2018 Peterson Vignobles Red Wine, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Dark red fruit aromatics swirled with a subtle spicy blend foretell the deliciousness discovered on the palate. Subtle spicy cedar notes weave through deep lush flavors of black raspberry, strawberry and Bing cherry. The luscious fruit is balanced with an integrated tannin and oak structure that shows a bit of muscle in the broad finish as traces of baking spices and black pepper appear. A rich, hearty beef stew or pork tenderloin with pears and shallots will pair well with this fruit-forward yet robust Rhône blend.
Jamie Peterson’s Vintage Views
My father first produced Vignobles in the 1990’s as a way to showcase our Petite Sirah and other Rhone varietals in a savory blend that reflects the Dry Creek Valley terroir. And, as a side note, it was one of my favorite wines to sneak tastes of as a teenager.
By blending four varietals from distinctively different Dry Creek Valley vineyards, we are staying true to Fred’s vision of showcasing how our local terroir creates a unique palate profile. With this tenth vintage since the resurrection of the wine, we’ve built upon the core of spice and zestiness from Carignane harvested off the eastern bench of Forchini Vineyard, and brought in rich, dense Petite Sirah from West Vineyard. Additional Syrah from our estate vineyard, along with Grenache from both our estate and West Vineyard, add levels of varied fruits and plushness to bring it all together. This mostly Rhone varietal blend creates layers of fruit, spices, and herbs, along with complexity and balance—all hallmarks of wines from the Dry Creek Valley. Not a subtle wine, but meant to show more finesse and refinement than some of our other blends. We’re glad to have Vignobles back in our cellar, and I no longer have to sneak tastes, but enjoy each sip all the same.
Peterson Winery has been producing wine in Dry Creek Valley for 30 years and, like most wineries in the Valley, produces Zinfandel as well as other wines. Yet a closer look shows that is where the similarities end.
Owner Fred Peterson is an iconoclast with an old-world winemaking philosophy and a reverence for sustainable farming. The Peterson approach is to capture the essence of vintage and vineyard—a philosophy they call Zero Manipulation—with low tech, yet high touch, to produce wines of a place, wines with soul. The evolution of Peterson wines and winemaking accelerated when Fred’s son Jamie became assistant winemaker in the summer of 2002. In 2006, after moving from the tiny red barn on Lytton Springs to Timber Crest Farms, Jamie was given the overall responsibilities as winemaker. As a winegrowing team, Fred and Jamie assess the grapes from each vineyard and vintage as the season progresses, evaluating how the weather, soil, and site are interacting for the particular vintage. At Peterson winery, the winemaking process begins while the grapes are still on the vines. Zero Manipulation is a discipline the Petersons follow to capture the character and balance of inherent in the grapes. Zero Manipulation means using the most gentle, traditional winemaking practices possible to maximize the flavors, aromatics, and texture of the wines. Fred and Jamie celebrate vintage differences and don’t tweak or homogenize the wine to obtain consistency of flavors, a common practice in mass-market wineries. For Fred and Jamie, Peterson Winery is all about the wines. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll see the heart and soul that goes into every bottle.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2018 Peterson Winery Vignobles Red Wine - $30 = 16.65%
Good Saturday all! Received notice that a rat bottle was coming my way on Tuesday, yay right? But dang I’m not good at this so the nerves kick in. At my age not much bothers me anymore but this puts my I think I know a lot about wine ego in check…ha! As scheduled Brown shows up Tuesday, and it’s a bottle of Peterson Winery Vignobles 2018, Dry Creek Valley. Hmmm…ok, this should be fun. I know a little bit about Peterson, made a few visits way back, they show up here off and on, but haven’t had any recent offerings. We drink a smattering of domestic Rhone style blends, so what to do with this? Well I hadn’t chosen a red for Thanksgiving yet (it was just myself and the bride, scaled down but a bit of traditional,for us, eveything), so why not. Ok, enough drivel, obviously the espresso machine is in high gear this morning and I’m still fearing the review part of this.
So popped this Thursday about an hour before dinner, 58F, poured off half into a 375/screwtop and into the fridge for Friday/last night. No sediment to speak of. Color was medium ruby. Nose is fruity/spice/warm. Taste is red berry fruit, good acid, a bit one dimensional front to back. Touch of leather. Medium body. Finish is a bit clipped, tart, medium tannin. It was a nice foil for Thursday dinner which was roasted turkey thighs and turkey tenderloin, mashed taters, cranberries, cornbread fennel sausage pecan dressing, corn casserole (a little overkill what with the cornbread dressing), roasted root veggies, gravy, turkey demi, bride’s gingersnaps. As the night went on it opened a bit, picking up black cherry notes, becoming a little more expressive and depth of flavor.
