Winemaker's Notes
Over the past couple of decades, I have been ‘monitoring’ the development of our Old and Mature Vine Zinfandel. What I see again and again is that the slightly leaner, ‘skinnier’ vintages are usually the ones that go best with food and go on to age and develop most gracefully: 1992, 1994, 2001, 2005 are all good examples of this. I just shared a bottle of the 1991 (our first vintage) with a colleague. Its freshness blew his mind and made me smile. Experiences like this have been guiding me to lean a tiny bit more on the earlier side of my preferred ‘harvest window.’ [My dad has been lobbying for this all along, by the way]. What I am seeing from this modest restraint is nice freshness of fruit flavors (more of the red raspberry and cherry notes) without too much syrupy, jammy character that could overshadow the fruit nuances. We want to showcase a nice balance of the varietal elements that are special to Zinfandel. Sometimes, the acidity/tannin angular side of the wine appears prominent when the wines are only a few months old. But things come into focus with time, especially during the last half of barrel aging. Those of you who come to the barrel tastings each year have seen this for yourselves.
I’m still only talking about an ever so slight shift based on retrospection. The wines are still in the mid–14% alcohol range, which is where our Zinfandels seem to want to exist. There is red, black, and blue fruit, fresh loam, nuances of roasted grains, mouth–watering acidity and good flavor persistence. 2012 is a really nice vintage and in reasonably good supply — for now.
Judi Scherrer –
Vinous – February 2014
Barrel Sample: The 2012 Zinfandel Old & Mature Vines Scherrer Vineyard is another pretty wine from Fred Scherrer. Here the fruit is a bit denser and richer, reflecting the personality of a vintage that was more generous. Dark red cherry and plum notes dominate, while the aromatics are going to need more time to fully come together. There is plenty of potential here. These parcels were planted between 1973 and 1982. (88 – 90 points). Antonio Galloni
Judi Scherrer –
Stephan Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar – June 2014
Bright ruby-red. Wild, expansive aromas of fresh dark berries, cherry, woodsmoke and licorice, with a sexy floral nuance gaining power with air. Fleshy and sweet on the palate, offering ripe blackberry and cherry compote flavors that tighten up on the back half. Structured but not at all hard, finishing with strong thrust and smooth, harmonious tannins. 91 points. Josh Raynolds
Judi Scherrer –
California Grapevine – October 2014
Medium ruby; attractive, forward, intense, briary, earthy, red and black fruit aroma; medium-full to full body; moderately rich, tightly focused, red and black fruit flavors with good depth and balance; medium full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Should continue to develop and improve with a few more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended. 91 points. Nick Ponomareff
Judi Scherrer –
Vinous – February 2015
The 2012 Zinfandel Old & Mature Vines Scherrer Vineyard is not a huge wine, as one might think given the wine’s name, but rather a wine built on delicacy. Sweet tobacco, mint, crushed flowers and spices. This is a distinctly delicate, Pinot-like Zinfandel, with expressive aromatics, silky tannins and lovely overall balance. 90 Points. Antonio Galloni
Judi Scherrer –
JancisRobinson.com Wine of the Week – February 2015
Purple Pager and San Francisco-based barrel broker Mel Knox has been muttering Scherrer at me for years whenever the conversation turns to old-vine Zinfandel or Sonoma. Last Monday night I finally got to taste a bottle of this particular wine with Zuni Café’s inimitable roast chicken and warm bread salad. It was no disappointment and showed just how fine a wine this grape variety (known as Tribidrag in its Croatian homeland) can be when the vines are old and there is a sensitive hand on the winemaking tiller. The Zins that don’t appeal to me are jammy, sweet and marked by a strong crude hot berry character.
Scherrer Old and Mature Vines Zinfandel 2012 Alexander Valley was subtle, bone dry, lip-smacking and communicative with a strong dried-red-cherry flavour and carries its 14.5% alcohol effortlessly. It is the produce of the vineyard just off Highway 128 in Alexander Valley planted back in 1912 and has been owned by the Scherrer family for three generations. The current generation, Fred, has been making wine from it since 1991 but the vineyard is still farmed my his 88-year-old father. Jancis Robinson
Judi Scherrer –
Wine Spectator – June 2015
Delicate and quite lovely, with aromas of forest floor and bright cherry. The flavors show balance and focus, slowly building with notes of raspberry, anise and pepper. Drink now through 2021. 90 points. Tim Fish