It has been quite awhile since I have tried this wine but when I found it at our local Costco wine store, I was intrigued mainly because of the price. Most reviews and online prices place it at $18-19 dollars cdn so when it is priced at $12, well I was curious. Plus I was worried that it had followed the way of some California Zins in that extra sugar (in the way of grape sugars) had been added to sweeten it up. Like alot of California wine. And we needed some cheap wine for summer sangria. Well…what a shock when I poured a glass to wash down our chicken enchiladas.

Produced from gnarled 35-80 year old head trained vines, some of the oldest vines in California, Zinfandel has been planted in Lodi for over 100 years and for most of its history there was never the demand for the grapes to cause the vineyard owners to replant their vines. Vines as they get older, maybe around 25 to 30 years, start to slow down their yield, but few vineyards needed to go through the time and expense to replant.

That is a very good thing for the Lodi vineyard owners because these old vines are now in demand and sought after. What may have been good vineyards but not standout vineyards are now exceptional vineyards. Good things come to those who wait.

The 2018 Gnarly Head Old Vines is an opaque blackish purple red with deep purple streaks, a slight crimson red rim with super high viscosity.  Intense aromas of crushed black fruits, dominated by blackberries, toasty oak, beef jerky, spice rack, black licorice sticks, plum jam, black pepper and an earthy, mineral content. There are massive flavours of spicy black fruit with underlying licorice root, reductive black fruit stew, ripe plums, pepper with subtle vanilla from oak, massive tannin structure, a balanced firm mid-palate and a long finish, peppered with spice. Enjoy now-2025.  Absolutely stunning!!!!

In Vino Veritas