2018 Peterson Zinfandel from Bradford Mountain Vineyard -“Zero Manipulation”
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Winery
Photo from Peterson Winery website
The winery was founded by Fred Peterson and has been producing wine in the Dry Creek Valley for 30 years. Fred’s approach to winemaking was and is still a philosophy called Zero Manipulation. The goal is simply to use “low tech” and a “high touch” to produce wines with a “sense of place and soul”. In so enacting this approach it allows them to capture the essence of the vineyard, the character of the grapes and bring forth the soul of the vineyard. Having the estate winery at 1,000 feet elevation Fred states it “adds aromatics and texture to the wine… and provides a peppery quality”. At the higher elevation, means more sunlight hours and darker richer fruit.
Photo from Peterson Winery website
His son Jaime became the assistant winemaker in 2002 and in 2006 took over responsibilities as winemaker. Jaime continues the founding philosophy and presents each vintage/vineyard to stand by its self with Zero Manipulation with no additional tweaking or homogenizing the wine.
Bradford Mountain Estate Vineyard
Photo from Peterson Winery website
On the western edge of the Dry Creek Valley and reaching a height of 1264 feet, Fred cleared and planted 16 acres in the 1980’s. Today 10 wines are produced from the estate. They are Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Carignane, GSM, 3V White blend, Quinta Da Montahna (Port) and Merlot
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Had never had this wine before so was very interested in tasting it. First on the eyes a beautiful shade of purple and red with medium viscosity. On the nose, a beautiful violet aroma/bouquet greeted the taster with spices of nutmeg, cinnamon and blackberries. On the palate, it was earthy with old world bramble and dust counterbalanced with the blackberry fruit. On the finish, tannins and oak lingered and provided a long enjoyment.
A very good wine with surprises on each sip. It is made with 84% Zinfandel, 8% Petite Sirah and 8% Carignane. It comes in at 15.4% alcohol and only 300 cases were produced. It is barrel aged for 22 months on 30% new French oak and the balance being neutral. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered so filtering may be a good option before serving. It is listed at $42/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Had one of the specials this evening at Verona18, a grilled marinated pork tender loin with a shallot red wine reduction, roasted rosemary potatoes and sautéed fresh vegetables. The sauce was absolutely delicious and the pork was cooked to perfection and juicy. The pork loin coupled with the Zinfandel made a perfectly matched couple!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
As a footnote we did have other wines with our dinner including one other 2018 Peterson Dry Creek Zinfandel which was mellower with less oak and tannins. Several folks preferred that style, but I went with the Bradford Estate Zinfandel. The saving grace is that the Peterson’s have a Zinfandel for every taste.
Sláinte,
Michael
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
https://www.petersonwinery.com
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