On Second Thought: The Case for Old Vine Zin and Barbera

This morning I found a post from RSWC member Pat Merril reminding me of his audacious blending idea. Pat's two cents, below. Regarding his suggestion, there is a precedent. Kunde used to put out a Meeker Barbarian blend of Barbera and Zin. If it sounded like a mistake, it was.  The two wines were accidentally combined one year, and by the time anyone noticed, it was too late. Winemaker Charlie Meeker said that rather than toss out all that juice, they decided to see what might come of it. What they got, at least in the 2002 I tasted, was a wine that that has all the strength of Barbera – dried fruit and cigar smoke - tempered by aromatic, ripe, peppery zin.

My thought is to do an Old Zin/Barbera blend. At the Bachuus tasting event a month or two ago, I tasted some very good Old Vine Zin and Barbera. This is an unsual (a good thing?) blend, but one that has been endorsed by The Rhone Ranger (Randall Graham) himself. I blended these two (in my glass) at the tasting and a 65-70%% old zin/30-35% Barbera blend seemed yummy. Given strength of the Barbera, I think its important Zin is from OLD (softer, fruitier) zin vines.

Wine mag excerpt:

With over 10,000 acres of Barbera already planted in California, it hardly qualifies as "experimental." Nevertheless, there is a strong interest in the traditional workhorse grape, since it is now being taken seriously as a varietal capable of producing fine wines, not something to blend into bulk jugs.

Randall Graham of Bonny Doon vineyards in Santa Cruz County has been a leader in both the Rhone and Italian experimentation. "I think we can make world-class Barbera in California. I think Barbera is tremendously underrated," Graham told Wines & Vines when asked about the "new " California Barberas. Graham said the just-released Montevina Reserve Barbera, 1987, is "the best American Barbera I've ever had."

He has 10 acres of Barbera planted in a vineyard near Soledad in Monterey County and is experimenting with a number of other Italian grapes-Aleatico, Nebbiolo, Refosco, Sangiovese, Dolcetto and "others too numerous to mention."

"It probably isn't a good enough reason to plant, but I'm doing it because I love the Italian varietals. But I do think it is crucial there be a marriage between vineyard site, varietal, soil and rootstock. We really have no idea what is going to succeed at this point," Graham said.

Zinfandel/Barbera

70% Zinfandel and 30% Barbera. This blend has all the qualities of a great Zinfandel with the added softness from the Barbera.

Barbera

This grape generates a red deep-colored, full bodied wine. Produces a somewhat dry and tannic (mouth dry sensation) wine that ages well and softens with time. This wine has highalcohol content and can exhibit a ripe, current flavor with a hint of smokiness.