A note of interest, maybe: these four wines were filled and corked by hand, with siphon tubes and a red Ferrari corker. It takes longer than a mobile bottling line, and it certainly isn’t cheaper, but we handled it, ahem. Occasional irregularities in cork shape, ullage, etc. are Evidence of Authenticity!
2021 Tempranillo, “Dynamite Hill”, Paso Robles
Tasting Notes
It’s big. It’s strong. It’s Hemingway drunk and passed out ringside at the bullfight, shitfaced down on a big plate of strong ribs. Is that the smell of blood in the air? No, he knocked over a wine bottle. Is that noise the roar of the crowd? No, it’s a '71 AMC Matador.
Should I use Faulkner next time? Ha: Raymond Chandler! Anyway: Meaty spicy ribs, dried cherries without the acidity, and a whiff of Maduro cigar tobacco without the smoke. Tannins? Yes; structurally it could maybe sorta almost pass for a high-end 80’s Napa Cab, before the fashion changed. The '19, the best of the last decade of our Tempranillos, was no deeper. If I had only a bottle of this wine, I might wait two years to open it.
Whoa, dude! “Obscenely rich, almost soft?” This is a Tannat description?!? It’s a Castle Bravo scale fruit bomb, with ridiculous amounts of an heirloom plum I’ve forgotten the name of - it definitely wasn’t “Pruno”, though. Tannins? Well, they must be in there somewhere, and they are, but quite subtle. The wine really is unique and delicious. The label? Unique and delirious.
Specs
Alcohol: 15.6%
TA: 6.8 g/L
2021 “La Mort du Roi”, Hill of Graceland, Willow Creek District
Tasting Notes
North block 877 Syrah, darker and spicier than the south block if not quite as ripe, and almost one-fifth of the aforementioned Tannat. I didn’t think I had a “La Mort” candidate for '21, as the Alicante and Tempranillo lacked either the flavor extraction or structural character to make this wine what it is, or has been in the past. And then Elvis spoke to me (which happens every time I fall asleep at the winery) and told me a story about Fred Flinstone - no, wait, it was Fred Nietzsche. He also suggested I try using the Tannat. Well, he was right.
Specs
Alcohol: 15.6%
TA: 6.8 g/L
2021 Syrah, “Lost Mine”, Hill of Graceland, Paso Robles, Estate
Tasting Notes
The ripe raging southern block of Syrah we have often poured into new oak barrels, but this is a different approach: it’s almost a thirteenth Viognier. (No, they were not co-fermented. I won’t flip my finger at that fashion in print or public, but, no.) Moab and black cherry, vanilla, and a hint of…banana? At one bottle per vine, you expect, and this delivers fruit concentration and complexity. But this is drinkable, if you like, now.
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, excepting hallucinogenic drugs. Over the last decade, most of the wines have been from grapes grown by one of our crazier clients, in two concocted subappellations of west Paso Robles that split the hidden Hill of Graceland vineyard. He drives the tractor and poormouths himself, I do everything else… Sales are almost exclusively to our email list, though we make irregular appearances on Casemates.com.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Okay, my prose doesn’t exactly lend itself to speed reading, but kindly give me a few minutes to consume my dinner before flinging abus- er, questions at me!
@ZeppelinWinery to myself . . . This “explains” the images above:
“It took him a few minutes to understand what had happened, but when he did, Mickey packed his rags and was out the door without a squeak. There was a train to Memphis he could catch before dawn, and from there, New York? He and Minn- no! - he would never say, never think of her again - had seen New York from the attic of a cheese shop - but he would never go back. His future - fame, fortune, Siamese fur coats - lay in the other direction. His only goal would be the Western Shore.”
@ScottW58 It says you might be interested in the full story and all the illustrations. I didn’t do the drawings, and some of it is a bit much even for me unless I have a couple of glasses! But let me know unless you’re a Disney attorney…
Last week was an exceptionally long week, even for only being seven days. With a notification of UPS delivery with a reference code of “ZEPPELINLOSTMINESYRAH” all that changed. We’ve had Stillman Brown’s wines in the past, but missed out on the last sell-out offer on CM. Typically I hoard the Zeppelins like a rabid squirrel finding a box of macadamia nuts- only pulling one out for extra special occasions. However, I had a duty to pop and pour this one for our CaseMates community.
