Wine Recommendation
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Wine Recommendation

Wine:Edmeades Estate Winery 2004 Zinfandel, Perli Vineyard (Mendocino Ridge)

Edmeades Estate Winery

2004 Zinfandel, Perli Vineyard
(Mendocino Ridge)



Edmeades is known for its small bottlings of single vineyard Zins. Winemaker Van Williamson uses the limited lots of grapes from the various Mendocino vineyards like a painter selects colors from a palette. The difference is Williamson’s wines are palate pleasers. The grapes from Perli Vineyard in Mendocino Ridge AVA were hand tended but that’s because they had to be. The block has grades near 60 percent with more rocks than soil. The vineyard has been in operation since the late 1800s but the vines for this wine are 14 years old.

The 2004 Perli Zinfandel’s velvety smoothness belies its 16 percent alcohol (Edmeades’ late harvest Zin comes in about 2 percent higher). Fruit is forward and backward with wild black raspberries and a brief lingering blueberry prominent in the nose and first taste. But this big wine then continues to carry that brambly fruit — so typical of Mendocino Ridge Zins — to the zesty finish. The surprise is that this Zin does not seem ‘hot’ like you’d expect a 16 percent alcohol wine to be. With a pleasing acidity and a touch of oak, this Zin is indeed a palate pleaser. 360 cases were produced.

Reviewed April 23, 2007 by Michael Lasky.

 

The Wine

Winery: Edmeades Estate Winery
Vineyard: Perli Vineyard
Vintage: 2004
Wine: Zinfandel
Appellation: Mendocino Ridge
Grape: Zinfandel
Price: 750ml $25.00

Review Date: 4/23/2007

The Reviewer

Michael Lasky

APPELLATION AMERICA’s Managing Editor, Michael Lasky, has been writing about food and wine for over 20 years. His work has appeared in national magazines such as Playboy, Esquire, GQ, and Parade, and newspapers such as The New York Times, USA Today, Newsday, and the San Francisco Chronicle. His wine reviews focus on the aroma, taste, and visual appeal of what’s in the glass. He is decidedly not a wine snob and prefers to describe its virtues in conversational prose that speaks to everyone from wine neophytes to veteran connoisseurs. He only reviews delicious wines.