Pulchella Winery
2010 Mainini Vineyard Zinfandel
Paso Robles
Alcohol 15.3%
Pulchella glasses in winery, photo credit Rick Lott
Disclosure
For a change, and for fun, I pulled out my “WSET* Systematic Approach to Tasting Level 2 to use during the tasting of this wine. I often use the guide in Wine 101 tastings to help beginners, and those not-so-new to wine, with descriptors that sometimes are on the tip of our tongue, literally, that a little prompting helps identify. And all my tastes are with a 1 to 2 ounce pour, which means what I find in the color may be lighter than you would in a 4 to 6 ounce pour.
Appearance
Clear in clarity, deep intensity, and over a white sheet or paper the colour (yes, that’s how they spell in England) is garnet with a ruby edge.
Nose
The condition was clean, the intensity medium to pronounced, and the characteristics included plum, blackberry, black cherry, some fig, black olive, mint, walnut, and milk chocolate.
Palate
Ripe dark fruit, juicy plum, raisin, white pepper, nice tannins, and for the percentage of alcohol I thought it decidedly very nicely balanced between the fruit and tannins.
Conclusion
I’d gone through my 2-once pour by this time and decided I would mull over my conclusion with a nice 4-ounce glass. The WSET gives me one-word answers ranging from poor to outstanding. I do find that tough as I think there is more to a conclusion. I found the wine very good to outstanding. I plan on pairing it with a burger and fries in a few minutes. And, I want to thank Pulchella Winery winemakers Steve Lemley and Nate Hasper for their talents.
*Wine and Spirits Education Trust is a sommelier certification course that originated, and is graded, in England. To learn more or to find local classes, this is their website:
http://www.pulchellawinery.com/l
Our allocations are available to our wine Club Members and guests visiting our tasting room exclusively. All releases typically sell out less than one year after release and before their potential. Our winemakers are in the tasting room quite often, personally walking each guest down their dirt road of passion. Our tasting room is located at: 24261 Main Street in the Oldtown Newhall historical district. (91321). We are typically open for tastings Thurs – sat from 5 pm to 10pm and Sunday 12pm – 5pm. however hours do vary so please call our tasting room at 661-799-wine for current hours. Closed all major holidays./ hours
