Peterson Winery, 2019 Tollini Vineyard Zero Manipulation Red Wine-Why a Jackalope on the Label?
The Winery
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 following 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”. Located at the higher elevation, means more sunlight hours and darker richer fruit.
His son Jamie 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.
This wine comes from the Tollini Vineyard from Redwood Valley in Mendocino County. Originally planted by Alvin Tollini’s grandfather and is a dry farmed vineyard. It is still home to some old vine Carignane and Zinfandel vines planted after his grandfather returned from WWII. More recent additions of Petite Sirah, Syrah, Grenache and Barbera were added. The vineyard is sustainably farmed.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine was a bit of a mystery to me. While I normally prefer varietals, this red blend showed up in a “test case and sample”. So here I approached the wine with some reservations. Seeing a Jackalope on the label gave me even more pause before tasting! So here goes the review which turned me on my head.
I very much enjoyed tasting the wine especially with tonight’s dinner. While having a hard time deciphering the mix by varietal, the overall effect was very good. It is a blend of 79% Carignane, 11% Petite Sirah and 10% Syrah. I couldn’t figure out why not call it a Carignane wine? But once I tasted it I understood. The blend while not tasting like a Carignane varietal (which by the way they make, but I have not tasted), the strong Petite Sirah and Syrah provided a strong, bold and tasteful wine somewhat overpowering the Carignane. This is exactly what they had intended with this wine to create a “delicious, quaffable nature of a bistro wine” showing this vineyard. And in their words “by forgoing manipulative winemaking practices and additives, we create a wine more natural than the elusive Jackalope mascot” which is stated on the back label.
On the eyes a deep red, almost black in color, this wine’s mystery continued. On the nose robust dark ripe fruits of plum and blackberry waft causing one to take the first sip. Once on the palate, black pepper and forest notes swirl about in the mouth along with a boldness not often found in blends. On the finish secondary tart red fruits and tannins grip the back of the mouth and provide a long lasting, chewy and still mysterious finish!
The wine is listed on their website for what I believe is an incredible $24/bottle. The wine is aged 22 months in 100% neutral oak barrels and comes in at 15.8% alcohol level. Hard to imagine a wine at this price delivering so much punch. Their original motto about this wine (and their T-shirt’s) was “easy to use and cheap to operate”. Hands down, this wine has a lot of bang for the price!
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
Photos ©Michael Kelly
On a cold and rainy evening what is better than good old fashioned comfort food of meatloaf and a potato? Not any normal meatloaf but Jalapeño meatloaf. Took the picture of the dish to show how much of the minced Jalapeño was in the meatloaf. For the meal itself I add the Cherry Pepper sauce which is now a favorite. The topping on the meatloaf consisted of tomato sauce, minced garlic cloves, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, honey and chili powder.
This was a great food and wine pairing. The wine embraced the spiciness of the meatloaf, topping and cherry pepper sauce with a loving and huge bear hug. A perfect ending to a “comfort food” dinner.
Sláinte,
Michael