2016 Old Vine Zinfandel Pierano Estate Vineyard

Sometimes things don’t add up. Zinfandels, especially old vines Zins, produced in the Lodi, CA region are good; many of them are great Zin’s. When I uncorked this ’16 Old Vine, its nose was fruity, black cherry. The pour showed good dark red wine. Then came the first taste.

Yuk! I was tasting cherry cough syrup, a tangy medicinal wine. I did an on-line search on the exact same ’16 old vine Zin. This winemaker won several awards for the “Heritage” production. Two different national wine magazines rated 90pts & 88/pts. The tasting notes were positive, falling in line with other zins from Lodi. Etc.

Something was amiss. So, I examined the cork & bottle for “Corkage”. Nope, there was no corkage…. Huh? What had happened to this bottle of Old Vine Zinfandel? My best guess is heat; it got too hot. Probably, bottles in the case (maybe other cases) were left in a hot truck, on a pallet in a warm warehouse, or plane careless storage. Ouch. I bought a bottle of cooked wine from a retailer.

Wine likes cool and dark places to rest. Wine’s threshold before breaking down is 70°. When wine experiences temperatures above 80°, it begins to “cook”. Cooking wine means its flavors boil out, and temperatures remain inside the bottle for hours.

I am not a member of any wine club for this reason: too hot or too cold weather. A delivery truck’s interior can reach over 100°! When ordering wine on-line, I buy during those cool spring or fall months. (UPS & FEDEX trucks are not refrigerated.) There are some specialty refrigerated trucks to deliver large shipments, but not for a few bottles or a case to your door.

O.K., how does a cooked wine taste? When its flavor gets boiled out, the wine is left with a sour taste. It is unpleasant on the pallet, and it is “Jamy”. Fruits turn to high acidity, very tangy. And for this bottle, I say cherry cough syrup.

Because this tasting experience is such an exception, we will not give any T-L-C ratings.