This is one of those weeks that’s chock full of tastings, events and lots and lots of work to do.  One of those weeks where people outside the industry say things like “Oooh, tough life!” or “…and you call this ‘work’?”.  Admittedly, these kinds of weeks are fun, and many of the reasons I’ve chosen this industry, but these are also the weeks that you most want to sit on the couch with your girl, watch DVDs, decompress and crack a cold ale…  Anyhow, here’s the fourth in my 7-part series:

(If you’re looking for previous entries, here’s Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.)

The day started out quite well.  I had a lot of tastings to go through, so I technically took the day off from the restaurant, even though that’s where my day began.  My friend Mark from Winspeer came by with Robin Shay (above) from Allegrini wines in Verona.

For those inclined to the full details, here’s a great blurb about them from The Wine Doctor:

All of Allegrini’s wines are produced from estate-grown fruit; there is no négociant aspect to this family business. They tend over 70 hectares of vineyard, in the communes of Fumane, Sant’ Ambrogio and San Pietro, all situated within the Valpolicella Classico DOC. To this day the La Grola vineyard remains the source of Allegrini’s greatest wines; it is a vineyard of mixed terroir, with volcanic soils at its foot, extending up the slope. This is the source of La Grola, principally a blend of Corvina and Rondinella but also including Syrah and Sangiovese, subsequently aged in French oak; this is an excellent yet affordable example of what can be done with these varieties. At the top of La Grola the soil is predominantly calcareous, and here Corvina is cultivated in isolation, this fruit being the source of La Poja. This is one of Valpolicella’s most profound wines, which in some of the few vintages I have tasted has been very impressive indeed. Allegrini’s other famous vineyard is Palazzo della Torre, a clay site which is the source of the wine of the same name. Here Corvina, Rondinella and Sangiovese come together, in part using a ripasso method for a portion of the harvest; 70% of the fruit is fermented in the normal fashion, but the remainder is dried until December, and then the wine is blended with the dried fruit for a second fermentation.

The family own an impressive array of other vineyards, but it is the two above that are of most interest. Having acknowledged that, the wines from these other vineyards are certainly worthy of our attention. Perhaps the most notable wine, one that can certainly not go unmentioned, is Allegrini’s Amarone, frequently vying for position as top wine of the vintage. This wine, a unique style which – surprisingly – dates back to only the mid-20th Century, is a blend produced using Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes which are dried for three to four months. Traditionally this was undertaken in warm lofts under roofs of terracotta tiles, but today the process is a much grander and industrial affair, and the Allegrini grapes will be found desiccating in trays stored in a climate-controlled warehouse. The shrivelled berries are then fermented to a dry style, but in some cases fermentation is arrested before that point in order to produce the sweeter Recioto Giovanni Allegrini, named after the dynamic Giovanni discussed above, who favoured this wine above all others he produced. In addition to these grand styles, Allegrini also have a reputation for producing a decent Valpolicella Classico which, although light, should not be overlooked. In recent vintages, starting with 2007, this has been reclassified as a straight Valpolicella, as Allegrini’s decision to use a screwcap closure – which is surely the right choice for this wine – still contravenes the DOC regulations for Valpolicella Classico, although from that vintage it was permissible for Valpolicella.

We went through his fantastic lineup as we ate Grilled Cheese sandwiches and, shockingly, the jaw-dropper for me was a white wine of all things!

His 2007 Vermentino was a knockout.  Citrusy and bright with lush honeysuckle notes, it boasted both character and weight.  So delicious!  I immediately said I’d put it on by the glass.  Very excited to work with it.  Stunning.

I dashed from Salt to the Pacific Palisades for the Z.A.P. seminar and tasting, a west coast tour of Zinfandel advocates and producers.  Then seminar was hosted by the wonderful DJ Kearney and a bounty of California Winemakers.

We mostly tasted through higer-end Zins, $30 and up.  The diversity of them was staggering.  I really walked into the thing thinking that I may as well write lines in advance like back in primary school:

Jammy and spicy with notes of fig and gingerbead and a fair amount of heat at the end.

Jammy and spicy with notes of fig and gingerbead and a fair amount of heat at the end.

Jammy and spicy with notes of fig and gingerbead and a fair amount of heat at the end.

Jammy and spicy with notes of fig and gingerbead and a fair amount of heat at the end.

Jammy and spicy with notes of fig and gingerbead and a fair amount of heat at the end.

I couldn’t have been more mistaken.  Many of the 50 attendees were surprised.  Some of the wines drank like Pinots, some like Syrahs and, yes, some big jammy alcoholic monsters.

If you squint, you’ll see I hardly repeated the same words more than once or twice in my notes.

I learned a lot, too.  Zinfandel ripens quite erratically on the vine, with some grapes in the same cluster turning black and withering, while others are still green and acidic.  The goal for the grower is to harvest when you have an equal amount of both, with hopefully perfectly ripe grapes in the middle.  Also, if you pick your grapes at 24 brix, you have to allow for an increase, as once you put them in the fermenting tank, those withered grapes will absorb the surrounding juices and raise the brix with their extra sugars by a couple degrees.  Most of what we tried were from 80, 90 and 100+ year-old vines.

My favourite of the seminar was the Dogwood 2006 Mendocino Zin.  It drank like an elegant Pinot, with bright cherries, eucalyptus, spice and a touch of red licorice (the real stuff, not Twizzlers).

We dove into the next room where the trade tasting was going on.  I snapped shots of my three faves:

Feel free to Google ‘em.  This post is already getting WAY too long, and Jake and I try hard not to do that around here…

Across the street, Sumac Ridge was unveiling a new sparking wine, but first – something very necessary after trying 40 different Zinfandels:

It was like going swimming on the hottest day of the year.  I love the Herbal Mint Crest, fresh peppermint, spearmint and even basil without any sweeter notes or too much heat.  Hit the spot.

So, across the street, here’s Sid Cross and DJ Kearney enjoying the JUST released Sumac Ridge Tribute Blanc de Blancs Brut.  100% Chardonnay, round, tropical and delicious.  They served us some fresh oysters with the wine and it was an awesome contrast to the heavy styles of earlier in the afternoon.

Next thing I knew, it was almost 6:00 and I had tried over 50 wines in the course of the day, but spitting 99% of it.  Time to head home.

We finished off the rest of our Ferngrove Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon from the day before with fresh open-faced tuna salad sandwiches on the balcony just in time to watch Vancouver’s nightly murder of crows fly across the sky.

A relaxing end to a phenomenal day.