Rodney Strong Vineyards

Rick Sayre did a beautiful job blending the juice from four different vineyards, in four distinctly different terroirs, to bring out a better-than-the-price $20 Zin that says “Sonoma” through and through. The wine gets its name from a century-old Zinfandel block in a vineyard west of Russian River about midway between Healdsburg and Geyserville. Legend is that the late Rod Strong was advised to pull the block out when he bought the vineyard many years ago, but he was too smart for that. Most of the fruit comes from the other three spots, which are in Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, but the personality of this wine comes from those knotty vines.

The wine is not a giant jam jar, which you might expect from the 2004 vintage, but a medium-bodied, nicely complex, very well balanced Zinfandel that lets you savor its qualities rather than knocking your socks off. Favorite qualities were the brightness and juiciness of the fruit (which is plenty ripe), the spiciness of the mid-palate and finish, and how the wine could not be from anywhere but northern Sonoma County. 100% Zin, 14.5% alcohol, enough new American oak to keep it firm for another couple of years, but drinking nicely now.

Reviewed January 31, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.