The Pedroncelli Winery has been in Sonoma County since 1927. Their Dry Creek Valley estate has historic vineyards that were first planted to Zinfandel in 1904.
Unfortunately, it has taken me almost 100 years to become acquainted with these Pedroncelli grapes! While in Cleveland working as a volunteer wine pourer for the Fabulous Food Show, I picked up a bottle from the wine shop.
I was prepared to spend a long time browsing the selection from around the world and soaking in all the details in each label. Green Dragon, however, demanded that I make a quick purchase so we could go to the hotel and eventually get into the hot tub.
A Zinfandel would be just right and I locked on to the Pedroncelli as soon as I noticed Dry Creek Valley and “Mother Clone.” I had no idea what this later phrase meant, but it seemed worth checking out.
It turns out that the original “mother” vines, of which there is a quarter acre left, have been cloned. So this wine includes the clones, some grapes from the 100-year-old vines as well as some from the Buchignani Vineyard, which is a young whippersnapper at only 50 years old.
The result is pretty darn good. The wine includes 5% Petite Sirah and is aged in American and French barrels for 12 months. The tannins are very noticeable at first, but after repeated sipping in a hot tub, it mellows into some nice jammy blackberry with a pinch of spice.
This is a full bodied wine that could age for a few years more, but is ready to enjoy right now. We picked this up for $14 and that’s a great value for a quality Dry Creek Zin. Pedroncelli is the mother of all clones!
Rating: 3 of 5 Value: 3.5 of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment