2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
In classic Harvest Moon style, this electric light ruby red color glistens from the glass’s bowl. Floral, wild, raw dark cherry & roasted cran-cherry aromas flow happily from the rim. Intense candy red apple/cherry flavor is first on the palate, while subtle toasty oak skirts around that candy core.
This blend of Sonoma county Zinfandel and Sangiovese leaves the mouth happy and begging for another sip. The finish lingers with its juicy and mouth-watering finish.
Winemaker’s Notes
Each vintage, we blend this wine from Zinfandel grown in three different appellations in Sonoma County and add a little Sangiovese from Alexander Valley. The zinfandel fruit comes from different appellations in Sonoma County; Russian River, Dry Creek and Sonoma Valley which makes this a truly Sonoma county wide blend of California’s own, Zin. I add a bit of Sangio from Alexander Valley to layer the berry and spice with a similarly thin-skinned variety.
The colorful label denotes our intention and desire to have fun in life and not take things too seriously. Enjoy it at a barbecue with friends or with your loved one. Feeling a little Randy tonight?
Specs
Vintage: 2015
Appellation: Sonoma County
Cooperage: 25% new oak
Alcohol 14.20%
Production: 20 barrels
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel, Sonoma County
Case:
12x 2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel, Sonoma County
The Harvest Moon: the moon at and about the period of fullness that is nearest to the autumnal equinox. In the legend of the Harvest moon, it is said that all full moons have their own special characteristics based primarily on the whereabouts of the ecliptic in the sky at the time of year that these moons are visible.
Harvest Moon Estate and Winery was founded on growing, producing and bottling world-class Russian River Valley wine in a balanced, elegant style. Our premise is that Russian River Valley Zinfandel can be just as layered and complex as any Pinot Noir or Bordeaux variety in the world and receive the same respect. The Pitts family has grown quality grapes in the Russian River Valley since 1976. In 2000, son Randy reverse migrated from San Francisco back to Sonoma County to assume the farming responsibilities at the family’s modest nine-acre ranch. In conjunction with lessons on farming by his Dad and a few viticulture/enology courses at the local junior college, Randy made a barrel of homemade Zinfandel off the ranch’s back block which turned out exceptionally tasty. Quickly concluding that properly farmed and judiciously fermented, Zinfandel has great capabilities of being California’s own wine nobility. The growers-turned winemakers birthed their inaugural vintage in 2002 and look forward to making their Zinprint on the wine scene for decades to come.
In addition to growing Zinfandel, Harvest Moon also hand crafts small amounts of Russian River Valley Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir and Dry Creek Cabernet Sauvignon.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV
Zinfandel is under appreciated in how complex and wonderful it can be, I think. Anyway, does anyone have any pHs for this wine? I’m tempted, and the lower alc is promising
Happy to receive this bottle, one of my favorite varietals - up there with Pinot Noir (we tend to drink reds on the lighter side). When looking for something bolder, a Cabernet or Petite Sirah will do especially in colder weather.
Anyway this is not your typical Zin. It looks fairly dark but is actually pretty light bodied when you taste it. On the nose I get kind of a pruney/dark fruit aroma along with significant alcohol. Not tasting that much fruit but getting a nice dose of pepper and smoke, also thankfully not getting as much alcohol as I smelled. The only thing I wish this had a little more acid since this comes across a little flabby and with not much of a finish leaves me hanging…
But it went well with turkey burgers last night and pork chops tonight, saved half the bottle in the fridge. I wouldn’t attempt to pair this with anything heavier or have this on it’s own though.
So a little different style Zin for a good price, if you want to pay more for Scott Harvey or Wellington (miss you) then a more traditional wine you will get but this one is a nice everyday wine.
TL;DR - pretty classic Harvest Moon Zin with a little less structure than the Estate/RRV bottlings. $16+/bottle is a good value and $10/bottle is a screaming deal. Pair it like you would a fruity but structured Pinot.
