The Bruce-Patchington Plan
TASTING NOTES: “Purple in color. Soaring nose of black fruits, licorice, baking spices and white pepper. Full bodied with perfect acidity. Well balanced with intense dark fruits. Black cherry, black raspberry, spiced plums and pepper on the palate. Nice length on the finish. Big Zinfandel from a challenging vintage that is drinking really well. Best over the next 1-2 years.” - 93 Pts, Zinfandel Chronicles
(AbV 14.8%)
VARIETALS: 100% Zinfandel
BARRELS: French & American oak.
PAIRS WITH: N/A
THAT REMINDS ME OF: “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plan!”
Classic Sherlock Holmes, first published in 1908 to The Strand Magazine. Mycroft shows up at Baker Street one day with a task for his brother: plans for a submarine, the Bruce-Partington, were stolen by a clerk at the government office that housed them. The clerk would be found dead on the side of some train tracks, his head bashed in and his jacket holding only seven of the ten pages. He has money on him, so he wasn’t himself robbed, and he has no train ticket, despite seemingly falling from the train. Holmes deduces early on that the body had been atop the train, rather than aboard it, falling off where the rail curved. But where are the remaining papers, and who killed him?
Matters are complicated further, or perhaps elucidated if you’re Holmes, when Colonel Valentine Walter informs the detective that his brother, Sir James Walter, who was in charge of the plans, has died suddenly. Curious how it ends? You’ll have to read it yourself, or watch the Granada Television adaptation with Jeremy Brett.
