2017 Carlisle Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2017 Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard contains 12% mixed black varieties. This vineyard was planted in 1927 with Zinfandel and 39 other varieties, including ten white varieties. Grapes were picked together and co-fermented. It was hard hit by the heat, and yields were very low after the intensive sorting. Jake Bilbro says, "It looked like a massacre after picking. We had about 25 tons hanging, and we only brought in 10 tons. It was ugly, but it's our estate vineyard, so you do what you gotta do." Medium ruby-purple, it gives up scents of cinnamon toast, cocoa powder, warm earth, red and black cherries, blueberries, fried sage, dried herbs and flowers with touches of orange peel and charcuterie. Medium-bodied, the palate flushes with fruit to savory and chocolate flavor layers, gently framed and lifted on the long, layered finish. 332 cases produced.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard is dense and powerful, but also very much tightly wound today. Much of that is the result of the brutal Labor Day heat spike that took with it more than 50% of the production. Zinfandel was hit hardest, which, in turn, means that that the mixed blacks portion of the blend is on the higher side. Even so, the 2017 exudes remarkable purity and class. Readers will have to be patient though, as the 2017 needs at least a few years to come into its own.