Dry Creek Vineyard 2016 Old Vine Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley

Kicking The New Year Off Right!

There was quite a bit of commotion around the house for the holidays. Starting right before Christmas we had a steady stream of family house guests. Our ensemble included three dogs – one of our own plus two guest pooches.

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New Year’s Eve featured a soirée with guitars blazing, munchies being munched and a score of party-goers ringing in 2019. Plenty of sparkling and white wine was consumed, but only one red wine was featured: Dry Creek Vineyard’s 2016 Old Vine Zinfandel.

It was a sterling selection! Not only is Dry Creek Vineyard an outstanding producer of Old Vine Zinfandel, they actually coined the term “old vine” back in 1987. The Dry Creek Valley region of Sonoma produces some of the best Zin in California.

An old vine vineyard is one that has vines more than 50 years old. In the case of the Dry Creek Vineyard Old Vine Zin, the vines are all 95 years or older, some nearly 130 years old! The older the vine, the fewer grapes produced – but each grape has concentrated flavors sought for the very best bottles of wine.

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The OVZ from Dry Creek is a delight. Adding to the complexity of the wine is 19% Petite Sirah and 3% Carignane. The flavors are lush black cherry and dark chocolate with just the right nip of baking spice. This is a new release, but it features rounded tannins and a rapturous finish that goes on and on.

The SRP for this bottle is $35 – a nice value for such a flavorful experience. We rate this bottle highly. It was nice to sip in the party’s aftermath as we reflected on a year that seemed to go by so quickly and looked forward to a new year. Cheers to you. We wish you many delicious experiences in 2019.

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