Sobon Estate: zinning in Amador

Full disclosure: I tasted these wines at a free tasting with the winemaker about 2 months ago.  I'm re-translating my notes (I keep them in a form of shorthand) from that event.

The first thing many of you may be wondering is, "where the heck is Amador, and why should I care?"  The Amador AVA is east of Sacramento, well inland from the coastal influences you find in Napa and Sonoma.  It's warm and dry during the growing season, and -- in my opinion, at least -- some of the best Zinfandel in California comes from there.  Certainly some of the best values in California zin are Amador county zins.  I've never seen an Amador zin over $26, and most of them are in the $10-$20 range.  So, it's a place rife with good value -- since you've likely not heard of it, neither have other shoppers, so there's not as much of a demand-based drive up in price.

My personal favorite producer in Amador County is Sobon Estate/Shenandoah Vineyards (hereafter referred to as just "Sobon.").  Sobon is a very green-friendly producer, growing organic grapes (no pesticides or herbicides), using solar power to minimize their carbon footprint (they actually sell carbon offset credits, since they create less CO₂ than they eliminate!), and best of all in my opinion, using Stelvin closures on most of their wines -- screw caps mean no corked wines, and no need for a tool to open up a bottle!

Their line includes a number of non-Zinfandel offerings; Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, a zin rosé (not white zin!), Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sangiovese round out their lineup for dry wines.  They also produce a Black Muscat, some Zinfandel-based Port, and a white Port based on their white Rhône varietals.  Their zins come in several lines -- Hillside, Old Vines, Cougar Hill, Fiddletown (from the AVA within Amador of the same name), and Paul's Vineyard.

OK, enough talking, time for some reviews.  First up, their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc:

Light yellow/green in the glass.  Shows nicely perfumed citrus in the nose. Apple, citrus and melon in the mouth, with a slightly herbaceous finish. Just enough acidity to be interesting, but not as zippy as comparably-priced Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand.  Still, a tasty wine, good for light fish meals or just as an aperetif.  Great, if you like a slightly lower-acid Sauv Blanc.  85 points.

In the interest of fairness, I generally don't like California Sauvignon Blancs (give me the enamel-stripping acidity of New Zealand, or the elegant minerality of Bordeaux, or the light crispness of the Loire instead), but this one really is quite good in that genre.  It's not nearly as flabby as most, with enough acid and low enough residual sugar to be quite tasty, in fact.

Then, their 2007 Hillside Zinfandel.  I'll note that 2007 was a very good year for Amador Zinfandel -- ideal growing conditions through most of the summer -- so if you have the chance to get an '07 from there, do so.  Anyhow, the Hillside:

Garnet.  Nose shows blueberry and blackberry, with some darker notes of cocoa.  Similar in the mouth, some dark cherry, with the addition of a little eucalyptus/mint note on the finish. Nice, moderate tannins give the wine good structure.  The wine is moderately heavy, with a fairly long finish.  88 points.

Next, 2007 Fiddletown:

Bright ruby in the glass. Powerful nose of cherry and black pepper-esque spice.  In the mouth, shows off more of the fruit -- cherry and raspberry -- with a distinct undercurrent of charcoal and black pepper.  Powerful, deep wine, but still very well-balanced, with enough acidity and tannin to keep from being flabby.  Very long finish.  This is quintessential "steak wine," especially if you're grilling over coals and peppering the steak.  Great value.  Drink through 2019.  91 points.

Finally, their 2007 zin Port:

Dark red in the glass. Inviting nose, showing LOTS of plum and some raisin/prune notes. More of the same in the mouth; lots of fruit, some of it dried.  Just a hint of spice on the finish to show off the Zin character. Quite tasty. Good balance and finish.  A rich port, perfect for "dessert in a glass," or with cheesecake. 89 points.

So there you have four very nice wines.  And the best part?  Every one of them is under $25 -- at the winery's website, you can buy Fiddletown for $22 and the Port for $13 for a half-bottle.  The other two appear to be sold out at the winery, but my local wine store has them for $10 for the Sauvignon Blanc and $11 for the Hillside.

