Fairly translucent, not crystal-clear, medium garnet with bright, wide pink edges. Viscous nose of a definite Pinot-stature thickly fruited and thickly-stemmed-green-briar with serious forest-floor notes. Dank and damp like the North side of a tree in the deep canopy walking on fall-rain-swollen nettle and miner’s lettuce. A high note of caramelized–nyet–burnt sugar balance the earth and slight funkiness.
Taste is bright and clear, while still retaining the earth and funk–the whole time coming off a tad overweight. The fruit is a strange breed: The whole thing screams dark-and-brooding while the fruit retains an almost contrived freshness. Over the middle things stay nice and tight with the dried cranberry punctuated with a sharp acerola layer gradually transforming into chewy, complex tannin of an almost medicinal-bitter nature for ever and ever.
It is definitely potent stuff–but not necessarily in the over-extracted Syrah/impenetrable ruby/over-ripe style troublingly popular these days. Nowhere, really, does the somewhat alarming 14-9 indicated show through. Thoughtfully-made wine, and no slacker in the Pinot-category.
2013 ZEPELLIN Pinot Noir San Luis Obispo County Central Coast California 14.9
Stephen McConnell 