2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin
Got the email from Alice along with a UPS ship notification on Monday, and it arrived the next day, safe and sound. I decided that I should have this over two days, and it’s often fun to have a comparison wine. So we decided to open this alongside a 2015 Peterson Bradford Mountain Zin for comparison. Bonus - it’s the same vintage!
Immediately on opening:
The aromas are pretty clearly Harvest Moon Zin: a bit of aldehyde funk with the grassy aromas you often get from Harvest Moon Zin. The aldehyde part vanished pretty quickly with a few swirls to get the wine some air. There’s also a nice rich cran-raspberry note along with something savoury I can’t quite place - almost meaty.
Palate is immediately nice and bright: red fruit, the grassy note comes through as well, as does the savoury/meaty quality I noticed in the aromas.
Finish is moderately long and adds a touch of black pepper to the above. Not much tannin to speak of.
This is just rich enough to be thoroughly enjoyable on its own but acidic enough to think this will go very very well with food.
Surprisingly, to me, at first impression, this very closely resembles the regular Russian River Valley bottling, but just a bit softer. To me that’s a great thing, as I expected this to be a lower acid style meant for more crowd enjoyment rather than the nicely structured and age-worthy wines I like from Harvest Moon.
Now to compare to the Peterson Bradford Mountain. 15.6% alcohol vs the 14.2% of the HM. The Peterson is heavier in all respects: darker fruit, richer/fuller mouth feel, still with excellent acid balance, and more tannin (although still not much). The aromas here include a leathery note of sorts that I associate with high-alcohol wines but it’s actually quite closed for starters. Round one goes to the Harvest Moon, just barely, because of my personal preferences. Although I will note that this is the best, for my tastes, of the Peterson 3-pack a while ago.
Second and third glasses of each wine were during the grilling and eating of a wood-grilled tri-tip that actually ended up taking on a whole lot of smoke. Surprisingly enough, neither Zin was a great pairing. The food didn’t really help the Peterson, and although the Harvest Moon would likely go well with something you’d normally think of pairing with a Pinot Noir, it kind of clashed with the tri-tip. My fault for incorrectly thinking this was going to be a bigger and more lush style of Zin from Randy!
After dinner with the last glasses of the evening, the Harvest Moon didn’t change much, although its fruit came out more and more as the night went on. Half of each bottle was recorked on the table for a day 2 followup.
Night 2 the Harvest Moon seems a bit more integrated yet a bit more subdued and less interesting. No significant evolution of the aromas or flavours, but it just seems simultaneously deeper yet more subtle.
Those of you who know me know that I like Harvest Moon, and we even served the 2009 Zin at our wedding. This was always a bottling I avoided because I thought it was his fruity uninteresting bottle. Not so. Not so at all. My only partial caveat is for people who only like big burly Zins - this wine is not that. And people very sensitive to aldehyde and related aromas may be put off by the residual amounts of it.
$16.65/bottle? Good to great value.
$10/bottle? Back up the truck, especially if you have any gatherings to serve a lot of people.
Thanks to Alice and WD for the rat opportunity, as always!
@klezman would you be willing to explain a bit about aldehydes? I know of acetaldehyde, from when you get a bit of acetobacter, but are there others? What are their key characteristics?
@novium in this case I mean your standard acetaldehyde. I didn’t want to say vinegary, because it’s not. It’s the aroma that I strongly associate with Harvest Moon Zin.
@klezman I point no fingers with acetaldehyde :p in this case, I had someone mention aldehydes to me recently as a potential consequence of lees stirring but I haven’t been able to find much on it, so when you said that I kind of jumped on it!
(To further clarify, it was suggested as the reason my additions of so2 did not have as much effect on free so2 as they should have which left some wine unprotected and now I’ve got acetobacter in one demijohn)
@klezman@novium u said “bit of aldehyde funk with the grassy aromas you often get from Harvest Moon Zin”…I just had a Harvest Moon Malbec over the weekend and I’ve had Harvest Moon Pinot, and I think they both have a distinct aroma that I kinda associate with Harvest Moon (in my mind) now. Is that the “funk” u are talking about?