TLDR: I’ve probably already bought a case before posting this review.
The TL version follows. Stillman not only is entertaining to read (typically), but his wines have consistently been a treat. I still mourn our final bottle of 2018 Chateau Abalone, but based on his web page spoiler, this looks like a fun selection of reds for me to go all Gollum/precious on for the next several years.
Presentation: Zeppelin standard interesting label with ecologically responsible ‘no back label’. We played “Where’s Waldo?” and were not able to spot the Lost Mine, but we’re sure it’s there. The print may be too small for the older crowd, but it does show this is a blend with 7% Viognier (Rhone style) and 17.01% (!) alcohol.
Appearance: Dark garnet/purple. No surprise, with the 17%, but the leggiest wine I can remember- I couldn’t help but think of a daddy longlegs, but don’t let that freak anyone out. It was truly entertaining to watch how quickly they formed.
Nose: Served at 61° with an aerator right out of the bottle. Clearly fruit on the nose and the expected alcohol. Mrs. Rat quickly got plenty of blueberry.
First taste: Surprisingly little alc heat! (How, I don’t know) Smoky and soft fruit, mild tannin. Mrs. Rat said the blueberry still coming through with a tiny bit of tobacco.
Food: To highlight the Syrah, we went with a local BBQ spot with plates of chicken and pulled pork, sweet & smoky sauce, green beans, BBQ beans, potato salad and cheesy potatoes. If you come through Central IL, we’ll hook you up with this local gem and if Stillman shows up- we’ll open a bottle of Lost Mine. Serendipity was at work- the wine was truly in concert with the food, and complemented the strong sauce and brought out pepper notes in the wine. Mrs. Rat: “Really outstanding. Our food is good, but this is the highlight without question.”
My favorite quote from her after trying it with a couple of different chocolates: “There is NOTHING I object to about it. It is really delicious!” Some of you may realize the degree of praise this implies.
Sidenote: Cork is probably the tightest I’ve ever pulled, thought I was going to break the Ah-So. Had to stop and use a regular corkscrew.
PnP
Bright purple-red garnet
Very tart, almost sour plum, faint tannins on finish
Can’t feel the alcohol, it’s a much softer wine than I expected at 15.6%
After a couple hours, a bit sweeter, still no more discernable notes, just a pleasantly sweet/tart red fruit. Can feel the alcohol a little more.
Wife
Color: Raspberry jam
Tastes very summery
There’s a refreshing note, like when they put cucumber in water. [To be clear, she means the idea/essence of cucumber water, not the flavor of cucumber. I checked.]
Trying to get fruit notes, it’s not working for me
It feels like if spa water was a wine. [The water served at a spa, not the water in a spa…]
Second day
Alcohol and tannins are gone, hasn’t developed any complexity. It’s just a nice easy drinker.
Feel like this is a drink now, I don’t see it benefiting much from age, which is odd considering how young it is…
I was pleased to see a bottle of the Tempranillo sitting in my lab rat box when it arrived the middle of last week - doubly so when I noticed that this particular bottle of Swilly’s had a moderate (for him) 15.4% alcohol. While I’ve liked everything of his with a lower alcohol, I find alcohols creeping up past 15.6% or so tend to taste bitter. I’m glad I received this one and not the 17% Syrah!
I’d hoped to follow this over 3 or 4 days, but I caught some nasty bug and was only able to open this up last night for the first round, so you only get 2 days of notes!
First off, I think this may be a flawed bottle. It’s full of VA and smelled, to me, like it was full of acetone. molarchae had some other descriptors for it that she didn’t want me to write down, but suffice it to say, they were unflattering.
With that part out of the way, here’s what we found when the VA, well, volatilized away. Which it did. Eventually. Both nights. With much patience. If this turns out to be typical and not a one-off, then I’d recommend a 2+ hour decant to let it blow off.
Cork was a DIAM-2, which I’d never seen before. Still, unsurprisingly, very fresh and springy. Strawberries. Smoke. Leaves (tobacco, maybe?). Herbs. Nice acidity, little tannin. Medium bodied, despite the high-ish alcohol. Very nice red-purple youthful colour. Short-ish finish.
