Sonoma County

• Alexander Valley
• Bennett Valley
• Best of Sonoma
• Dry Creek Valley
• Fort Ross/Seaview
• Moon Mountain
• Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak
• Russian River Valley
• Sonoma Coast
• Sonoma Mountain
• Sonoma Valley
• Knights Valley

Wow.  It has been a while since I have tried any of the single vineyard wines from Ravenswood.  This is great!  Really glad to revisit these.  Made in Dry Creek Valley on gravelly clay loam soils.  15.1% Alc but no hint of it.  Ruby/purple in color.  Clear and bright.  The nose is earthy and dusty with black cherries and a bit of pepper.  With air, an underlying char shows thru.  On the palate, this is soft and smooth.  It starts easy which is nice before picking up weight.  Sour black cherries and some blueberries.  The mid-palate has some black licorice too.  Plenty of depth here.  Medium

This is a vineyard blend from an older vineyard in Sonoma.  This is how wine used to be grown as opposed to blending in the winery.  Sometimes in these older vineyards, its not clear what is growing without doing DNA tests on each vine.  This vineyard has 60% Zinfandel, 25% Carignane and 15% comprised of 22 othr varietals.  The wine is purple with ruby swirls.

I love Carlisle Zinfandels.  Mike Officer makes a bunch of them, but this is my favorite one.  Purple in color.  The nose has some bramble, dark cherries and a bit of pepper.  What i find I like consistently from vintage to vintage, however, is the texture.  It is round, lush, and delicious without being over the top.  Black cherries, raspberries, and black licorice.  No heat.  Each sip makes we want to take another.  It is food friendly, but these seem to go down too quickly.  Its hard to not gulp.  This should age easily for another five years and probably ten or more.  

This was fun as it is by far the oldest KB wine I have had.  It is still quite a big wine especially for a Sonoma Syrah.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, black olives, slight roasted herbs and black pepper.  very nice.  On the palate, black raspberries, black pepper, some char, some earth.  Good acidity.  Light tannins.  Slight heat.  It is drinking just fine at this point and probably at peak.  Some depth, but a lot but plenty of delicious fruit left.  Worked fine with food.  Seems to easily have five to ten more years.  

Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has cassis, cherries, cedar and spice.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this has nice fruit in a more restrained mode.  Cherries and cassis with cedar.  Medium tannins.  Decent balance. Slightly clipped finish.  This is a more restrained style of Cab but drinks well right now.  Not sure if it will make older bones so I would drink in the next five years.  

This is a very good, middle of the road, straight forward Zin (in a good way).  Purple in color with some ruby swirls.  The nose has dark cherries, raspberries, bramble and black pepper.  Full bodied with a nice texture.  Juicy black cherries and raspberries.  Some depth.  Drinking great but should age a bit and last a decade.  Works with bigger foods or on its own. Delicious.  

Another winner from this winery making lower alcohol, cooler climate wines from California.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, char, black olives and roasted herbs.  On the palate, this is medium to full bodied.  Black raspberries with an underlying char.  Also some earthiness.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  Very food friendly with some potential upside over the next few years.  

Beautiful Pinot Noir.  Ruby with some purple swirls.  The nose is great with bright cherries contrasted by an earthy, damp forest floor note.  Also some spice.  On the palate, this is tight but quite good.  It needs at least five years or a long decant.  Cherries, macerated cherries, layered tightly with damp earth and spice.  Complex.  Good balance.  Long finish.  Went quite well with food.  

This is the first bottling by Kutch from this AVA.  Perhaps not quite the focus as the Santa Cruz mountain version but still quite nice.  That may be to being a different vintage or AVA.  This is golden in color.  The nose has pears, slight vanilla, some lemon and a slightly sweaty note to it.  On the palate, this is of course young.  The pears and slight lemons come thru.  Some acidity but not a lot.  It will be good to revisit this and see if it comes more together.  That said, it is delicious now with depth to it.  Worked very well at the dinner table.  

My last bottle from this now defunct winery.  Too bad as they made very good wine.  This bottle certainly was.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, black pepper, roasted herbs and slight bacon fat.  On the palate, this has juicy acidity.  Black raspberry fruit.  Light tannins.  Some black olives.  Good finish.  Seems close to peak now.  Works well with food.