Friday, March 27, 2015

It's A Navarro Vineyards Kind Of Weekend/Jim Kline

It's Friday! And yes it's a Navarro Kind Of Weekend!We have 4 great new features with winemaker Jim Kline.We will start with two great whites,and then on to Pinot Noir and Zinfandel.First let's check out the tasting notes. This is their third vintage of Pinot Blanc from Jason and Susanne McConnell's well-tended vineyard in the Russian River watershed near Ukiah and we are tickled by the consistent quality from vintage to vintage. The climate in Ukiah is warmer than the Anderson Valley, especially during harvest, and we didn't want September heat to burn off the variety's floral, stone-fruit aromatics; we decided to harvest these grapes a bit less ripe than we typically do for Navarro's Philo-grown whites. one customer's modest comment pretty much sums up our feelings: “straightforward, refreshing and well made. perfect summer wine.” There are no oak flavors to beef up the weight or mask the fruit. The wine is dry, crisp and light enough to pair with food on a warm summer day. Two prior vintages (and hopefully this vintage) of Navarro's Pinot Blanc have garnered Gold Medals at the California State Fair. Gold Medal winner. Best of Class. “Pinot gris is grown across the globe with the "spicy" full-bodied Alsatian and lighter-bodied, more acidic Italian styles being most widely recognized.” —Wikipedia. How can two cultures, separated by a mountain range, have totally different ideas of an "ideal" wine? Alsatians are noted for the aromatic grape varieties they grow, consequently the grapes are harvested very ripe to achieve maximum fruit aromas and flavors; frequently so ripe that the wines end up with some residual grape sugar. The Italian public seems to prefer their white wines much more austere (acidic) and without the fruity aromas that characterize Alsatian offerings. Anderson Valley is blessed with very cold nights preceding harvest, which allows the grapes to retain their natural acidity; we pick the grapes with more flavor than many Italian Grigios, but less ripe than the wine we label as Gris. A nutty, oily texture with a crisp finish hinting of pineapple that is perfect on a warm evening. Now on to the beautiful Pinot Noir and My favorite Zinfandel. The Deep End Pinot Noir is rich and full,and perfect with many different dishes.A series of storms in the first week of October created crummy growing conditions and Zinfandel, with its tight clusters, is especially prone to rot. We only had a few days warning of the impending storm. We quickly harvested any of Navarro's fields that were ripe and we advised our red wine-grape growers in the Russian River Valley to do the same. “If the fruit is ripe, get it harvested before the storm!” Ed Berry has a perfect site for Zinfandel and he had two blocks of 65 year old vines with deliciously ripe fruit. He sprang into action and lined up a crew right after we phoned and harvested his two best lots. Al Tollini's best field was ripe, but he decided to wait until the last minute before the storm to squeeze the last little bit of ripeness out of his 80 year old vines. This wine is a testament to the doggedly hard work of these two growers; the old-vine Zin we produce from their grapes is as intense and full of character as are the farmers who tended the vines. The fruit was destemmed, fermented in open-top tanks for two weeks then the must was pressed and the wine aged in French oak barrels for 10 months; gutsy with intimations of wild blackberries, tea and black figs. Gold Medal winner. Click here and join us as we taste two great white wines from Navarro Vineyards. Click here and yes it's Pinot time. Click here as we have a glass of Navarro Zinfandel waiting for you.

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