We were having this with a dry aged steak and it wasn’t the best pairing. The acidity did well with the fat but it was fruitier than I prefer for my steak pairings. The smoky notes, though, did nicely with the crust from searing the meat.
We put about half the bottle away for the next day (today) to see (a) whether the VA would dissipate and (b) how the wine otherwise evolved.
The VA didn’t entirely vanish over the 22 hours the wine was corked, but it certainly dissipated somewhat. It took a lot less time after opening it for the acetone aromas to go away.
Otherwise there was surprisingly little evolution. Less smoke, more strawberry and maybe some cherry. Finish has gotten a bit longer - a good sign for ageing. It did its part with a pizza, and actually was probably a better pairing than with the steak last night. As I sit here with my last, VA-free, sips, I’m thinking I’d be pretty happy to have these sitting in the cellar for a few years.
My recommendation - a qualified “buy”. Check the wine a couple hours before you actually want to drink it. A vigorous decant and some time seems to get rid of the acetone. If you’re willing to deal with that possibility, and assuming this is a typical rather than spoiled bottle, then this is a tasty beverage indeed!
There’s one factor that could have made your bottle different that would not appear at a significant rate throughout the bottled wine in the offer - but before I explain/excuse, I’m going to have a bottle tested tomorrow morning at BWGA. (Baker Wine & Grape Analysis)
Oh great, “President’s Day” I don’t know that they’re open. I do know that the VA was <0.1g/100ml two months ago; that’s the threshold for BWGA to notify the customer when a wine sample is submitted for FSO2, pH, and/or ABV, for example - whether or not a VA amount was requested. But let me see what Tuesday morning tells me!
@klezman I emailed the lab last night, and they replied “Yes, we’re open today!” So I drove over the hill and dropped off a sample, and am awaiting a reply, pacing figure 8s on the floor of the swanky cigar club in Paso Robles that I’m not a member of.
@klezman@ZeppelinWinery Kudos on the quick follow-up. Fingers and toes crossed for this being an aberration. Else, we’ll finding some creative new pairings.
@klezman Well, perhaps it serves me right for using a thief to pull enough wine from the Tempranillo barrel to fill two bottles to send to casemates before I had done the bottling itself: Baker got .055 g/100ml, which is one of the lowest VA results I have seen in several years in a bottled red!! But I can’t believe that I used a thief that was not clean… something in the bottle itself? I’m flummoxed! The only thing I can do is to promise you that in the event you ordered the wine and are brave enough to pop it within a few weeks of getting it, and it has the same or a similar fault, that I will happily replace it with whatever you wish of my crap, or sheepishly send you money. Kindly do not allow the possibility that I might do so in person affect your judgment
@ZeppelinWinery Glad the labs came back clean. No idea what happened with our bottle but at least you know it’s nothing at the lot level!
And that’s super quick to go and get this tested. Nicely done!
@klezman For those of us who had to look it up:
Often referred to as VA, volatile acidity is a measure of a wine’s gaseous acids. The amount of VA in wine is often considered an indicator of spoilage.
A wide range of acids contributes to a wine’s total VA content, but most winemakers are concerned with acetic acid, which is associated with the smell and taste of vinegar, and ethyl acetate, which causes off-flavors like nail polish or nail polish remover. (A partial blurb from WE)
@ttboy23 Ha! Sorry about that.
Yeah, this was more in the ethyl acetate and acetone realm, not vinegar.
But in any case, it blew off with air, and it sounds like an anomaly given the extra run of labs.
Very low yields, relatively acidic soil, light to moderate acidulation (1.2-2.2 g/L tartaric in the fermenter though a third of that ‘drops out’ as potassium bitartrate within 30-60 days) and … no ML.
Some Zinfandel grown west of us come in - some years - with sugars in the high 20s, TAs >9 grams with a lot of malic acid, and pHs barely over 3. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with those.
@ZeppelinWinery wow, that’s really interesting. For my palate, probably a good call on not doing ML. I’d love to try those Zins!
Also, great job on making a wine that I was more than happy to enjoy this young! That’s pretty rare for me.
2021 “Final Piece of Kingly Evidence” La Mort du Roi
Swill at 33.4 proof from the Hill of Graceland. 81% Clone 877 Groß Syrah, 19% Tannat.
