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Wine: Gallo - Barrelli Creek
Vintage:
1997
Region: USA - California - Napa
Varietal: Zinfandel
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| Gallo of Sonoma "Barrelli Creek" [Sonoma] This Cabernet Sauvignon is an intense one dimensional wine that will please 90% of oenophiles. Yes, it's freakishly dense, gooey, and viscous so it's just too much to have with food. [it would be like drinking a Turley zin with food!] But this is a fine wine for enjoying a glass at points over multiple days. I often enjoy opening a peak vintage Gallo single vineyard wine on a Friday night and enjoying the evolution through a Sunday night. This has a dark impenetrable purple robe with lots of sediment. Dark stains cover the cork, bottle and the bottom of your glass if you don't decant this [why bother?]. The palate is very sweet and chunky with lots of heavy licorice tones. If you like Bordeaux styled in the Lynch/GPL fashion this is a suitable wine to explore. It's a great value and worth buying in every top vintage as it should be had for something like $210/cs at release. It honestly drinks something like Silver Oak and costs a fifth as much. Very ripe. 89 pts. |
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| Dark garnet, slightly clearing at the rim. Throwing a lot of sediment. The nose is a jumble of cassis, grape jelly, bell pepper, and peppery tannins, while the palate is integrating, with more cassis, slightly chalky tannins, and a >10 second finish. Drink up, sadly |
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| Decanted for about 30-45 min. Another blackened cork. This one had stained the inside of the bottle. I've seen this in some Aussie wines (eg: every bottle I've had thus far of the 96 Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz), but never in a Cal Cab. The wine was noticably oakier in nose and mouth than the Coppermine. It was a bigger wine in almost every way: fruitier, more tannic, oakier. The first few sips were very impressive. But I found after a few glasses, it was the oak and the overall "bigness" of the wine that kept nagging me. It was almost too much of a good (?) thing. After a few glasses it seemed more and more to be just another overdone 97 Cal Cab. Now I'm not saying I did not like the wine. I'm just not sure about it. It was sooo good after the first sip or two it's definitely worth further investigation. 90 pts. |
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| Black and opaque. The cork came out with black goo on it, which was promptly stamped on my note sheet. God, that's dark. Sweet (caramel) on the nose, phenomenal extraction and depth. Somewhere under it all is briary blackberry, but where? Lost in the night of tannin and extract, no doubt. Sweet on the palate, great extract, good length. Not surprisingly (to me), excellent with Stilton. |
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| Purple and opaque. There's a funky (in a good way) brown sugar note here along with the classic blackberry/slightly bell peppery stuff (see above) Good wine. Longish. Almost too sweet, of dubious value with food, but really good alone. |
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| Slightly opaque very deep red. Nose is a lot of raspberry and American oak, with spice, mocha and deep, sweet cherry with some swirling. The palate is a sledgehammer, with a lot of cherry fruit, loads of tannins, and a good, sweet-and-sourish note to the midpalate. Surprisingly good acidity, and a ton of tannins. Long finish, tingly at the gums. |
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| The first thing you notice when you pull the cork is that it is black where it touched the wine. In fact, it is black enough and concentrated enough for NFL running backs to use under their eyes on Sunday. I have never seen anything like it. There is also very noticeable sediment on the sides of the bottle already. The nose is of big, ripe, ripe fruit and the flavors are ultra ripe plum, blackberry, spice, tobacco and a little coffee. The finish is holding a piece of pure bittersweet chocolate in your mouth and leting it melt, slowly. There are sufficient tannins to let this age (good luck!), and no overly obnoxious wood. |
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O.K., I know that Gallo is not exactly the Enthusiast's homeland. But I have to tell you that this wine is a great value for the money ($18). I would go as far as to say that this wine outdrinks a lot of California Cabs at 3-4 times the price. It is a fruit-forward, sweet, oaky wine built along the lines of Silver Oak at a fraction of the price. What it lacks in class it makes up for in pure fun. I'm 3 bottles into a case and I have to admit that I really love it for what it is. I know critics will argue that it is too simple, monolithic and Parkerized. My point is that for the money this is about as deep as many need get into California. Perhaps a great stocking-stuffer for Christmas?
Dennis (Setab) deserves credit for introducing this wine to BWE. I'm just a lemming here. Roberto |
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