Cheek Stainer, Chip-a-tooth, Cut It With A Knife Stock
St Amant Winery is one of our greatest discoveries. The small family owned winery now located in Lodi, California prides itself on producing handcrafted wines of superb quality. Their Tempranillo is our biggest selling wine ever for five years running over the twenty years I have been writing to you about great wine and great value. St Amant was started by the Spence family in 1979. But in 1996 they moved the winery to Lodi, California, and soon discovered a hidden treasure within this storied wine-growing district…Old Vine Zinfandel. Lying directly east of the San Francisco Bay are some of the oldest blocks of Zinfandel planted in the state. These historic vineyards produce delicious wines, loaded with layers of fruit, complex aromas and flavors. With their great reputation for wine made from Mediterranean varietals, it is notable that their one California grape-based wine is Zinfandel. Re- tasting the wine over the weekend, we were reminded why. 2008 St Amant Mohr-Fry Ranch Old Vine Zinfandel is a classic old vine Zin. The 65-year-old, own-rooted vines grown in Lodi’s sandy Hanford loam soils at the Mohr-Fry Vineyards are famous for producing uniform and balanced vineyards that produce intense fruit-driven wines with a silky texture. This ‘08 St Amant Zin is Exhibit A. A bouquet of cinnamon, anise spice, vanilla, red berries and currants leads to a bright fruit palate, chewy with real intensity of rich raspberry and spicy blackberry flavours, finishing with soft supple tannins. This is a textbook Lodi Zin, balanced yet loaded with layered fruit complexity. A wine to enjoy by itself, with food, with friends.

Tasting Notes: Produced from a 7.5 acre vineyard planted in 1944 in the heart of the Lodi Appellation. Vinification follows simple techniques designed for maximum expression of the terroir of each of the vineyard sites. First, we only harvest fully mature and ripe fruit. We carefully sort the grapes at the crusher/destemmer removing leaves and imperfect clusters. We ferment in open-top vessels with a high juice to skin ratio. We carefully macerate the must with gentle pumpovers, delestage, and hand punchdowns. We press and rack to small oak barrels for a natural malolactic fermentation. We utilize only high quality coopers and variety of French and American oaks for added complexity. We bottle with minimal rackings, fining, and filtration. A classic Old Vine Zin – big, ripe, and chewy with rich raspberry and spicy blackberry flavors finishing with soft supple tannins. 439 cases made.