Thank you, thank you very much! I thought about drinking this from the toilet in homage to Elvis, but thought better of the idea.
Dark ruby to purple in the glass.
Typical great Stillman nose, fruity but brooding. (You know exactly what I mean if you’re a fan of Creepy Uncle Stillman’s work product.) Picture an angry teenage plum giant sulking on a rainy day because he doesn’t smell more like blackberries. And then add a hint of shoe polish. Hard to tell the ABV from the nose separate from the delicious fruit but there’s no heat burning my nose hairs.
Doing the ol’ slurp ‘n’ chew definitely brings some of the alcohol out, but the minerality too. My mouth is still tingling 2 minutes later. Great mouthfeel, nice and viscous without being syrupy. This boy came to play.
After half an hour in the glass, lots of plum, blackberry syrup, a little creamy chocolate milk on the finish, followed by a bit of heat.
Breaking it down a bit more granularly:
On the attack, nice acidity (surprising for a wine of this weight and fruit level), towards the redder fruits, a bit of tannin.
Midpalate, fruit gets a bit darker, more viscous, a bit of heat starts to show but it’s still very balanced.
On the finish, which is quite long, it adds a chocolate milk note and feel – almost like chocolate-covered black cherry cordials.
It’s good. You’ll probably like it unless you hate fruity wines even when sufficiently structured as this is.
But I also literally buy everything Swilly makes. This isn’t my favorite of the La Morts, or of Swilly’s wines, but it’s still nice and really enjoyable. Definitely decant this one of you’re planning on drinking in the near term and some of the heat will blow off.
@jfuruno If it helps, that fits our situation too. But, figuring that these are pretty limited and I’m pretty good at justifying my purchases to myself when needed. (upcoming retirement, unexpected bonus check, youngest about to graduate from college, one can never have too many reds… etc.)
I haven’t missed a stillman offer in a while, but the notes on the Tannat have me flummoxed. A tannat (especially stillman’s) described as “refreshing” is so against my expectations. Might have to miss this one or just grab a four pack.
@deadlyapp It’s funny, but just before bottling it, for a week or so, every time I talked about it to Alexis (my better 40% by volume) I would say “Malbec” - a slip of the palate? The reserve Catenas from Argentina aren’t dissimilar, though they’re more tannic/oaky. Exceptio probat regulam for sure.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2021 Zeppelin Winery Mixed Reds - $20 = 5.55%
2021 Tempranillo, “Dynamite Hill”, Paso Robles
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Tannat, “Constructo”, Paso Robles, Estate Bottled
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 “La Mort du Roi”, Hill of Graceland, Willow Creek District
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Syrah, “Lost Mine”, Hill of Graceland, Paso Robles, Estate
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $735/case MSRP
About The Winery
Zeppelin Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Mar 13 - Thursday, Mar 16
Zeppelin Winery Mixed Reds
4 bottles for $119.99 $30/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $339.99 $28.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2021 Tempranillo, “Dynamite Hill”
2021 Tannat, “Constructo”
2021 “La Mort du Roi”, Hill of Graceland
2021 Syrah, “Lost Mine”, Hill of Graceland
Okay, my prose doesn’t exactly lend itself to speed reading, but kindly give me a few minutes to consume my dinner before flinging abus- er, questions at me!
@ZeppelinWinery to myself . . . This “explains” the images above:
“It took him a few minutes to understand what had happened, but when he did, Mickey packed his rags and was out the door without a squeak. There was a train to Memphis he could catch before dawn, and from there, New York? He and Minn- no! - he would never say, never think of her again - had seen New York from the attic of a cheese shop - but he would never go back. His future - fame, fortune, Siamese fur coats - lay in the other direction. His only goal would be the Western Shore.”
@ZeppelinWinery
God I love this guy! Does that say something about my character ?
@ZeppelinWinery Credits?
@ScottW58 It says you might be interested in the full story and all the illustrations. I didn’t do the drawings, and some of it is a bit much even for me unless I have a couple of glasses! But let me know unless you’re a Disney attorney…
@rpstrong I wrote the short short story, and my multitalented label artist Rudy Ostoja did the drawings.
