My favorite UPS guy showed up with a surprise package (also why he’s my favorite) and it was a bottle of this Handley Zinfandel. Thanks to the winery and WCC for sending this my way to give a try.
The bottle, as you can see on the offer page, features a simple geometric pattern on the front. The back label has a small map of the winery’s location, and four sentences: one about the winery’s history, two about its location, and one about EV charging availability. Not much to go on before opening!
Upon opening, I was greeted with a very strong smell of alcohol so I let the glass sit a few minutes and much of that subsided, but I wasn’t really picking up much outside of blackberry on the nose. It was inky dark red in the glass, and had no particulate matter that I could discern.
My initial taste I noted a quite full body, without the feeling of age, and high, dry tannins, but subsequent tasting had me revise to medium-full body. The alcohol picked up on the nose continued in the tasting making the balance not ideal for me. I picked up bramble (berry and vine), maybe a hint of prune/plum, and plenty of leather and oak.
I also tasted this along side pizza, two styles with differing preferences. First was a margherita which was perhaps a little too delicate for this wine, but did facilitate the manifestation of some sage in the flavor profile of the zin. The second was a pepperoni with hot honey pizza, and this actually provided the wine a platform where it was more enjoyable, with the spice playing counterpoint to the bramble and leather.
The rest of the bottle sealed and awaited a day two trial. On its own, not much had changed except the severity of the alcohol burn, but it did feel slightly flatter. Alongside a dish of pumpkin gnocchi in browned butter and topper with Parmesan, the fortitude of the body nicely complimented the richness of the dish, even adding a hint of something special as the sage had become more present.
Given how this worked with the spicy/hot flavors of the second pizza, I could see this working with some other spicy dishes or BBQ that have plenty of flavor to pull out the Zin’s better qualities.
The label’s design actually fit what I tasted in the glass with its squareness and simplicity. After tasting, I hit up their website and saw the addition of the Petite Sirah, and that made the two sizes of design on the label echo even more in my head!
In the end, this isn’t a wine I’m going to want to add to my cellar as it doesn’t offer the complexity or flavor profiles I’m seeing these days. While I can see when and where it could find a place along side particular meals, it isn’t compelling enough among a sea of similar priced (to this offer) wines.
Got the UPS shipping notice the day before I got the email from Alice. Always a treat to have a mystery bottle showing up. The wine was delivered on Leap day while I spent the day on planes and in airports enroute from the West coast. I opened the box Friday to find a 2018 Handley Zinfandel, Kazmet Vineyard. The bottle has some weight to it. I left it to stand up and popped the cork two days later on Sunday. The composite cork was stained a dark red on the end with a small bit rising up.
I poured a small taste in the Castmates supplied glass and the aromas were there right away, blackberries, some cedar and maybe some blueberry. Fruit forward nose that seemed sweet - definitely enticing coming so quickly out of the bottle at the first pour. The first sip was very fruit forward, cranberry, black cherry and plummy. I can sense some oak but not too heavy, with some strong tannin on the finish. Mouthfeel is dense with sweetness due to the big fruit, definitely dry and that tannins hang around. I taste some Petite Syrah in the blend which must be contributing to the strong tannins on the finish. The wine is rich and light on the brambly character I associate with Zinfandel, but you can still taste the bramble. I had a full glass with dinner (marinated chicken and veg kabobs on the grill) which paired fine. The wine didn’t change much being open for the ~2 hours between popping and the first full glass. I didn’t go back for a second glass after a (surprising for March in NE Ohio) day of yard work. I will revisit it Monday evening.
Day 2 the tannins on the finish are much more reserved, there is still some pucker, but it is not as astringent nor as prominent. The wine is very good, reminds me of when I first drank the 2018 Pedroncelli Mother Clone. The fruit is still big, but I don’t see it as out of balance. It would certainly be a crowd pleaser.
Compared to a Pedroncelli Zin, specifically the 2018, I would say there is a little higher toast on the barrels used in the Pedroncelli which puts a little more complexity on the palate
I had the last glass on night 2 and it remained together and tasty. As I finish up this report from a W Va turnpike rest stop on a rainy drive to SC for a visit to the aging parents I can recommend this bottle for if you want a crowd pleasing Zin that won’t disappoint your own palate.
