Harvest Moon Zinfandel Russian River Valley 2004  750ml $42.00   Your Shopping Cart: Join one of the Harvest Moon Wine Clubs and save up to 30% on wines!

Vintage & Varietal

Varietal: 100% Zinfandel
Vintage: 2004
377cases. Bottled on August 6, 2006 at Harvest Moon Estate
Alcohol: 15.5% by volume
Technical Data: R.S. = .067; Ph = 3.15; T.A. = .77; V.A. = .062
 

Grower & Winemaker's Notes

In 2004, we had plenty of sunshine but not enough barrels, so each of the four Zins that went into this wine were pressed to tank where they were allowed to settle out their gross lees (sediment) and then racked to barrels thereafter.  The result? A  light bodied, pale colored very fruit expressive wine. 
 

Tasting Notes

Initial Tasting Notes at bottling:  August 2006

With all of the fruit grown within a four- mile radius of the Estate, this 100% local Zinfandel exhibits bright, juicy raspberry, and backed by an exotic coco/cherry finish. Our 2004 vintage is sure to seduce even the most discriminating Zinfanatic pallet.

Tasting Update: 10/20/09: RP

It had been a while since I checked in with this wine. Realizing that the '05 vintage was a bit more user friendly than its older brother, I decided to put the remaining pallet back in long term storage for another year. How quickly a year goes by, eh?

The '04 vintage was one of light body and high acid. Not a-typical for a HM Zin, but this wine was also unusually tannic. Still buying into the industry conception that bigger was better for Zins, the fruit hung on the vine until the very very ripe flavors showed themselves. These high sugars converted into atmospheric alcohol levels.
Pulling the cork, I allowed the ethanol esters to burn off. A full three minutes had passed until I sank my healthy sized nostrils below the rim of the Riedel ware only to be very pleasantly reintroduced to intense aromas of spiced red fruit. The once exotic coconut aromas (assuming a combination of wood I used and tertiary fermentations that probably occurred during the second Spring in the barrel.) was near full integration. The initial hit on the tongue brought back initial memories of ueber tart wild loganberry and star fruit. The mid was still bracing but led to a long juicy conclusion of sweet, fruit rollup wrapped around a pretty leathery exterior. Bright cherry still prominate. The mouthfeel was much softer than a year ago, in fact with over three full years in the bottle, this wine was coming into its own. Yeah!!! My gal sitting next to me offered up a few metaphors, describing it as “a lava eruption of acidic tropical fruit in a glass waiting to be sipped poolside”. Before Sonoma County banned fireplaces, this wine reminded her fondly of winter’s first fire at the hearth”

Considering the amount of “umph” this wine contained at bottling, it’s no surprise that my conclusion on this wine to all those who have it or want to have it in their cellar…. Be patient. Forget about this wine for another 2-3 years. It’ll benefit from decanting till then!