@ZeppelinWinery
Lol no worries I may or may not have the (ain’t gonna work on dizzys farm) poster from many years ago
Bunny autobuy!! Love this stuff!
/giphy destroyed-legal-prison
2021 Zeppelin Lost Mine Syrah
Last week was an exceptionally long week, even for only being seven days. With a notification of UPS delivery with a reference code of “ZEPPELINLOSTMINESYRAH” all that changed. We’ve had Stillman Brown’s wines in the past, but missed out on the last sell-out offer on CM. Typically I hoard the Zeppelins like a rabid squirrel finding a box of macadamia nuts- only pulling one out for extra special occasions. However, I had a duty to pop and pour this one for our CaseMates community.
TLDR: I’ve probably already bought a case before posting this review.
The TL version follows. Stillman not only is entertaining to read (typically), but his wines have consistently been a treat. I still mourn our final bottle of 2018 Chateau Abalone, but based on his web page spoiler, this looks like a fun selection of reds for me to go all Gollum/precious on for the next several years.
Presentation: Zeppelin standard interesting label with ecologically responsible ‘no back label’. We played “Where’s Waldo?” and were not able to spot the Lost Mine, but we’re sure it’s there. The print may be too small for the older crowd, but it does show this is a blend with 7% Viognier (Rhone style) and 17.01% (!) alcohol.
Appearance: Dark garnet/purple. No surprise, with the 17%, but the leggiest wine I can remember- I couldn’t help but think of a daddy longlegs, but don’t let that freak anyone out. It was truly entertaining to watch how quickly they formed.
Nose: Served at 61° with an aerator right out of the bottle. Clearly fruit on the nose and the expected alcohol. Mrs. Rat quickly got plenty of blueberry.
First taste: Surprisingly little alc heat! (How, I don’t know) Smoky and soft fruit, mild tannin. Mrs. Rat said the blueberry still coming through with a tiny bit of tobacco.
Food: To highlight the Syrah, we went with a local BBQ spot with plates of chicken and pulled pork, sweet & smoky sauce, green beans, BBQ beans, potato salad and cheesy potatoes. If you come through Central IL, we’ll hook you up with this local gem and if Stillman shows up- we’ll open a bottle of Lost Mine. Serendipity was at work- the wine was truly in concert with the food, and complemented the strong sauce and brought out pepper notes in the wine. Mrs. Rat: “Really outstanding. Our food is good, but this is the highlight without question.”
My favorite quote from her after trying it with a couple of different chocolates: “There is NOTHING I object to about it. It is really delicious!” Some of you may realize the degree of praise this implies.
/giphy silent-velvet-soldier
@benguin986
Phew, drink like the yeast that fermented these.
@rjquillin RX60!
/giphy laughable-bored-scout
2021 Constructo Tannat
Sidenote: Cork is probably the tightest I’ve ever pulled, thought I was going to break the Ah-So. Had to stop and use a regular corkscrew.
PnP
Bright purple-red garnet
Very tart, almost sour plum, faint tannins on finish
Can’t feel the alcohol, it’s a much softer wine than I expected at 15.6%
After a couple hours, a bit sweeter, still no more discernable notes, just a pleasantly sweet/tart red fruit. Can feel the alcohol a little more.
Wife
Color: Raspberry jam
Tastes very summery
There’s a refreshing note, like when they put cucumber in water. [To be clear, she means the idea/essence of cucumber water, not the flavor of cucumber. I checked.]
Trying to get fruit notes, it’s not working for me
It feels like if spa water was a wine. [The water served at a spa, not the water in a spa…]
Second day
Alcohol and tannins are gone, hasn’t developed any complexity. It’s just a nice easy drinker.
Feel like this is a drink now, I don’t see it benefiting much from age, which is odd considering how young it is…
Unimportant Announcement: there are transcription errors (i.e., not mine) in the specs of the La Mort: the alcohol should read 16.7%, the TA 7.4 g/L.
@ZeppelinWinery copy editor gotcha covered
2021 Tempranillo, “Dynamite Hill”, Paso Robles
I was pleased to see a bottle of the Tempranillo sitting in my lab rat box when it arrived the middle of last week - doubly so when I noticed that this particular bottle of Swilly’s had a moderate (for him) 15.4% alcohol. While I’ve liked everything of his with a lower alcohol, I find alcohols creeping up past 15.6% or so tend to taste bitter. I’m glad I received this one and not the 17% Syrah!
