I'm not so smart after all

I went out to Zazu Restaurant on Guerneville Road for dinner last night. They have a "mystery wine" deal, where you order a glass of red or white that they have picked from their winelist and guess what it is. So I tried it.
One sip and I was sure it was Zin. So sure that I was debating whether it was RRV or DCV. Looking at the wine list, I quickly eliminated Martinelli and Porter Creek. The most likely candidates were Limerick Lane and Turley (Sonoma County), both 2007. Some others I had never tasted, and it's hard to guess when you have no knowledge at all.
So the waitress came back and I said, "It's Zin, and I'm debating which one."
She said, "Nope. Not Zin."
"Syrah?"
"No!"
"I give up."
"It's Preston Barbera."

All I can say is, that's the Zinniest Barbera I ever tasted. It was riper and darker than David Coffaro's, from just across the creek. I'm afraid I didn't think to memorize the vintage - I think it was '09 but I'm not sure. It isn't on their website list, which is pretty old.

I did have a good dinner, and a glass of '09 Siduri PN with the duck.

John

[James Roscoe]

A hot Barbera does not sound too appealing. Do you recall the alcohol level?

I didn't see the bottle, so I have no idea what the alcohol was.
Frankly, I'm still boggled that that glass tasted so much like Zin that I had no doubt in my mind.

John

Maybe it's bad to "expect" wines to taste a certain way, to reflect certain flavors that you have learned to associate with a particular grape or region. But I do that A barbera that tastes like zin sounds...challenging.

Maybe it's bad to "expect" wines to taste a certain way, to reflect certain flavors that you have learned to associate with a particular grape or region. But I do that A barbera that tastes like zin sounds...challenging.

That's what called "typicité" in the Old World, Brian. John, just keep in mind that the late Harry Waugh, a taster of immense talent, once famously quipped (when asked when the last time he'd mistaken a Bordeaux for a Burgundy) "Not since lunch"

Mark Lipton
(Who's made far more damning misidentifications than yours)

Hi John,
Some might consider both Zinfandel and Barbera both members of the Cal-Ital varieties. (So your guess wasn’t all that off). Well cultivated and low yielding Barbera vines can produce very concentrated, very flavorful wines.

Salute

I'm not feeling bad at all. The "schtick" (however it's spelled) at Zazu is to do something that's a little bit out of the norm. The whole idea of the "mystery" wine is to fool the customer; they deliberately try to pick atypical bottlings.
They were very successful last night!

I'll have to go over to Preston next time I go up DCV. I've generally been unimpressed the couple of times I was there, but it's been several years.

John (so many wineries, only one mouth)

John,
I have probably stated this here before..but I will say it again. All grapes from DCV want to be a Zin.
I have never been to Preston either, but the last few times I have been to DCV, I alomost dropped in. Let me know your impressions.
-Shaji