2019 Denier-Handal Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Deep dark red velvety color! Rich ripe fruit, (blackberry and raspberry), invites a taste.
The nose evolves to strawberry jam and cinnamon spice. In the mouth blackberries and dark plum, and creamy cassis persist, strongly complimented by flavors of toasted brown sugar and cinnamon. Delicious! These progress to a lingering finish of dark fruit flavors, caramel, and burnt sugar, which plays against the wineās well-balanced acid and tannic structure.
Harvest notes
We hand harvest our Dry Creek Valley fruit at night during September. The sugar and acid levels were in balance at nearly perfect levels at harvest due to the warmth of summer. The fruit arrived at the crush pad shortly after harvest while the grapes were still cool.
Winemaking
In the Cellar: Fermentation in open-top tanks with manual punch down 2 - 4 times a day Length of time in fermentor: 7 days
Oak Regimen: Aged in 2-year-old French oak barrels for 20 months.
Food Pairing
It perfectly accompanies light salami hors dāoeuvres, soup, white meat and vegetable pies.
Specs
Vintage: 2019
Varietals: 100% Zinfandel
Appellation: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Terroir: Warm Region III; Vineyard soils of rocky, medium clay
Harvest dates: September 2019
Bottled Date: September 2021, Unfined with a light filtration.
Release Date: 2021
Alcohol: 14.8%
pH: 3.78
Residual Sugar: Less than 0.1%
Production: 154 cases
Winemakers: Dick Handal, Lucas Meeker, David Noyes, Consulting Winemaker
Whatās Included
4-bottles:
4x 2019 Denier-Handal Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Case:
12x 2019 Denier-Handal Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
An award-winning, family-run winery in the heart of Dry Creek Valley
Our fascination with wine-grape growing began in South America, where we lived in Ecuador for 38 years, and continues today with our grape growing and wine-making ventures in Sonoma County.
Our winemaking is a relatively recent venture. For over twenty years we were primarily grape growers selling our premium grapes to some of the best wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties with whom we have long-standing relationships. One of our client-wineries was Wellington Vineyards in Glen Ellen owned by the Wellington family of Sonoma. Peter Wellington, owner-winemaker, produced several award-winning, vineyard-specific Cabernet Sauvignons, including one from our Dry Creek Vineyard. Peter Wellington helped us develop and make our wines. We grew and produced boutique lots of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Sagrantino, a Red Blend, and Cabernet Sauvignon at the Wellington facility in Glen Ellen. We now produce our wines at the Meeker custom crush facility in Healdsburg and continue to receive consulting support from Peter Wellington as well as David Noyes who also worked with Wellington.
We continue to source excellent Zinfandel and Syrah grapes from small family-owned vineyards that follow our high standards in growing grapes using organic practices and supporting sustainability. These farming relationships ensure that our grapes will continue to produce award winning wines.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Always excited to get the notice from Alice and the WCC team that a lab rat bottle was on the way. Being a huge fan of Sonoma County wines, I was excited to see a reputable producer like Denier Handal and their Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel slide into my wine fridge. Monday evening, I enjoyed the bottle with delicious pasta with a spicy Italian sausage tomato sauce.
First, a caveat. When I drink Zinfandel, I prefer several years of bottle time. To me, drinking a 2019 seems early. At 14.8 % alcohol level, I think this wine has excellent aging potential. Dark purple appearance in the glass with a black currant/blackberry taste. This Zinfandel pairs excellent with spicy food. At this price point, I envision people purchasing to serve at your Labor Day end of summer neighborhood BBQ, or laying a couple bottles down in your cellar to open in 2024.
Fascinating also to read about our good friends Peter Wellington and Lucas Meeker connections to Denier Handal!
Thank you to @winedavid49, Alice and team for the opportunity to rat!
@coolac5 So kind of big and jammy? As an aside I tend to look for a lower abv for cellaring, but this is a tad lower than the previous two vintages which were plus 15
We once had the opportunity to do a tasting at Dick and Alyceās home with @Texacaliali and a few other wooters who joined us for the day. We quite enjoyed their wines and their hospitality. Definitely a good QPR. And, @ddeuddeg and I LOVE zins!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations.)
2019 Denier Handal Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley - $50 = 20.82%
@InFrom For anyone else in NYC we got an order together, and there are a few bottles that can still be split (I donāt have a lot of space at my place).
