The wine was a 2005 Alderbrook Old Vine Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley. It weighed in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, had a real cork closure, and cost $15.50! On the nose of the wine I found jammy dark fruit, blackberries, raspberries, vanilla, and smoke. In the mouth (either I was a little tipsy or I really thought the wine was fruity, because I wrote fruity 3 times in a row in my notes...

The wine was a 2005 Alderbrook Confluence from Dry Creek Valley. It takes two grapes I really like and combines them in one blend, so what's not to love? The wine is a blend of 60% Zinfandel and 40% Syrah, it has a real cork closure, weighs in at 14.8% alcohol by volume, and cost us $24 in a club shipment.On the nose I got blackberry, currants, spice, pepper,vanilla, and blueberry. I could...

A cool night here and there still calls for a hearty Zinfandel. Though I fear we have truly left those days behind now, as the AC had to come on last night lest we melt into the chairs or couches in our family room.The wine for the evening was a 2005 Alderbrook Old Barn Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley. The wine arrived in a club shipment, had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 15.3% alcohol...

Even though the 90 degree weather doesn't seem to be supporting my theory that it's actually fall here, I'm still digging the big red wines after a summer of lovely light whites and roses. Do for the evening, I picked a bottle of the 2006 Alderbrook Old Vine Zinfandel. It's from Dry Creek Valley, clocks in at 14.4% alcohol by volume, had a real cork closure, and cost me $19 in a club...

Sometimes wine just gets lost in my basement. I don't know how it happens, because I'm fairly vigilant about entering my shipments into CellarTracker as they arrive, but, as you know, the best laid plans....So that is how it came to be that this bottle of 2004 Alderbrook Chardonnay somehow escaped me. It's possible it's been hiding down there for almost 2 years now. I found it the other night...

Paterno Wines International, the flagship company of Illinois-based Terlato Wine Group, is being renamed Terlato Wines International to pay tribute to Chairman Anthony J. Terlato’s leadership. Over the past 10 years, the Terlato family has expanded the domestic business with brands such as Napa’s Rutherford Hill, Stags Leap District’s Chimney Rock, Sonoma County’s Alderbrook and Santa Rita...

... kind of shorthand means of keeping track of what I like or not. Lat night I opened an Alderbrook ... . Alderbrook, Dry Creek Valley, 2003 - All of the above but a little more sophisticated, by which I mean ... the others. Earthy like the Alderbrook but a little smoother. The most balanced of the three. Almost...

Well it has been awhile since my last post but I have good news for you.  Just because I stopped writing does not mean I stopped drinking. The backlog is enormous. Bad news for me! I have about 15 wines waiting including some new versions of previously highly ranked wines and some interesting new candidates such as the Alderbrook Old Vine Zinfandel. Once I get though these I’ll get the best...

Preston MonteMaggiore Wellington Quivira Alderbrook Papapietro Perry Audelssa   Stay tuned...

It's official: I'm old. Sometimes I even feel as old as this old zinfandel vine looks. (picture of Old Vine Zinfandel from Alderbrook ) Decanter magazine reported that Australia's Yalumba Winery has decided to bring order to chaos in wine labeling by precisely setting out in an "Old Vine Charter ... anything more than just a marketing pitch, it has to signify something. At Alderbrook in the US...