Old Vines and Zinfandel
Courtesy of
30 Second Wine Advisor
By Robin GarrLet's follow
up on [the recent] report on the newly discovered origins of
Zinfandel with a tasting of a California Zin in a classic
"benchmark" style.
Kempton Clark - actually not a winery but a label for a line of
wines from R.H. Phillips - offers this Zinfandel from an unexpected
quarter. Far from the usual California wine-growing regions, the
Cucamonga Valley east of Los Angeles was the source of a lot of ripe
and fruity Zinfandel nearly a century ago. Today this valley, once
known for its truck farms and fruit orchards, has become a textbook
example of suburban sprawl. But a few old vineyards remain,
including Lopez Ranch, where 85-year-old Zinfandel vines produced
the grapes that made this wine.
"Old vines" is a magical term when it comes to Zinfandel. As
grapevines grow older, they produce less fruit, and the harsh
economics of the wine business dictate that many old vineyards are
replanted after 25 or 30 years. But a contrary theory holds that the
fruit grown on ancient, gnarled vines may be short on quantity but
long on quality, growing intense and flavorful grapes that make
memorable wine. This is particularly true of Zinfandel, and some of
California's most favored Zin patches boast a history of 80 years to
a century or more.
Consumers should note, however, that "old vines" is not a legally
regulated term but may be used at the maker's option, and an
occasional "old vines" item may come from vineyards of 20 years'
standing. Unless the label is explicit about the age of the vines,
there are no promises. But this one is legitimate, as the Lopez
Ranch Zin vines date back to 1915.
KEMPTON CLARK 1997 "ZIN" LOPEZ RANCH CUCAMONGA VALLEY
ZINFANDEL ($14.99)
Very dark reddish-purple, clear but almost black. Classic Zin aroma,
exuberant mixed-berry fruit, with a distinctly "green," "sappy"
quality. The flavor is just as big and forward, juicy berries and an
almost Bourbon-like quality, sweet caramel, smoky and warm with 14.5
percent alcoholic warmth. (Jan. 24, 2002)
FOOD MATCH: My No. 1 recommendation for a Zinfandel food
match is char-grilled rare steak, and Zin's exuberant New World
fruit makes it a good match with hearty American fare from
hamburgers to spicy chile con carne. But we went with a more exotic
Asian dish, and found the wine's ripe berry fruit went as well as PB&J
with eggplant in a spicy peanut sauce.
WEB LINK:
The R.H. Phillips Website is at
http://www.rhphillips.com/
with a Kempton Clark page at
http://www.rhphillips.com/KC.html
It's heavy on "flash" programming, so it may be inaccessible to
text browsers and difficult for slow dial-up connections.
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