a way.

Dean