2004 Aldine Zinfandel (Current Releases) -- Tandem Winery Shopping Cart -- Zinfandel Aldine 2004

<H1>2004 Aldine Zinfandel -- Tandem Winery Shopping Cart</H1> $32.00 <IMG SRC="https://store.nexternal.com/tandem/images/04TalBenchZin-small.jpg" ALIGN=right ALT="2004 Aldine Zinfandel" NAME="2004 Aldine Zinfandel" BORDER=0 HSPACE=10> When we first saw this vineyard in 1997 when we were at Flowers Winery, it had been cropped for years for White Zin, but “Big Daddy” Don Aldine was willing to work with us and find the true potential of this magnificent piece of benchland. Don is not only a vineyard owner and retired veterinarian; he and Jo are parents of Rick Aldine, a great vineyardist in his own right. After working in tandem to institute trellis changes that opened the canopy and reduced yield dramatically, Don has never looked back on the quality road. While an important component of Tandem’s 2004 Peloton blend, a small portion was set aside to be bottled separately. We hope you enjoy this pure expression of Zinfandel as much as we do. Tasting Notes: Fruit riot! Wild berry, brambly mountain fruit and spice. Texture of slippery elm, delicate white pepper and a great mix of red and dark fruits. Enough tannin and acid weight to carry the high-tone fruit well into the long, late palate. Technical Data: <ul> <li>Vineyard: Located just North of Talmage and East of Ukiah on the upper benchlands of the Russian River, the Aldine Vineyard experiences moderately hot days and cold, clear nights – perfect Zin weather. Soil is comprised of rocky river deposits and decomposed sandstone and volcanic ash. The vines are St. George rootstock supporting an old-vine clone from the Dry Creek Valley.</li> <li>Harvest: 2004 was a warm year for the North Coast of California, and the benchlands along the Russian River were no exception. Dehydration began in some parts of the vineyard rather early but instead of picking, we chose to drop fruit that appeared to have excessive desiccation. We finally got a cold spell and waded into October 9th before picking first the upper block. The lower block, with more struggling vines, held out until October 17th. Rain commenced that morning immediately after picking; sometimes when you roll the dice, you win.</li> <li>Fermentation: After additional hand-sorting at the winery, the upper block fruit was lightly crushed and allowed to commence spontaneous fermentation with no cold soak in an open-topped stainless steel tank. Rather than completely punching down the forming cap of fruit, we went with a mix of pump-over/punch down during fermentation. In a new move for our Zin winemaking, the lower block fruit was destemmed but not crushed (100% whole berry) and added to the already-fermenting upper block fruit. This enabled each berry to be its own fermentation vessel. When the fruit was gently basket-pressed at dryness, the explosion of fruit aromas in the cellar was almost intoxicating!</li> <li>Barrel Aging: No new oak was used in the aging of this wine. We chose instead to let the voice of the vineyard speak clearly as the wine settled in to its 60% French and 40% Hungarian oak barrels. The wine was racked clean 3 times during 15 months of barrel aging before bottling unfined & unfiltered.</li> <li>Bottling: 200 cases of this intense, age-worthy yet drink-me-now wine were bottled:</li> <ul> <li>pH: 3.42</li> <li>TA: 6.5 g/L</li> <li>15.4% alcohol</li> <li>Residual sugar: 0.05%</li> <li>Appellation: Mendocino County (Talmage Bench)</li> </ul> </ul> <LI>SKU: 04ZINAV Other products in the category <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Category1" TITLE="Current Releases">Current Releases</A>: <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product73 TITLE="2005 Aldine Zinfandel">2005 Aldine Zinfandel</A> -- New Release! <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product74 TITLE="2006 van der Kamp Pinot noir">2006 van der Kamp Pinot noir</A> -- New Release! <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product71 TITLE="2005 Porter-Bass Chardonnay">2005 Porter-Bass Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product51 TITLE="2005 Sangiacomo Chardonnay">2005 Sangiacomo Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product69 TITLE="2006 Lorenzo Chardonnay">2006 Lorenzo Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product66 TITLE="2006 Manchester Ridge Chardonnay">2006 Manchester Ridge Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product67 TITLE="2006 Sangiacomo Chardonnay">2006 Sangiacomo Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product59 TITLE="2005 Kent Ritchie Chardonnay">2005 Kent Ritchie Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product47 TITLE="2005 Lorenzo Chardonnay">2005 Lorenzo Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product42 TITLE="2004 Porter-Bass Chardonnay">2004 Porter-Bass Chardonnay</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product39 TITLE="2004 van der Kamp Pinot noir">2004 van der Kamp Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product65 TITLE="2005 van der Kamp Pinot noir">2005 van der Kamp Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product68 TITLE="2006 Auction Block Pinot noir">2006 Auction Block Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product72 TITLE="2006 Sangiacomo Pinot noir">2006 Sangiacomo Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product70 TITLE="2006 Silver Pines Pinot noir">2006 Silver Pines Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product62 TITLE="2006 van der Kamp Pinot Meunier">2006 van der Kamp Pinot Meunier</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product50 TITLE="2005 Chris Lee Pinot noir">2005 Chris Lee Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product54 TITLE="2005 Auction Block Pinot noir">2005 Auction Block Pinot noir</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product56 TITLE="2005 Peloton Red Wine">2005 Peloton Red Wine</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/tandem/Product60 TITLE="2004 Gabrielli Sangiovese">2004 Gabrielli Sangiovese</A> <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com/tandem" TITLE="Tandem Winery Products">Tandem Winery Products</A> <A HREF="http://www.tandemwinery.com">Tandem Winery</A> Tandem Winery <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com" TITLE="ecommerce software">ecommerce software</A> powered by Nexternal