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel - $80 = 39.98%
@jsr914 Not that it changes anything for you but I do think it matters. Shipping is solely based on who the winery has been licensed to ship to. I don’t know about Indiana but maybe Indiana make it more difficult to get licensed in that state. They also can’t ship to my state, SC.
@jsr914 WCC and Casemates literally has no control over shipping to your state. Nobody is forcing you to pay $5 if you don’t think you’re getting value out of it and I’m sure they won’t cry over your lost membership.
Indiana has some shit rules for direct wine shippers, having to have a registered agent in the state, keep track of number of cases shipped in, etc. It’s no wonder that many wineries don’t want to go through the trouble.
@jsr914 I suspect they focus on procuring deals on good wines rather than specifically focusing on making sure wineries have shipping permits. By any means, its always worth checking with the wineries directly, sometimes you’ll find that they do have the permit or can get you the wine at the CM price anyways.
Bought this before and enjoyed it. Can’t remember specifics (as I have none left to pop open) except good QPR (thus why there are none left), good with food and by itself. Great any night wine. Not on the fruitier side like Inzinerator. I like this flavor profile much better than the Inzinerator. I’m in for another case!
I’m so sad I missed this. I was wine tasting last weekend and went to Harvest Moon and picked up a few bottles of this. I was trying to convince myself it was ok to buy after all my purchases last weekend. That’s what I get for waiting!
2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Winemaker’s Notes
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$454/Case at Harvest Moon Estate & Winery for 12x 2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel, Sonoma County
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV
Estimated Delivery
Monday, May 10 - Wednesday, May 12
Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel
3 bottles for $49.99 $16.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $119.99 $10/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel
Zinfandel is under appreciated in how complex and wonderful it can be, I think. Anyway, does anyone have any pHs for this wine? I’m tempted, and the lower alc is promising
@novium Randy only makes wines with good acid balance. No fruit bombs!
@klezman sold! I mean, I like fruit, but not jam :p
There is a Rat in hiding…
Ooh, I am always tempted by ugly labeled zin. Also waiting on some rats but I am cautiously optimistic.
Happy to receive this bottle, one of my favorite varietals - up there with Pinot Noir (we tend to drink reds on the lighter side). When looking for something bolder, a Cabernet or Petite Sirah will do especially in colder weather.
Anyway this is not your typical Zin. It looks fairly dark but is actually pretty light bodied when you taste it. On the nose I get kind of a pruney/dark fruit aroma along with significant alcohol. Not tasting that much fruit but getting a nice dose of pepper and smoke, also thankfully not getting as much alcohol as I smelled. The only thing I wish this had a little more acid since this comes across a little flabby and with not much of a finish leaves me hanging…
But it went well with turkey burgers last night and pork chops tonight, saved half the bottle in the fridge. I wouldn’t attempt to pair this with anything heavier or have this on it’s own though.
So a little different style Zin for a good price, if you want to pay more for Scott Harvey or Wellington (miss you) then a more traditional wine you will get but this one is a nice everyday wine.
@ilCesare good pizza Zin or no?
@ilCesare Thank you for reviewing
TL;DR - pretty classic Harvest Moon Zin with a little less structure than the Estate/RRV bottlings. $16+/bottle is a good value and $10/bottle is a screaming deal. Pair it like you would a fruity but structured Pinot.
2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin
Got the email from Alice along with a UPS ship notification on Monday, and it arrived the next day, safe and sound. I decided that I should have this over two days, and it’s often fun to have a comparison wine. So we decided to open this alongside a 2015 Peterson Bradford Mountain Zin for comparison. Bonus - it’s the same vintage!
Immediately on opening:
The aromas are pretty clearly Harvest Moon Zin: a bit of aldehyde funk with the grassy aromas you often get from Harvest Moon Zin. The aldehyde part vanished pretty quickly with a few swirls to get the wine some air. There’s also a nice rich cran-raspberry note along with something savoury I can’t quite place - almost meaty.
Palate is immediately nice and bright: red fruit, the grassy note comes through as well, as does the savoury/meaty quality I noticed in the aromas.
Finish is moderately long and adds a touch of black pepper to the above. Not much tannin to speak of.
