2007 Starry Night Winery Nervo Station Old Vine Zinfandel
Mission Codename: Riding the Ridge
Operative: Agent Red
Objective: Operatives have been clamoring for another big, juicy and delicious Starry Night Zinfandel. Send Agent Red to Starry Night to retreive their 2007 Nervo Station Zin, a wine grown in a vineyard block that was formerly a Ridge vineyard
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: Starry Night Winery
Wine Subject: 2007 Nervo Station Zinfandel
Winemaker: Todd Graff
Winery Backgrounder: Zinfandel is related to the Italian Primitivo grape, tracing its origin to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kastelanski. Zinfandel is one of the most versatile varietals with the ability to make wines, both rich to fruity, dark to light, and dry to sweet. Napa Valley Zinfandels, which are characterized by their big, extracted flavors, are gaining in popularity with our Operatives. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and mission report below.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Beautiful ruby red with glinting garnet edges. Color remains concentrated through its slightly darker core. Smooth and bouncy when swirled, this wine continues to spin long after you stop swirling. When the wine settles, it leaves behind speedy, medium-width tears
Smell – Bold intensity and deeply aromatic with spicy plum, black cherry, overripe blackberry, distinct cedar, and black currant with Asian spices, anise and butterscotch
Feel – Initially smooth and light on the attack. Then, as complex tannins gently add grip, the wine becomes even more interesting and full-bodied, supported by perfectly balanced acidity
Taste – Delicious and very juicy, with a hint of smoke that is surrounded by bold but balanced fruit of blackberry, blueberry, sweet plum, dark cherry and exotic spice with white and black pepper
Finish – Long, smooth and rich with great juicy fruit, soft drying-spice and a touch of minerality that lead to a supple dryness with soft flinty minerals and softly smoky fruit
Conclusion – Just when I thought we had tasted Starry Night’s best Zinfandel (we have had the great pleasure to feature a few in the past), along comes today’s 2007 Nervo Station Vineyard Zinfandel! This juicy style of Zinfandel is the sort the I love best. I especially love a juicy Zin when the fruit flavors are balanced and authentic, rather than overly-sweet or out of control. This wine holds it all together, beautifully, delivering a drinking experience that is sheer delight. Deep and unique aromatics combine with a plush feel, perfect acidity and delicious flavors in this wine, making it a perfect food companion or a conversation-inspiring solo-sipper. The grapes for this wine have formerly gone to the world-famous Ridge Vineyards, for their Zinfandel program. Now, the baton has been passed to Starry Night who has crafted an outstanding interpretation in today’s terrific Zinfandel.
Mission Report:
Consider this: We are very choosy about the wines that we show here. The vetting process is arduous and, more and more, we are turning wines away – if they do not meet or exceed our already high expectations.
Today’s wine comes to us from our friends at Starry Night Winery. When we first tasted their wines, they simply blew us away. We knew that a protracted screening would not be necessary. In such cases, we infiltrate the winery with extreme prejudice – and, most of the time, we come away victorious with cases of wine to share with you.
Starry Night proved a difficult target, however. It seemed that they had their own vetting to do. Long story short, after an extended get to know ya phase, we agreed that we should conduct a mission together. Today, we recognize Starry Night Winery as producing some of the finest wines we have tried.
Today I am thrilled to bring you Starry’s terrific Nervo Station Zinfandel, a wine that I don’t hesitate to call thrilling and beautiful. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we here at Wine Spies H.Q. have.
Cheers!
Wine Spies Winery Check:
The location of the Starry Night Winery, which you can visit by appointment only, can be seen in this satellite photo.
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The approximate location of the Nervo Station Vineyard can be seen in this satellite photo.
