2007 Frei Brothers "Reserve" Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

The end of another day of moving and while we talked about heading to Jake's On Sixth or The Vine for a glass of wine we were just too beat and went home. Wanting something from the vine I looked at the wine that had not been stored for the move and selected a bottle of 2007 Frei Brothers "Reserve" Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel . The wine has a good reputation earning a 90 from THE Robert Parker so I was looking forward to something exceptional. Upon popping the cork my nose was greated with an interesting mix of earth, cocoa, cherries and a sweet oakiness that was rather pleasant but surprising. I poured a glass and waited a few minutes for the wine to breath. This Zin was a deep, inky purple in the glass and looked rather nice when swirled with good legs and an incredibly deep color. For me, though, the love ended soon afterward. While not bad, I was underwhelmed. The nose did transform into more blueberry and cherry with a lingering oaky spiciness that was pleasant enough but the first sip was disappointing. The wine seemed to me to be a bit along the line of sour cherries with a hint of the aforementioned blueberry. The tannins were not sharp at all, kinda smooth actually, but while all of the components were there the wine just didn't speak to me. Fruit, check. Acid, check. Soft tannins, check. But in this case the whole was not equal to the sum of the parts. The finish was medium length with a touch more spiciness at the end, but the overall experience just didn't live up to expectations.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 24