Michael Wood makes it sound so easy, as if a plot of kind soil and a little well-rehearsed timing settles the matter.
Still, a sample of his 2015 Shed Horn zinfandel is enough to raise some questions. Is he right about the role of terroir and experience? Or has the winemaker — just perhaps — mastered the alchemist’s art?
You see, what Wood has conjured from a still youthful zinfandel is remarkable. The aromas drape softly, the billows of fruit and spice causing Normal Rockwell impressions to drift across the mind. The wine draws you into a hazy malt shop, beckoning with ripe cherries, half dipped in chocolate. Hints of vanilla cream and toasted pepper follow at an almost dreamlike pace.
The mellow introduction suggests a wine of great reserve. But the 2015’s composure is what stands out. After a swirl of brisk cherry and creamy milk chocolate, a genial expression of ripe blueberry begins to emerge. In place of the deep, jammy flavor of so many zinfandels, the Shed Horn favors lively fruits over a more solemn notion of tobacco, cured fig and vanilla.
In combination it forms an even tempered wine, deftly — almost without notice — finding balance between the ripe spring of berries and the still fall of earthy notes. And this objectivity extends to the finish, where a sparkling array of black pepper is contained by traces of creamy vanilla and hints of chipped balsa.
It is wonderful now. And the wine will only improve with proper storage.
“We’re real happy with it,” said Wood, who scored considerable success with his 2014 vintage and expects an equal reception with the current release. “I’m looking forward to getting it out there.”
Wood matured the zinfandel for 20 months in a combination of French and American oak, 30 percent of it new. Oh, and he did pull a clever sleight of hand, inserting some oak rods that had been steeped in mocha. This may account for the unusual — but very welcome — note of chocolate that plays so beautifully with the fruits.
Otherwise, Wood attributes the wine’s appeal to farming practices, as well as location.
“I’ve learned over the years that vines on the hill do a little better,” he said, referring to the High Valley plot. “We try not to get it overripe. We just pick sooner to let the fruit shine.”
Wood is convincing. But the 2015 Shed Horn zinfandel seems somehow more special than attention to detail in the field would allow.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
