Kelley & Young Wines Mixed Reds

Tasting notes & discussion 16

Typically $50 - $63/bottle from Kelley & Young Wines
Vintage 2018 Malbec & Zinfandel from the Alexander Valley (Sonoma County)
Available for AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY
Sold by participating winery or licensee, fulfilled by Wine Country Connect
Packages have been upgraded to 2-day transit for increased protection. This will last throughout the summer.

About Kelley & Young Wines: “Started in 2006 by husband-and-wife team Jim Young and Kathleen Kelley Young, Kelley & Young Wines is a boutique winery located in the Alexander Valley region of Northern California’s Sonoma County wine country. Kelley & Young’s mission has always been to share Jim and Kathleen’s passion for good food and exceptional wine—but, in January 2021, Kathleen passed away at the age of 63 after a 4-plus-year battle with cancer. To honor their mother, Kathleen’s daughters, Madeline and Courtney, are continuing her legacy by helping Jim bring Kelley & Young wines to the world while helping raise money for cancer research through a partnership with the American Cancer Society.”

Kelley & Younger Dryas

TASTING NOTES:
Malbec - “Our Malbec is a big, deep, dense, and structured wine with dominant aromas of black currant and plum with a touch of spicy cigar box. Its extra-long finish will make you fall in love and beg for more.” (AbV 15.5%)

Zinfandel - “Full and rich with flavors of dark cherry and black berries. It has an extra-long finish of bittersweet chocolate and just a bit of spice on the finish.” (AbV 15.8%)

VARIETALS: Malbec is Malbec. Zinfandel is 96% Zinfandel, 4% Petite Sirah.

BARRELS: French oak, majority neutral. Zinfandel for 20 months.

PAIRS WITH: Pair the Malbec with dark-meat poultry and pork, hard-matured cheddars and semi-firm goat milk cheese with black cherries, blueberries, and blackberries, black-pepper skillet steak.

Pair the Zinfandel with braised short ribs, rib-eye or filet mignon, grilled beef kebabs, hamburger, rack of lamb, pasta or pizza, blue cheese, feta, stilton, aged gruyere, gorgonzola, or havarti.

THAT REMINDS ME OF: The Younger Dryas!

The history of the Earth has been divided into many periods. It’s a little hard to wrap my brain around, really, just how long these periods are. The current geological era, the Cenozoic, is the last 66 million years. The last 2.58 million years is the Quaternary period, and that is divided into the epochs Pleistocene (until 11,700 years ago) and Holocene (to present day). Within the Quaternary period, there are phases called stadials and interstadials. These phases are characterized by climatic change. A stadial is a cooling period, and an interstadial is a warming period. And each of the most recent stadials are called Dryas periods. Which is a little confusing, considering we call the Quaternary a period but also these things periods. Nomenclature: we love it.

Anyway, the Dryas cooling periods are the Oldest, the Older, and the Younger, with the Younger being the most recent from 12,900 to 11,700 years ago. Say, would you look at that, the current epoch, the Holocene, started when the Younger Dryas ended! It all fits together. A lot happened in those thousand or so years, but if I were to sum it all up: the Earth suddenly got colder.

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We know a lot of guys seem to often think about the Roman Empire, but how often do you contemplate the world 11,700 years ago?

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