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90POINTS
16½/20
Edmeades Zinfandel 2016
Mendocino County, California, United StatesEdmeades is stalwart zinfandel that's been in the market for decades, holding a steady quality line throughout the years. Exuberantly pink-rimmed and purple-hearted, it smells of lavishly ripe plummy fruit, dried currants, freshly cut alfalfa, wild herbs, dusty dry earth, and sweet barrel char. Brambly black fruit thickly layers substantial tannins that are velvety smooth and buttressed by sleek wood tannins. Mendocino ridgeline coastal fruit shines throughout all this plush density, with refreshing acidity that helps make this zin more about balance than richness. Pasadena cardiologist, Dr. Donald Edmeades, planted vines in western Mendocino in the early 1960s, but Edmeades benefits from a core of ancient vine fruit from a few centenarian vineyards. The wondrous 2016 vintage has added a new level of potency in this always fullsome rich red, and 19 months in French and American oak (only 25% new, but the oak presence is emphatic) builds titanic body. So does spicy 15.7% alcohol, but it absolutely does not taste out of register. The blend features 80% zinfandel, 16% petite syrah and 4% syrah. I think this is superior to the pretty darn good 2015 vintage, with an unbeatable combination of powerful, perfectly ripe fruit, chamois tannins, luminous acidity and a proper old school California mountain red feel. Dinner must be robust and deeply flavourful, like succulent braised short ribs.Tasted: 15 September 2019Tasted by: DJ KearneyPrices:| BC | $24.99 | 750ml | private wine shops |
| AB | $22.00 | 750ml | fine wine stores |
Grape: ZinfandelCSPC: 615799UPC: 768033001011
