Piner-Olivet tasting notes

Wines, especially Zinfandels, from the PinerOlivet neighborhood of Santa Rosa show distinctive characteristics that you won’t find elsewhere in the Russian River Valley appellation. These wines are lively, supple and lithe, and their cooler climate gives them mouth-watering acidity. Mike Officer’s 2014 Carlisle Vineyard Zin, for example, weighs in at 3.35 pH — a figure you’d expect from a crisp white wine. The flavor signatures of this micro-region are bright, tart red and blue fruits: I found strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and pomegranate over and over again in these wines, juicy-ripe but never syrupy. If you associate Zin with jammy, hulking, overweight wines, think again. Piner-Olivet’s renditions are prime examples of what California can do best. Carlisle Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard Russian River Valley 2014 ($47, 15%): Mike Officer describes the signature flavor of his estate vineyard as “mulberry,” and it’s easy to see why. The bright, juicy wine perennially expresses tart red fruit — not only mulberry but also strawberry and pomegranate. In the background are graphite, blueberry, cocoa and exotic spice notes. A strong candidate for a conversion Zinfandel, if you know any skeptics who require a revelation. Carlisle Zinfandel Russian River Valley Papera Ranch 2014 ($47, 15%): It’s amazing how much powerful flavor this wine packs into such a lithe frame. Ripe bright fruits — red raspberry preserves; juicy red plum — and the flavor of licorice are lifted by a searing line of acidity. Carlisle Red Wine Russian River Valley Two Acres 2013 ($45, 15%): This Mourvedre-dominant wine comes from a tiny, 2-acre plot in Piner-Olivet planted around 1910. It was the first vineyard Mike Officer took under his wing, before buying the Carlisle Vineyard. Though it’s clearly not Zin — notice that leathery, cured-meat savory character mingling with the aroma of fresh peonies — it screams Piner-Olivet, with seductive blue and red fruit notes and ultrabright acid. Carlisle Zinfandel Mancini Ranch Russian River Valley 2015 ($47, 15.5%): Brilliant, nearly neon magenta in the glass, Carlisle’s 2015 Mancini oozes pomegranate, cassis and blueberry. Tart and supple, and among Carlisle’s lighter-postured offerings. Joseph Swan Zinfandel Zeigler Vineyard Russian River Valley 2012 ($34, 13%): The century-old Zeigler Vineyard, across the street from Mancini, is wild-looking, dotted with scattered, struggling vines. Much lighter and more translucent in the glass than other Zins from the area, Swan’s interpretation of Zeigler shows Russian River qualities more often associated with Pinot Noir: Bing cherry, sweet dried sage, terra cotta. Joseph Swan Zinfandel Mancini Ranch Russian River Valley 2012 ($34, 12.9%): Like Swan’s Zeigler Zinfandel, the winery’s Mancini Ranch bottling is light and earthy. It conveys the unmistakable flavor of strawberry rhubarb pie, with red cherry and forest floor notes. Very Russian River. Hartford Zinfandel Russian River Valley Jolene’s Vineyard 2014 ($60, 15.5%): From the Maffei Vineyard, planted in the 1920s; “Jolene’s” is Hartford’s amalgamation of the owners’ names, Joanne and Arlene. This is textbook Russian River Zin: a fruit salad of ripe strawberry and explosive juicy blueberry, zippy with bracing acidity. Bedrock Zinfandel Russian River Valley Papera Ranch 2015 ($44.95, 14.5%): A denser vintage from Papera than 2014, with an inky texture and grippy tannins, but sacrificing none of the site’s signature bright acid. The fruit is explosive, ripe and red: raspberry, rhubarb and strawberry, grounded with tobacco and sage accents. Bedrock Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard Russian River Valley 2015 ($44.95, 14.6%): Ripe blueberry and boysenberry mingle here with red raspberry preserves. These ultrabright fruits are grounded by the wine’s brambly, graphite-laced character. Seghesio Zinfandel Maffei Vineyard Russian River Valley 2015 ($48, 15.4% ): Showing the heft of the 2015 vintage, the currant, red plum, strawberry and blueberry flavors are ripe to the point of bursting, as if baked in a pie. This is a wine of structure, with singing acid and considerable tannins. Seghesio Zinfandel Montafi Ranch Russian River Valley 2015 ($65, 15.4%): This is Seghesio’s first vintage from Montafi Ranch, which the winery recently purchased. Earthy and floral, it’s marked not only by bright red fruits like raspberry and cherry but also fig and a suggestion of cooling eucalyptus. Tart and zippy. Williams Selyem Zinfandel Papera Ranch Russian River Valley 2015 ($65, 14.8%): Pungent with cumin, star anise, Asian spice and lavender, Williams Selyem’s 2015 Papera has at its core the red berry fruits and piercing acidity that are the signatures of this extraordinary vineyard. Williams Selyem Zinfandel Saitone Vineyard Russian River Valley 2016 (not yet released): I tasted a barrel sample of the 2016 Saitone, the winery’s first from its new estate vineyard, and found it remarkably integrated for its age. Blue fruited and hightoned, it’s got supple tannins, wafting floral aromas of rose and lavender. Reichwage Carignan Mancini Ranch Russian River Valley 2016 (not yet released): Max Reichwage’s inaugural vintage from his estate vineyard — which I tasted from barrel — includes a wine from the site’s all-Carignan block, a rarity in the Piner-Olivet area. Inspired by Joseph Swan’s Cotes du Rosa wine, Reichwage fermented these grapes in whole clusters. The result is a grippy, fresh mouthfeel, its red fruits anchored by earthy notes of terra cotta and brick.