WTN: 1995 Ravenswood Zinfandel, Beaterra Vineyard

[Brad Ballinger]

1995 Ravenswood Zinfandel, Beaterra Vineyard, Alexander Valley. Opening this bottle was a bittersweet moment, and a potential milestone. It was my last bottle of any Ravenswood Zinfandel label in my cellar. And I don’t see myself buying any more. That’s not meant as a snobbish comment. But the single-vineyard labels from Ravenswood available where I live have been priced higher than what I’m willing to pay. I just can’t see myself spending $35-$40 for a bottle of zinfandel.

I believe the first bottling of Beaterra from Ravenswood was in 1994, and had the California bear on a red-bordered label to mark the state’s 150th anniversary. I had that wine several years ago. They also produced a Beaterra in 1995 (210 cases made), which is what I opened. And after that, I don’t think they produced it ever again, but I’m not certain about that. But enough background; onto the wine…

The nose gave off subdued notes of spice, mushroom, bramble fruit, a bit of toasted oak, and something stemmy. From a flavor standpoint, it was also subdued, yet balanced. Flavors of tayberries, smoky spices, undercurrent of oak, and still something stemmy that didn’t do much to curry favor with me. Tannins had been resolved, and the acidity was moderately low. It finished with a primarily berry profile, but the berries were skewered by green stems. In it’s youth, it might have had enough brashness to mask some of the stemmy quality, but at this age the fruit had given up some of its zip.

Down to four bottles of zin in the cellar.