Author: Judi Scherrer

As you probably already know, I have made wine at Dehlinger Winery by day for the past 9 1/2 years, and produced my own wine in my spare time. At the end of January, I left Dehlinger to focus on my own wines, my family’s vineyard and my family. I initiated this change during the previous midsummer giving Dehlinger time to transfer winemaking responsibilities during the 1997 vintage. I, in turn, was free to focus more on the Scherrer winery, to double the product of Zinfandel, and to explore the personality of my family’s Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a rare treat to leave an employer with a win-win situation. I am grateful for the opportunities and experience I gained at Dehlinger, and I wish them well. 

The deer had A Moveable Feast below the Green Hills of Alexander Valley. The more they fed on the vines, the more we wondered what crop we were going To Have and Have Not. Winemakers without grapes, like Men Without Women, become desperate. For the deer, it looked like it would become A Dangerous Summer in The Garden of Eden.

Often, after a wine has been in bottle for about 6 to 10 weeks, the aroma just seems a bit “dull” or “dumb” and the palate a bit disjointed. Rather than try to give a scientific explanation for what is happening (I can’t), I find it much more practical to suggest that we all put the bottles in a nice, cool, dark place for at least a month after their arrival at home. If you can’t stand delayed gratification, go ahead & pull a cork, understand that the wine will be singing forte rather than a delicious piano (the adverb, not the instrument) a couple of months from now. We will enjoy the wine’s crescendo in concert (pun intended).

Yet another area, nearest to the woods, gave us a very soft, lively wine with an interesting strawberry-rhubarb pie character. It was difficult to wait for this last area to ripen fully because of deer damage. They kept coming out of the woods during the night to sample the fruit and shoots, severely pruning the vines about six months too soon. This made the pros and cons of waiting for proper flavor development a passionately debated topic of family discussion. Anyway, the grapes not eaten by the deer, made it to the winery in good shape and all three areas complement each other quite well.

Often, I have found myself relating to this wine on an emotional level, as with Pinot noir. Maybe you will too. Lately, I have found that half a bottle left a day or two (yes, it does happen sometimes–especially when one’s wife is pregnant) really “opens up” and shows off. The same thing occurred with the 1992 Zin also.

Isn’t it amazing how things change with the passage of time? Not just how our own bodies and minds age, but it is interesting how certain things become more or less valuable, coming in or going out of style. Four years ago, after finding that our grapes were no longer wanted at a particular large winery, I called every Zinfandel producing winery I could think of. No interest. So, we made our own wine. That was then. Now, there have been urgent telephone calls from more wineries than I have ever visited, all wanting to buy grapes.

At our barrel tasting last August, I thought the wine would be bottled sometime in December. When December arrived, the wine was not yet perfectly ready to bottle, so I waited until it was ready in mid-February (contrary to what a growing number of winemakers seem to be practicing, one cannot substitute extra bottle ageing for a lack of barrel ageing). Until wines begin reading calendars, winemakers should read wines.

I suggest the analogy of our wine to a berry pie. The grapes are the filling. The oak is the crust, which not only physically keeps the filling from oozing allover the table and onto the floor (making the dog very happy), but it has a subtle, toasty, textural character that can be appreciated all on its own as well as lending interest and contrast to the personality of the pie filling. It’s also true that our German Shepherd appreciates berry pie and Zinfandel about equally.

I generally do not advocate immediate drinking upon receipt, but our experience with this wine’s travelling ability leads me to believe that if you were to immediately rip into the box on your front porch upon arrival, pulling the cork on the first bottle your hands meet, finally inverting the bottle directly into your mouth–bypassing the wine glass –it would not be a crime. Although it tastes great right now, I would expect this wine to continue to improve during its first year in bottle as it becomes accustomed to its new life in glass.

In last years’ mailing I described the history of my family’s Zinfandel vineyard, and the style of wine we are making from it. Last summer, we offered futures on the 1991 Zin and  the response was fantastic. The wine was bottled without filtration in November, 1992. In April, the wine was released and delivered to our futures customers, restaurants, and some wine shops. We really appreciate all the telephone calls & letters telling us how much everyone likes the wine. The most common question was: “are we going to do it again?” Yes.