This is just rich enough to be thoroughly enjoyable on its own but acidic enough to think this will go very very well with food.
Surprisingly, to me, at first impression, this very closely resembles the regular Russian River Valley bottling, but just a bit softer. To me that’s a great thing, as I expected this to be a lower acid style meant for more crowd enjoyment rather than the nicely structured and age-worthy wines I like from Harvest Moon.
Now to compare to the Peterson Bradford Mountain. 15.6% alcohol vs the 14.2% of the HM. The Peterson is heavier in all respects: darker fruit, richer/fuller mouth feel, still with excellent acid balance, and more tannin (although still not much). The aromas here include a leathery note of sorts that I associate with high-alcohol wines but it’s actually quite closed for starters. Round one goes to the Harvest Moon, just barely, because of my personal preferences. Although I will note that this is the best, for my tastes, of the Peterson 3-pack a while ago.
Second and third glasses of each wine were during the grilling and eating of a wood-grilled tri-tip that actually ended up taking on a whole lot of smoke. Surprisingly enough, neither Zin was a great pairing. The food didn’t really help the Peterson, and although the Harvest Moon would likely go well with something you’d normally think of pairing with a Pinot Noir, it kind of clashed with the tri-tip. My fault for incorrectly thinking this was going to be a bigger and more lush style of Zin from Randy!
After dinner with the last glasses of the evening, the Harvest Moon didn’t change much, although its fruit came out more and more as the night went on. Half of each bottle was recorked on the table for a day 2 followup.
Night 2 the Harvest Moon seems a bit more integrated yet a bit more subdued and less interesting. No significant evolution of the aromas or flavours, but it just seems simultaneously deeper yet more subtle.
Those of you who know me know that I like Harvest Moon, and we even served the 2009 Zin at our wedding. This was always a bottling I avoided because I thought it was his fruity uninteresting bottle. Not so. Not so at all. My only partial caveat is for people who only like big burly Zins - this wine is not that. And people very sensitive to aldehyde and related aromas may be put off by the residual amounts of it.
$16.65/bottle? Good to great value.
$10/bottle? Back up the truck, especially if you have any gatherings to serve a lot of people.
Thanks to Alice and WD for the rat opportunity, as always!
And yes, those oranges are from the tree in the back yard!
And of course, ask me questions and I’ll answer what I can!
@klezman would you be willing to explain a bit about aldehydes? I know of acetaldehyde, from when you get a bit of acetobacter, but are there others? What are their key characteristics?
@novium in this case I mean your standard acetaldehyde. I didn’t want to say vinegary, because it’s not. It’s the aroma that I strongly associate with Harvest Moon Zin.
@klezman I point no fingers with acetaldehyde :p in this case, I had someone mention aldehydes to me recently as a potential consequence of lees stirring but I haven’t been able to find much on it, so when you said that I kind of jumped on it!
(To further clarify, it was suggested as the reason my additions of so2 did not have as much effect on free so2 as they should have which left some wine unprotected and now I’ve got acetobacter
in one demijohn)
@klezman back the truck up!
@klezman @novium u said “bit of aldehyde funk with the grassy aromas you often get from Harvest Moon Zin”…I just had a Harvest Moon Malbec over the weekend and I’ve had Harvest Moon Pinot, and I think they both have a distinct aroma that I kinda associate with Harvest Moon (in my mind) now. Is that the “funk” u are talking about?
@novium @TimW yes, that’s exactly the “funk” I’m referring to. I’m still not quite able to put a satisfying descriptor on it.
@ttboy23 I just might read too many of Rimmerman’s emails…
@klezman Thank you for the report. Those backyard oranges are impressive
@klezman @novium I found it surprising that the Malbec also had this…I assumed it was specific to the Pinot.
@TimW @Winedavid49 Really liked the Malbec. Would love to see that offer and of course Pinot Noir again
@dawnlac @Winedavid49 I’m really liking the Harvest Moon Malbec, too. It paired well with lamb for our Easter dinner.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2015 Harvest Moon RandyZin Zinfandel - $80 = 39.98%
@chipgreen (40%) is that a new record?!