I’d hoped to follow this over 3 or 4 days, but I caught some nasty bug and was only able to open this up last night for the first round, so you only get 2 days of notes!
First off, I think this may be a flawed bottle. It’s full of VA and smelled, to me, like it was full of acetone. molarchae had some other descriptors for it that she didn’t want me to write down, but suffice it to say, they were unflattering.
With that part out of the way, here’s what we found when the VA, well, volatilized away. Which it did. Eventually. Both nights. With much patience. If this turns out to be typical and not a one-off, then I’d recommend a 2+ hour decant to let it blow off.
Cork was a DIAM-2, which I’d never seen before. Still, unsurprisingly, very fresh and springy. Strawberries. Smoke. Leaves (tobacco, maybe?). Herbs. Nice acidity, little tannin. Medium bodied, despite the high-ish alcohol. Very nice red-purple youthful colour. Short-ish finish.
We were having this with a dry aged steak and it wasn’t the best pairing. The acidity did well with the fat but it was fruitier than I prefer for my steak pairings. The smoky notes, though, did nicely with the crust from searing the meat.
We put about half the bottle away for the next day (today) to see (a) whether the VA would dissipate and (b) how the wine otherwise evolved.
The VA didn’t entirely vanish over the 22 hours the wine was corked, but it certainly dissipated somewhat. It took a lot less time after opening it for the acetone aromas to go away.
Otherwise there was surprisingly little evolution. Less smoke, more strawberry and maybe some cherry. Finish has gotten a bit longer - a good sign for ageing. It did its part with a pizza, and actually was probably a better pairing than with the steak last night. As I sit here with my last, VA-free, sips, I’m thinking I’d be pretty happy to have these sitting in the cellar for a few years.
My recommendation - a qualified “buy”. Check the wine a couple hours before you actually want to drink it. A vigorous decant and some time seems to get rid of the acetone. If you’re willing to deal with that possibility, and assuming this is a typical rather than spoiled bottle, then this is a tasty beverage indeed!
@klezman
There’s one factor that could have made your bottle different that would not appear at a significant rate throughout the bottled wine in the offer - but before I explain/excuse, I’m going to have a bottle tested tomorrow morning at BWGA. (Baker Wine & Grape Analysis)
Oh great, “President’s Day” I don’t know that they’re open. I do know that the VA was <0.1g/100ml two months ago; that’s the threshold for BWGA to notify the customer when a wine sample is submitted for FSO2, pH, and/or ABV, for example - whether or not a VA amount was requested. But let me see what Tuesday morning tells me!
@klezman I emailed the lab last night, and they replied “Yes, we’re open today!” So I drove over the hill and dropped off a sample, and am awaiting a reply, pacing figure 8s on the floor of the swanky cigar club in Paso Robles that I’m not a member of.
@klezman @ZeppelinWinery Kudos on the quick follow-up. Fingers and toes crossed for this being an aberration. Else, we’ll finding some creative new pairings.
@klezman Well, perhaps it serves me right for using a thief to pull enough wine from the Tempranillo barrel to fill two bottles to send to casemates before I had done the bottling itself: Baker got .055 g/100ml, which is one of the lowest VA results I have seen in several years in a bottled red!! But I can’t believe that I used a thief that was not clean… something in the bottle itself? I’m flummoxed! The only thing I can do is to promise you that in the event you ordered the wine and are brave enough to pop it within a few weeks of getting it, and it has the same or a similar fault, that I will happily replace it with whatever you wish of my crap, or sheepishly send you money. Kindly do not allow the possibility that I might do so in person affect your judgment
@ZeppelinWinery Glad the labs came back clean. No idea what happened with our bottle but at least you know it’s nothing at the lot level!
And that’s super quick to go and get this tested. Nicely done!
@klezman For those of us who had to look it up:
Often referred to as VA, volatile acidity is a measure of a wine’s gaseous acids. The amount of VA in wine is often considered an indicator of spoilage.
