American "First Growths"

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric S. Crane on February 2, 2008 at 2:22pm

What a great thread to start. If I recall correctly, Laube and the crew at Wine Spectator tried to classify the Americans many years ago. I must ask though, is this thread "my favorite producers" or "historic producers that deserve their place in the world?"

I will try to find the list that Wine Spectator put together many years ago.

Permalink Reply by Marshall on February 2, 2008 at 2:31pm

Well Eric, perhaps one in the same? I have been drinking Zins for about 12 years now, so I have some historical reference, however have not tried to compare Spectator, Parker, etc ratings in my assessment. Rather, from the dozen or so years and hundreds of attempts to find what I believe are 'the best', I found a definite trend in consistency of greatness for this varietal. So I would have to say that the list is qualitative, not quantitative. I have also found some favorites that did not appear on the above list - e.g. a easy drinking Zin, a favorite late harvest or zin port that we have enjoyed, or even new favorites such as Four Vines. I did, for the list above, try to filter out the wineries who have produced great wine on a consistent basis for many vintages. I look forward to comparing notes with others in this group...and perhaps your observations about the state of American Zins on your top 5 list...Cheers.

Permalink Reply by Eric S. Crane on February 2, 2008 at 5:16pm

Joseph Swan
Ridge
Chateau Montelena
most anything from the Monte Rosso vineyard (several producers)
Steele

Permalink Reply by Marley Hodgson on February 6, 2008 at 11:52am

If the wineries in question are not being judged on longevitiy then there are a plethora of incredilbe Zins out there today. A few that come to mind:
Mauritson Family - Sonoma
Elyse - Napa (also has made a tiny prodiuction of fantastic Zin Port )
Rafanelli - Sonoma
Radio Coteaux - Sonoma
Bella - Sonoma

a winery with a very long history - Kunde aslo comes to mind. Not for their everyday labels but for their Century Vines Zin bottling which is tremendous. I was lucky enough to walk that vineyard one day which was terrific. Avg. age of the vines I believe was 120+ years. looked like something out of Dr. Sesus. The fact that so many producers make so many differnt bottlings from various different vineyards certainly clouds judgement a bit. It stikes me as somewhat similar to Burgundy where one might find a terrific wine and a medicore wine from the same vineyard.

Permalink Reply by Justin C.S.W., C.S. on March 4, 2008 at 12:03pm

This is so complex an convoluted I cant even reply with anything coherent.
I would start with some questions tho:
Why classify ourselves? Our grapes or allowed grapes for a classsification?
There are the original first growth like wineries of CA, then there are alot of new cool ones like Sin Qua Non.
Early pioneers that are still amazing might be Montelena, Grgich Hills Estate (both on Mike Grgichs' resume), Joseph Swan (nice Eric Crane), Heitz, BV for the Georges de Latour bottling.
New: Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Sine Qua Non,
Ugghhhh, this is way too taxing.....and has too much constraints. Maybe thats a problem the AOC system and others have problems with the classification systems as a whole anyways....
Sorry.....this was just babble.

Permalink Reply by Randy Caparoso on March 8, 2008 at 3:51pm

Like the others, I can think of a number of extraordinary Zin producers who aren't mentioned anywhere in in this thread; and personally, some of the ones mentioned, I certainly would never think of as a "grand cru" or "premier cru" (won't mention names -- why invite more controversy than what I already see?). There is too much variability -- variability in taste, variability in vintage, variability in grape sourcing, variability in year-to-year evolution, etc. -- for anything close to a producer list ever being classifiable.

The only things that are constant in any part of the world is terroir -- the vineyards themselves. And terroir, and vineyards in general on the West Coast, are still way too early in their evolutionary stage to be classified.

Needless to say, same goes for classification of vineyards and producers related to Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, et al.

Nice food for fantasy, Marshall, but far from realistic...

Permalink Reply by George R. Eldi on March 24, 2008 at 10:22am

Ridge must be included in the "Zinfandel First Growths." Without question they embrace the taste of place in each of their single site bottlings. Geyserville, Pagani Ranch and Lytton Springs are historic sites. Ridge produces age worthy and food friendly wines. Paul Draper and crew are fanatics when it comes to producing wines that recognize the site that they come from. This is more difficult than with the vineyards of Burgundy where the fractionated limestone dictates and changes cru level within feet of each other. You cannot have American Vineyard Crus at the same level as them. Only a few wineries really let their wine challenge the test of time. We can hold them in our personal acclaim club of age worthy wine. There is a list started in the Post.

Most of the wine is made for immediate pleasure and consumption. The American market is lazy and wants it all in one glass, right now. Thank God, the few people who get it, buy their wine in my market.

Randy, the best sub AVA’s is a better place to start. And that's changeing with the weather! After all who is more important in America, the land or the Wine Maker?

Permalink Reply by Randy Caparoso on March 24, 2008 at 10:52am

Absolutely, George... right now, the winemaker, or the barrel maker, or the even the PR maker (good god, the hype!)... all these things seem to be just as "important" as actual terroir in the way people look at wines in the New World these days. And of course, it should just not be so...

I agree with you on your kudos re Ridge. I think a lot of Zin fanatics these days just don't realize that the one producer that drove this grape as a varietal of integrity through the decades of White Zin mania was Ridge. Everything done by producers like Rosenblum, Ravenswood, Turley, et al. -- the focus on terroir, single vineyard old vine sourcing, natural winemaking, traditional field mixing, etc. -- came after Ridge, and because of Ridge. Or you can say, they came by virtue of the light held proudly by Paul Draper and his crew up there in the Santa Cruz Mts.

FYI, if you like to read about Zin: I invite everyone to visit my Web site (www.randycaparoso.blogsp...) where you'll find a recently revised piece on the history of "big Zins," and also some details on Zinfandel/food matching.

Permalink Reply by Marshall on March 24, 2008 at 12:15pm

Randy - well done on the food and Zin evaluation. You are right on. We need to get a handful of people with properly cellared examples of the great Big Zins for a good session here in Atlanta...