@ttboy23
I believe it is!
Yet another offer with no shipping to Indiana. About to conclude my $5 monthly contribution to this site for shipping is a total waste.
@jsr914 Not that it changes anything for you but I do think it matters. Shipping is solely based on who the winery has been licensed to ship to. I don’t know about Indiana but maybe Indiana make it more difficult to get licensed in that state. They also can’t ship to my state, SC.
@jsr914 WCC and Casemates literally has no control over shipping to your state. Nobody is forcing you to pay $5 if you don’t think you’re getting value out of it and I’m sure they won’t cry over your lost membership.
Indiana has some shit rules for direct wine shippers, having to have a registered agent in the state, keep track of number of cases shipped in, etc. It’s no wonder that many wineries don’t want to go through the trouble.
@deadlyapp yeah I understand how it works. WCC has control over what wines it offers for sale.
@jsr914 I suspect they focus on procuring deals on good wines rather than specifically focusing on making sure wineries have shipping permits. By any means, its always worth checking with the wineries directly, sometimes you’ll find that they do have the permit or can get you the wine at the CM price anyways.
Bought this before and enjoyed it. Can’t remember specifics (as I have none left to pop open) except good QPR (thus why there are none left), good with food and by itself. Great any night wine. Not on the fruitier side like Inzinerator. I like this flavor profile much better than the Inzinerator. I’m in for another case!
Cases sold out at 8 in the morning? Any chance of getting more? Awful hard to buy 6 bottles considering the case discount.
@gtcharlie I was about to pull the trigger and saw the same thing (too many truckloads already ordered?). Maybe @winedavid49 can work some magic.
@gtcharlie a few (very few) more cases just added
@WCCWineGirl Got one!
Cases already gone! Wow! Any chance for more cases? Pretty please @winedavid49???
Anyone in Southern New Hampshire / Merrimack Valley area want to split a case? Assuming you got a case before they sold out…
I might have bought the last case, at 8.13 East Coast… Sorry guys
@salpo Got mine at 9:03…I’d say we’re lucky
@dawnlac definitely!
Cases are available as of 9:37 CDT!
/giphy vital-airborne-orc
And gone by 9:40.
wow. those did not last long. no harvest moon for me it looks like
@gtcharlie Welcome to Friday…
@gtcharlie @rjquillin looks like they are restocked.
I’ve always been fond of this wine. Really solid at this price point.
@gtcharlie @rjquillin yea, don’t blink on Fridays.
@rjquillin @Winedavid49 just not my day it looks like. missed again
@gtcharlie @rjquillin @Winedavid49
Restocked 14 minutes ago and gone again???
“You snooze you lose” on steroids!
@gtcharlie @pseudogourmet98 @Winedavid49
Almost like trying to schedule a virus vax.
@pseudogourmet98 @rjquillin @Winedavid49 Or trying to buy a BOC during a Woot off…
@gtcharlie @pseudogourmet98 @rjquillin @Winedavid49 or an IRK during a mehrathon!
Zinfandel versus Sangiovese percentage in this blend?
@oduran that’s a good question! They say “a hint” so it must be less than 5-10%
@oduran @salpo Gotta be less the 25% since the wine is labelled as Zinfandel.
Oh darn-sold out-that’s what I get for waiting-good stuff!!
@dianefreda -i’ll be checking back just in case
Fridays can happen quickly!
@rjquillin not all Fridays
I wanted this but didn’t order so now I want it more. Why is that?
@pmarin
@chipgreen @pmarin FOMO
fyi, just put together another zin offer for April. please stay tuned.
@Winedavid49 The Estate, per chance??
@klezman @Winedavid49
the sparkling… please, please!
@Winedavid49 I’ll finally be able to figure out a clue!
Sellouts are good for everyone!
I’m so sad I missed this. I was wine tasting last weekend and went to Harvest Moon and picked up a few bottles of this. I was trying to convince myself it was ok to buy after all my purchases last weekend. That’s what I get for waiting!
Can I see more choices