Plungerhead

2009 Lodi Zinfandel

Notes

Dark ruby in color with flecks of orange, our 2009 Zinfandel might be the best yet. The old vine Zinfandel vineyards ripened evenly in the Lodi heat of 2009. This allowed the old vine character to explode in this blend with aromas of jammy raspberry, hints of orange rind, clove, and rich caramel oak. In the mouth, this Zinfandel has flavors of dried strawberry, dark raspberry, plum sauce, cedar, and pomegranate, with hints of white pepper and cherry liquor. The finish is sweet fruit, toasty oak, and lingering warm spices.

For the past three vintages, we have sourced the Plungerhead Zinfandel from the same four vineyards, and we are continuing to learn more about these blocks every year. Most of the head-trained vines are 30-60 years old on these blocks, and only produce 2-3 clusters per cane. The result of this kind of old world farming is Zinfandel with a lot of old vine character. In 2009, we let the grapes hang until the end of September, then harvested all the grapes at around 26-27 brix to get maximum Zinfandel flavors from the vineyards. In fact, one of the vineyards got away from us on a hot weekend and came in at 30 brix. That block was a challenge to ferment, but gave the wine some great character. The overall blend brings together a quintessential Lodi Zinfandel with brambly fruit, spice, depth, and toasty oak to stand up to any barbeque or Zinfandel fan. Enjoy!

Pairings

This blend would pair wonderfully with pulled pork sandwiches with your favorite BBQ sauce served with sweet potato fries; spicy fried chicken with mashed potatoes and cream gravy; or grilled polish sausage topped with roasted peppers on an onion roll served with macaroni salad dusted with smoked paprika.