We all know of Jed Steele’s wizardry with Chardonnay, but what is not as well known is that he’s no slouch with Zinfandel either. This is a very interesting bottle — at this alcohol level (15.8%) the grapes’ ripeness usually comes at the expense of the peppery character that so many of us look for in Zinfandel. That’s not the case here, with a mix of white and black pepper up front on the nose and mixing nicely with the bold brambly fruit on the palate. You get the heat, but it seems to work well here. There’s something to be said for fifty years of experience.
Shooting Star, Mendocino County (California) Zinfandel 2015
By Rich Cook