We've sold out of the 2004 Sable Rouge in the three weeks since bottling, so there's no more available through us. Please check the Order page to find out which wine stores may still have some.

Well, I hate to set myself up for future contradiction, but I think that the 2004 Oakley Rhone blend may be the best wine I'll make. It's very dark, thanks to a lot of Petite Sirah, round in the mouth from start to finish, and not so tannic as you would expect from a Rhone.

I've always been a fan of Syrah and Petite Sirah, but most appellations produce a really jammy, thick black tannic ink of a wine. What I've discovered with the Oakley grapes, is that while the color is strong and the fruit is certainly up front, the overall wine is much more like a French wine. Much more refined, without actually having to be artifically refined. Anyway, it's spectacular, and I'm not just saying that because I made it. I'm bummed that I only have 50 cases. They will be bottled in February 2005, after I take a month to recover from ZAP.

The 2004 Sonoma County Zin... Well, I've said it before (to myself) and I'll say it again. I don't like my Zins early on in their life. They always taste so young, even after a year in the barrel. This vintage will be a little different from the 2003 in that the majority is Dry Creek rather than an even amount of Dry Creek and Russian River. The result is a slightly lighter, more spicy wine. My plan now is not to bottle this until next summer.

The 2003 Sonoma County Zinfandel is a blend of Russian River Zinfandel from Forestville, CA and Dry Creek Zinfandel from the Dry Creek area near Healdsburg CA.

Zinfandel grapes are usually challenging to work with because the clusters ripen unevenly. In one cluster, you could have raisins, unripe grapes, and perfectly ripe grapes. I tried to illustrate this here. This is why there is a trend towards higher alcohol Zins. To ensure ripeness, you have to let them hang on the vine. Longer hang time, higher sugars. Higher sugars, higher alcohols.

The Russian River sub-appellation of Sonoma County adds an even greater challenge. Every Russian River batch of grapes I have worked with has always increased its sugar levels overnight. So I've gone to sleep with happy dreams of a 15% alcohol wine, and woken up to a potential port range of sugar.

In spite of the challenges, this '03 vintage ended up capturing the best elements of its two parent appellations. It highlights the black fruit of the Russian River, and the spicyness of the Dry Creek area.

Moreover, it managed to avoid the two pitfalls of high alcohol wines.

Normally with high alcohol comes raisin or prune flavors. This is where sorting comes into play, and it's my only explanation for the lack of raisin flavors. The Russian River batch took nearly 4 hours to sort through, and I ended up with a bin full of raisins. Had I left those in, this wine would have an even higher alcohol, and probably some raisin and prune flavors.

The other pitfall is a taste of nothing but alcohol. Before the '03 Zin was bottled, I tasted it against some Sangiovese that was 15%, and the Sangiovese tasted a lot hotter than the Zin.

This is also where a little education comes into play. You may notice instructions on the back of the bottle to serve between 62 and 68 degrees. The closer you can get to the 62 degree mark, the better. As wines heat up, the alcohol starts to overpower every other element of the wine.

It has been said that most people serve white wines too cold and red wines too hot. If you want an ideal experience with a wine, serve it between 58 and 65 degrees. This holds for both reds and whites.

For the '03 Zin, if you don't have a temperature controlled environment or wine fridge, I suggest popping it in the refrigerator for a while and pulling it out about a half hour before serving. You'll get the best results that way.