A Light in the (Mid)West

M

MLipton

Mark Lipton
Friday night, with a makeshift dinner of (leftover) venison fajitas, I opened the 2007 Dashe Zinfadel Potter Valley "L'Enfant Terrible" which greeted us with a nose of grapefruit, pencil lead, bright red fruits and carried through on the palate with medium body and crisp acidity. When she first tasted this wine, Jean exclmained "what...a...great...wine" in just those terms, followed by "we've got to gets lots of this." Her initial enthusiasm died down a bit, but both of us were quite taken with this very unique expression of Zinfandel. Coming across like a Beaujolais initially, it had varietal character but in a very different package. In certain regards, it reminded me the most of a barrel sample, but with airing the wine took on extra depth and rounded out, becoming quite a bit more Zin-like. Interestingly, the nose had a butterscotch note an hour after opening. I predict that this wine will evolve in interesting ways over the next few years, and should reward some cellaring. I will hang onto my one remaining bottle of this for just that reason.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Grapefruit, pencil lead, and Zinfandel.

Wow.
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Maybe you'd prefer 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene? Sorry, but that's petrol. Dunno what molecule is responsible for that graphite/pencil lead smell (and neither, apparently, does TomHill, who of course has been following it since the beginning), but I get it in a lot of red wines. Curiously, I've never found it in a white wine, but I've come to associate the smell with oak barrels, which doesn't make much sense. 1-p-menthene-8-thiol is responsible for the grapefruit-like smells, which I find in a lot of Cru Beaujolais, too. Sorry you asked yet?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Grapefruit, pencil lead, and Zinfandel.

Wow.
Click to expand...
... Dunno what molecule is responsible for that graphite/pencil lead smell (and neither, apparently, does TomHill, who of course has been following it since the beginning), but I get it in a lot of red wines. Curiously, I've never found it in a white wine, but I've come to associate the smell with oak barrels, which doesn't make much sense.
Mark Lipton
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Huh. For me pencil lead is a distinctive trait of Cab Sauv/Franc aged in barrels, showing up most often in middle-aged to older Bordeaux. I rarely sense it in other reds, but perhaps it's just there at lower levels. And, like you, I have never encountered it in a white wine.
 
For me, grapefruit shows up in the tart Northern red wines (not usually Zinfandel!) and lead pencil is something I associate with cabernet sauvignon so I was just surprised to hear about this unique flavor profile for zinafandel.

Interesting stuff.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
I see 'graphite' used a lot; can anyone differentiate that from pencil-lead?
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Since pencil leads are mostly graphite bound with clay, I would hope that people are using the two terms synonymously. I would also hope that people are aware of the differences between the smell of the lead and the smell of red cedar, but I am probably being overly optimistic.

Mark Lipton
 
I've now had the wine twice, both blind and unblind (sighted?). I can honestly say that I found it simple, grapey and ultimately rather boring.

The Louveau (sp?) Zin was outstanding though.
 
Re: l'Enfant, I liked it both times, and I've got more. But I guess I won't be opening it for David.

I use graphite because pencils aren't lead, and pencil when I mean pencil. Graphite is, for me, about 95% a textural descriptor...the rest being that hint of sweetness it gives on the palate (yes, I chewed a pencil or two in grade school). Lead I'm mostly familiar with from fishing, but it's a metallic sweetness and density, and I have -- very occasionally -- used it in a note. And pencil usually means some sort of light wood aroma.

Re: graphite, I've found it in plenty of wines that aren't cabernet. Including zinfandel. And pinot noir. And lagrein. And so forth. Even gamay.

Not grenache, though.

I'm not sure I agree that it's due to the wood, because I've had it in wines that I'm reasonably sure saw only very, very old wood, but maybe Christian didn't mean to specify new wood.
 
I opened my first bottle of l'Enfant on Turkey Day and found it to be a bit hot and disjointed for an hour or two. After that it came together and got pretty interesting with bright fruit and a flinty core. I do think it's good.
 
originally posted by Bill Buitenhuys:
I opened my first bottle of l'Enfant on Turkey Day and found it to be a bit hot and disjointed for an hour or two. After that it came together and got pretty interesting with bright fruit and a flinty core. I do think it's good.
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Bill, are you sure that wasn't graphite? Hee, hee....
 
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