Stillman Brown Zeppelin Winery Syrah & Zinfandel

Tasting notes & discussion 95

Typically $24 - $66/bottle from Zeppelin Winery
Vintage 2020-2021 from Paso Robles
Available for AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY
Sold by Zeppelin Winery, fulfilled by Wine Country Connect

About Zeppelin Winery
“In ancient times, long ago, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, the consulting winemaker, assistant cellar sock monkey, and rock band mismanager Stillman Brown of Red Zeppelin infamy, and his footloose and still insufficiently silent mouthpiece and de factoid attorney GD Lewis of Jory Winery, became Zeppelin Winery, and even since then have wines that at least one of them believes are at least more than good enough to have pretty much anything on the label, though certainly not ghost pepper extract. Over the last decade, most of the wines have been from grapes grown by one of our crazier clients who is located in two concocted subappellations of west Paso Robles that split the hidden Hill of Graceland vineyard.”

A Smorgasbord of Ol’ Stillman’s Hoard

TASTING NOTES:
Colossus - “This is eleventh vintage of this expression of enological extremity - except that it’s not really extreme - it’s what these particular grapes “want” to make. It’s not flabby, not sweet, and neither overly tannic nor stripped of texture. Not raisins, not prunes. I will confess to aging it in 100% new barrels, but I think the wine’s big enough to handle it.” (AbV 17.2%, TA 6.7 g/L)

Lost Mine - “90% Clone 877 Syrah, north block, Hill of Graceland, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles - with 6% Tannat and 4% Counoise/Viognier, and as those latter are all of a hundred feet away in the Adelaida District, well . . . European appellation lines and designations are often worse. (Insert ‘thrown down a well’ remark here.) Are “Brawny” and “Mysterious” in the Random Wine Adjective Generator Database? I thought I picked up a note of ripe tangelo in the nose - seriously.” (AbV 16.8%, TA 6.4 g/L)

Placebo - “Bright, crisp and enologically dry; plum/strawberryish aromatics reinforced in the palate by non-negligible acidity. But the finish! It has no business being that good! I said ‘crisp’ already, did I not? The grapes were from the Other Corner of the Willow Creek district… [the grower] invited me to admire their appearance, which I did not. The pretty clusters, unblemished by mildew, were nowhere near the ripeness required for red wine. So I made this pink wine, which belies its name as it is in fact 1/8th alcohol, plus or minus an eighth of the eighth. I wanted to use those Chinese paper masks as labels, but they only had blue and I obviously wanted pink.” (AbV 12.5%, TA 9.3 g/L)

Black Zeppelin - “Did you notice that I didn’t specify the grape variety I made the Placebo from? It was from the same variety and the same vineyard I made this wine from, one year earlier - but in 2020 it was picked fully ripe, at 27.8 brix -not 20.3. Big, smooth, and dauntingly complex to describe (Fruita, Utah cherries in late July?) - maybe one of the rodents will spew out a few hundred words on the chat boards. Maybe six or seven of them will be good! But anything beats the Random Wine Adjective Generator that “professional” wine critics employed, when anyone paid attention to them. I give this wine 93.886 points.” (AbV 16.3%, TA 7.8 g/L)

PAIRS WITH (winery recommended):
Stillman can probably tell you some.

OR (really-going-with-the-theme-option):
Something recommended by Lewis, contacted through seance.

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From the ravings posed as tasting notes, which of the four interests you the most?

2020 "Colossus" Syrah

2020 "Colossus" Syrah
2020 "Lost Mine" Syrah

2020 "Lost Mine" Syrah
2020 "Black Zeppelin" Zinfandel

2020 "Black Zeppelin" Zinfandel
2021 "Placebo" Pink Wine

2021 "Placebo" Pink Wine

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