WTN: 1997 Cline Zinfandel, Fulton Road Vineyard

[Brad Ballinger]

1997 Cline Zinfandel, Fulton Road Vineyard, Russian River Valley. This wine should be decanted – there’s about a shot glass full of sediment in the bottle. 1997 was the maiden bottling of this wine, and I picked it up for under $25. I’ve seen the 2000 as high as $42 retail and the 1999 as high as $79 on a restaurant list. The 1997 is 92% zinfandel, 5% syrah, and 3% alicante bouchet. It is also a damn fine bottle of wine. The aroma promises bright and bouncy zinberry fruit and the wine delivers on that promise. There are some secondary spice and herb elements, but thr fruit is the star here. It’s opulent without being overly jammy. There is still a tannic presence to provide structure and a good dose of acid to feed the finish. This is, by far, the best wine I’ve had from Cline, and shows that Cline is more than just a good QPR producer.