Skip to day two, last night. With dinner, see above, and followed for a couple of hours. Day two was very nice to this wine, did nothing but get better. Again, nice acid, with raspberry and spice and earth starting to shine. A bit of plum. Definitely likes food. The Carignane and Grenache stand out in my humble even though the Syrah and Petite Sirah are a significant portion of the blend. Well done.
Thanks to all of the Casemates crew for adding a little twist to the Thanksgiving weekend. Cheers!
(oh for some reason my lovely bride didn’t want to play along and went to my usual rating system which is Sucks or Doesn’t Suck and this got a strong Doesn’t Suck)
Sorry for being late with the labrat review, just a very busy morning with the Thanksgiving holiday still on here.
For me, Thanksgiving is for fancy Pinot, and though I generally have always liked Peterson wine I didn’t want to pour this the day after I got it from UPS.
Popped it yesterday evening after leftovers though, much darker than I was expecting. Not fruit forward at all, which I mean as a compliment. Just a small sip at first, strong minerality, graphite is what came out to me. Let it open up a bit while I watched some hockey, and then came back to it, and the funk came out on it. Earthy loamy flavor, and the fruit started to open up a bit more as well. More like a subtle plum, not in an overripe or raisin-y sense at all.
I found it to be quite balanced and not what I was expecting at all. I really enjoyed the barbera and zero manipulation wines as a pop and pour experience. I think this wine is more refined, needs to spend some time to open up, and would benefit from aeration and/or decanting. Though I’m quite sure that it holds up well with food, my personal preference with these kind of wines is to enjoy them alone. I have strong associations with these types of wines and harvest, funky pinot and syrahs. This is more refined than what you’d get from Sonoma, just reminds me of it a bit.
I’m surprised it’s at 14.5% alc because I don’t think it drank that high.
Overall I think it’s worth it at $15 for certain, and at $12 it has me pretty certain I’m in for a case, just not sure how much to drink now and how much I want to lay down and see how it does.
Definite case buy for us. We’re down to two bottles of the 2013 Peterson Vignobles, so they were in ‘save’ status. Glad to see this come up, and it’s one of our favorite labels (how can you go wrong with a boar on the loose?)
Brought some Pinots and Peterson Tollini to Thanksgiving. Ended up drinking the Petersons and not opening the Pinots. Petersons are getting hard to pass up.
Bought 2 different cases based on research and Lab Rats convos/input here saying it was on their autobuy. The 2nd case (reds) I took a chance on (little particular about what I like)… just uncovered the last 3 bottles the other day thinking they were LONG gone. Said wonder if they are Peterson, went to look, and needless to say, I’m in for a case. Now on my autobuy list.
This arrived today, a day earlier than UPS had forecasted, with no warning from UPS last night that they were delivering today. (Boo, UPS.) Fortunately, my wife was awake to receive the delivery.
Opened a bottle tonight for dinner. On pop-n-pour, it was very drinkable, a really pleasant wine. It went well with the food (kahlua pork, scalloped potatoes with leek and thyme, and maduros). Four hours after opening, it is still drinking very well: pleasant nose with some vanilla oak, bright red/black berry flavors, long finish.
It was a super QPR deal at the $12.50 per bottle case price.
2018 Peterson Vignobles Red Wine, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Composition
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$432.00/Case for 12x 2018 Peterson Vignobles Red Wine, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County at Peterson Winery
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 19 - Tuesday, Dec 20
2018 Peterson Winery Vignobles Red Wine
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
I’ve had Peterson Winery 2013 Barbera and 2013 Mendo Blendo. Both have been really good! So I have high hopes for this one as well.
In for a case. Almost bought wine of your sangiovese from another site but hoping it pops up here too!
/giphy irritating-manic-rule
@CruelMelody I’d be down to share a few if anyone in PDX wants some
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2018 Peterson Winery Vignobles Red Wine - $30 = 16.65%
Good Saturday all! Received notice that a rat bottle was coming my way on Tuesday, yay right? But dang I’m not good at this so the nerves kick in. At my age not much bothers me anymore but this puts my I think I know a lot about wine ego in check…ha! As scheduled Brown shows up Tuesday, and it’s a bottle of Peterson Winery Vignobles 2018, Dry Creek Valley. Hmmm…ok, this should be fun. I know a little bit about Peterson, made a few visits way back, they show up here off and on, but haven’t had any recent offerings. We drink a smattering of domestic Rhone style blends, so what to do with this? Well I hadn’t chosen a red for Thanksgiving yet (it was just myself and the bride, scaled down but a bit of traditional,for us, eveything), so why not. Ok, enough drivel, obviously the espresso machine is in high gear this morning and I’m still fearing the review part of this.