Hello from Handley! Let us know if you have any questions about the 2018 Zinfandel or about the winery. I’ll be checking in throughout the day. Cheers!
Enthusiast put this through the Vinturi (kidding kidding kidding…) on 5/1/23:
92 points. Aromas of extremely ripe blueberry, blackberry and juicy black plum waft out of the glass. The palate adds earthy tones of wet stone, tarragon, basil, fennel and just a hint of cacao. Elevated alcohol (15.2%) balanced by a solid dose of acidity and the excellent fruit concentration. — Stacy Briscoe
This was recently at a site that shall not be named for $15.99
2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel, Kazmet Ranch, Redwood Valley
Tasting Notes
The head-pruned vines from Kazmet Ranch, CCOF Organic Certified, are dry-farmed, providing concentrated old vine flavors. This wine has jammy aromas of blackberry pie with undertones of sage and green peppercorn. It exhibits flavors of brambly berry, dark plum, and peach with notes of licorice and sandalwood. Medium-bodied, rich, and round in the mouth with noticeable acidity focusing the persistent fruit on the finish. A small addition of Petite Sirah (10%) adds a little tannin structure and complexity to the blend. Aged for 18 months in French oak barrels (20% new).
Specs
Vintage: 2018
Varietal: 90% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah
Bottled: June 2, 2020
Alcohol: 15.2%
Titratable acidity: 5.6 g/L
pH: 3.70
Cases produced: 570
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel, Kazmet Ranch, Redwood Valley Case:
12x 2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel, Kazmet Ranch, Redwood Valley
Handley Cellars is a small, family-owned winery in California’s Mendocino County. Bonded in 1982, we produce around 9000 cases of wine a year. Our quality starts with our CCOF Certified Organic Estate Vineyards in Anderson Valley. We are located at the northwest end of the Anderson Valley on 59 acres of the original Guntly Ranch. Still standing on the property are the now-refurbished ranch house, plus the barn and water tower, all of which were constructed in the early 20th century.
Founding Winemaker Milla Handley sought to make balanced wines that possess distinctive varietal characteristics and reflect the soil and climate in which they were grown. Our current winemaker, Randy Schock, carries on this tradition, crafting elegant, fruit-driven wines which complement a wide variety of cuisines. Milla’s daughter Lulu now runs Handley Cellars, with the help of her husband Scott Handley, and their baby son Golden.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel - $65 = 32.49%
The last case of this I got was a solid daily drinker, and at this price, it will be again. As the reviewer said, it was very good with food; my wife and I didn’t mind it solo either.
My favorite UPS guy showed up with a surprise package (also why he’s my favorite) and it was a bottle of this Handley Zinfandel. Thanks to the winery and WCC for sending this my way to give a try.
The bottle, as you can see on the offer page, features a simple geometric pattern on the front. The back label has a small map of the winery’s location, and four sentences: one about the winery’s history, two about its location, and one about EV charging availability. Not much to go on before opening!
Upon opening, I was greeted with a very strong smell of alcohol so I let the glass sit a few minutes and much of that subsided, but I wasn’t really picking up much outside of blackberry on the nose. It was inky dark red in the glass, and had no particulate matter that I could discern.
My initial taste I noted a quite full body, without the feeling of age, and high, dry tannins, but subsequent tasting had me revise to medium-full body. The alcohol picked up on the nose continued in the tasting making the balance not ideal for me. I picked up bramble (berry and vine), maybe a hint of prune/plum, and plenty of leather and oak.
I also tasted this along side pizza, two styles with differing preferences. First was a margherita which was perhaps a little too delicate for this wine, but did facilitate the manifestation of some sage in the flavor profile of the zin. The second was a pepperoni with hot honey pizza, and this actually provided the wine a platform where it was more enjoyable, with the spice playing counterpoint to the bramble and leather.
The rest of the bottle sealed and awaited a day two trial. On its own, not much had changed except the severity of the alcohol burn, but it did feel slightly flatter. Alongside a dish of pumpkin gnocchi in browned butter and topper with Parmesan, the fortitude of the body nicely complimented the richness of the dish, even adding a hint of something special as the sage had become more present.
