Nalle

A

Arjun Mendiratta

Arjun Mendiratta
A well-meaning friend gave me a bottle of their 2006 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County). I made sure to have some chili on hand when I opened it in case it was necessary to numb my tongue before ingestion. Shockingly, that proved not to be necessary. This was brisk with great acid, no trace of heat, and deeply flavorful without being Frooty™. As I mentioned, I was shocked.

Anyone else had these wines?
 
Count me as another BIG fan of Nalle. A Zinfandel that you can drink with a meal without getting hammered. They also make a Pinot but haven't tried that yet.
 
He's maintained considerable stylistic consistency for many years, and I've always liked them too.

Not that I was there at the very beginning or anything.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
He's maintained considerable stylistic consistency for many years, and I've always liked them too.

Not that I was there at the very beginning or anything.
Click to expand...

Yep, he's among the stalwart few in Zinland. Speaking of which, I had the '05 Dashe Zin over the holidays: it ain't no L'Enfant, but it's pretty decent stuff, too.

Mark Lipton
 
Adding to the chorus...the only reason I don't have a ton of Nalle zinfandel aging in the cellar is that they're so good young. But I drink a lot of it, and rarely with anything less than pleasure. The pinot noir has been very good as well, on the rare occasion that I've had it. A very old note:

Nalle 2002 Pinot Noir Hopkins Ranch (Russian River Valley) Plum, red cherry, strawberry seeds, and walnut skins in a crisp, juicy, balanced package. The wine comes on so lively and zingy that one is almost unprepared for the extremely long finish. It wont please lovers of pinot-as-Porto, but the effortless ease of its quality is something much more to be admired. (8/04)
 
Love the wines and in fact I was there from the beginning.

I can still remember the joy to be found in the 84!

He was out of the NYC market for a decade before i brought him back.

Toot toot.

Glad to see them get some airtime here.

Nalle trivia, the Zin has only exceeded 14% once.
 
I'm a terrible influence. I threatened her teachers when they took off a half grade for penmanship. Fucking penmanship?! What have we turned into?!
 
Thumb-typing. It's all about the thumbs these days. Those of us with fat unwieldy thumbs are doomed to extinction as surely as the barosaurus.
 
It's all about *touch* thumb-typing. If you have to look, faggetaboutit. You might as well have 200-20 vision in a world without corrective lenses.
 
This has been my go-to Zin for quite a while.

They show up at retail here, and I just scoop a few bottles each time the Zin stock is low in my cellar. Vintage seems to matter very little, which is not to say there isn't some variation, just that Nalle always seems to produce a really nice Zin that's right in my wheelhouse. I have yet to get a clunker.

Cheers,

Dave
 
You'd probably like some of the Zins from Quivira, Preston and Pendroncelli, all from that area, all well-balanced and pretty light on their feet. Reasonably priced, too.

I'm curious as to your chili comment. In my experience, capsicum heat just makes late harvest, high alcohol wines much harsher.
 
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