Any port in a storm.

Port refers to a type of wine, made by adding alcohol during the fermentation process, before the yeast have completely converted the sugar of the grape juice into alcohol.  Why add alcohol?  Well, it kills off the yeast (yeast die at about 17% ABV), and results in a sweet wine (as there's still residual sugar).  It's also quite strong -- most range between 18% and 21% ABV.  Most wines float between 12% and 15%!

Port is also extremely long-lived, due to the alcohol and sugar.  Properly stored, sealed and on it's side in a cellar at 55 degrees Fahrenheit, a bottle of port will be drinkable for 60 or 80 years... or more!

A bit on the history of the wine may be in order.  Port was first made in Oporto, in Portugal, at the request of the British.  Since, at the time, the British were involved in open warfare with the French, they needed a source of wine, and so turned to Portugal.  Alas, Portuguese wine was unable to withstand the rough sea voyage from Oporto to London in barrels -- it became vinegary and undrinkable -- so the Portuguese thought to add more alcohol to the wine, to better allow it to travel.  Port was born!

Traditional Ports generally fall into two categories of wines: barrel-aged and bottle-aged.  Barrel-aged Port tends to be a tawny, almost mahogany color, and exhibits nutty, sometimes gingerbread or spicy notes.  They come in a dizzying array of varieties (and prices!) but it generally comes down to aging -- the older the wine, the more you pay.  See, a barrel-aged Port isn't just something that sits in a cellar.  No, the barrels get topped off each year, so a 40-year tawny (which you should expect to pay around $100 to $150 for) has had, literally, a lifetime's work put into it.  There are two exceptions to this rule, which will be discussed later.

Then, there's bottle-aged port.  These are also called ruby ports, and they tend to be more red in color, exhibiting more berry flavors, and definitely more tannins.  These roughly break into vintage and nonvintage ports; vintage port coming from a defined "good vintage" year (as declared by the port house that makes the port) -- good years in recent memory include 1977, 1985, 1994, 2000, and 2003 -- and nonvintage ports including a blend of several years, to make a distinct "house style."  Vintage port is small production -- about 2% -- but it is the star of a Port shipper's catalogue.  Ruby ports either are aged in huge barrels over time (with little oxygen contact due to the relatively low ratio of surface area to volume), or bottled relatively quickly.

Hmm.  Vintage and nonvintage, with nonvintage being a sort of continuous product that makes money, while vintage is special and makes reputations.  Kind of like Champagne, do you think?

The two exceptions to the rules of barrel-aged ports are "colhita," which is vintage-dated tawny port -- I'll have to claim ignorance on what it's like, as I've never had one, although I would expect it to lack the breadth of flavor that you find in most tawnys, but with a lot more depth in the flavors it does have (sort of like vintage Champagne, Armagnac, and Cognac).  And there's Late Bottled Vintage, or LBV port, which is barrel-aged longer than normal vintage port and often filtered before bottling.

Why do that?  Simple; vintage port takes years to mature in the bottle... decades, really.  I shudder now to think of all the 1994's I drank when I turned 21...  over 10 years ago.  The turning point, for me, was a bottle of 1977 that I splurged on.  Tasting a matured port... well, it's luxuriant, deep, and eminently gratifying.

So if you've got space in your cellar, and the patience to wait 15 to 20 years, pick up some 2000 or 2003's (a full bottle should run $40 to $80, and a half should be $25 to $50 or so, depending on the producer and where you buy it).  And pick up a 2003 LBV while you're at it.  If you have the money, and your local shop has some, pick up some 1977, 1983, or 1985, to see what the fuss will be about in 20 years over the 2003's.

And, if you lack the patience, pick up an LBV anyhow.  Instead of dessert, serve wine.  And a little fresh fruit (raspberry tortes come to mind, as do fresh cherries).  Relax, and enjoy the magic of Port.