A wide range of acids contributes to a wine’s total VA content, but most winemakers are concerned with acetic acid, which is associated with the smell and taste of vinegar, and ethyl acetate, which causes off-flavors like nail polish or nail polish remover. (A partial blurb from WE)
@ttboy23 Ha! Sorry about that.
Yeah, this was more in the ethyl acetate and acetone realm, not vinegar.
But in any case, it blew off with air, and it sounds like an anomaly given the extra run of labs.
Swilly, how on earth do you get acidities like these with the high sugars to get alcohols north of 16%??
Very low yields, relatively acidic soil, light to moderate acidulation (1.2-2.2 g/L tartaric in the fermenter though a third of that ‘drops out’ as potassium bitartrate within 30-60 days) and … no ML.
Some Zinfandel grown west of us come in - some years - with sugars in the high 20s, TAs >9 grams with a lot of malic acid, and pHs barely over 3. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with those.
@ZeppelinWinery wow, that’s really interesting. For my palate, probably a good call on not doing ML. I’d love to try those Zins!
Also, great job on making a wine that I was more than happy to enjoy this young! That’s pretty rare for me.
2021 “Final Piece of Kingly Evidence” La Mort du Roi
Swill at 33.4 proof from the Hill of Graceland. 81% Clone 877 Groß Syrah, 19% Tannat.
Thank you, thank you very much! I thought about drinking this from the toilet in homage to Elvis, but thought better of the idea.
Dark ruby to purple in the glass.
Typical great Stillman nose, fruity but brooding. (You know exactly what I mean if you’re a fan of Creepy Uncle Stillman’s work product.) Picture an angry teenage plum giant sulking on a rainy day because he doesn’t smell more like blackberries. And then add a hint of shoe polish. Hard to tell the ABV from the nose separate from the delicious fruit but there’s no heat burning my nose hairs.
Doing the ol’ slurp ‘n’ chew definitely brings some of the alcohol out, but the minerality too. My mouth is still tingling 2 minutes later. Great mouthfeel, nice and viscous without being syrupy. This boy came to play.
After half an hour in the glass, lots of plum, blackberry syrup, a little creamy chocolate milk on the finish, followed by a bit of heat.
Breaking it down a bit more granularly:
On the attack, nice acidity (surprising for a wine of this weight and fruit level), towards the redder fruits, a bit of tannin.
Midpalate, fruit gets a bit darker, more viscous, a bit of heat starts to show but it’s still very balanced.
On the finish, which is quite long, it adds a chocolate milk note and feel – almost like chocolate-covered black cherry cordials.
It’s good. You’ll probably like it unless you hate fruity wines even when sufficiently structured as this is.
But I also literally buy everything Swilly makes. This isn’t my favorite of the La Morts, or of Swilly’s wines, but it’s still nice and really enjoyable. Definitely decant this one of you’re planning on drinking in the near term and some of the heat will blow off.
Auto buy. I am about out of my last Stillman deliciousness.
Contemplating this one, mostly do to FOMO, but happy for a nudge since this is more than I usually spend per bottle and my wine storage runneth over.
@jfuruno If it helps, that fits our situation too. But, figuring that these are pretty limited and I’m pretty good at justifying my purchases to myself when needed. (upcoming retirement, unexpected bonus check, youngest about to graduate from college, one can never have too many reds… etc.)
The sales prevention department just told me to shut the fup!
@ZeppelinWinery Never surrender, never give up!
I haven’t missed a stillman offer in a while, but the notes on the Tannat have me flummoxed. A tannat (especially stillman’s) described as “refreshing” is so against my expectations. Might have to miss this one or just grab a four pack.
@deadlyapp It’s funny, but just before bottling it, for a week or so, every time I talked about it to Alexis (my better 40% by volume) I would say “Malbec” - a slip of the palate? The reserve Catenas from Argentina aren’t dissimilar, though they’re more tannic/oaky. Exceptio probat regulam for sure.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2021 Zeppelin Winery Mixed Reds - $20 = 5.55%
You had me at Zeppelin. Auto-buy.
Groovy-panoramic-ginger
@dkralston yep, I’m pretty fucking great.
@dgbickle Since I am not taking any business away from my favorite middleman… Actually my only middleman… Email me? swillyidle@gmail.com