@InFrom@simtel20 I saw this earlier but apparently my offer to join up did not get posted (using hospitalās spotty wifi).
Iām in Flushing Queens, near the Auburndale station on the LIRR Port Washington line. If there are still bottles available, Iāll be glad to take up to four.
@KitMarlot You can always reach to us directly if you would like more wine. And if you are in the area please make a plan to visit our tasting room Locals in Geyserville. Happy to serve you.
Thank you all for supporting our wine brand. We sure love to share our wines with the Casemates community!
We are bottling more of this wine so if you love it and want more you can always reach out!
I think itās great that you are now making your own wine. My vantage point is from Mr. Wellingtons skills and all his zinās including your grapes were phenomenal. Best of luck with your vineyard and winemaking !
@forlich Thank you. We no longer have our own vineyards, but we have had the fortune of buying fruit from some fantastic Dry Creek Valley vineyards. We so appreciate Peterās sage advice with our winemaking.
Did you know that Zinfandel was originally from Croatia?
I believe Miljenko āMikeā Grgich of Napa Chardonnay fame funded the research that traced the varietal origins to Croatia.
@forlich Interesting watched the first 23 minutes about Zin so far. You may be right, Grgich may have just helped her on the path of discovery. LA Times article from July 2001 indicates Croatia sent the samples and UC Davis paid for the research.
Here is a picture of me, my wife and āThe Manā who signed a bottle of Palvic Mali for us !
@lionel47 Lucky you that you have some older vintages! We are completely sold out of those vintages. We will be bottling our 2020 next week as well. And we have a handful of bottles of some much older vintages if you are interested.
No brainer for my household. If we werenāt burning through cash I would have been in for 2 cases. May reach out to you at some point, @Doralice4Sangio. Thank you for supporting this site!
2019 Denier-Handal Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Harvest notes
Winemaking
Food Pairing
Specs
Whatās Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $396/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Aug 22 - Wednesday, Aug 24
2019 Denier Handal Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley
4 bottles for $79.99 $20/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $189.99 $15.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
@ilCesare
Classic!
At least it was for a brief moment.
Always excited to get the notice from Alice and the WCC team that a lab rat bottle was on the way. Being a huge fan of Sonoma County wines, I was excited to see a reputable producer like Denier Handal and their Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel slide into my wine fridge. Monday evening, I enjoyed the bottle with delicious pasta with a spicy Italian sausage tomato sauce.
First, a caveat. When I drink Zinfandel, I prefer several years of bottle time. To me, drinking a 2019 seems early. At 14.8 % alcohol level, I think this wine has excellent aging potential. Dark purple appearance in the glass with a black currant/blackberry taste. This Zinfandel pairs excellent with spicy food. At this price point, I envision people purchasing to serve at your Labor Day end of summer neighborhood BBQ, or laying a couple bottles down in your cellar to open in 2024.
Fascinating also to read about our good friends Peter Wellington and Lucas Meeker connections to Denier Handal!
Thank you to @winedavid49, Alice and team for the opportunity to rat!
@coolac5 So kind of big and jammy? As an aside I tend to look for a lower abv for cellaring, but this is a tad lower than the previous two vintages which were plus 15
@kaolis definitely jammy - I wouldnāt necessarily say big because like you said, previous vintages were 15+% alcohol.
We once had the opportunity to do a tasting at Dick and Alyceās home with @Texacaliali and a few other wooters who joined us for the day. We quite enjoyed their wines and their hospitality. Definitely a good QPR. And, @ddeuddeg and I LOVE zins!
@bahwm I was there too and that was a fun day! We also went to Davis Family and Hawley, iirc.
@bahwm
Thank you so much for remembering that. We love that you were there and support our wine brand!
@klezman We met at Michel-Schlumberger and went to Davis. Our group did not go to Hawley at that time. ddeuddeg and I went there a few years later.
@Doralice4Sangio We also loved the cheeses that you provided for us! Are you still a cheesemonger?
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations.)
2019 Denier Handal Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley - $50 = 20.82%
Any NYC-area Zin lovers out there planning to order? Iād be happy to take 3-4 bottles off your hands.
@InFrom Very tempting with the Peter Wellington connection, but Iād be up for only 3-4 bottles myself.
