Tuesday, May 19, 2009

2005 Storybook Mountain Napa Estate Mayacamas Ridge Zinfandel

Last week I opened up my final remaining bottle of a group of wines I had gotten while Loudoun and I were on the mailing list for Storybook. Loudoun had several issues with the quality of his bottles, but this bottle was just fine. The 2005 Storybook Napa Estate was a bit restrained on the open, but still nice. Once I had my barbecued pork chops for dinner though, the wine really started to sing. The spice of the sauce seemed to really hit off something in the wine, and it really came into focus.

The following night, I had a similar experience, though the wine was going right from the start. Overall, it was quite a nice bottle and a fine example of Zinfandel from this producer. I'd definitely consider getting back on their list someday (or just purchasing on occasion when I find some well-priced bottles in stores), though for now our Turley allotment is keeping enough Zinfandel in my cellar.

2 comments:

Charlie Olken said...

Your experience with Storybook Mountain is spot on, and it explains why the winery is able to sell so much good Zinfandel without making wines that are tasting winners in blind tastings.

There are wines that are meant for enjoyment with food. Your Turleys will usually win the tasting, but, to my palate, at least, they are far less useful partners with most "Zinfandel" meals than the Storybook Mountains.

Lee said...

You're pretty spot on with that. By comparison, I had a Turley a few days later that did not stand up nearly as well with a similar meal (more details coming soon in a post).

The Storybook really was great with food, and I definitely appreciate that, because I prefer wine with food, and vice-versa. Thanks for the comment.