A Zombies Guide To Wine

Wine: Merlot (80% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon)

Region: Rutherford, Bommarito vineyard

Alcohol: 14.2% 

Price: 28 bones 

Zombie Score: 3 Pitchforks - ‘A Wine to Rally friends up for…’

Tasting Notes from the Catacombs: Ripe Cherries explode in the mouth like those fuzzy sugar candies I used to steal from 7-11. You know the ones that were velvety on the outside and when you bite into them they erupt a juicy cherry liqueur center. Yes - those ones. This wine does that. It begins with an unassuming start then opens up nicely. Healthy grip on the palate showing all of those Merlot haters out there that it can hang with out and socialize with the cabernet crowd. 

I pick up a little spice cake like the ones grandma would make but it isn’t as prominent in the finish. Well balanced - I desire just a hint more of acid than this one offers - but that is just me as I am really hard on Merlot. The syrah helps it but it could use a little carignane - did I say that …why yes I did.Nonetheless, this wine is a win win and would do well for everyday drinking especially for watching reruns of Airwolf or McGyver. 

Memory Rapture:

Vineyard Compendium: Bommarito Vineyard

The Bommarito Vineyard is located on Galleron Road in the Rutherford Appellation of the Napa Valley. The vineyard is approximately 25 acres with soils that are very similar to those in the Whitehall Lane Winery Estate Vineyard. It has produced outstanding grapes since the early 1920’s when Dominic Bommarito purchased the Rutherford property to plant a vineyard and build a summer home.

The Vineyard is planted to four different grape varieties. The rootstocks in this vineyard were matched to the various soil types, two different trellis systems were implemented and grape clones were selected to yield ultimate fruit flavors. The largest planting is Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller plantings of Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. There are two acres planted to Semillon.

Bommarito was born in Sicily in 1889 and immigrated to the United States in 1903. In the early 1920’s he began construction on his summer home and moved to this Rutherford estate permanently in 1929 with his wife, four children and mother. He built five additional homes on the property between 1941 and 1953. Many of the furnishings in the houses were acquired from surplus at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, including sinks and plumming. Dominic Bommarito was a founding member of the Napa Valley Co-Op and farmed his vineyard until his death in 1963. His wife, Carmen Bommarito, tended to the vineyard until her death in December, 1994. Working by her side was son Salvatore “Toots” Bommarito. Toots spent his entire life on the property, working in the vineyard and tending to the properties. He retired in 1994.

Whitehall Lane Winery continues to call the property the Bommarito Vineyard, recognizing the wonderful history of the Napa Valley, its pioneers and its characters.

Wine: Chardonnay

Region: California 

Alcohol: 13.5%

Oak: American and French Oak Barrel & Stainless Steel 

Price: 18 bones

Zombie Score:  4 Pitchforks

Tasting Notes from the Catacombs:

Upon pouring this wine, right out of the gate, I was immediately overwhelmed by the aromas of fresh cut pineapples & Pina Colada. Still brimming with papaya & kiwi, this wine takes off and does not stop.  The flavors scream   tropics and land elegantly with a caramel vanilla creme brulee topping.

I think this is one to watch out for.

What I mean by that is that this wine will turn on you like a dirty little werewolf. You sip on one glass and you may find yourself saying …

‘oh how cute, what a fresh little Chardonnay’. Then, before you know it…. the lil guy turns on ya and the wine becomes more like…

 ’Easy Tiger, now just take it easy… slow down..’ 

Soon you’ll find Taylor Lautner in your house imprinting on you and 3 bottles are long gone.This wine is too easy to drink, one must be careful not to wake the beast in the night.

Memory Rapture:

I will never forget the first time I heard Ozzy Osbourne. It was 1986, I was riding my skateboard listening to my walkman. (I am pretty sure I was listening to was the Christian Glam Rock band Stryper at the time).

Rolling down the sidewalk I found a box at the edge of a driveway labeled ’ Free Stuff ‘.  I rummaged through it like any punk kid would and thumbed through all of the tapes. 

Abba, Steely Dan, Michael Jackson (I pocketed that one for later), and then came across Ozzy’s -Blizzard of Oz Album…song ‘Shot in the Dark’

I popped in the cassette and hit play. My life immediately changed upon hearing Ozzy’s voice. I played that album over and over again. The hypnotic tones and frequencies led me to the local 7-11 where they were celebrating a new flavor of slurpee ‘Pina Colada’. 

Being a Coke flavor Slurpee lover myself, I was skeptical. Really how could this be any good. But for some reason my new found love for Ozzy had me believe that anything could happen. I got the small - you guessed it. I loved it!

Fast forward 20 odd years and this became a summer tradition every year since. Listening to Ozzy, sipping on a Pina Colada Slurpee. 

This wine brought me back to that first memory. 

Random Slurpee Fact

Canadians purchase an average of 30 million drinks per year. Despite its status as a very cold city and with a population of only 700,000,^[4] Winnipeg, Manitoba was crowned the Slurpee Capital of the World for the twelfth time in a row in 2011. 7-Eleven stores across Winnipeg sell an average of 188,833 Slurpee drinks per month. The rest of Canada sells an average of 179,700 per month, which makes Winnipeggers the world leader of Slurpee sales. Unlike their counterparts in America, Canadian Slurpees are not injected with air.

