Tres Sabores Karen Culler 2000 Napa Zin

[gabe]

I got this wine in a gift basket and haven't been able to find out much about it. Should I let it age a bit or drink now, and what might it go with? I am pretty new to $12+ wine -- I'm more of a beer geek -- but I want to do this wine justice when I drink it.

[MatthewB]

I got this wine in a gift basket and haven't been able to find out much about it.  Should I let it age a bit or drink now, and what might it go with?  I am pretty new to $12+ wine -- I'm more of a beer geek -- but I want to do this wine justice when I drink it.

Do you have an appropriate spot to store it?

If not, just drink it. In fact, just drink it.

[gabe]

I got this wine in a gift basket and haven't been able to find out much about it.  Should I let it age a bit or drink now, and what might it go with?  I am pretty new to $12+ wine -- I'm more of a beer geek -- but I want to do this wine justice when I drink it.

Do you have an appropriate spot to store it?

If not, just drink it. In fact, just drink it.

Nothing fancier than a cool closet in an otherwise warm apartment... I suppose that means I should get drinking.

[MatthewB]

Nothing fancier than a cool closet in an otherwise warm apartment... I suppose that means I should get drinking.

If you've a warm apartment, you stand a chance of "cooking" the wine due to heat. (A "cooked" bottle will show evaporation--e.g., the wine is below the foil wrap, etc.)

I was at a friend's apartment--a warm apartment--last week & broke the news to him that 2/3 of the bottles in his small kitchen rack were cooked.

[John W.]

I got this wine in a gift basket and haven't been able to find out much about it.  Should I let it age a bit or drink now, and what might it go with?  I am pretty new to $12+ wine -- I'm more of a beer geek -- but I want to do this wine justice when I drink it.

It's pretty damn good I think. The "Tres Sabores" name comes from a pretty cool concept. She has a small plot of vineyard just north of Far Niente winery, so the fruit is from one source, but she has three different winemakers to produce three different cuvees. Stylistically they are all quite different. I find that the Karen Culler Cuvee is quite elegant, nice bright fruit, not too Smuckers jammy. It's my favorite of the lot.

As for when to drink it, today sounds good to me. I would throw it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, to cool off the alcohol. It might develop a little with bottle age, but as a wise man once said, "I'm not going to find out."

Or, if you can find the two other cuvees, that sounds like a good excuse for some friends over. Tasting them side-by-side would be pretty fun.

Drink it with something that has some weight to it. It's probably a little full-bodied for any fish except for tuna, pepper crusted steak or something like that.

This from someone who doesn't like zin all that much.

Edited August 25, 2003 by John W. (log)

[melkor]

I've had all three of the Tres Sabores from 99, but I have no tried the 2000s yet. The story behind them is that the owners of Williams Ranch wanted to show what affect winemakers have on the final product - all three winemakers (Ken Bernards, Karen Culler, and Rudy Zuidema) get equal portions of the Williams Ranch vineyard and they dictate when the grapes are harvested from their section (I don't believe they have any say in the trellising or other vineyard variables). Once the grapes are brought in each winemaker vinifies their grapes differently.

All three winemakers make good wine, but the real attraction for Tres Sabores is to taste them all together - none of the wines will knock your socks off but they do a great job of illustrating different vinification techniques.

If I had an odd bottle sitting around, I'd grill up a steak and open the bottle. It's good juice, I suspect you'll enjoy it.

[John W.]

Melkor;

Which do you like the best?

[gabe]

Out here in wine-wasteland Philadelphia, under the thumb of the LCB monopoly, I am not likely, methinks, to find the other bottles in the Tres Sabores line (this would be an expensive proposition anyway). The one-fruit, three-winemakers concept is pretty interesting, though. Pity I don't live in wine country.

[melkor]

Melkor;

Which do you like the best?

I currently like Rudy's best. Karen's wine is nice as well, it is definitly better balanced, and I suspect it would be my favorite if I were tasting them side by side with 5 years of bottle age. At the moment Rudy's shows lots of bright fruit and really well integrated tannin, I suspect it won't go the distance the same was Karen's and Ken's wines will, but it's what I'd pick if I were pulling a bottle out of the set today.

I still can't make up my mind about letting zinfandel age. I've had some great older zins but I'm not sure they are better than they would have been young.

[John W.]

I still can't make up my mind about letting zinfandel age.  I've had some great older zins but I'm not sure they are better than they would have been young.

I don't know either.

Had a 1990 Williams-Selyem Rochioli Vineyard Zin that was so elegant and beautiful (didn't even know WS made zin) I could have cried. That coupled with a '95 Jackass has really thrown a wrench into the argument. I won't make much room in the old vinotech for zins, but damn those two were nice.