Given how this worked with the spicy/hot flavors of the second pizza, I could see this working with some other spicy dishes or BBQ that have plenty of flavor to pull out the Zin’s better qualities.
The label’s design actually fit what I tasted in the glass with its squareness and simplicity. After tasting, I hit up their website and saw the addition of the Petite Sirah, and that made the two sizes of design on the label echo even more in my head!
In the end, this isn’t a wine I’m going to want to add to my cellar as it doesn’t offer the complexity or flavor profiles I’m seeing these days. While I can see when and where it could find a place along side particular meals, it isn’t compelling enough among a sea of similar priced (to this offer) wines.
Labrat reporting for duty
2018 Handley Zinfandel Kazmet Vineyard
Got the UPS shipping notice the day before I got the email from Alice. Always a treat to have a mystery bottle showing up. The wine was delivered on Leap day while I spent the day on planes and in airports enroute from the West coast. I opened the box Friday to find a 2018 Handley Zinfandel, Kazmet Vineyard. The bottle has some weight to it. I left it to stand up and popped the cork two days later on Sunday. The composite cork was stained a dark red on the end with a small bit rising up.
I poured a small taste in the Castmates supplied glass and the aromas were there right away, blackberries, some cedar and maybe some blueberry. Fruit forward nose that seemed sweet - definitely enticing coming so quickly out of the bottle at the first pour. The first sip was very fruit forward, cranberry, black cherry and plummy. I can sense some oak but not too heavy, with some strong tannin on the finish. Mouthfeel is dense with sweetness due to the big fruit, definitely dry and that tannins hang around. I taste some Petite Syrah in the blend which must be contributing to the strong tannins on the finish. The wine is rich and light on the brambly character I associate with Zinfandel, but you can still taste the bramble. I had a full glass with dinner (marinated chicken and veg kabobs on the grill) which paired fine. The wine didn’t change much being open for the ~2 hours between popping and the first full glass. I didn’t go back for a second glass after a (surprising for March in NE Ohio) day of yard work. I will revisit it Monday evening.
Day 2 the tannins on the finish are much more reserved, there is still some pucker, but it is not as astringent nor as prominent. The wine is very good, reminds me of when I first drank the 2018 Pedroncelli Mother Clone. The fruit is still big, but I don’t see it as out of balance. It would certainly be a crowd pleaser.
Compared to a Pedroncelli Zin, specifically the 2018, I would say there is a little higher toast on the barrels used in the Pedroncelli which puts a little more complexity on the palate
I had the last glass on night 2 and it remained together and tasty. As I finish up this report from a W Va turnpike rest stop on a rainy drive to SC for a visit to the aging parents I can recommend this bottle for if you want a crowd pleasing Zin that won’t disappoint your own palate.
@pjmartin props on the correct spelling of palate!
@pjmartin Nice notes…welcome to SC!
@kaolis I am in Charleston, that is where I grew up.
Hello from Handley! Let us know if you have any questions about the 2018 Zinfandel or about the winery. I’ll be checking in throughout the day. Cheers!
Enthusiast put this through the Vinturi (kidding kidding kidding…) on 5/1/23:
92 points. Aromas of extremely ripe blueberry, blackberry and juicy black plum waft out of the glass. The palate adds earthy tones of wet stone, tarragon, basil, fennel and just a hint of cacao. Elevated alcohol (15.2%) balanced by a solid dose of acidity and the excellent fruit concentration. — Stacy Briscoe
This was recently at a site that shall not be named for $15.99
fwiw
2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel
3 bottles for $49.99 $16.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $134.99 $11.25/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel, Kazmet Ranch, Redwood Valley
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$345.60/Case for 12x 2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel, Kazmet Ranch, Redwood Valley at Handley Cellars
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Mar 25 - Tuesday, Mar 26
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2018 Handley Cellars Zinfandel - $65 = 32.49%
The last case of this I got was a solid daily drinker, and at this price, it will be again. As the reviewer said, it was very good with food; my wife and I didn’t mind it solo either.
I’m in for one!
perceptive-offbeat-spaghetti
Handley Cellars means auto-buy!!!