(Source: spellboundwines.com)

Wine: Zinfandel

Region: Napa Valley

Alcohol: 14.9%

Oak: Hungarian & French / 10 months 

Price: 35 bones

Zombie Score:   5 Torches

Tasting Notes from the Catacombs:  

On smelling this wine right out of the gate, I came upon some beautiful red cherry blossoms and deep cherry liquor. The aromas whisked me into a library room of high leather back chairs and mahogany tables where a gentleman’s liquor cabinet would have been found.  

The flavors were well balanced and and the acids were structured in a fairly integrated manor.  I immediately picked up on tinder box or spice box element that would suggest the hungarian oak is playing 1st fiddle here of which I loved. Great marriage of oak in my opinion. 

Cherry liquor, shaved dark chocolate along with hints of espresso lead this red into a mouthwatering marathon causing you tap the bottom of the bottle expecting more when it has been emptied. 

Memory Rapture: 

In 1992 i saw my first UFO.  Yep, I said it. I was standing outside talking with friends at a winter camp (brrrrrr) in Moose jaw, Saskatchewan. I almost snapped my neck off when looking behind me caught 6 bright green lights in the sky making their way westward. My friends saw it as well but were so buzzed on Jolt soda that I am sure they just chopped it up as aircrafts from the nearby Canadian Air Force Base taking off and landing. Some would suggest Aurora Borealis of which I would see almost nightly being Canadian and accustomed to odd colors in the sky. This was different. The lights moved differently. 

Why do I bring this up?

Well, that day we had just celebrated a birthday party of one of our friends and had Black Forrest cake of which I was still tasting in my mouth when this event occurred. I was known to ‘wood chip’ chocolate cake then. Just Sayin’. 

This wine brings me back to that day.  A wine abduction without the messy alien implants. 

Winemaker Notes:
- 761-acre ranch is located in the rugged wilderness of eastern Napa Valley overlooking Lake Hennessey, Prichard Hill and the towns of Rutherford and St. Helena

- neighbors include Chappellet, Colgin, Bryant Family and David Arthur

- ranch is a patchwork of steeply wooded hillsides interspersed with tiny vineyards that have been divided into 100+ micro-blocks based upon topography and soil structure

- Each block is farmed and picked independently with harvest often lasting up to 50 days

- The three clones of Zinfandel at Kuleto Estate are planted between 1200 and 1400 feet in a small bowl containing the only deep red soil on the property

- The head-trained vines face to the northeast, avoiding the late afternoon sun and warm winds that can desiccate late ripening varieties such as Zinfandel

- The 2008 vintage featured severe frosts when the shoots were already 12-18 inches in length resulting in a 30% crop loss in a number of blocks - this means low yield

- Late Summer heat helped perfect the rest of the growing season to full ripeness

(Source: kuletoestate.com)

Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon (Non-Vintage)

(Source: cliffamilywinery.com)

Wine: 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Stagecoach Vineyard / Atlas Peak / Napa Valley

Alcohol: 14.7%

Price: 45 bones

Zombie Score: 96 Torches

Tasting Notes from the Catacombs:  Massive minerality in the nose of flint, burnt incense & bloodstone. Upon palate entry, hints of black cherries like in black forest cake are present with some subtle smoke on the finish. This finish is super unique and speaks to a perfect marriage between terroir and barrel.  With essence of sweet fireworks aroma (gunpowder) in the aromatics - this wine is more than just nostalgic… of which only happens now and then. This wine is annual - it needs to be drank every Fourth of July!  

Vineyard Background: Owned by the Krupp Family, Stagecoach Vineyard (named after the horse-drawn coaches 

that once travelled its hills) is located high above the valley floor in the easternVaca Mountains at elevations of 900’ to 1,700’. Rocky, well-drained soils and cool morning fog that turns to long warm days combine to create wines of great complexity.

(Source: conncreek.com)

WIne: 2007 Merlot

Region: Napa Valley

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: 30 bones

Zombie Score: 77 Coffins

Tasting Notes From The Catacombs:  Huge plasticine & black olives gives away this wines old world approach right out of the gate. When sipping on this wine the mouth feel tells me that there must be more to this wine than just the silky Merlot. I detect a blend of Cab Sauv and possibly Cab Franc. So much of this wine needs food. Although there is some blue fruits present, I feel as thought the acid is not at all being supported by the alcohol which in turn gives this wine a disappointing finish. I have had a few other wines from Clos Du Val and do see a similar style trend going on.

Zombie-rant:  I am growing tired of vineyards being ran by accountants! It is obvious that what we are tasting in these wines are a direct outcome of vines being pushed to hard without a rest between yields. The outcome shows how the climate, nutrient depletion, dead soil, and lack of sustainability become locked inside a bottle.

If the winemaker & vineyard manager were able to have their druthers, I am sure they would agree that the pressure being placed on the fruit is not driven by their own artisan style of winemaking but rather the demand of producing vintage after vintage of less than stellar crop.