@irenegade @longtones @mcc36 Can we put a Queens case together?
@InFrom @irenegade @longtones @mcc36 SW Nassau hereā¦I could be in for 3-4 bottles.
@irenegade @lmw516 @longtones @mcc36 Three people, with potential for a fourth. That works!
@irenegade and I arenāt that far from each other. I can order ā unless he wants to.
@InFrom I could join in for 3-4, or for half if there are enough.
@InFrom For anyone else in NYC we got an order together, and there are a few bottles that can still be split (I donāt have a lot of space at my place).
@InFrom @simtel20 I saw this earlier but apparently my offer to join up did not get posted (using hospitalās spotty wifi).
Iām in Flushing Queens, near the Auburndale station on the LIRR Port Washington line. If there are still bottles available, Iāll be glad to take up to four.
Iād like 4 or 6, but only at the case price; any SoCal help?
@rjquillin I could go in for 4 of these
@Sekraan hopefully we can get a thirdā¦
@Sekraan lmk if you want 6/6, otherwise I think itās a pass for me unless someone else jumps in; just not enough room.
@rjquillin I think itāll have to be a pass, for similar reasons. Darn
@Sekraan Yup, agree. Finances as wellā¦
Just paid the locker bill
This name is a blast from the past!
@ilanarama Thank you! Hope you enjoy the wine!
@Doralice4Sangio I know I will!
Easiest decision I made all day. Ran out of the prior vintage a year ago, happy to restock.
/giphy outdated-mean-turtle
@KitMarlot You can always reach to us directly if you would like more wine. And if you are in the area please make a plan to visit our tasting room Locals in Geyserville. Happy to serve you.
Thank you all for supporting our wine brand. We sure love to share our wines with the Casemates community!
We are bottling more of this wine so if you love it and want more you can always reach out!
I think itās great that you are now making your own wine. My vantage point is from Mr. Wellingtons skills and all his zinās including your grapes were phenomenal. Best of luck with your vineyard and winemaking !
@forlich Thank you. We no longer have our own vineyards, but we have had the fortune of buying fruit from some fantastic Dry Creek Valley vineyards. We so appreciate Peterās sage advice with our winemaking.
@Doralice4Sangio You sold your vineyards? To whom? What wines are being made from it?
Did you know that Zinfandel was originally from Croatia?
I believe Miljenko āMikeā Grgich of Napa Chardonnay fame funded the research that traced the varietal origins to Croatia.
@forlich Yes, and I donāt know if Grgich funded the work, but Carole Meredith actually did the DNA research.
https://iv.ucdavis.edu/files/24393.pdf
https://americanhistory.si.edu/food/wine-table/zinfandel-origin-story
Carole also proved that Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are the parents of Cab Sauv. Sheās a kickass grape researcher, and her wines (on the Lagier-Meredith label) are pretty tasty too!
Fun interview with Paul Draper:
@forlich Interesting watched the first 23 minutes about Zin so far. You may be right, Grgich may have just helped her on the path of discovery. LA Times article from July 2001 indicates Croatia sent the samples and UC Davis paid for the research.
Here is a picture of me, my wife and āThe Manā who signed a bottle of Palvic Mali for us !
@forlich Nice!
I think Grgich was the first winery I ever visited in Napa, or at least on that first day.
Anyone from North NJ, Rockland County or South Westchester County New York interested in splitting a case? 6 bottle split only, I will order the case.
I think I have one more of the 2018 or 2017 around. If I recall correctly, the last time this was offered, it was a vertical of the 2017 and 2018.
I might open it tonight and see how itās aged. Might be in for a case if itās up to snuff (which Iām sure it will be).
Edit: Hah! We actually ratted this wine a couple of years ago!
@lionel47 Lucky you that you have some older vintages! We are completely sold out of those vintages. We will be bottling our 2020 next week as well. And we have a handful of bottles of some much older vintages if you are interested.
@Doralice4Sangio @lionel47 Library offer from CM?
@Doralice4Sangio
How old are we talking about?
No brainer for my household. If we werenāt burning through cash I would have been in for 2 cases. May reach out to you at some point, @Doralice4Sangio. Thank you for supporting this site!
@SmilingBoognish Thank you. Always keep in touch!