So popped this Thursday about an hour before dinner, 58F, poured off half into a 375/screwtop and into the fridge for Friday/last night. No sediment to speak of. Color was medium ruby. Nose is fruity/spice/warm. Taste is red berry fruit, good acid, a bit one dimensional front to back. Touch of leather. Medium body. Finish is a bit clipped, tart, medium tannin. It was a nice foil for Thursday dinner which was roasted turkey thighs and turkey tenderloin, mashed taters, cranberries, cornbread fennel sausage pecan dressing, corn casserole (a little overkill what with the cornbread dressing), roasted root veggies, gravy, turkey demi, bride’s gingersnaps. As the night went on it opened a bit, picking up black cherry notes, becoming a little more expressive and depth of flavor.
Skip to day two, last night. With dinner, see above, and followed for a couple of hours. Day two was very nice to this wine, did nothing but get better. Again, nice acid, with raspberry and spice and earth starting to shine. A bit of plum. Definitely likes food. The Carignane and Grenache stand out in my humble even though the Syrah and Petite Sirah are a significant portion of the blend. Well done.
Thanks to all of the Casemates crew for adding a little twist to the Thanksgiving weekend. Cheers!
(oh for some reason my lovely bride didn’t want to play along and went to my usual rating system which is Sucks or Doesn’t Suck and this got a strong Doesn’t Suck)
No MD?
@eastcoastmary wondering as well. Eh wine gods?
Big fan of Peterson! Anyone know how this compares to Zero Manipulation?
@wnance I am also a big fan of Peterson, but this is much less fruit forward, more nuanced. This is much darker, loamy, funkier.
Sorry for being late with the labrat review, just a very busy morning with the Thanksgiving holiday still on here.
For me, Thanksgiving is for fancy Pinot, and though I generally have always liked Peterson wine I didn’t want to pour this the day after I got it from UPS.
Popped it yesterday evening after leftovers though, much darker than I was expecting. Not fruit forward at all, which I mean as a compliment. Just a small sip at first, strong minerality, graphite is what came out to me. Let it open up a bit while I watched some hockey, and then came back to it, and the funk came out on it. Earthy loamy flavor, and the fruit started to open up a bit more as well. More like a subtle plum, not in an overripe or raisin-y sense at all.
I found it to be quite balanced and not what I was expecting at all. I really enjoyed the barbera and zero manipulation wines as a pop and pour experience. I think this wine is more refined, needs to spend some time to open up, and would benefit from aeration and/or decanting. Though I’m quite sure that it holds up well with food, my personal preference with these kind of wines is to enjoy them alone. I have strong associations with these types of wines and harvest, funky pinot and syrahs. This is more refined than what you’d get from Sonoma, just reminds me of it a bit.
I’m surprised it’s at 14.5% alc because I don’t think it drank that high.
Overall I think it’s worth it at $15 for certain, and at $12 it has me pretty certain I’m in for a case, just not sure how much to drink now and how much I want to lay down and see how it does.
/giphy unpopular-relaxing-venus
Definite case buy for us. We’re down to two bottles of the 2013 Peterson Vignobles, so they were in ‘save’ status. Glad to see this come up, and it’s one of our favorite labels (how can you go wrong with a boar on the loose?)
/giphy neutral-gushing-lithium
Brought some Pinots and Peterson Tollini to Thanksgiving. Ended up drinking the Petersons and not opening the Pinots. Petersons are getting hard to pass up.
Peterson wine is my new auto buy. The QPR on their wines is incredible! Every Peterson wine I’ve purchased from casemates has been delicious.
Bought 2 different cases based on research and Lab Rats convos/input here saying it was on their autobuy. The 2nd case (reds) I took a chance on (little particular about what I like)… just uncovered the last 3 bottles the other day thinking they were LONG gone. Said wonder if they are Peterson, went to look, and needless to say, I’m in for a case. Now on my autobuy list.
/giphy liable-gushy-saturn
Southern SoCal still dark.
Any interest?
Grabbed the Zero Manipulation and Barbera offering in early October, both fantastic for my liking. In for a case.
This arrived today, a day earlier than UPS had forecasted, with no warning from UPS last night that they were delivering today. (Boo, UPS.) Fortunately, my wife was awake to receive the delivery.
Opened a bottle tonight for dinner. On pop-n-pour, it was very drinkable, a really pleasant wine. It went well with the food (kahlua pork, scalloped potatoes with leek and thyme, and maduros). Four hours after opening, it is still drinking very well: pleasant nose with some vanilla oak, bright red/black berry flavors, long finish.
It was a super QPR deal at the $12.50 per bottle case price.