Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Edgy with mountainous berry flavor, Easton’s 2010 Shenandoah Valley Zin is full-bodied, generous in savory spices and blackberry flavor and intoxicatingly aromatic with a peppery, leathery finish. It’s structurally able to withstand many more years in bottle, so enjoy it now or give it some time. Either way, it’ll shine poured alongside peppery meat.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
There are wines that gain in grace with age, while others are notable for their ability to remain energetic and intensely fruity over time, and this very generous, immensely flavorful Zinfandel falls within the latter camp. It is bursting with fully ripe berries with a lightly complexing veneer of sweet, slightly woodsy spice, and it boasts especially fine balance considering its conspicuous ripeness. It will hold at this level for another five years without tiring but will prove a thoroughly satisfying, downright delicious foil to grilled, wild-boar sausages or a rack of ribs tonight.
Unapologetically bold, spice-driven and jammy, Zinfandel has secured its title as the darling of California vintners by adapting well to the state's diverse microclimates and landscapes. Born in Croatia, it later made its way to southern Italy where it was named Primitivo. Fortunately, the imperial nursery of Vienna catalogued specimens of the vine, and it later made its way to New England in 1829. Parading the true American spirit, Zinfandel found a new home in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Somm Secret—California's ancient vines of Zinfandel are those that survived the neglect of Prohibition; today these vines produce the most concentrated, ethereal and complex examples.
